Grand Slambovians - official free download

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Gandalf Murphy - 2011-06-23 - Acorn Theater

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This was a wonderful venue in Three Oaks, MI. The band got a little playful, performing some of their rarely-played-live material such as a cover of Yellow Submarine (Beatles). Mostly, though, this is material from their latest album, "The Grand Slambovians". The film is up close, unobstructed, and sounds great.

Gandalf Murphy - 2010-07-15 - Vestal, NY

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This is a great introductory film for anyone who is looking for a gentle way inside. Amazing quality! One of my favorite moments in this film is the mash-up of Johnny Cash's Folsom Prison Blues with Pinball Wizard by The Who. Another tune to keep an open eye out for is called "The Great Unravel". This is a *wonderful* performance.

Gandalf Murphy - 2010-11-20 - Ann Arbor, MI

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Gandalf Murphy - 2011-06-25 - Hayward WI

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This show was filmed from the second or third row. The theater in Hayward is a converted movie theater, so the seating is on an incline, which is absolutely perfect. I made the 10 hour drive three times to Hayward to see Gandalf Murphy there. The last time, it happened to be during their local festival. Hayward is also the home of the North American Fishing Hall of Fame. It's a strange place. B-)

Gandalf Murphy - 2011-06-24 - Evanston IL

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Filmed from the first row, the show features an incredible version of "Tink" during which Sharkey (the lead guitarist) plays slide mandolin.

Gandalf Murphy - 2011-12-31 - Middletown,CT

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You know you're doing something right when the house facilities manager stops by during the intermission to see if you need anything. This event was *packed* with people. But, they were really nice people. If you'd like to preview one of the songs, it can be found here. It's a cover of a Christmas song written for Saturday Night Live. Very strange stuff....

Gandalf Murphy - 2011-07-24 - Workshop Stage

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At the Workshop Stage, there are always 8 to 10 performers playing together. Towards the end of this set, they all jam on Van Morrison's song, "She Gives Me Religion".

Gandalf Murphy - 2011-07-23 - Main Stage

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This set, which is fairly typical of their traditional every day tour 2011 set, contains a Bob Dylan song - which is really a re-working of a Woody Guthrie song. They perform lots of material from their new album Grand Slambovians. They also (why not?) close with a traditional Slambovian Christmas song. You'll be phoning the neighbors in shocked disbelief once you've heard it...

Gandalf Murphy - 2000-12-02 - WDST Acoustic Breakfast

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This is a promotional CD that I picked up at some point. I asked their current management about it. I got a shrug and a, "I dunno." This is one of the earliest live recordings that circulates among the fans. And, because it was professionally recorded, it's a jolly good one!

The song "Genius" is about the tortured artists out there - the Kurt Cobains of the world. Fame is a roller coaster. It'll toast ya.

"Talkin' To The Buddha" is one of their big religious numbers. It's very deep and non-denominational. Probably more about string theory than religion, come to think of it.

Gandalf Murphy - 2011-07-22 - Dance Tent

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I posted the 2008 Falcon Ridge Dance Tent set below. This post is for the 2011 set. The 2009 Falcon Ridge Dance Tent set can be purchased here.

In the 2011 set, they cover Bob Dylan and the Ramones. They dig deep into their own past to revive some old rockin' tunes. And, of course, there's a sea shanty or two.

Gandalf Murphy - 2008-10-18 - Ann Arbor, MI

This show is a remarkable one because the set list is so completely different from typical shows. It features a medley of songs from The Wizard of Oz, a Fairport Convention cover song, and a cover of Johnny Cash's Folsom Prison Blues done to the tune of The Who's Pinball Wizard. And... If that's not enough weirdness for you... check out the half-dozen or so sea-faring numbers. It makes me smile just knowing that there is a band out there whose members would deliberately assemble such a strange collection of things together. I went to this show & have never really been the same ever since. (I filmed the show ... but, this audio recording was made by a local taper and passed along to me in .flac format.)
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Gandalf Murphy - 2008-07-26 - Dance Tent - Falcon Ridge Folk Festival

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This is one of the shows where everything just clicks. They yodel. They sing a sea shanty. They sing some of the best psychedelic rock ever written.

Gandalf Murphy has a few favorite concerts each year - and the Falcon Ridge Dance Tent has always been one of those favorite venues. One of the songs that they perform here that is not usually included in their sets is called the Just Like Me Medley. The song that starts & ends the medley is very inviting. They say that it used to be their Alienation song. But, now it is their Alien Nation song. In the medley middle of the song, they run the spectrum from surfing music to Billy Idol to David Bowie to Warren Zevon.

Gandalf Murphy - 2006-12-02 - East Lansing, MI

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This is a show that I'll never forget. I was just sitting, doing nothing one afternoon. A good friend called and asked what my plans were for the night. A whole lot of nothing. Well, he said, "There's a show in Lansing that you NEED to see." Because the caller is an audio professional, and was going to do the sound that night, and Lansing was only about 90 minutes away, I went along to the show.

