Railroad Earth Steams into the Denver Fillmore on Easter Weekend

Over the past eight years, I’ve absolutely never been disappointed by a Railroad Earth show. So it made sense that I was incredibly let down when my favorite genre-defying band had to postpone their February shows at the Fillmore Auditorium (to allow lead singer-songwriter Todd Sheaffer time to recover from a nasty flu). But after finishing their winter tour in Florida, about a month later, the train dutifully circled back and pulled into Denver to play two “make-up” shows on March 25-26.  Rumor had it that the band was planning some special treats for their Denver fans and about a week before the shows they announced that in addition to including opening acts, The Werks and local Colorado favorites, The Drunken Hearts, the suprises would include Billy Nershi joining the band on Friday night and the Black Swan Singers on Saturday.  For me it was déjà vu all over again since the first two Railroad Earth shows I attended – the ones that had grabbed me and imprinted the Hobo sign on my psyche – featured none other than Billy Nershi and The Black Swan Singers.

Friday March 25

Railroad Earth has been known to sometimes construct setlists that have little bits of coded message in them – to paraphrase “Chasin’ a Rainbow,” sometimes it’s not just chance, there’s a message in the mystery. This was certainly the case for the beginning of Friday’s show which started with two favorites that haven’t appeared on any Railroad Earth albums, the party-starting “Happy Song” and instrumental “420,” written on the set list as simply “Happy 420” – welcome back to Colorado, Railroad Earth! The show taking place a couple of days after Denver’s first heavy spring snowfall, it was appropriate that “Storms” came next, although I couldn’t help thinking that maybe the band was also reflecting on the missed shows and their triumphant return (“but all these storms I know we’ll weather, all these storms we’ll ride together”). Next came a fine version of “Drag Him Down” with John Skehan, Andy Goessling, Todd Sheaffer and Tim Carbone running a musical relay and passing not a baton but solos on mandolin, banjo, guitar and fiddle around and around, all while Carey Harmon and Andrew Altman kept a driving beat tearing along. Next up was the extraordinary Todd Sheaffer history lesson, “Hangtown Ball” from the band’s most recent release “Last of the Outlaws.” It’s an exquisitely crafted song about the California Gold Rush of 1849 told by a succession of men, now spirits of the past, who go west seeking riches but instead find a life of debauchery and wind up being hanged for their various misdeeds. “Hangtown Ball” led seamlessly into another “Last of the Outlaws” song, the complex instrumental “Tuba Mirum” and about two-thirds of the way through, like an apparition from Hangtown, Billy Nershi appeared on the stage. Nershi would remain on stage through the first set’s jammy last three songs, “Mission Man,” “The Forecast,” and “Butterfly & The Tree,” an old tune (about, yes, body painting!) that disappeared from the repertoire for the better part of four years before recently reappearing much to the delight of Railroad Earth’s fans, the Hobos.

It’s worth a mention that from the beginning of the show, a large number of people in the audience on the front rail appeared in 3D glasses, I guess enabling them to perhaps see the show in… 3DD? 4D? But in any case, the band seemed to get a kick out of it and at the beginning of the second set, bass player Andrew Altman appeared on stage wearing his own set of 3D glasses (and a beaming smile). Bill Nershi came right out with the band this time and would play through to the end of the scorcher of a second set and encore. The set began with two of Todd’s older pre-Railroad Earth songs, first “The Hunting Song” and then “Head” complete with a widely-smiling Nershi spinning to face stage right and then left as John Skehan and Tim Carbone threw solos back and forth at each other from one side of the stage to the other. Next up were a trio of covers, ripping versions of Tom Waits’ “Cold Water”, Gram Parsons’ “Luxury Liner” (complete with an “Old Joe Clark” jam in the middle courtesy of Skehan) and the hauntingly beautiful Robert Earl Keen murder ballad “For Love.” After “Just So You Know,” a tale of Todd headed out west “through deserts in the sun, over mountains in the fog” all the while “hanging by a thread” and “workin’ like a dog,” Nershi stepped to the mic and informed us he was going to sing us a break-up song (“when you break up at least you can get a good song out of it!”). The song was Nershi’s “Barstool,” a Railroad Earth debut. Next followed another Railroad Earth rarity, a raucous “I Am a Mess” that whipped the crowd into a frenzy, helped in no small part by the appearance of guest flugelhorn player, Dan Sears. The night ended with a show closing “Stillwater Getaway” and an “Elko” encore that, as usual, had the crowd boogieing and playing cards soaring through the air in every direction.

