Sunday Morning Service at Suwannee Hulaween with Holly Bowling
[Ever grateful to Joel Shover Photography for his outstanding work, especially here.]
The final day of Suwannee Hulaween settled in, with many ready for the Bobby Weir Incident sets, especially in light of the news of Phil Lesh’s passing on Friday.Â
For me, Holly Bowling had THE set of the festival. I probably would have thought so in any event, but this hour-long memorial service was stunning. A friend quickly and correctly amended my description to celebration of life.
Look at the setlist first:
[HB: Bird Song > Unbroken Chain, St. Stephen > Box of Rain (unfinished) > St. Stephen > William Tell Bridge > The Eleven (w/ Box of Rain tease), Brokedown Palace]
If you have ever seen Bowling do her solo set, you are transported to a concert hall with a grand master exploring all of the nuances of the works played. In her case, the setlist usually features tunes of the Dead and Phish. Ob
viously, for this one it was all aimed straight at Lesh. It certainly sounded like a ten-foot grand piano; in fact, it was a Roland DX-2000 that had us all amazed. And, to their credit, the sound engineers had this one dialed in to PERFECTION.Â
It took almost 20 before “Bird Song” completely revealed “Unbroken Chain,” unleashing a torrent of tears (well, mine, for sure). Then she launched into the stunning medley of “St. Stephen > The Eleven” with “Box of Rain” and other gems sprinkled inside. She spoke for the first time to thank us for coming to Sunday Morning Service. What followed was a stunning “Brokedown Palace” that kept the tears flowing.Â
BRAVA!
The entire set is available on nugs.net here.
