Posted on August 28, 2017 at 3:34 pm

Some days I can get through what I have to do without spiraling into despondency over this awful president and what he’s doing to our country, to our standing in the world, to our belief in ourselves; some days it’s a lot harder. Monday was a rough one, and I’m very grateful that I had three immensely gifted and warm-hearted collaborators to share the stage with me and help create something beautiful in the face of this madness.

You could tell the kind of mood I was in because I started with “Where Will You Stand When The Flood Comes?”, the battle cry I wrote for racist demagogue Tom Watson in Parade. But Todd and Charlie bit into it hard and brought not just rage but the kind of joy that effortless virtuosity inevitably radiates; when Charlie picked up his melodica WHILE he was playing the bass in order to deliver a cracking solo, the whole audience knew we were going to be exorcising some very frisky demons that night.

After her titanic concert in 2016, Lena Hall came back with a whole new bag of tricks. I don’t imagine we’ll be doing many Soundgarden covers over the course of this residency, but Lena asked to do “Black Hole Sun” as a tribute to Chris Cornell, and it turned out to be an eerily appropriate choice on the day of the solar eclipse!

I started the night off in a black mood, but by the time we powered through “Feel The Rain Fall,” I had found some measure of peace, making music in my favorite place with glorious musicians and a wonderful audience. I’m going to need a lot of concerts to get through the rest of this national nightmare.

Where Will You Stand When the Flood Comes? (instrumental) from Parade (1998)
LENA: Black Hole Sun (Music and Lyrics by Chris Cornell, 1994)
LENA: Cassandra from The Connector (2016)
LENA: A Song About Your Gun (2016)
Fifty Years Long (2015)
Hallowed Ground (2016)
The Old Red Hills of Home from Parade (1998)
King of the World from Songs For A New World (1995)
LENA: Wicked Little Town from Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Music and lyrics by Stephen Trask, 1998)
LENA: Blues: Feel the Rain Fall from Parade (1998)
Melinda (2015)
Someone To Fall Back On from Wearing Someone Else’s Clothes (2004)

Jason Robert Brown: piano, vocals
Lena Hall: vocals
Todd Reynolds: violin and electronics
Charlie Rosen: upright and electric bass, electric guitar, melodica and keyboards

Next concert: September 11, with the amazing Justin Guarini!