How you are going to salute the album at the Capitol show?
We’re going to play the whole album start to finish, in the order of the songs on the album. We’re also going to try and do some of the outtakes from the session, as well.
I would imagine this is material that, in some cases, has been in and out of your usual repertoire, but has evolved over time.
Some of these songs we’ve played at maybe every gig we have ever done. The band has gone through some changes over the years, but we are now back to our original lineup. But, we never played the songs the same way twice, as it was, anyhow. Deep Banana Blackout is at the top of its game when we don’t try and do things by the book. When we are acting spontaneously onstage we do some of the best work we have done. That’s why the jam scene has been so friendly to us. So, we will play the songs as we would any other show, but we do want to acknowledge the record, and how things were done 20 years ago, as well. With us, the live show is always a different animal than the studio.
Speaking of the jamband scene being so friendly, what did that mean for a group that didn’t start out with the intention of being a member of that community?
It was essential for the success of Deep Banana Blackout. When I started the band, I had no idea about the jam scene. In the mid-‘90s, when we started, it was good timing. People started to research music. Independent artists became a thing people were looking for, coupled with the Internet coming about, making it the right time, right place for us. Because we were wacky, crazy, and colorful- plus, into jazz and improvisation- you could tell we were drawing an alternative crowd, kind of a hippie thing. I thought, this is interesting. It went from being a bar band with a following to a jam band. To us, it was like, wow, there are people coming to the show. That whole-hearted acceptance into the scene, and places to accommodate it- like Wetlands or Gathering of the Vibes- launched the band. It’s a testament to how strong grass-roots marketing and an underground scene can be.
The Capitol seems, then, like a natural fit for this anniversary show.
It’s exactly where it should be. It’s perfect. Pete Shapiro is the main guy, and we go way back with him to the Wetlands days. The Capitol Theatre and other places, like Brooklyn Bowl, are carrying the torch and passing this on to this generation. Wetlands was cool and vibey. He’s taken that to another level with the size and quality of the venues, and the quality of the acts. It’s where the scene needed to go next. And, it’s is a tie to the memory of that feeling. This is that, but 2.0.
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