Yonder Mountain String Band at Belly Up, 1-20-23 Concert Review

Yonder Mountain String Band put on another excellent concert last night. This was down at Belly Up in Solana Beach, California. The show was sold out, and there were several people outside looking for tickets when the venue opened. And the place filled up quickly. There was a good energy among the crowd. Like the show the previous night, the audience was made up of nearly all ages (just no one under twenty-one at this one). The show was scheduled to start at 9:30 p.m., and promptly at that time the band took the stage. However, there was a technical issue, which was resolved with a new cord, and at 9:38 everything was worked out and the band was ready to go.

They opened with “Traffic Jam,” which was perfect for me, as it took me three hours to get to the show because of traffic. They went straight into “Pockets,” and then back into “Traffic Jam,” and there was some good jamming in there. Yonder Mountain String Band has been nominated for a Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album, and Ben mentioned that to the crowd. Nick sang lead on “If There’s Still Ramblin’ In The Rambler (Let Him Go),” delivering a great rendition. It’s cool that the band is revisiting some of the Jeff Austin material. The show the night before closed with “Half Moon Rising,” a nice surprise. The band stopped for a shot after the “Just one more Jägermeister shot” line, and then went into a cover of the Grateful Dead’s “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo,” which Nick also sang lead on. There was an absolutely beautiful instrumental section leading to the “Across the Rio Grande-O” part. And that vocal part was incredibly pretty and sweet. That led straight back into “If There’s Still Ramblin’ In The Rambler (Let Him Go).”

Jake Simpson had joined the band on fiddle for the Los Angeles concert on January 19th, and he likewise played with the guys last night. The first night featured some dual fiddle action when Nick switched from mandolin to fiddle. If you loved that in L.A. (and everyone did), you got a whole lot more of that in Solana Beach. A few times over the course of the set, Nick and Jake took the group to some fantastic peaks. Jake also had the opportunity to sing lead on a cover of Townes Van Zandt’s “White Freightliner Blues.” Another highlight of the set for me was “Left Me In A Hole,” which Ben introduced as the oldest Yonder Mountain String Band song. It was included on the group’s first album, and has always been among my favorites. The encore began with “Walk On The Wild Side,” with Dave changing the line to “Thought she was Yonder Mountain for a day.” Interestingly, the night before, the encore began with Lou Reed’s “Rock And Roll.” The show then concluded with a fast-paced “Shady Grove,” leaving everyone feeling pretty damn good. The show ended at 12:21 a.m. So, yeah, it was significantly longer than the show the previous night.

Here are a few photos from the show:

Belly Up is located at 143 S. Cedros Ave., in Solana Beach, California.