Grand Funk Railroad, the quintessential American band, came to the Villages for a spectacular rock show at the end of their 2021 tour on December 18th. The Villages are 17 planned retirement communities spanning three counties in Central Florida. It is the fastest-growing metropolitan area in the country. The community sponsors a week-long open-air concert series in December on the vast green grounds of the Polo Club.

“Can you hear...? Are we clear...?” asks rocker Eddie Vedder. “Cleared for liftoff... takeoff...” as he begins “Invincible” the opening song on Earthling, his first solo album in 11 years. The veteran rocker, front man for the colossal rock band Pearl Jam, brings forth 13 tracks of mid to fast tempo rock songs with enough personal touches to separate it as a solo effort. That doesn’t mean it’s a negative thing.

The Baltimore based jam quartet Pigeons Playing Ping Pong closed out the second date of a two night stand at the Brooklyn Bowl Philadelphia in Philadelphia, Pa on Saturday night with their signature blend of psychedelic funk and an unparalleled energetic vibrancy. Despite a venue change and an opening band cancellation, they soldiered on and delivered a tasty show that included a combination of new and old songs, as well as a bust out.

The Park City Music Hall in Bridgeport, CT is a newly revitalized music venue teeming with emerging artists in the jam scene as well as other genres. It also provided the perfect location for assembling an all star squad of jam band and jazz musicians. Last Friday, Eric DiBerardino from Tea Leaf Green decided to do just that, and invited more than a bakers dozen of his talented musician friends from bands like Deep Banana Blackout and Kung Fu in honor of his birthday.

The end of 2021 brought something that music lovers feared- a widespread wave of concert cancellations. With the arrival of the Omicron variant, jam bands and groups of other musical genres alike began to postpone one of the most coveted and fun types of concert: the New Year’s concert. With no reported cases and all negative Covid tests, Goose decided the show must go on.

Symphonic finesse and elegance was the theme on December 30 when Acoustic Hot Tuna, aka Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady, concluded a three-night residency at the intimate Freight & Salvage Coffee House in Berkeley, California. The enduring duo entertained the crowd with two sets of acoustic blues, roots, and spiritual music – much of it dating to pre-World War II – that was both complex and easy on the ears.

Moonalice, the long-time San Francisco Bay Area improvisational band of masterfully skilled characters led by Roger McNamee, triumphantly played the starring role in the famed Bandshell at Golden Gate Park on December 18 at a celebratory event dubbed, “HOWL: A Collective Cathartic Release Under the Last Full Moon of 2021.”  

Dopapod crushed the second night of their late fall two night run at the recently renovated Ardmore Music Hall in Ardmore, Pa with a signature blend of balance, symmetry and musical exploration. The band was in rare form, and treated the crowd to beloved originals, new covers, and teases from multiple genres. Solar Circuit was on hand for support.

Hot Tuna at the Capitol Theatre, December 4th, 2021, this is the second rescheduled date for a performance that was originally set to be played in July 2020. Now it's a year and a half later and that's a lot of time for anticipation. Almost like my first concert, I still get the pre-show jitters. We've seen this band dozens of times, add in the fifty plus free Quarantine Concerts live from the Fur Peace Ranch and there has been a lot of great music to enjoy.

Last Thursday marked the first show of the first Orebolo tour ever. Orebolo is an acoustic side project for three members of the upcoming and coming Connecticut based jam band, Goose. The concept came about during the covid-19 pandemic when Rick Mitarotonda (guitar), Peter Anspach (guitar, keyboards) and Jeff Arevalo (percussion) were stuck living together under one roof. They did what any talented quarentining musicians should do: live streams.