Official "Bela Fleck and the Flecktones" Discussion Thread

[yin_yang]

Originally Posted by The Sean

how am i not in on this thread yet?!

im going to see them October 6th at UB

NIICE!!! where ya sitting? i'm 5th row~

and to the person who asked, Sojourn is really rare, hasnt been played in like 2 years. i suggested them bringing it back to their manager, maybe it will be brought back.

[Dan5290]

At the show I went to, all the guys left the stage except Vic and he was rocking out and then start like dancing with his bass, and spinning it around him and shit. Does he do that at a lot of shows? Anyway, it was incredibly bad-ass, and basically does anyone know where I can find a video clip of that? I really want to show my brother.

[Evans]

get the live at the quick dvd....vic spins the bass during "moment so close"...awesome!

[yankees51]

Haha, the Vic bass spin is a big crowd-pleaser. He's fun to watch.

If you see a copy of his Live in America CD in the store, check out the cover -- it's a picture of him mid-spin.

[yin_yang]

I think Vic has spun his bass at every show since 2000 if i'm not mistaken. anyone ever seen his solo, and then he loops it, but the audience doesnt notice, and then he takes his hands off the bass, and they all realize he wasn't playing for a while, thats a crowd-pleaser as well. LOVE IT!

[dancergirl40ky]

Originally Posted by Chaykak

Albany in October Can't wait, it'll be my first show. I'm jusy pissed that I'm missing the acoustic planet tour... I love Keller Williams too. Live Art and Little Worlds are two of my favorite albums of all time

Keller Williams was awesome last night. The weather did hold out and it was a great evening.

[dancergirl40ky]

Originally Posted by Dan5290

At the show I went to, all the guys left the stage except Vic and he was rocking out and then start like dancing with his bass, and spinning it around him and shit. Does he do that at a lot of shows? Anyway, it was incredibly bad-ass, and basically does anyone know where I can find a video clip of that? I really want to show my brother.

He did it last night, I have a hard time watching anyone else.

[dancergirl40ky]

The encore last night with Bela and the Flecktones, Yonder Mountain String Band and Keller Williams all at once, was pretty overwhelming. Great stuff, I was exhausted when it was over.

[Dan5290]

Originally Posted by dancergirl40ky

The encore last night with Bela and the Flecktones, Yonder Mountain String Band and Keller Williams all at once, was pretty overwhelming. Great stuff, I was exhausted when it was over.

Right on! That was the best display of musicianship I've ever seen live. Wow, was all I could say after that.

[bbycrei]

Originally Posted by yankees51

Sojourn is pretty rare. It's possible, but don't count on it.

When I saw them @ GWU in DC they had a solo w/ Vic and then Jeff came out. Eventually that riff came up and everyone played the middle portion of the song.

[bbycrei]

http://www.flecktones.com/boards/top...74&whichpage=2

There's my review for last night.

[dancergirl40ky]

My camera is not so great, but here are a few from Saturday night.

[yin_yang]

The one with the Cosmic Flying Hippo is definitly my favorite!

What's the camera you are using? the stage shots look really unfocused and have really bad resolution, but nice try, i wish i could post some stage pics, but i didn't use a digital camera for stage shots. Some of my pics are awesome though.

[bbycrei]

Screw it here's my review from Merriweather:

Well I just got back and WOW. That was one of the best concert experieces I have ever had. Seeing that much music was awesome and each band got better through the show.

Seats: I was 2nd row just left of center.

Del McCoury Band: Old school bluegrass. The guys all came dressed up in shirt, tie and pants. I was impressed they didn't sweat to death because it was so hot out. But what was cool was that they had 2 mics where everyone gathered around and played.

Sam Bush Band: I was very impressed w/ this band. Didn't sound the same and each band member was outstanding. The bass player was quite sick, the guitarest was quite good, the drummer sat back there behind Sam's gear and wasn't to be seen, and Sam was awesome. Bela came out and guested on a song. What was funny was that between songs they were teasing some AC/DC and Flecktone's Puffy. Sam joked around that those bands wouldn't tease their stuff. They played well over thier limit but was still awesome to watch and listen
Set from setlist:
Mahavishnu
Miss Me
Spirit
Bananas (with nice crowd interaction)
King
Same Ol
Funk 55 (where Bela came out and guested)


Yonder Mountain String Band: Young players and this is really where the energy in the crowd picked up. I was into them but wasn't like the rest of the crowd. These guys jamed out a lot. One song I swear went on for like a half hour. They were really into thier music and looked like they had a great time. Had some people in the crowd complaining that people in front of them were blocking them (but what do you expect everyone to sit down?) It added to some fun.

Years w/ Rose ->
Raleigh
Love U Enough
Hole
Mental Breakdown
No Expectorants w/ Bela
OTR->
Lookin' Back ->
OTR ->
K. Dub

Keller came out w/ the last song and the energy picked up again. I was up grooving along w/ most of Keller's stuff. I was a lot more into it since I had seen him before and knew what to expect. Jeff came in and guested w/ the flute for a song. At the end of his set, he started playing every instrument he had w/ him. Then he picked up his djembe and the Flecktones started arriving on stage.

Now at this time I was able to find a hole in the front row and made my way to front row center. The Flecktone set was hot. Lots of fun, lots of energy and everyone had a great time. No normal solo's this time but just great fun.

