Gail Ann Dorsey Caps My Summer Music Weekend
Did that just happen? What I mean is, this last weekend that just passed. It had a feeling of unreality, culminating in what felt like my own personal Woodstock, featuring Natalie Merchant, Kate Pierson, longtime Bowie collaborator Gail Ann Dorsey, and others in… Woodstock.
But I’m getting ahead of myself.
If you happened to visit the blog yesterday, you saw my Drive-in Saturday Tuesday Movie Review, for The End of Oak Street. I mention this by way of admitting a falsehood—we saw the movie on Friday, not Saturday, but that’s how the weekend started.
Saturday featured a free concert by a Neil Young tribute band called Harvest and Rust. There’s a park near where I live called Freedom Park that hosts a robust free concert series all summer long. It’s located next to a seasonal hamburger and ice cream stand called Jumpin’ Jacks, and last year, while my wife and I were there for, you know, a burger and ice cream, we happened upon Harvest and Rust doing their Neil Young show. And they were really good. So much so that when I saw they were coming back this year, I’ve had it marked on my calendar. I think there’s a tendency to think of free concerts in parks as something other than real concerts, something to flit in and out of, perhaps with a burger or ice cream. But we came for the whole show this time and were not disappointed.
As is obvious from this blog, I listen to (and to a lesser extent, see) many Bowie tribute acts and covers. They range from shows that attempt to recreate Bowie’s sound to those who take the ball and run in their own direction. Because I’m so immersed in Bowie, I don’t necessarily experience Bowie tribute bands the same way I experienced this one. Harvest and Rust sound just like Neil Young. They did the greatest hits, we were outside and it was a beautiful summer evening. I wasn’t looking for dramatic artistic departures, obscure deep cuts, or Neil Young performed in the style of Britney Spears. This was pretty close to what I would imagine a Neil Young concert to be, which is exactly what I was hoping for.
But that was just the warmup for the next day.
Another event I’d had on my calendar for some time was Democracy Rocks 2, at the Colony, which is a venue in Woodstock—yes, that Woodstock, which happens to be an hour away from where I live. The event was a day-long music festival, which also featured local politicians and political activists promoting pro-democracy and anti-Trump issues. My two worlds came together as I got to say hello to a state senator, Michelle Hinchey, who, five years ago, voted to confirm me to my current job, and another candidate for the State Senate, Michele Frazier. Much of the crowd were older, white hippies—several were probably actually at the Woodstock festival in 1969, but my heart genuinely swells with appreciation for people who take part and do what they can. (The “but” is because it was somewhat disconcerting to realize that at age 57, I was probably significantly younger than the average attendee, which wouldn’t be lamentable if this event was simply a concert.)
Anyway, the musical lineup at this relatively small event was incredible. Even the acts I didn’t know were excellent—The Bob Cats (a Dylan tribute band), Marc Black, The Blue Birds, Jenna Nicholls, and Bruce Katz. Katz, at least, was the type of musician I probably should have known—a highly acclaimed and accomplished blues pianist; this guy was not simply a local act. And that isn’t to take away from any of the others, all of whom were superb.
But the three headliners were why I was asking myself if this really happened.
It would be inaccurate to say that I know Natalie Merchant, but our paths have crossed. She and her former band, 10,000 Maniacs, came out of Western New York, where I grew up. She’s a few years older than me, which I mention because, as her band was on the upswing, I would see posters—like xeroxed posters stapled to telephone poles—for their upcoming appearances at local bars around Buffalo. Then, when I was in high school, they hit it big and were nationally prominent into the 1990s.
Natalie went solo with her 1995 album, Tigerlily, from which she performed a couple of songs during this concert. Around that time, I was working for a state legislator from Buffalo named Sam Hoyt. Although Allegany State Park was not in our district, Sam was offended that Governor George Pataki planned to allow commercial logging in the park. Sam drafted legislation to prevent the practice, but it wasn’t likely to get enough support to become law, so Sam organized a campaign to pressure the Governor. He got the crazy idea to reach out to Natalie Merchant, who none of us knew, but who had lived near the park for many years. Much to our surprise, she not only responded to Sam’s plea for help but offered to do whatever she could. And she did.
For a few weeks, Sam and I worked with Natalie Merchant to draw national attention to the situation. She recorded PSAs, did interviews, and spoke about the matter at her New York concerts, which were in support of Tigerlily, which was a hit record. This all got national news, and the State Parks Commissioner was inundated with demands to stop commercial logging in the park before it started. I actually toured with the band for… all of one concert. Then, Pataki caved. We had won— but we won too soon! I wanted to keep touring with Natalie Merchant! Oh, well.
In any case, at Sunday’s show, Natalie Merchant was once again giving shoutouts to the state legislators in attendance and highlighting their issues. Good for her. She also invited Gail Ann Dorsey, who was slated to appear later, to join her on stage. Gail Ann Dorsey and Natalie Merchant??? Is this really happening???
(OK, here’s the obscure Bowie connection—Natalie Merchant was recording at Allaire Studios near Woodstock when Bowie first visited the studio while preparing to record Heathen there. Also, Natalie covered “Space Oddity,” which appears on her 1999 album, Live in Concert).
OK, so, next up was Kate Pierson. Kate Pierson. Yes, that Kate Pierson, of the B-52s, “Candy,” “Shiny Happy People.” Kate Pierson!
And don’t you know, Kate Pierson brought up Gail, too. So now we have Kate Pierson and Gail Ann Dorsey (I should also mention that they were accompanied by Ken Maiuri, who plays keyboards for the B-52s). Kate Pierson still sounds like Kate Pierson. She did some songs that were new to me, but also familiar ones, like “Roam,” which she did with Gail. Would she do “Candy?” How can she do “Candy?” Iggy Pop isn’t here. She did “Candy!” She just sang both parts. Amazing!
As day turned into evening, we were joined by another guest performer, except this one was not welcomed: the rain. No, not a band called The Rain, actual rain. The 35% chance of rain at 7:00 p.m. turned into an extended and sometimes windy rainy evening. Gail was supposed to go on at 7:30, which, spoiler alert, she did, but by that point the rain had driven away much of the crowd. I, of course, stayed, and Gail was amazing. Known as a bassist, she played guitar on this night, mostly performing her own songs as well as a cover of Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down.” For an artist known for her playing of an instrument (which she didn’t play on this night), her voice is beautiful. While distinct from that of Natalie Merchant and Kate Pierson, Gail’s voice is on the same level in terms of quality. And I felt like she was singing to me.
This sense of personalization was not simply because by this point the crowd had shrunk, but did I mention that I just interviewed Gail for my show a few days ago? No, I didn’t and I haven’t posted that yet, so stay tuned. We spoke about some of the same issues that she touched on at this event—electronic distractions, insidious social media, and the evolution of greed from the time of her first album, The Corporate World (1988) (she performed the title track at this show) to her upcoming album, The Appearance of Life.
One of the benefits of living along the Hudson River is, I guess, that this kind of thing happens. But not too often. Your local music festival might be cool, but it isn’t Gail Ann Dorsey, Natalie Merchant, and Kate Pierson headlining at an intimate venue in Woodstock cool.
So, yeah, this really happened.