Chad & Jeremy - Sanctuary Concerts -10/25/08 - Chatham, NJ

I need to review this show, and I really can't come up with anything other than this: these Chad & Jeremy shows are less traditional performances than they are evenings with two guys who like to tell stories, are wonderfully self-effacing, whose singing just gets better with time, and are just so engaging that you feel like you're watching some old friends rather than true rock and roll royalty on stage. Of course, in a sense, they have become our friends over that expanse of time since the 60's. But they are so personable that you tend to forget where they've been in their careers, the TV shows, the concerts, the tours, the hit records. For the evening, at least, they project a definite feeling of warmth and family, and I don't know how you can walk away from one of these events without feeling that you have not only witnessed the comfortable nature of their own relationship, but that of their comfortable relationship with their fans as well.

Great show? Yes. They were rather looser that they were at Mohegan Sun earlier this year, no more so than when Jeremy forgot the words to I'll Be Back during the encore. It was at that point, when there was no embarrassment or apology at all on their part (nor need for one), that I realized that just maybe they were into the audience as much as we were into them, and that feeling of being among friends does go both ways.

I was happy to hear The Memory Song, and Tell You Something Else again(these may or not be the actual titles, but if you've seen a show, you know which songs I mean) as well as a new (to me) song called Some Small Town. Chad's guitar playing continues to amaze, the harmonies continue to soar, and the humor in the between song explanations and introductions is warm, and yes, I'll say it, charming.

We met Nancy, with friends and family, from NJ, and finally had a chance to meet Lenny, who's a long time friend of Chad's. And last but not least, Bonnie, who also made the trip from CT. She brought the guys beers for after the show, which I do hope is a new tradition :).

If I think of anything else in the coming days, I'll let you know. Here's the set lists:

Set one
Yesterday's Gone
Willow Weep for Me
Apache
Early Morning Rain
Insurance
It Doesn't Matter Any More
September in the Rain
Some Small Town
Memory Song
Before & After
All the Harvests
If I Had a Hummer

Set two
Homeward Bound
Dog House Blues
Avocado
Distant Shores
Rien Ne Va Plus
I'll Get Around To It
Tell You Something Else
You Are She
Purple Haze
Zanzibar Sunset
Summer Song
I'll Be Back
You Need Feet

And, tell you something else, the new CD. Review in a bit, as I need to study it some more :).