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.

Papadosio, five-piece improv-based jamtronica, curated a comprehensive audiovisual experience to stimulate a full-sensory empiricism. Papadosio was supported by a stellar musical lineup (Random Rab, Atyya, Blossomn), all facilitating the appearance of a hefty Denver-based live painting lineup (Emily Kell, Jake Amason, Krystelyez, Morgan Mandala, Mr. Melty, Peter Westerman, Randal Roberts, Seth McMahon, Stephen Kruse, Sweet Melis).

lespecial returned to Denver, Colorado for the second leg of their “RepeaTOUR” December 2nd at Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom. Denver was the first of the band’s four-night Colorado run. The night held a reprise of metal in the air, while Lespecial showcased a wide variety of originals, covers, and epic sequences. Lespecial excelled in the continued exploration and delivery of their latest album, Ancient Homies.

Leftover Salmon has been doing their thing since 1989. They have endured many weird and unpredictable times as a band, there have been personal changes, hiatus time from touring, but the one thing that stays true and consistent is the magic of their music. Formed in 1989 in Boulder, Colorado LOS has broken the genre barrier - if you dig rock, country, bluegrass, slam-grass, zydeco and jam, this is your band!

On November 20th, jamgrass instigators Yonder Mountain String Band made their way to the north country in Colorado for the final night of their extensive 5 week, twenty-three show, cross country fall tour. As expected, the quintet gave it their all to the regional Kinfolk, delivering a fantastic two-set throw down to a sold-out crowd at Washington’s in Fort Collins.