Galactic Sunday Boulder Setlist and Review

Galactic 8.27.06, Fox Theatre, Boulder, CO

Set 1: FEMA, Aint What You Think, Crazyhorse Mongoose, Hangnail, Bongo the Dog, Spiderbite, Yes We Can (with ALO), Black Eye Pea > Trampled Under Foot > Black Eye Pea

Set 2: Dumptruck, Root Down, Tiger Roll > Bounce Baby > Spaceheadz, Blackbird Special, Doomed, Clockstopper, Licorice, Garbage Truck

E: ???, Quiet Please

This show featured special guest Daddy. The Joker, Professional Keno Player Neil Fontenot, and myself met up with Daddy and his buddy Larry. They were in town for a fantasy football league draft. We knocked back drinks at a Mexican joint two doors down from the Fox Theatre as we ogled at all the hot CU chicks and random hippie girls wander up 13th Street.

The show was all ages which meant plenty of freshmen and high school kids. Neil Fontent was able to bring along his 19 year old girlfriend to this show. Part of the Fox was sectioned off for the under aged kids. No alcohol was permitted in those areas. When you walk into the lobby of the Fox, there's a bar in the center with two doors on either side. We walked over to the right, which is was reserved for the minors. A bouncer prevented us from going in.

"That's where all the kids are," he said.

"I like highschool girls," I mentioned trying to appeal to his immoral senses.

"And I like little boys," added Daddy which pretty much insured us that he would not let us pass.

ALO opened again and we spent less time listening to them and more time drinking at the numerous bars in the venue. For a small place it has four different bar areas. We called AlCantHang for a dial-a-shot.

The G-men opened up with a raw, quick, and funkified set. The Joker and I heard the heavy FEMA in Fort Collins and we dug their new song. It was fitting to hear it on the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Although the majority of that city was destroyed, the unique spirit still lives on especially in the hearts and souls of the members of Galactic who take the spicy flavor of New Orleans music and bring it with them where ever they go sharing it with anyone who wants to listen. The last three nights Galactic took those melodious sounds to Colorado.


Bobby Mac and Jeff from Galactic
Crazyhorse Mongoose is one of my favorite Galactic songs and considering how many times they must have played it over the last decade, each version is ripe with new found energy and enthusiasm. The crowd loved every moment of CM as Larry handed us more beers.

"Sickness," Daddy screamed in my ear trying to talk over the heavy beats from Stanton Moore. "That fucker is not carbon based."

Indeed. I've been saying it for years... Stanton Moore is not human because no person from this planet can play like he does. He's an alien and out of the several hundred (if not almost a thousand) of drummers I've seen play in a live setting... there's no one better around today.

The Joker and I saw some of the setlist before the show taped to the front of the soundboard. We wandered over to chat with the sound guy to confirm some songs from Saturday's show. Due to our high levels of intoxication for all of Saturday, our note taking ability was less than stellar.

Anyway, I knew that Hangnail was on the menu. And it was delicious since it was one of the few songs we only heard once in the three shows we caught. I left Colorado with a new found love for Bongo the Dog and Spiderbite. ALO came out on vocals for Yes We Can, which is a Doobie Brothers cover that they all performed two nights earlier in Fort Collins. It was a high energy version and the highlight of the first set (up until that point). Even the waitresses in the crowd were dancing around for that song.

The boys closed the set with a Black Eye Pea > Trampled Under Foot > Black Eye Pea sandwich. We were lucky to see it in Fort Collins and the boys busted it back out. It was actually a better version, which I didn't think was possible.

During setbreak we ran outside and hotboxed Marco. We waited outside for a few minutes as two wookies sat on the curb. One played mandolin and the other acoustic guitar as they stumbled through a version of the Grateful Dead's Uncle John's Band.

"Totally cliche," joked the Joker.

Daddy wanted cigarettes and the Joker pointed out the mini-mart across the street. Five minutes later, Daddy stumbled out drunker than an priest at an Irish wedding reception as he tried his best efforts to walk and unwrap his American Spirits in the same motion. He was too drunk for both. He put the pack away and started slowly walking back towards us in front of the Fox. There were two instances when I didn't think he was going to make it. He teetered too much to his left one time and lost his balance. Remarkably, he corrected his equilibrium and made it safely.

"Tell Change100 I want to fuck her sister in the armpit," he blurted out as he took a drag off his cigarette.

I headed to the bar for another shot of SoCo. No one else wanted one so I ordered solo. Larry decided that it was improper for a man to do a shot alone, so he told the bartender that he wanted one. We threw them down and went inside.

We had more space to dance for the second set and found ourselves just in front of the soundboard, which at the Fox is the back of the venue. And you know what? The worst spot in the house is still better than being in 75% of a place like Irving Plaza in NYC.

Dump Truck and Root Down to open got the crowd back to a dancing frenzy. My favorite part was when they busted out Doomed. The Stanton Moore tune Licorice was something we heard all three nights.

Quiet Please was a stellar way to end a three show run. I lost faith in Galactic over the years, which was tough for me considering I've seen them more times than the Grateful Dead and Widespread Panic. The only band I've seen more was Phish.

The three Colorado shows restored my lack of faith. The boys brought New Orleans to your doorstep like they used to back in the era where I feel they peaked out... 1999 and 2000. Since then, they had gone through several changes, different singers, various directions, and had to deal with the Katrina aftermath. One year after that vicious hurricane destroyed their city, the boys got their groove back.

I take a huge risk traveling long distances to see a band play. You never know what you will get and that's part of the allure of the trips. I invested money and time into the Colorado shows and it felt good to get my money's worth. I'm excited to see a few more shows before the year ends.