Set Two: Tongue n Groove, Hey Man, A New Africa, Five B4 Funk > Many Rivers to Cross, Watching the River Flow, Take Me to the River

Greetings from the ever so beautiful Portland, Maine. What a lovely city it is. We arrive in front of Cumberland County Civic center as a college graduation commences. A bit overwhelmed by the amount of people, some of us make our way into the city explore. Port City Music Hall is a cool room. Large windows open to the street offer a taste of what’s to come for the evening.

For one such as myself who loves Steve’s slower songs, Set Two’s opener brought an ear-to-ear smile. “Tongue n Groove” kicks off the set with grace, leading into a new original, “Hey Man.” “A New Africa,” which now takes on many different personalities, sets the crowd into a groove. Bernie closes the show out with a soulful “Watching The River Flow,” followed by a memorable ”Take Me To the River.” Bernie’s voice comes out strong, not touched by time…

“Super collider of musical energy and you bring to the table pretty much everything.”
- Wally Ingram

“I am going on an adventure playing with Steve Kimock. First of all, he inspires me, and I get to go on an unexpected trip. This is a brilliant band, and I am grateful.”- Bernie Worrell

Set one: Five B4 Funk, Thing One, (Andy Hess on bass), Tangled Hangers, Talk About It, Blues (with Bobby Bryan on guitar and vox), Standing On Sacred Ground, (with Bobby Bryan) Take Me To The River, (with Bobby Bryan)

Set two: TLC (with John Popper and Andy Hess) with Drums, You’re The One, (with John Popper), Many Rivers To Cross (with John Popper), Family Tree (with Bobby Bryan and Violin Red), Hot Mama (with Bobby Bryan and violin with aqualung teases)

Encore: Sleepwalk

What a beautiful day in Brooklyn. Spirits are high for the show. What is to be expected of tonight’s show is tossed aside and left to fate alone. Brooklyn Bowl is a very cool venue–not your normal set up. The stage is located to the left the room, as to the right is a full on bowling alley.

The show isn’t just your ordinary show. All-star guests including Bobby Bryan and John Popper grace the stage this evening. The show kicks off with Kimock’s originals Five B4 Funk and Thing One with Andy Hess on bass. Tangled Hangers is a sigh of relief–the calm before the storm of blues. Bobby Bryan takes the stage with some blues jams.

Second set kicks off with a new number, TLC which John Popper and Andy Hess help the band to kick into overdrive. John Popper also helps the performance of Many Rivers to Cross one that will stay with me till the end of time. You can see that Steve and John are on the same cosmic plane feeding off each other. From the highs and lows of the song, you’d think that they had rehearsed this a million times. But they didn’t. This is just one of those moments in time that one can hold on to and say “Hey man, I was there.”

The show closes with one of my favorite of Steve’s cover songs, Sleepwalk. A classic tune that can never be played-out as far as I’m concerned. Thanks to Bobby Bryan, Andy Hess and John Popper for making this show a breath of fresh air!

Fairfield, CT

Set One: Steve’s Sad Guitar for Angelo > Blues Jam > Watching the River Flow, Bad Hair, TLC, Tangled Hangers

Set Two: You’re The One, High and Lonesome > Ice Cream, Stella Blue

As we arrive in my old hometown of Fairfield, CT, the clouds part way to blue skies.  Positive vibrations are blowing wild and free. The venue this evening provides a very up close and personal stage. Its rows of seats surrounding the stage create a vey intimate, at-home feel. XVSK opens the show with some real powerhouse songs. They are well-received by the crowd, and invite Steve and Bernie up for the last song.

Steve kicks off the show with a tribute to a fallen friend, Angelo. You could hear a pin drop as Steve serenades us with an acoustic improv instrumental on a beloved Dobro.  As the light hits his guitar it takes on a spiritual look that sets the tone. A new song called “TLC” (Tastes Like Chicken) is played and met with enthusiasm this evening. And it’s always great to see a crowd as tuned-in and respectful as Fairfield’s.

Like I said in the previous post, this tour is jam-packed with reworked classics. That is pretty evident tonight, as “Tangled Hangers” melts some faces in the first set. During the second set a personal favorite of mine, “High and Lonesome,” showed its face. Like visiting with an old friend, it brought me to a place of calm and peace. Because of the very fresh and different feel to the song, I almost did not know what it is at first.

The band is super tight as they bring the tune up and down as they delve into another personal favorite, “Ice Cream.” Steve and the guys close the show with another tribute to a fallen friend, “Stella Blue.” People in the crowd are ecstatic as they hum or sing along with the song.

Just want to thank Fairfield for an amazing, sold out show to help kick off this tour with great energy and spirit.

Sound-check: High and Lonesome, cool Blues Jam, Crazy Engine, Baby Baby, One For Brother Mike, Red Hot Mama

Set one: SK Solo raga; Five B4 Funk, Nana’s Chalk Pipe, Sun Sun Sun, Watching the River Flow, TLC Tongue n Groove

Set two: It’s Up to You, Crazy Engine, A New Africa, Many Rivers to cross, Long Form Part Four, Red Hot Mama

Greetings friends!! Welcome to our tour blog, where you will find set-lists as well as some select photos/audio. This is just a little glimpse of what happens on this epic spring tour. Tour kicked off Wednesday with a home town show at ArtsQuest in Bethlehem, PA. Strong history with that venue. Very industrious backdrop to a great stage. The band takes stage to a eager crowd. Lots of familiar faces as friends and family sit with fans to watch the show.  Steve starts the show with a hypnotic solo acoustic raga into a fan favorite that is Five b4 funk.
Its beautiful to see a crowed that’s so familiar with Steves music. I had the blessing to hear from alot of people who had grown up with Steve and knew from then on that his path in life was paved by music.

Tongue n groove brought alot of people to there feet as they swayed in unison. It was cool to see Crazy Engine played, which was introduced during the tour in 2009. Lots of great songs from Steves musical catalog on this tour. Mixed in with some new works older but revamped tunes will show there faces along this tour. Stay tuned each show for some select tracks, videos, and of course photos to be uploaded to this blog.