CAROLYN WONDERLAND at Shady Grove 5-21-09

Every Thursday we're back at Shady Grove for the KGSR Unplugged at the Grove free concert series. There is a pretty big group of us who get there very early and grab seats up front. There are people who come to listen (us) and those who come to party. So, we try to get as close to the artist and away from the talkers as much as possible.
It doesn't matter how often you see Carolyn. It is always a great time. What I really like about seeing her live is she gives 110%, both playing and singing. She really let's it rip!
She had her steady drummer, Michael Lefkowitz along with Cole El-Saleh on keyboards. Carolyn sat down for this show which I don't see too often. Not that it makes her any more mellow but it did change the intensity level for the crowd, I think. What I did notice that's changed since I saw her last is she is paying more attention to her singing, seems to me. She has always just belted it. Now, I notice more nuance and that's cool to see/hear. It always happens to the best performers as they gather experience. You just need to go back to Patty Griffin's early records and compare those vocals to what she's been doing the last several years. Same thing.
That said, Carolyn still rocked the place in a big way! Played a bunch from Miss Understood, one of the best records of 2008.
She had Shelley King come up and duet on a couple of songs. The two of them together are always fun. They go way back and Shelley has a great voice. She also brought up a guy (not sure who he is) to play trumpet for a few songs. Carolyn also plays trumpet, so this was a double shot, I guess you would say.
The concert lasted about 1 1/2 hours. The other thing I love about Carolyn is she really appreciates her audience. She doesn't take us for granted and always thanks us for taking a chance on live music, coming out and listening. All artists thank you, of course, but she is very, very sincere about it. A nice touch.
I took several videos but there are two I like best. One was taken during sound check so there was good light. The second one was her opening number, Long Way To Go. Here are the links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlZ56jmIhWM&feature=channel_page
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzEZt-t9qoY&feature=channel_page