The Guess Who

Lastly, just to wrap things up, I can't fail to mention The Guess Who.

Again, this wasn't on the original agenda for us but after Drivin' and Cryin' we knew they were going to be on, so we headed down to the Huntsville Havoc stage to check them out.

For the past few years, I have pretty much avoided the classic rock acts at the Jam. Not because I don't like them; on the contrary, this was the music I grew up with and I LOVE it. (In fact, put me just about anywhere at the Jam and I'll find something to love; there isn't a style of music that I don't enjoy). But for the last few years, my personal interest has geared more towards the younger, alternative and post-grunge bands. I'm not exactly one of those for living in the past, or for whom simple nostalgia for its own sake holds much appeal.

But on a hunch tonight, I thought, why not? A pleasant evening under the stars and listening to periennial favorite "No Sugar Tonight" seemed like it might be just what the doctor ordered.

However, I won't lie. I really was not expecting much beyond a predicatble "greatest hits" package geared towards the geriatric set. Boy, did I get an awakening!

Yes, the band did perform all of their familiar hits, as well as a few surprises. But from the opening "Bus Rider" to the knockout finale performance of "No Time," the band made these songs as current as anything around today. Perhaps this is in no small way thanks to a very interesting and diverse lineup that includes both original, founding members as well as
a couple of younger players who manage to bring their own stamp and energy to the band.
The mix includes veteran founding members Jim Kale (bass) and Garry Peterson (drums), longtime (since '91) keyboard player Leonard Shaw, and the two "young'un's", guitarist Laurie Mackenzie and guitarist/lead vocalist Derek Sharp, replacing Carl Dixon who was injured in a serious car accident earlier this year.

The lineup strikes a nice balance between the integrity of the original music and the fresh blood and energy that Mackenzie and Sharp bring to the mix.

Surprisingly, though "American Woman" was the song it seemed everyone had come to hear, I would be lying if I said it was the highlight of the set. The best was yet to come as the band launched into a 2-part encore featuring "These Eyes" and "No Time." "No Time" easily turned out to be the most adrenalin-rushing performance we witnessed out of the entire weekend-no mean feat considering that to say this means also including every band we saw that was at least 20-30 years younger than these guys. Okay, so maybe Derek Sharp didn't take any diving leaps into the crowd, but in all honesty, the way he was prancing and working that stage like a true rock showman, it wouldn't have surprised me in the least if he had.

In fact, that closing performance impressed me so much that it is going to be one that stays with me for a long, long time.

In closing, I have to say that if there is anything I carried away from this year's Jam, it's the fact that over and over, I found myself surprised by many of these acts-in some cases, pleasantly so; in a few cases, astoundingly so. I can honestly say that every single act we saw managed to exceed our expectations.I heard new bands who impressed me; rediscovered why I loved several old favorites, and in every case, came away with a renewed respect and interest in all of them.

Or maybe I should say, if the purpose of touring and putting on a live show is for the purpose of "selling" the band, then everyone pretty much succeeded. Out of the entire weekend, there wasn't a single band we heard whose CD's I wouldn't want to buy. In fact, I'm sure I'll be backcombing many of these bands' catalogs for quite some time to come!

Raven Woods