Rocky Mountain Jams

Previously published at the DailyCamera.com

Leftover Salmon helped celebrate the Fox Theatre’s 20^th Anniversary celebration with two shows earlier this month on March 6 & 7. Leftover Salmon was a perfect band for the birthday celebration considering they have performed at the Fox more than any other artists in the past two decades.

The fans of the Fox were lucky to have two nights of Leftover Salmon, a band busy reclaiming its place at the top of the jam grass circuit. The band is nationally touring and hitting many festivals along the way, recently performing as far away as Jamaica.

The Fox shows marked the second stop for the band’s Colorado tour and the band really enjoys playing for their Colorado fans. While at Tuesday’s show I met diehard fans that had followed the band for 20 years and others that were seeing the band for the first time. So Wednesday night it was no surprise to see many of the same smiling faces in attendance.

While watching Wednesday’s show I realized that the band’s performance holds something for a variety of musical tastes. From Bluegrass traditional songs to fast, hard-driving “slamgrass” the band has a large number of crowd pleasing tunes. They can play show after show without repeating any songs. So Tuesday’s show brought another

batch of Salmon tunes mixing both new and old into a fun and upbeat show.

A highlight of Tuesday’s show was the band’s tribute to original LS banjo player Mark Vann with current banjo player Andy Thorn’s “Light Behind The Rain.” It was a fitting and touching tribute and one of my favorite new songs.

Some things I have learned watching Leftover Salmon are: Drew Emmitt, I believe, can play anything with strings and has a perfect voice for Salmon’s grassy sound. Vince Herman is not only a talented and fun musician but one of the best personalities and performers around. Jose Martinez makes

his drumming look easy and fun and he never misses a beat, and Andy Thorn is amazing on the 5 string and is as talented a writer as he is a performer.

It is no surprise that the songs played varied slightly from the set list, here is what I have from a collaboration of several fans.

Leftover Salmon 3/6/12
Fox Theatre, Boulder, CO

Set One:

Ants In My Pants
Muddy Waters
Jokester
Steamboat Whistle Blues
Doin’ My Time
Telephone
Morning Sun*
Delta Queen*
Liza*
Aquatic Hitchhiker*
Otherside*

Set Two:

Mama Boulet
Midnight Blues
Tu N’as Pas Aller
I Don’t Know You
Tangled Up In Blue
This Is The Time
Walking Shoes
Alfalfa’s
Dear Old Dixie
Another Way To Turn
Gimme Da Ting
Hey Joe
Squirrel Heads

Rivers Rising
E:
Brand New Mojo Song > *
Rise Up > *
Round The World > *
Gin & Juice > *
Rise Up *

3/7/12 Fox Theatre, Boulder, CO

Set One:
Blue night
Carnival time
Just before the evening
Kentucky skies
Stop all your worryin’
Everything is round
Valley of the full moon
Sing up the moon
Highway song
Hot corn
Whispering waters

Set two:
Riding on the l & n
Bend in the river

Cheri (?)
Here comes the night
Euphoria
Sharon
Down in the hollow
Light behind the rain
Up on the hill
Get her rollin’
Just when you think it can’t get no better than it does
Ruben’s train

E:
Better >
Rock n roll

Leftover Salmon just cut a new album that is due in the stores later this year and I am guessing we will get the chance to see them again later this year. For more information visit LeftoverSalmon.com.

For photos from the first night click here.