Hello Folks,
I attended the Dec 9th XMas show in Annapolis at Rams Head on Stage. (I missed the band earlier this year in DC. I'm still keeping myself in the head over that! 4 Spyro Gyra dates!)
Oh well. I wouldn't say that this show was anti-climactic, because it was basically the same songs as last year's concert. The guys put on a great show.
The lineup was like last year's with a little twist as follows:
- "Oh Tannenbaum"
- "Have Yourself a Merry Little XMas", with Jay's intro about him being Jewish and he still celebrates XMas for his kids. He still dedicates the song to Congressman Rathman.
- "Winter Wonderland", with intro by Julio. Julio related the story from his youth. Being from Cuba, he had never seen snow before.
- "Carol of the Bells". I don't remember them doing this one last year. It was a medley of a few tunes: "Carol of the Bells", "What Child is this", "My favorite Things". I can't remember all the songs in the medley. What is funny is that before Tom introduced the next song he couldn't remember all the songs either!
- "XMas Time is Here", with intro by Tom. " Tom's inspiration was Vince Guaraldi and the "Peanuts" cartoon.
-"This XMas", Scott introduced this one. He spoke about his mother from Georgia who sang gospel and then his father came and took his mother away to Frederick, MD. This got a laugh from the crowd including his family members in the crowd too.
We next had an intermission. I don't think they did that last year!
The second part of the concert started with the following:
-I'll be home for XMas". Before the next song, Jay was about to introduce the guest singer; however, Bonnie B interrupted him and said don't forget about him! Bonnie says "They always forget about the drummer".
-"The XMas Song", this was introduced by Bonny B. This year, like last year, he gave a great performance when he sang the song. He improvised a lot during the song. It seemed very up tempo. I wonder if that's how they wanted to play it!!
Next, Jay called for Angela Workmen. Last year it was Jane Monheit. These were the next songs that she accompanied the band with:
- "Santa Claus is coming to Town"
- "It Won't Feel Like XMas", intro by Jay who wrote the music and lyrics to this song.
- "It's Cold Outside", a duet with Bonny B. He was pretty funny during his ad libbing!
- "Felice Navidad", as like last year, the band transitioned into "Morning Dance". That got a huge ovation!
-Encore was "Silent Night"
My observations:
-One of the things I like about Rams Head is that you meet so many nice folks. I sat at a table with couple from Frederick, MD. Tim (an aspiring bass player) and his girl friend knew Scottie. Tim went to school with Scottie's brother and also knew Scottie's girl friend, who was also at the show. Tim, Scottie, and Scottie's brother were supposed to go out later.
- Many times it looked as if Jay was trying to figure out who had the next solo's on songs. He'd look at Julio and then Julio would point who was next. That's how it looked to me.
- You always know when the last song is about to be played at Rams Head. The staff comes around with your bill just as they're about to play the last song!
- At the end of the show I was able to talk with and get autographs from Bonnie, Julio, Tom, and Scottie. Jay was captured in the hall by folks. He stepped out the back hall before I could get to him.
-Bonnie give a set of drum sticks to fan in the audience. That was great!
- Overall, I was thrilled with the performance. These guys always seem to put on a great show and I think that they enjoyed the performance.
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