Taper Tim's Review
Well I ventured out from my sick bed to the gig last night at the Harvest Moon in New Brunswick. This was the second show with Mike Greenfield on drums. Again, Mike did a bang up job! - holding a good groove, adding a flash here and there, and getting more and more accustomed to the intricacy of the Suns jamming machine.

Very low attendance last night - where was everyone??? At 11:00 pm just before the band got cranking for the first set, I said to Mark, "well, the bar is sort of full, but I don't think I recognize more than just a few faces." Sooooo, I guess a bunch of new folks got exposed to Juggling Suns last night - and that's not a bad thing, but it was still a rather week turnout.

All in all, it was a good show, but probably not a great one. It's tough to generate lots of energy when 1/2 the band is sick, but there were some definite highlights. Strong versions of Dear Prudence and a trippy Laced in Silver were my first set highlights. A great (?) version of Cats are the Martians opened the second set, followed by a "strange" (or at least a unique) interpretation of Mystery Train. A really good job by Bruce on Get Back, with an interesting twist into I Know You Rider. Obsession was definitely a second set highlight - it went to new and unexplored places.

As a side note, I continue to marvel at the fans reaction to Suns. (Last night I was able to sit on the sidelines for most of the show, which made it easier to deal with this damn cold - sure I wanted to dance, but low energy was a major deterent.) At any rate, just sitting back watching the reaction of new folks to the Suns is a blast! Seeing the first signs of "aaaaahhhhh, these guys are pretty damn good" from new smiling faces is always a real treat for me. What's most encouraging is how well received the Suns originals are received. I still contend that the Suns sound is fresh (despite the actual age of some of the originals) in this day of jambands all sounding like Phish. I still contend that it is the Suns originals, more so than their excellent treatment of covers, that holds the key to moving this train forward to higher grounds.