Just one of the many delights of an Acoustic Alchemy gig is the perpetual uncertainty surrounding which band will actually show up. In the recent past Greg Carmichael and Miles Gilderdale have proffered their classic nylon and steel stringed guitar combinations as a trio in the company of drummer Greg Grainger, more usually with the addition of keyboards and bass or, sometimes, with the different vibe that a saxophone can bring. Those trusted to keyboard and bass duties have also rotated but on October 7, 2008, as ‘the Alchemy’ rolled into San Diego for two nights at the excellent Anthology, it was minus the horns of ‘Radio Contact’ and ‘American English’ days but with the welcome presence of regular band member Fred White on keys and the talented Gary Grainger on bass. Gary, who is the brother of Greg, has played with artists as diverse as John Scofield and Earth Wind & Fire. Here, switching seamlessly from the merely tight to the outrageously funky, he added immense quality to everything that the band did.
Of course the history and evolution of Acoustic Alchemy has been well chronicled and has bestowed a discography of immense proportions. However, perhaps it was the immediacy of the current album ‘This Way’ coupled with the imminent release of ‘The Very Best Of Acoustic Alchemy Volume 2’ that influenced this Tuesday evening set-list but the emphasis on tracks which often evoked the bands earlier phases found huge favor with the enthusiastic audience who were certainly not there to sit and listen in silence.
Despite this incessant background buzz Acoustic Alchemy used its elements of quirky Englishness to connect positively with the crowd and, amidst zesty Latin infused numbers that sat well with San Diego’s proximity to the border, scored heavily with ‘Jubilation’ and ‘Big Sky Country’ from the year 2000’s ‘The Beautiful Game’. The 2007 ‘This Way’ garnered outstanding renditions of ‘Out Of Nowhere’, and the jazzy ‘Tied Up With String’ while perhaps best of all was the aptly titled ‘Carlos The King’ which, incidentally, is Carmichael and Gilderdale’s tribute to the great Santana.
‘Jamaica Heartbeat’, which can be found both on ‘Back On The Case’ from 1991 and the later ‘Arcanum’, was also extremely well received. It did nothing to damage the special affection that Acoustic Alchemy routinely enjoy in the USA and sent their many fans home happy and looking forward to the next time.
