Photos and Review by Stephen Bloch
When travelling, it’s imperative to have a detailed itinerary that includes flight information, hotel reservations, potentially a car rental arranged, and maybe some idea of where you’re going to get your morning coffee/meals, attractions you plan on visiting, and maybe people you want to visit in your destination. Some travelers may wing it a bit, but that’s not always advised. It can be complicated, but in a familiar city, you may rely on autopilot a bit.
I couldn’t let chance happen on my recent work trip to San Francisco. I had a full schedule, but the stars aligned to make a perfect musical itinerary. San Francisco has always been a city that takes its music seriously. It’s the hometown of psychedelia, but offers so much more. So many options in this city. I had to narrow it down to three.
On the first night, Daniel Donato opened my run at The Independent, and if you’d never heard the name before, you left a convert. I don’t think too many were unfamiliar as both of his shows were sold out. The Nashville-bred guitarist fronts his band Cosmic Country with the kind of loose-limbed authority that takes years to earn and still somehow looks effortless at 29. His Telecaster work, part Jerry Garcia sparkle, part Merle Haggard twang, part something entirely his own, stretched songs from his 2023 album Reflector into long, searching improvisations that turned the room into wild frenzy. The crowd didn’t just listen. They leaned in. Show highlight was most certainly Graham Lesh, son of the Grateful Dead’s Phil Lesh, jumping in for “Cumberland Blues” and “Beat it on Down the Line”.
Next on the itinerary was Warren Haynes. Taking the Fillmore stage solo, the Gov’t Mule architect and Allman Brothers Band veteran delivered two unhurried sets with ample story telling about his time spent in San Francisco and his numerous encounters with Bill Graham. His Gibson rang with that unmistakable tone — fat, deliberate, soaked in Southern soul — and his voice did everything the guitar did but harder. It was so special to hear Warren play Jerry Garcia’s 1943 Guild guitar. The REALLY old head around me were eating out of Warren’s hand. Highlights were the Grateful Dead’s “Brokedown Palace” opener, Elton John’s “Madman Across the Water”, and Van Morrison’s “Into the Mystic”.
The final destination was Yoshi’s for five Grammy award winning jazz bassist, Stanley Clarke. His performed a half a century of reinvention compressed into a single set that defied explanation. Clarke didn’t so much perform as demonstrate what a bass can be when you refuse to let it stay in the background. At 73, his hands move with a speed and precision that younger players study in slow motion on YouTube. The room, filled with young and old didn’t breathe until it was over.
Three nights. Three different Americas. All of it irreplaceable. Good thing I planned this trip well in advance.
