Leftover Salmon at the Fillmore, 10/30/10

By Amber Taufen Mon., Nov. 1 2010 at 10:27 AM

Categories: Last Night

Eric Gruneisen

LEFTOVER SALMON
With Great American Taxi
10.31.10 | Fillmore Auditorium
Read interview with Vince Herman

Boulder's Leftover Salmon doesn't play together very often these days -- but when they do, Vince Herman, Drew Emmitt, Greg Garrison, Bill McKay and Jeff Sipe are guaranteed to deliver a good time. The guys packed the Fillmore Auditorium on Halloween weekend, paying tribute to several greats of the past in song, but first, Vince Herman's Great American Taxi warmed up the crowd.

Eric Gruneisen

Great American Taxi

We made it there around 9:30 p.m., right when Great American Taxi was finishing up with Bob Dylan's "Rainy Day Woman No. 12 & 35." The stage was adorned with bodies and a backdrop with a disco ball at its center -- a hovering, Mars-like disco ball, with alienesque dancers beneath its glow. I counted at least five Waldos -- he was very easy to find that night -- before Leftover Salmon took the stage. As the DJ spun Michael Jackson's "Thriller," the band members shambled out to the applause, and Herman growled, "Are you zombies ready?" into the microphone. "We're gonna zombie out for a few hours, then head down Colfax."

Eric Gruneisen

Leftover Salmon

They broke into a bluegrassy breakdown, with banjo and mandolin supporting one another, before Herman declared, "We gonna bring the funk." The next song, "Fire and Brimstone," opened with a Dead-reminiscent jam and a saxophone added in. "Ragtime Annie" was played with typical Appalachian nasal harmonies, furious mandolin and a zydeco edge.

Eric Gruneisen

Bill McKay took over vocalist duties for a spot-on cover of Warren Zevon's "Werewolves of London" before leading into a winning country/bluegrass number that involved Vince Herman donning a washboard over his chest and playing it with spoons. While Herman continued dominating the stage, he had some technical difficulties -- like the bottom of his platform shoe blowing out and requiring an emergency tape-up. Someone passed a giant "Leftover Barbie" pink box -- with a mountain scene painted on the inside -- up toward the stage, and Herman stepped inside the box, somehow strumming his guitar while his shoulders were trapped inside. That's skill.