To quote Mark Lanegan, "As it begins, so too it ends." The show opened with the instrumental "Eggroll Stroll" and closes with another instrumental, "Move Over, Morris." Nick Moss & The Flip Tops entered with an improv stroll and go out sounding rowdy enough to start the show all over again. "Morris" is an exercise in groove and attitude. Moss' guitar tone takes on a bit more bite and his solo soars until he intentionally drops the tempo, only to reignite it again showing no sign of running out of energy or ideas.
The thing to do now is forget everything I have just said; forget I have just spent these paragraphs breaking Live at Chan's into pieces. Trying to describe the songs and sounds serves a purpose, but it gets in the way of the higher purpose. It is a shame to break this night, this album, and these songs into their basic parts because when taken as a whole it is all so damn much fun. Little Walter has a classic song, "Blues With a Feeling." That's what Live at Chan's is. This is blues with a feeling, and when the blues is played with feeling the music soars to something bigger than its individual parts or players. Moss and these Flip Tops are fantastic musicians, and on this July night they were vessels in the eternal blues universe. Live at Chan's isn't about awards, and it isn't a crusade to save the blues or to keep them alive. It's one night of blues with a feeling, likely delivered in much the same way Moss has delivered it hundreds of times before and yet different from every other performance captured on plastic. If you asked anyone at Chan's that night if this is the album of the year, they would probably tell you nothing could matter less- they were there when it happened.
Complete Set List for Live at Chan's
- Eggroll Stroll
- Check My Pulse
- I Love the Woman
- I Never Forget
- One-Eyed Jack
- Your Red Wagon
- Just Like That
- It's Good in Your Neighborhood
- The End
- Wine-O-Baby Boogie
- Move Over, Morris
Article comments
1 - A.L. Harper
Excellent review Josh. But I agree with your friend. I just don't like live albums.
Like the new pic by the way! What a hotty!