Set List:
Intro
Season of the Witch
Morning Dew
A House is Not a Motel
A Wondrous Place
Girl from the North Country
If I were a Carpenter
Darkness, Darkness
Think
Early in the Morning
We’re Gonna Groove
Baby Please Don’t Go
No Regrets
Gloria
Trouble in Mind
Evil Woman
High School Confidential (fade out)

Robert opens up the show explaining the reason for the band’s presence that evening. Of course we all know Robert never needs a reason to be on stage.

It’s pretty clear from the opening song; Donovan’s Season of the Witch that these are a group of musicians who are really happy to be performing. There’s a real sense of a relaxed atmosophere as they whirl through the song adding a much funkier groove. Robert said the band’s intention is to permanently enjoy themselves and that is quite evident from the get-go. Fans who saw Robert’s 1993-94 shows might have heard him break into a bit of Season of the Witch during the jam section of I’m In The Mood.

Hearing Robert perform Morning Dew for someone like myself who always thought that the Grateful Dead’s version was the only one, I was quite taken with it. Priory of Brion plays the song a bit closer to the Bonnie Dobson version but they add a rich, orchestral backing that synchs beautifully with Robert’s vocals. The song has since gone through many permutations by the time Robert recorded it with Strange Sensation.

Robert and band blaze their way through a very psychedelic rendition of Love’s House is Not a Motel. It’s obvious from the emotion in Robert’s voice how much of a fan he is of the band. Each PoB and Strange Sensation recording I’ve heard of this classic sounds completely different, but stunning, nonetheless.

One of my favorite nuggets on the CD is Bob Dylan’s Girl From the North Country. If you listen to Dylan’s version, it sounds very reminiscent of the time in which he recorded it. Robert has been able to maintain the beauty of the song and added an almost Baroque quality to it with the keyboards sounding very much like the old harpsichords. I think this song clearly illustrates why Dreamland is so much more than an album of covers. Robert takes a song and completely reinvents it, making it sound as though it were being recorded for the first time.

If I Were a Carpenter is done with a full band, where during his 1993-94 tour, there was just Robert accompanied by an acoustic guitar. It amazes me that just when I thought he couldn’t make the song any more incredible, he does. It works really well with a full band. You get the feeling that the band is almost drawing Robert’s emotions.

I love this version of Jesse Colin Young’s Darkness Darkness. Again, it’s completely different from the original version. The song has a real dark and trippy air to it. I find it hard to believe that Robert feels not worthy of singing it. That man can sing a nursery rhyme and make it sound like a symphony!

Robert banters a bit with the audience. You can hear a man sounding very much at ease and genuinely content performing these songs, making jokes as he introduces the band and telling some stories behind some of the songs he chose.

Moving into some funk and blues, the band rips through a very funky version of James Brown’s Think. Continuing a bluesier feel is the song Evil Woman. This is also another one of my favorites. It’s a cool combination of blues and psychedelia and a whole lotta Robert.

I have a few Priory of Brion CDs, this being the first one I got. This cd is a fine example of bridging Robert’s past with the present. As he said in the beginning, “these are songs that influenced the songs I’ve been writing for the last 30 years.” Listening to Robert sing them is like walking into the library of Robert’s musical mind. You can see how songs came about as well as being a great platform for Robert to move into the next phase of his neverending, always changing career. There’s no flash, no bangs and that’s just fine with me. With Robert, that voice and talent stands quite divinely on its own.

by Lilip