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Agents
of Good Roots' Farewell Show with Ringsend at Alley Katz in Richmond, VA
12/31/01
In
order to be a Virginia local music cool kid (of the preppy/hippy variety,
not punk) there seem to be a couple of requirements:
1) You have to be able to recall that time when you or your older sibling
and Dave Matthews used to [fill in impressive-sounding story here] way back
before anyone knew who he was. 2) You have to pledge undying loyalty and
possibly rise to groupie status for one of the central Virginia so-called jam
bands that formed at or around the time DMB appeared on the scene.
Most notably, these bands include Fighting Gravity, Everything, Baaba
Seth, and of course, Agents of Good Roots. While neither my older brother nor I claim camaraderie with Dave Matthews, Agents of Good Roots drew me in the very first time I saw them play. Theres something about the way Andrew Winn stares you down individually while he plays intricate classical guitar to a rock song, the way J.C. Kuhls cheeks inflate as he blows his soul into a saxophone, and the way the band members simply thrive on one anothers playing. So when the group announced an indefinite hiatus to concentrate on side projects and a farewell New Years Eve show, I planned to be in Richmond for the holiday. Local
Richmond band, Ringsend
opened, and their music seemed appropriate for kicking off Agents last show.
Ringsends musical direction has an amazing similarity to AGRs--they
play jazz-influenced rock without letting the music lose pop appeal.
The bands keyboardist, Josh Knuckles Harvey has amazing talent,
and his playing bore some resemblance to Ben Folds, albeit more eclectic.
Ringsend played mostly original songs but also did their own snazzy
rendition of the Stones Painted Black. Agents
of Good Roots took the stage having not played together since before
Thanksgiving, which made their playing even more spontaneous than usual.
Yet, having not practiced, the band took fewer
risks than usual in the way of improvisation.
Agents never jam on a song for which they havent first perfected the
fundamentals, something other long-winded jam bands should take a hint from.
The band let the audience make requests pre-show via its website, so they
played a number of songs that I havent heard them play in years. Many of
these songs were from their only major label album One by One (not the
bands favorite), and included Come On, Upspin, Two Bucks in
Cash, and Smiling Up the Frown. Still, the band did not disappoint its followers who were waiting to hear the live show staple songs one last time. Agents delivered with dazzling versions of Radio King, I Gotta Move, and John Brown, which rocked in the New Year. Shot Down really got the crowd moving with its unforgettable sax riffs. With Agents of Good Roots, it was always less about how good the songs are, and more about how brilliantly they played them; this is why it was never unacceptable for them to play lots of covers in their live sets. This show was no different, as the band did its popular versions of The Beatles Dear Prudence and Paul Simons Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover. The rest of the band left the stage briefly as Andrew Winn played the most magnificent version of Dire Straits Romeo & Juliet that I have ever heard. Fiddle player, Chris Sexton then joined him onstage for their rendition of The Devil Went Down to Georgia. Not one recorded AGR album comes close to even their weakest live show. Unfortunately, not too many bands can get by on great live shows, but Agents did just that in the mid-Atlantic for seven years. Agents of Good Roots break-up marks the end of an era for local music in Virginia, and it leaves a whole bunch of Virginia local music cool kids with nothing to do until Dave Matthews rolls back into town.
You can purchase music by the Agents of Good Roots from Amazon, Insound & CDUniverse LEFT OFF THE DIAL's Agents of Good Roots Page
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