Village Trip concert at Washington Square
draws big crowd
Square Park, the musician couldn’t have
been happier.
“This is my son’s front yard,” he told
us before walking home. “I’m working
on a musical set in the park, dealing
with its history.”
After a brief reading by Mary Lee
Kortes from her book “Dreaming of
Dylan,” husband-and-wife team Connie
Lynn Petruck and Christmas Davis
(a.k.a. The Tall Pines) followed Earle
The Tall Pines (l. to r.) Julia Joseph, Marcy Harriell
(hidden), Katia Floreska, Connie Lynn Petruck and
Christmas Davis, Jeremy Chatzky and Eric Ambel.
with a rocking set as the sun went down.
They began their set as a duo, but expanded
to include, variously, Tammy Faye Starlite
(channelling Nico), Jeremy Chatzky on bass,
Eric Ambel on guitar and backup singers Julia
Joseph, Marcy Harriell , Katia Floreska
with Mary Lee Kortes. A rousing version of the
Stones classic “Gimme Shelter” left the crowd
calling for an encore just as their time was up.
A quick negotiation with concert producer
Danny Kapilian gave them a little extra time.
“We’ve got two minutes!” announced Connie,
and they used it well.
BY BOB KRASNER
The second-annual Village Trip
concert in Washington Square
Park on Sept. 28 looked like a
success, judging by the audience who
listened raptly to Marc Ribot, sang
along to Steve Earle, and danced to
The Tall Pines.
Ribot, primarily an electric guitarist
whose resume includes stints with,
among others, Tom Waits, John Zorn,
Elvis Costello, the Lounge Lizards,
Diana Krall, Wilson Pickett and Elton
John as well as numerous solo albums,
chose to perform on an acoustic guitar.
“It was dumb of me,” he admitted after.
“Next time, I’ll bring a huge amp.”
Nevertheless, the crowd hung on every
note as he played a set that included
two pieces by Frantz Casseus, his first
guitar teacher.
“After a lesson, Frantz and I would
sit on a blanket here in the park, playing
our guitars and hoping someone
would listen,” Ribot recalled after the
show. “That was 50 years ago.”
Earle, a singer/songwriter from Texas,
made Greenwich Village his home
14 years ago.
“I’m going to live here till I die,” he
told the crowd, which organizers estimated
to be about 1,000 people.
His set began with Woody Guthrie’s
“This Land is Your Land” (“I always
wanted to sing that song in this park,”
he said) and worked its way through
original tunes about drugs, guns, lost
loves and, occasionally, politics.
Although the talkative and generally
outspoken Earle stayed out of current
events in his banter, a song like “City
of Immigrants” summed up his feelings
about that subject perfectly.
As for performing in Washington
“Do you like to dance ?” asked Chris of
the Tall Pines (seen in back on stage).
Apparently, the answer was yes.
PHOTOS BY BOB KRASNER
Steve Earle had many in the crowd singing along
Mary Lee
Kortes reading
from her
book “Dreaming
of Dylan”
, which is a
compilation
of 115 dreams
about Bob
Dylan.
16 October 3, 2019 TVG Schneps Media