34 years is going to have some impact in more than one way. Yes, they have aged and changed. Not to mention that they have been playing these songs for decades. Maybe you have not changed in 34 years but most have. It is still art, enjoy it or don't.

Is this really what it has come to. Sorry, but I just come at this. Most of the set is a lame imitation of what this band once was. Its slow, out of key and generally lousy. It depressed me no end to listen to this set. Go back and dig up the sets from 72 if you really want to hear NRPS.

www.kyndmusic.com 6/9/06
By Michael Joyce

Three days after arthroscopic knee surgery and guess what? I don'Ât need no doctor, cuz I had some tickets for The New Riders of the Purple Sage (NRPS). The Lycian Centre in Sugar Loaf, New York is a great hall. It seats 677 folks, has a high ceiling and 3 columns of seats. Let's just say I was quite jazzed when I first walked, or hobbled, in to the sold out room.(or so I was told by the venue, see Jesse's reply as to what he saw in the back.]

8:15 and the lights go dim and out walk the NRPS. The band of today consists of David Nelson, Buddy Cage, Michael Falzarano (Hot Tuna), Ronnie Penque (Neon Gods) and Johnny Markowski (Stir Fried). John Dawson has retired to the hills of Mexico and has given the guys his blessing. The first song is a NRPS favorite of mine [as are a lot of them]; a Rolling Stones cover of Dead Flowers and the band is cranking it out just fine in a wonderful country rock manner that only the NRPS can fancy.

I am quite pleased with the music let me tell ya. David Nelson is playing a Fender b-bender Telecaster, a b-bender being a device which as you push down on the guitar the b string bends up in it's tuning so it gets a real nice twang to it. Michael Falzarano is also playing a Fender Telecaster but with a sunburst and a Seymore Duncan pick up at the bridge of the guitar. Ronnie Penque is playing bass on a 1957 Fender Precision bass; a real nice guitar there, a sweet thumper for sure. Buddy is playing a Fessender pedal steel guitar that has two 10 string pedal steel guitars placed together and countless knee and foot pedals. Everyone in this band sings and they all trade places as lead singer, which really impressed when drummer Johnny Markowski sang too. The whole band has talent out the wazoo and they sure showed it that night.

During the break I was able to get backstage and talk a little bit with some of the band. I had a great talk with Buddy about how tube amps are superb, "Are there any other kind of amps?" he said. Yes but they aren't my cup of tea,I replied. I had mentioned a few mutual friends and we had a few laughs, Uncle Willie and Ned Moran were the topic for a bit; I asked him about new music and he said live music is mainly what people want. So we're selling shows playing everything.

Captain Toast, the tour manager and main man announced stage in 5 minutes so I had to exit stage left to hobble to my seat.

The second set started with ÂDirty Business and man did Buddy get that nasty distortion slide sound. He has a hard-trucker cabinet from the ol' Grateful Dead years, fired up by an old Fender Twin Reverb amp with lots of vintage effect pedals to tweak the color of his sound, and some of the songs had great lengthy spacey jams. David was playing his guitar through a 100 watt Mesa Boogie Mark 1 amp, they are really beautiful amps with wooden body and a wicker grill covering the speaker. Michael was jamming through a 50 watt Carvin Nomad, also a gorgeous amp with a tweed covering. As I was talking the pictures I wanted so much to dance around so I just shuffled best I could to the music that moved me. Before I knew it they walked off stage. But after a few minutes the band, adorned with surrealistic clothing they found backstage, returned and gave us the encore of Dylan's Rainy Day Woman # 12 & 35

It was a great show and I will remember it well. I also hope the audience remembers what David and Buddy had mentioned onstage; support the politicians who will support the earth like Patrick Leahy and John Hall.

It wasn't sold out... not even close.
I had my mics setup in the very last row, right in front of the SBD, and I had at least 5 rows in front of me with no one there. Everything else you said is pretty much true though.... except I agree with Buddy, tube is the only way to go when it comes to a guitar. My dads old fender dual showman creams over anything else I've heard.