A not so funny thing happened to acclaimed bassist Rob Wasserman immediately after his set with the Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir and keyboardist Bruce Hornsby at Woodstock ’94. Wasserman, who will be appearing Tuesday at Park West with new songwriting partner John Wesley Harding, picks up the tale.
“Our segment went really well musically,” said Wasserman by phone from his Bay Area home. “It was very spontaneous, and I did a solo bass version of `Satisfaction’ with 200,000 people singing along. I was in a good mood because the show had gone so well.
“After the set we were on our way to the press tent to do some interviews and I tripped over a rope backstage. I went flying in the air and the next thing I knew I was lying on the ground with a broken arm. It was pretty terrible, because one minute you’re feeling great about the show you just did, and the next you’re lying on the ground realizing that you’re going to have to cancel a tour.”
The Wasserman-Harding tour that was originally scheduled to begin just days after Woodstock was put on hold for three months while Wasserman’s broken left arm healed. It was only a few weeks ago that the bassist was able to start playing again.
Wasserman, whose recent “Trios” album features him on electric upright bass collaborating with such guests as Brian and daughter Carnie Wilson, Neil Young, Weir, Jerry Garcia, Edie Brickell, Hornsby and Elvis Costello, met modern-day troubadour Harding backstage at a benefit concert. The two kindred spirits have since been collaborating on material together, some of it earmarked for an upcoming Wasserman-Weir album.
” Wes is a great writer with a great voice, and we just seemed to click together,” said Wasserman. “What I like about him is that his sense of melody is very similar to mine, and with much of the music we’ve written together it’s hard to tell who wrote what.”
Their Park West show will feature each one doing a 25-minute solo set followed by a joint 45-minute set. Wasserman says there will likely be a surprise guest or two at the Chicago show.
“I’m really excited about this tour, but I’m also a little nervous because I haven’t played in front of people for a few months,” said Wasserman. “One thing’s for certain: I’m going to stay away from ropes for a while.”
Other concerts of note
The Spanic Boys and C.C. Adcock, Friday at FitzGerald’s in Berwyn: The Spanic Boys’ father-son team of Tom and Ian Spanic gets a new boost with the addition of Tom’s cousin Butch to the fold. The Milwaukee band’s wonderful new “Spanic Family Album” on the East Side Digital label shows a decided slant towards straight country music, but expect the Spanics to blend the country stuff with their usual supercharged rock and rockabilly approach in concert. Opening is C.C. Adcock, a rip-roaring young blues-rocker out of Louisiana.
Green Day, Friday at the Aragon Ballroom: They’re rude, they’re crude, they’re the current reigning neo-punk poster boys. Even more amazing is the fact that Green Day’s “Dookie” album has been lodged in the Billboard Top 20 for some time with sales of more than 2 million copies. Apparently there’s plenty of teenage suburban angst out there, and the northern California trio’s anthems about boredom and disaffection in Suburbia, U.S.A., have struck quite a nerve. One of Woodstock ’94’s biggest hits, Green Day ought to have them moshing into oblivion at this sold-out show. Opening is Pansy Division.
The Battlefield Band, Friday at the Abbey Pub: In the “And Now For Something Completely Different” department, the Battlefield Band will show why it’s Scotland’s premier traditional folk group. Together in various incarnations for 25 years, the current quartet combines fiddles, accordions and bagpipes with synthesizers for a fresh new take on traditional Celtic music. Highly recommended.
Ferron, Friday at the Lunar Cabaret: Long a leading name on the “Women’s Music” scene, Canadian singer-songwriter Ferron is finally raising her profile in the mainstream. She’s been helped along the way by boosters ranging from Indigo Girls to John Gorka, and her praiseworthy new “Driver” album deserves to garner some adult alternative radio airplay. Not for women only.
Evan Dando and Epic Soundtracks, Friday at Lounge Ax: Head Lemonhead Evan Dando goes solo and acoustic in a show that ought to put the spotlight on his songcraft rather than his pretty face. Also appearing is the curiously named former drummer for the Swell Maps, Epic Soundtracks, who will be playing material from his new Bar/None label album, “Sleeping Star.” Word is the two pals may team up for a few tunes.
Pop Will Eat Itself, Saturday at Metro: Pop Will Eat Itself has released a string of hit singles in its native U.K. but hasn’t done much commercially in the U.S. to date. The band liberally mixes samples and electronics with buzz-saw guitars while underpinning everything with lugubrious dance grooves. The music at first doesn’t seem particularly accessible or commercial, but, hey, that was the initial rap on Nine Inch Nails, too. Also appearing are Compulsion and Dink.
Alison Krauss and Union Station and the Cox Family, Sunday at Park West: Even if you think you don’t like bluegrass, angelic-voiced Alison Krauss and her Union Station band will change your mind in a hurry. They’ll be appearing with Louisiana’s Cox Family, with whom Krauss recently recorded the bluegrass-gospel album “I Know Who Holds Tomorrow.”
Michael Hedges, Sunday at the Vic Theatre: Hedges’ new “The Road to Return” album is a fairly low-key affair, but in concert the guitarist-vocalist is a powerhouse. An acoustic virtuoso partial to open tunings, Hedges beats the heck out of his guitars, as he stalks the stage like a new age Jimi Hendrix. Not coincidentally, he does a great version of “All Along the Watchtower.” Lending support will be bassist Michael Manning.
Foghat, Monday at Park West: What hath beer commercials wrought? With ’70s blooze-rock chestnuts like “Slow Ride” and “I Just Wanna Make Love to You” revived to sell suds, the original lineup of this once-popular, if forgettable, British act is back on the road. Boogie on!
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Ninth Anniversary Blues Jam, Wednesday at Blues Etcetera: For nine years Glenn Davis, a stalwart of the local scene, has been doing his part to keep the Chicago blues jam tradition alive by hosting the Wednesday night open jam session at this Belmont Avenue club. In that time, the guitarist-vocalist has seen it all onstage: the good, the bad, the ugly, even the woman who wheeled in a full-sized harp to pluck the blues. As always, Davis and his tight Blues Commission ensemble will play a solid opening set (augmented by a couple of surprise guests), before the jammers take over. Help support a Chicago tradition.
Bjorn Again, Wednesday at Metro: If you can’t get enough of the music of ’70s Swedish popsters ABBA on Y-107.9, this British tribute band ought to give you a smile or two. You’ll enjoy the note-perfect renditions of “Dancing Queen,” “Waterloo” and “S.O.S.” at this 11:30 p.m. show even more if you wear some vintage threads, like bell-bottoms and Earth shoes.