Camp Counselor Derek Checks In On The Wood Brothers At Their Latest Chicago Show

One memory that stands out over the rest is a thought I had at the end of a long day of stage hopping and dancing: “Maybe before I crash, I’ll go check out that new campfire stage and see what Chris Wood’s other band has to offer.” All I knew was that Chris Wood was a badass bass player and one third of the powerhouse band Medeski, Martin & Wood. I wasn’t expecting for this new project to be the band that I would connect with musically more than any other over the coming 9 years. That year the stage was rickety and the sound – even when turned up to 11 – couldn’t compete with the neighboring barn stage. But come on people, it was a learning process (and that never happened again in my mind). But the music… oh the sweet sweet sounds of Chris’ older brother Oliver Wood. I’m a sucker for good harmonies and these guys have that down. A slight digression – I’ve always had a theory that siblings make better harmonies. Something about a similar genetic structure and cohesion of sounds. I’m thinking Travelin McCoury’s, I’m thinking Oasis, Nickel Creek, the Nelson twins (okay strike that last one – I’m old). So the rickety stage got an upgrade in the following years and The Wood Brothers held down the campfire late night sets as well as adding some prime time presence. [caption id="attachment_22478" align="alignnone" width="960"] Chris, Juno Rix (the brother not named Wood), myself, and Oliver at Summer Camp 2013[/caption] Fast forward to this past Saturday night at a sold out 1,300 seat venue (The Vic) in Chicago when Oliver casually mentioned to an extremely enthusiastic crowd, “so this is the most tickets we’ve ever sold anywhere.” I have to admit, I almost waited on buying the tickets to avoid service charges by getting them at the venue. But when you have a babysitter and a night out with the Mrs. you make damn well sure you have tickets before you leave the house. It was a helluva time. I won’t break down the whole set for you, but it was early on when Oliver said, ‘We’re in Chicago and so excited to be here that we keep playing everything fast.” The set really spoke to me though when they stripped down the stage to just three men, with three instruments and one microphone. The (previously released album title track) The Muse was magical. And following that up by bringing out the openers (the Rigs) to join in on Shoefly Pie was equally brilliant. The single microphone sound did bring me back to 2007 campfire stage. https://youtu.be/_GgeM_vQQqo That said, I’ll listen to the Wood brothers plug in and rock a cover of the Band’s Ophelia (the set closer) any day of the week. And I would be doing a disservice to the evening if I didn’t mention the 1,300 person singalong to “Luckiest Man” in the encore. Another slight digression… I have seen Chris Wood dance on stage many times. The man has moves. However, it was during this encore that I formed a new hypothesis that dancing is indeed NOT genetic. Oh Oliver. It’s been a privilege to watch this band grow each year since that first time I stumbled on over to that (then) new stage. Here’s looking forward to a new lineup in 2016 and stumbling upon my next favorite band at the campfire stage.]]>