NRPS~ Bridge Street Live~ December 27th, 2013

A full house greeted the New Riders on a crisp December  night in cozy Collinsville, Connecticut.

The first set was excellent as the set was rich in upbeat twang but also featured many of the tracks off the band's landmark first album.
Dave Nelson and company launched into a rolling " Where I Come From" which set the mood nicely. They next  jumped into a sweet version of " I Don't Know You". It was clear that Buddy Cage, who is battling Multiple Myeloma, was in fine  form and his solos were very sweet, prolific, and beautiful through out the set.

The band continued on grooving with tracks off their first album by offering fine renditions of  " Last Lonely Eagle" and " Whatcha' Gonna Do"  both which featured rich harmonies and that still very relevant plea for environmental awareness. The  band might find it  cool that numerous bald eagles do winter on this stretch of the Farmington River these days.

Dave then pulled out an  old classic " Oh Babe It Ain't No Lie" made popular back in the early 1980's by the Grateful Dead. The Riders next launched into a joyous an rambunctious reading of " Henry". Bassist Ronnie Pengue  nailed it and the entire band pushed it along a barrel neck speed as Henry raced down below the border. Once again Cage soared on this one as his solos were vivid and joyous. This continued on with a newer song " Joy Is in The Journey" which featured drummer Johnny Markowski's vocals and some fine picking by Dave.

They also played some wonderful covers. Guitarist Michael Falzarano made sure that Bob Dylan received proper credit for penning " Lo & Behold" which the audience loved. One of the best songs of the night "Contract" which was all you could ask in a tune, a great groove and a compelling story.
Buddy was in his element on this one too.

They closed out the first set with a majestic " Louisiana Lady" once again featuring rich harmonies and that story telling that only the NRPS can do. The icing was put on the cake with that old Stones' classic " Dead Flowers."

Set II  took off with a barn burning reading of the Hunter/Nelson tune " Barracuda Moon" with Dave really stepping out on it. Buddy played some wild stuff as well. This set featured more vocal  driven tunes such as " Lockinvar", which was drummer's Johnny Markowski's best song of the night, and others that featured great harmonies and slower melodies.  Songs like Suite at the Mission symbolized this.

 Dave reluctantly played " Panama Red" but did share his hilarious efforts at learning the song backwards, since he played the song way too often for his likings.

The  night ended with a fan offering a cool gift to the band, a blanket with Pig Pen's image woven into it.

Dave shared the story, on the search for an after party, from nearly five decades ago of how Pig Pen was bestowed his name. They played a sing -a-long version of " Ripple" for the encore in his honor.

If you would like to make a contribution to help assist Buddy Cage in defraying his recent medical expenses, his  good friend and fellow musical spirit Pete Sears has created the Filaments Project. It features  bracelets made from strings from a Washburn guitar that Pete owns. All profits from the sale of the bracelets will help Buddy.