On Sunday night, I, as well as a couple of thousand others, were privileged enough to see and hear the musical mastery of Blues Traveler. And every single one of us was in for a treat.

After an entertaining opening set by the Michael Parrish Band (which included BT bassist Bob Sheehan on rhythm guitar), John, Chan, Bob and Brendan took the stage to the approval of everyone (especially myself).

Without any flashy introduction, the band launched into “Freedom,” from their aptly named fourth release, “Four.” From this point, they never looked back.

Unfortunately, the show was top-heavy with newer material. I am not saying that “Four” and “Straight on ‘Til Morning” are bad albums (I personally feel that “Straight On” is one of their best).

But of the 22 songs played Sunday night, 14 were from either “Four” or “Straight on,” and only five were from their previous three releases. Two each were from “Blues Traveler” and “Save His Soul” and one was from “Travelers and Thieves.”

Of course, there was the obligatory BT remixes which included “The Joker” and “The Devil Went Down to Georgia.”

Neither Steve Miller nor Charlie Daniels could have done these two any better. Despite all of this, the highlight of the evening was when Chan was “feeling randy” (as JP put it), and the band played one of their originals “Corn Mash Blues.”

It is rare for the band to dig back that far into the closet. In fact, Sunday was the first time in 12 years that this song had been played.

This was a surprise to all at the show, as well as to all on the Barter Exchange at bluestraveler.com, who could not believe it.

Thankfully, we, the audience, were spared from hearing the over- played radio tune “Runaround,” as well as the over-played jam tune “Go Outside and Drive.”

I was utterly amazed at the number of people sitting during the second set. I’ll admit, set two did start out wonderfully slow, featuring JP playing acoustic guitar on the beautifully written “Yours” and “Alone,” but the set immediately picked up the pace with “CrashBurn.”

Perhaps many there were bored, but my theory is that too large of a majority or the crowd was there to hear Blues Traveler play their “radio songs” just as they are on the radio or album.

But this is not Blues Traveler. They are one of the original jam bands (much like the Grateful Dead and Phish) and their live shows are the essence of improvisation.

Of course, many people are going to be bored when they expect to hear every song like it is on the CD or radio, or when they have no clue that “Alone” is on “Blues Traveler” or “Manhattan Bridge” is on “Save His Soul.”

As for John Popper’s solos, listen to any live show or many album cuts and you will see that his solos only are live, as many guitarists’ are in other bands.

Many people just think it is different because he does it on a harmonica instead of a guitar. Every member has a chance to showcase his skills, but no one member would be the same without the other three. Thus is the beauty of Blues Traveler: “all for one and one for all.”

Well, this traveler will quit his commentary now. I just felt that I needed to reply to some of the comments made by reviewer Heather McClure.

I urge every single person, whether a newbie or an experienced traveler, to get ALL six Blues Traveler CDs.

And you should get a hold of some taped shows (something the band encourages). The best place to start is always at the beginning. Happy travelin’!

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Chad Davies

Junior

Drawing, painting and printmaking