Adam Brucker

The long awaited reunion of Steve Kimock (guitar), Bobby Vega (bass) and Ray White (guitar / vocals) with John Molo (drums) filling in for Alan Hertz (the original KVHW drummer) who was on tour in Europe. The band hadn’t played together since the late 90’s and this was the second night of two shows.

Some random thoughts:

• Cool theater in an up-and-coming part of Denver. Great sound, tiered layout (so there were lots of good vantage points), and a relaxed and helpful staff.
• Spent the first set sitting in the front row of the balcony for a very relaxed set highlighted by a loose, jazzy interpretation of The Dead’s “Wharf Rat” that went on for well over a half hour.
• The light show that the band projected on the screen behind the stage was unreal and a bit challenging to watch for any period of time. Great stuff but I think that watching it might have taken a year or two off of my life.
• Made it to the front row for the second set and ran into some old friends. Set was much more upbeat with “You’re The One > Pusherman > You’re The One” being the highlight for me.
• Ray White is a force of nature and his voice is so unexpected. Very cool that this guy played with Zappa back in the day. Seeing him was certainly the highlight of the show for me.
• Molo on drums is hilarious. He looks like Bull from Night Court and was dressed as if he came from playing golf. Guy has more energy than most people half his age and his playing fit well with the other 3 guys.
• Bobby Vega had the weirdest stage presence of anyone I have ever seen. Dressed in white sneakers, black jeans, red leather belt, amazingly bad velour shirt, and a custom metal studded guitar strap he also had the worst “dance” moves you can imagine. Guy can play bass though and has a pretty cool playing history starting with Sly and The Family Stone when he was 16 and followed by tours with Bill Preston, Etta James, Jerry Garcia and bunch of other famous names.

{Bobby w. Jerry back in the day. Photo from www.bobbyvega.com}

• Vega also took a cell phone call during songs in the first set. An amazing rock star move.
• Kimock, as always, alternated between looking bored and absolutely killing it up there - he certainly knows where all the good notes are hidden and isn’t afraid to bash the crowd over the head with them when the time is right. Great stuff.

Favorite-Song-Of-The-Night MP3 Download: “You’re The One > Pusherman > You’re The One”