Setlist from what I remember:
Earth Jam
Big Country
Bill Mon (w/ Sam Bush on the fiddle)
Stomping Grounds (w/ Sam Bush on the mandolin)
It's kinda fuzzy here I know these aren't in order (or are they?).
Flight of the Cosmic Hippo w/ Keller
Scratch and Sniff
Moment So Close

The encore had Bela and the banjo player from Yonder Mountain doing a duet together. Bela looked all serious and the YM banjo player was going nuts acting like "WOW I'm playing w/ Bela right now." Then everyone came out. They played Come Together, Starirway to Watchtower, and then Foggy Mountain Special. This had all 4 bass players passing the stand up bass to each other by running around the gear and grabbing it quickly. Then every bass player played some portion of the bass.

I took at least 70 pics but not many of them came out well. I'll look at them again and clean some up and see what I can do w/ the blurey ones. The band was even out after the show. I asked each member what they were doing during the break and Bela didn't know exactly, Futch was working on his solo stuff, Jeff w/ the Mutet, and Vic doing as little as possible. Issah Williams was even there afterward (nice memory from the last time I saw the Flecktones @ GWU in DC).

I had and awesome time and I hope I can find some time to see the band one more time before the end of the year. But thank you Flecktones and everyone else for an awesome show and for me the end of an awesome summer.
There were 8 rigs up so a copy of the show will be out in its entirity soon. Look on bt.etree.org soon probably.

And the show is up at Bt.etree.org now.

[Jimithing2005]

saw Bela Fleck and the Flecktones and Keller Williams last night, it was an amazing show, the bassist from Yonder Mountain String Band and Victor Wooten were both playing the same upright bass at one point, it was awsome.....i hate to say it, but it was better than the DMB show i went to this summer in Va Beach...

[jeffro898]

Seein Acoustic Planet Sunday, can't wait!

[brendangen412]

everyone please petition for keller williams to somehow make some god like appearance at the show i go to at the end of september. that would be fuckin headstash, although i am looking forward to seeing bela fleck totally uppercut some people with his banjos

[FireDancerDMB41]

I've been wanting to get into them for awhile now...any suggestions on a first cd?

[brendangen412]

download some concerts off of archive.org so you can see if you like them before you go spending money on a CD. 4/25/04 is good. or find the song sojurn of arjuna somewhere, its a nice segue from DMB into BFFT

[yin_yang]

Originally Posted by brendangen412

download some concerts off of archive.org so you can see if you like them before you go spending money on a CD. 4/25/04 is good. or find the song sojurn of arjuna somewhere, its a nice segue from DMB into BFFT

i backup 4/25/04, by far the best recording and concert of '04 IMO. awesome heidi and mudlingers to start off the show!

Is anyone aware the flecktones are not touring in '05, and that they might do a dmb-type festival (smaller scale) on new years? i'd really like to go if they did that!

[greg87lax]

hey guys, havent been able to get on ants in a while...i saw bela and the flecktones at dancin in the dist on the 28th...absolutely amazing, i got to meet victor and jeff before the show, very down to earth awesome guys...was that the same show you were at stace? anyone else?

[brendangen412]

just cause im such a cuddling type of guy, is there a fleck-cuddle phenomonon, much in the dave-head style?

[yin_yang]

Originally Posted by brendangen412

just cause im such a cuddling type of guy, is there a fleck-cuddle phenomonon, much in the dave-head style?

huh? what do you mean? :

[OklahomaMama]

i found this site for a dear buddy:

http://www.bluegrassworks.com/forum/

[yin_yang]

Originally Posted by OklahomaMama

i found this site for a dear buddy:

http://www.bluegrassworks.com/forum/

never posting there

[brendangen412]

Originally Posted by yin_yang

huh? what do you mean? :

Dave-head, as in lots of people get oral pleasure after a DMB concert. i was wondering if there was a similar phenomonon with the flecktones. does it just make the people go ape shit horny?

[yin_yang]

hmmmm one thing that has always turned me off about BFFT is there are too many casual fans. I mean, I know they are jazz, but I wish they had an atmosphere like @ DMB concerts. BFFT shows are always so formal. everyone sits down, and noone stands up if they are playing indoors. I want to stand up and dance and scream, but everyone would think I'm phsycho. I realize 40 year old fans can't do that, but still, I drema if a BFFT show where everyone is dancing!

To answer your question, probably does turn on some people, but I can't see into their bedrooms after the show

P.S. I'd also like to give props to the band for bringin' out Zenergy, New South Africa and Sojourn Of Arjuna over the past few weeks...FINALLY!!!

[brendangen412]

Originally Posted by yin_yang

P.S. I'd also like to give props to the band for bringin' out Zenergy, New South Africa and Sojourn Of Arjuna over the past few weeks...FINALLY!!!

OH BOY!! I hope they play Sojurn at my concert

[greg87lax]

at the concert a few weeks ago EVERYONE was dancing...more than at DMB concerts probably just because there were no seats. anyway, there was a ton of energy and the crowd was crazy

[yin_yang]

Originally Posted by greg87lax

at the concert a few weeks ago EVERYONE was dancing...more than at DMB concerts probably just because there were no seats. anyway, there was a ton of energy and the crowd was crazy

well, yeah, at outdoor venues with no seats, like a festival, the crowds are always awesome, but i'm talking about theaters, like formal theaters. i went to a concert with balconies and red velvet seats and all that, like a ballet-style theatre. there, noone stood a tall, and someone would occasionaly scream 'woot' or 'yeah!'. the crowd was almost totally dead, 40somethings with their wives in ties and such. wheres the energy?