I have been absolutely hooked on this band ever since. A-mazing stuff. One reviewer called them the "Hillbilly Pink Floyd". For those readers not from the USA, a hillbilly is a person who is often from a rural area and is ... gloriously unsophisticated. The origin of what we could call "country" music is hidden among these people.

Gandalf Murphy will often perform Pink Floyd influenced music, then a cover of a Ramones song, then a sea shanty, then yodel for 10 minutes. Their original music is probably more fairly akin to King Crimson around the Court of the Crimson King period. Some pieces are more influenced by the Floyd, or the Beatles, or ... well, hopefully, you get where I am going. They are a band that should've existed in the 1960s or 1970s, but somehow popped out of the time warp around 2000.

I have flown to Philadelphia three times to see them play. I have flown to New York City twice to see them. I will be flying again in the near future to see them play. They are that good.

Now, some details about this specific show. This was a completely unadvertised, unannounced show. There were no tickets sold. It took place in a coffee shop. So, imagine if you will, a four piece band's equipment set up in the front of a small coffee shop. They took up most of the front end of the store. The audience was probably only 30-40 people. Most of them were probably customers who wandered in & got trapped. Plus, of course, the shop was trying to get customers in & out, serve food, clean tables, etc. It was insane... but, a happy kind of insanity.

I was fully prepared to hate the band. I was just bored & thought that the drive to Lansing and back was a decent excuse to be busy for a while. Once the music started, however, I knew that I was interested. The second song is a "tip of the hat to those great folk pioneers - The Who". Once they got to the third song, Flapjacks From The Sky, I knew I would be buying all of their CDs - which I did.

Gandalf Murphy has always toured in a strange way. They have three primary markets - the East Coast, the UK, and Michigan. I lived in Michigan for lots of years, so I made it a point to go to all of those shows. Some of the East Coast fans have been to more shows than I have. But, I've traveled greater distances to go to a show!

I should also point out that they have such a liberal taping policy that you can grab quite a few of their shows over at archive.org. Your ears will love you for the rest of your life.

Falcon Ridge Folk Festival

I have recently returned from spending a little less than a week on the road, attending the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival. One of my favorite bands, Gandalf Murphy, played some five times over three days. I discovered that, despite having travelled across the country, I was by no means the most dedicated fan at the festival. I took the above photo of a fellow who, clearly, took his recordings very seriously. He is holding a chair over his camera during the rain to protect the camera. The very nice young woman seated nearby is holding an umbrella over the fan to shelter him from the rain. I have never before seen anyone use a chair as an umbrella. Naturally, I asked the obvious question. And, yes, he is an engineer.

The scenery was stunning.... when it wasn't raining.... which happened rather a lot. We were wet and covered with mud by the end of each day. Heck, a few times, we didn't even get out to a decent seat without first being covered with mud.

This is a shot taken in the "dance tent" where some people danced and some people sought shelter from the rains. I especially enjoyed the umbrella with the christmas tree lights on it.

Gandalf Murphy - 2008-10-18 - Ann Arbor - Pirate Ball

Concerts like this one really give me hope for mankind. They seemlessly mix the silly and the sublime. One magic moment that just jumps out at me is their cover of Eric Clapton's "Can't Find My Way Home". They invite the audience to join them in a big ship and just sail away from the world for a while. If you enjoyed their Whitehall show (below), this show is even FURTHER out there. You need a copy.

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Gandalf Murphy - 2008-10-17 - Whitehall

This is one of the very first shows that I filmed with a decent camera. The venue was perfect, the lighting was perfect, the crowd was perfect, and the performance shook the house. This was my daughter's first exposure to Gandalf Murphy - and she's never hesitated to go to a show since. This is one of the finest films that I have made to date.

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Gandalf Murphy - 2008-10-18 - Ann Arbor

This show is a remarkable one because the set list is so completely different from typical shows. It features a medley of songs from The Wizard of Oz, a Fairport Convention cover song, and a cover of Johnny Cash's Folsom Prison Blues done to the tune of The Who's Pinball Wizard. And... If that's not enough weirdness for you... check out the half-dozen or so sea-faring numbers. It makes me smile just knowing that there is a band out there whose members would deliberately assemble such a strange collection of things together. I went to this show & have never really been the same ever since. (I filmed the show ... but, this audio recording was made by a local taper and passed along to me in .flac format.)

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Gandalf Murphy - 2006-12-02 - Espresso Royale Cafe

This is the very first Gandalf Murphy concert that I attended... It was recorded by a local taping legend & passed along to me in .flac format. Among the other remarkable songs is a cover of Syd Barrett's song Scarecrow. They follow it with their own Barrett tribute song called "Syd". This also features an extremely rare live version of "End Of The World". (a flute-heavy number) We learn that one of the band members, Tink, is secretly the daughter of Jethro Tull!!

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Gandalf Murphy - 2009-08-27 - Hayward, WI

This is a complete concert shot from the second row at the Park Theater in Hayward, WI. (It's a converted movie theater.) The audience members were mostly "Baby Boomers". At the encore, I yelled out a request for Yellow Submarine - and they actually played it! It was a magic moment, as the whole audience started to sing along! You can see just that little clip here. Download the entire evening's entertainment (complete with Wizard of OZ medley!!!) here -

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