As part of last weekend’s Green Apple Music Festival, Tea Leaf Green played two sold-out shows at the relatively new Highline Ballroom in the Meatpacking District.
Sitting in with the band was Steve Adams, from ALO, filling in admirably for new bassist Reed Mathis while he hits the road with his prior band, the Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey. Although nothing in his performance stood out for me, when someone is a guest of a band with the catalog that TLG has, that is not necessarily a bad thing.
I never got the sense that this guy was a fill-in.
Trevor Garrod’s voice, with his drawl and smooth tones combining into something unique, is always a highlight of a TLG show.
Friday night’s show was a mix of favorites, a choice cover, and a number of songs I had never heard before. The standout for me was a sweet “Ophelia” that closed out the first set. For this the band was joined by Hot Buttered Rum’s Aaron Redner on Fiddle.
The Highline holds about 700 people, and these shows serve as an example of how far this band has come in a fairly short amount of time.
It was not that long ago that I first saw Tea Leaf Green on the sidestage at Berkfest in 2004. I remember remarking to my wife that these guys were going somewhere.
Well, here it is, four years later, and they’re headlining their own two-night run in New York Freaking City. Nicely done, boys.
Click here for the entire set of photos from the show.
Set 1: Don’t Curse the Night > Bootlegger, One Reason > The Devil’s Pay > Rattlin’, Panspermic De-evolution, Make A Connection, Las Vegas, Ophelia (1,2)
Set 2: Georgie P > Country Seduction, Criminal Intent (2), Faced with Love > Ride Together, I’ve Been Seeking, Kali-Yuga > Freedom, The Garden (Part III)
Encore: Deep River, Tequila
Notes: w/ guest bassist Steve Adams (ALO).
(1) The Band cover
(2) w/ Aaron Redner (Hot Buttered Rum) on fiddle
Setlist courtesy of Tea Leaf Green.
