We saw Jake last evening at the University of Connecticut. The show was great as always with a few new pieces. They did Time Of The Season by The Zombies. A real blast from my youth.
The guitarist and bassist were a very nice addition. I didn't realize he had added the guitarist. I can't recall his name unfortunately. Nolan Verner, the young man who plays bass is a very fine player.
The guy who manages the theater at UConn also teaches a class based on communication through the arts. He had an idea to have the entire class learn Wipeout on the ukulele. They contacted a nearby Guitar Center in Manchester Conn. and got ukuleles for all of the students as well as someone to teach them. It turned out that I knew the guy who taught the class. Chris Spada works for Guitar Center and he is in charge of the lesson dept. I met him 4-5 years back at the Guitar Center in Southington Conn. Chris is a very fine guitar and ukulele player and a great guy. Chris and the entire class opened the sow by playing Wipeout with Jake. They had a ball, you could see it on their faces. I know Chris was in 7th heaven as well. I got to spend some time after the show catching up with him.
Jake came out after to shake hands, sign cd's and pose for pictures. We really lucked out last night. We were near the end of the reception line which was very long. There were 5-7 people behind us and they decided to leave at some point leaving us at the very end. I had purchased the Nashville Sessions cd for a friend and just wanted Jake to sign it. He was in a chatty mood and we ended up talking with him for bout 10 minutes. My wife is from Hawaii, when two people from Hawaii meet up far from home they have to stop and talk story.
A great night and well worth the 70 mile drive to hear him again.
