Mike's got it simple because Mike's got two great bands! Yet another great show of full band improvisation, fun and some funk. Love seeing Mike in the leadership role and his band is together. Full communication amongst the players. Great opener with a Dig that got deep right away. Could have segued powerfully from an "Emminence Front" tease but it wasn't to be. Sideways is a newer Mike tune and showcases his lyrical and vocal stylings well. Meat got folks funked up and Andelman's pushed into the ether. Barika (River Niger?) featured some spooky lighting and beautiful world beat polys. The four song run to end the first set featured all five musicians working the nuances and filling those spaces in between. Buckler and Soulfood man were particularly improvisational and who doesn't love Little Feat and a Band/Marvin Gaye tune? Second set didn't waste any time and Couch Lady got even the potato heads workin' it. Jones and Nightclub made everyone know it was Saturday Night with uptempo playing throughout. Good and Lonely featured full band interplay and a nice piano man showcase. What Things Seem has a heavy moodiness that snakes many themes and is a true Mike original. Black Tamborine sticks in my head everytime with it's infectious groove and the place was feeling it. The Another Door to close opened up several spaces we hadn't been before and carried the momentum of a super second set to a close. Before the encore, Mike asked the crowd if they wanted a jazz standard or more funk. The Things That Make You is the obvious answer and it was clear that the smilin' and hip shakin' crowd approved. Great band, venue, sound and a great time. MGB is always welcome in Hamp.

This was a great show and the energy never stopped. They kept me on my toes for the entirety and always wanting more. I had an extra ticket for the show, and last year had brough my mom to a Phish show, which she surprisingly didn't hate, and when I brough her to this show she liked it even more! She was very embarassed when at the end of the show she asked me, "do you have any of his music that I can borrow?" A great show with lots of high points.