I Have Found A New Haven
I have been writing some blogs on jam bands and live music lately. I am finding my voice more on the blog and plan to blog 5 times a week going forward. I will continue to use the blog as my outlet for some music content for the time being and got a good response to the Dead & Company recap from a wild Friday night at Citi Field.
Today I am going to recap my trip to New Haven to see Billy Strings & Daze Between (Jerry Garcia tribute) from a couple of weekends ago. I know it is a little dated but it is still worth writing and I will strive to be more prompt with these blogs in future. The fine folks at Westville Music Bowl are doing incredible work at their new music venue (formerly an outdoor tennis bowl) and deserve the support!
I made 2 trips to New Haven back to back weekends and have quickly become a fan. It is hard to beat the lethal combo of world class pizza and live music! The first weekend I caught two JRAD (Joe Russo’s Almost Dead) shows which I talked about in this blog.
I had so much fun at JRAD that I decided to go back to New Haven the next weekend. Live music has been missing in my life since Covid started and I am trying to get my fill before football season starts!
Saturday afternoon, I tried to check out Dave Portnoy’s favorite pizza spot, Sally’s. I got there at 2:15 and was told I could reserve a pie for 7:30?!?! I decided to walk down the street to check out Frank Pepe’s instead. I ordered one of their well known clam pies and it only took 40 minutes. I had never had a good clam pie and enjoyed it.
Saturday night I went back to the Westville Music Bowl to finally check out upcoming superstar Billy Strings for the 1st time. I had a ticket to see him at Tipitina’s in New Orleans during 2019 Jazzfest and bailed. I heard strong reviews on that show and had to redeem that misstep.
Billy Strings takes bluegrass to another dimension and has developed a big following the last couple of years. He also does some covers. I am not a big bluegrass fan but so many people I respect love him so I decided to check him out.
And damn I am glad I did. His show was amazing! He’s one of the best guitar players in the game already, He did a Rolling Stones “Wild Horses” cover that blew me away. He also played one of his biggest hits “Dust In A Baggy”. I did not realize bluegrass shows could rock like that. He jammed out a ton in 2 high energy sets and I already cannot wait to see him again. The hype was justified!
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Sunday afternoon I went back to Westville again for a big Daze Between (Jerry Garcia tribute) show. It felt like a Grateful Dead music fest.
The lineup was a monster! Keller Williams Grateful Gospel was a heckuva set to get it going. Keller covering the Dead was such a perfect Sunday afternoon vibe to me.
Grace Potter was next up and showed off her amazing vocals. Then she brought out the legendary Warren Haynes. They played beautiful renditions of “Friend Of The Devil” and the Band Cover “I Shall Be Released” that were two of the highlights of the spectacular day of music.
Warren Haynes stayed out after and sang the Grateful Dead ballads “China Doll” and “Stella Blue” to close his set as the sun was going down.
There was about a 45 minute break as it got dark and the vibe changed from a grateful Sunday afternoon to a funky night. The night time is the right time!
Lettuce came out and tore that place up with their Jerry Garcia Band tribute set! I am a fan of Eric Krasno and the band has huge New Orleans funk ties with Tony Hall (Bass) and Benny Bloom (trumpet).
Warren Haynes came out and sang a dirty rendition of “After Midnight” and Lettuce closed the set with “Cats Under The Stars”. They bring such a tremendous energy to the stage. If you like horns and funk, you cannot check these guys out soon enough. Jerry Garcia had to be smiling from above watching this Daze Between tribute.
What a weekend of music in New Haven! To see Billy Strings, Keller Williams, Warren Haynes, Grace Potter and Lettuce over two days was such a treat. I cannot say enough positive about the venue. They had good food options, plenty of room on floor/seats and the sound quality was impressive. It instantly has become one of my favorite outdoor music venues and I hope to going back to Westville Music Bowl to see shows for years to come in the summer time. This was the definition of a Grateful Sunday.