Saturday March 26

The Saturday night before Easter had the front rail’s 3D glasses replaced by bunny ears, and a hopping “When the Sun Gets in Your Blood” to start the show. One thing I love about Railroad Earth is their fearlessness about tackling topics that few bands do, and the first of these tonight was “Black Elk Speaks,” a song that quotes a Lakota/Sioux Medicine Man as he witnesses the decimation of his people and the death of their “beautiful dream.” Its music is edgy and urgent and cuts straight through to both the hearts and minds of listeners. Up next was another of Todd’s ghost stories “Potter’s Field” followed by a long psychedelic jam that led into yet another tale of nature conquered by “progress,” the steel guitar heavy “Lone Croft Farewell.” The heaviness and psychedelia then gave way to a good old fashioned sing-along in “Came Up Smilin’.” Tim Carbone then took his turn at the lead vocal position for the up-tempo Country-and-Eastern swing of George Harrison’s “Any Road.” The new as-yet-unrecorded Skehan instrumental “Farewell to Isinglass” was next and as the song ended, the Black Swan Singers – Sheryl Renee, Coco Brown and newer swan, Carl Carwell, took their places on the stage as did special guest, the “Infamous” Mr. Chris Pandolfi for a wonderfully full-sounding version of “Grandfather Mountain.” The set ended on a hopeful and gospelly note as the perma-grinning audience sang along to “My Sisters and Brothers.”

Second set began with, you guessed it, Andrew Altman in bunny ears and a broad smile, for a crowd pleasing “Colorado.”  The Black Swan Singers took the stage again for beautiful renditions of “Mighty River” (with a rare a capella beginning), “Chasin’ A Rainbow,” and the exceptionally pretty and rare “On the Banks” which had been played only once in 2014 and not at all in 2015.  One of my personal favorites (and judging by the crowd reaction I’m not alone in that) came next the unrecorded “Birds of America.” Not really about birds at all (no, really) this version featured beautiful and vivid lark, cuckoo woodpecker and loon calls.  “Birds” led into yet another of Railroad Earth’s songs about the state of affairs around us – “Face with a Hole.”  It was dire and critical, a burning call to arms to put down arms.  Andrew Altman next took a turn at lead vocals for his “12 Wolves” a mash-up of his lyrics and the Skehan instrumental once known as “Untitled #12.”  “Hard Livin’” saw the return of the Black Swan Singers, Skehan trading his mando for a banjo, Tim his fiddle for an electric guitar and Andy Goessling on double sax.  Another rarity, the traditional “Midnight Special” rekindled the gospel feel of the show and ultimately gave way to Todd leaving us with a reminder that we all still have a “Long Way To Go.”  The double encore featuring “Peace on Earth” and “Take a Bow” was absolutely perfect for a show that had a gospel feel and pleas for love and understanding throughout.  Leaving the show, my feelings about the weekend were best summed up by words of the last song they sang:

“As the curtain is closing, and the lights are going down Knowing all the world’s a stage, may I say you played it well.”

— David Tracer, Denver, CO.

Railroad Earth @ Fillmore Auditorium 3/25/2016

Set 1:

Happy Song 420 Storms Drag Him Down Hangtown Ball –> Tuba Mirum –> Mission Man (A) The Forecast (A) Butterfly and the Tree (A)

Set 2:

The Hunting Song (A) Head (A) Cold Water (A) Luxury Liner (A) For Love (A) Just So You Know (A) Barstool (A) (B) I am a Mess (A) (C) Stillwater Getaway (A)

Encore:

Elko (A)

(A) with Billy Nershi

(B) First time played, written by Billy Nershi

(C) with Dan Sears on flugelhorn

Railroad Earth @ Fillmore Auditorium 3/26/2016

Set 1:

When the Sun Gets in Your Blood Black Elk Speaks Potter’s Field –> Lone Croft Farewell Came Up Smilin’ Any Road Farewell to Isinglass –> Grandfather Mountain (A) (B) My Sisters and Brothers (A) (B)

Set 2:

Colorado Mighty River (A) –> Chasin’ a Rainbow (A) On the Banks (A) Birds of America Face with a Hole –> 12 Wolves Hard Livin’ (A) Midnight Special (A) Long Way To Go (A)

Encores:

Peace on Earth (A) Take a Bow (A)

(A) with the Black Swan Singers: Sheryl Renee, Coco Brown and Carl Carwell

(B) with Chris Pandolfi on banjo