Got another big #TaperTuesday coming your way! Check out my pull from Jaden Carlson Band opening things up at The Other Side!
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, my favorite thing in a jamband is diversity and being a flex player is just one of the many ways in which the front-lady for the JCB shines. Jaden’s mastery of blues-funk guitar would be enough to carry most bands but when JCB shifts gears into a whole universe of synth melodies, you can see there is so much more to their sound. I’m a real sucker for a great melody; a single creative vocal turn in a chorus or verse or a guitar/synth riff; vibrations that linger in your mind as a persistent reminder to bob your head, tap your feet or hum out the melody; that’s a big part of what creative songwriting is to me. Sometimes the scene can get obsessed with technical talent and often the songwriting falls to the wayside. But moments like the vocal turn in the chorus “when the lights fade out” in “Past Times”, the main synth riff in “Dataless” or the break-beat piano riff in “Outer Lands” or the staccato chorus interplay in “Machine World” – all these moments and more show-off really fun and intelligent songwriting that the scene so desperately needs. One of my personal set highlights was when front man from the headlining act Steve Swatkins came out and lent his talk-box/vocal and keys abilities to a cover of the Gnarles Barkley favorite “Crazy”. As anyone who knows Steve’s sound can imagine, this cover was as apropos as they come. Really great set from the Jaden Carlson Band to open things up for night one of The SWAT Team at Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom (The Other Side). I believe I mentioned this before, but Jaden Carlson Band was the first live show I saw after moving to Denver and the way their sound has evolved and expanded has been fantastic to see and I can’t wait to see what the future holds. Hopefully more tapes 🤘!
Jaden Carlson Band | 2018-01-05 | Cervantes’ Other Side, Denver, CO
One Set: Mudflip > Mudflip Reprise > Past Times > Dataless, Take It Away, Keep It Movin’, Machine World, Outer Lands, Crazy (Gnarles Barkley)[1], Far Horizon, Last Chair
Show Notes: This set was performed supporting The SWAT Team. Jaden Carlson Band opened the show followed by Watermelon Funk and headlined by The SWAT Team.
[1] “Crazy” featured Steve Swatkins (The SWAT Team) on keys and vocals.
Taper Notes: Stage right of the soundboard. Slightly off-center, Mics raised around 9′. Lead guitar was a bit low in my board feed so the audience/soundboard matrix is about 50/50 since it was louder in the audience mix. Thanks to Jason for the patch!
Thanks to Jaden Carlson Band for having us out to record the show. Thanks to Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom for being one of the best venues in Denver. Thank you both for supporting taping/sharing shows. Go see live music and tip your bartenders! #spacetapes
LINK: https://archive.org/detai…/JCB2018-01-05.AKG.P170.SBD.Matrix
