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George G. Chiodo | profile | all galleries >> The Seasons >> Summer 2010 >> Levon Helm at the Keswick Theatre • July 22, 2010 tree view | thumbnails | slideshow

Shenandoah, PA Historical Society | UArts Weekend • July 31-August 1 | Levon Helm at the Keswick Theatre • July 22, 2010 | Chicago • July 17-18, 2010 | Rock & Roll Hall of Fame • July 16, 2010 | 2010 Iron Hill Twilight Criterium • July 10, 2010 | Wyeth Country • July 9, 2010 | Marsh Creek Sunrise •July 3, 2010 | Museum of Art • June 19, 2010 | A Brief Walk in Historic Philadelphia • June 7, 2010

Levon Helm at the Keswick Theatre • July 22, 2010

What a show! Outstanding! The Levon Helm Band was hitting on all cylinders in this show.
Here is the review published by the Philadelphia Inquirer written by Jonathan Valania:

Levon Helm, in a bittersweet appearance
By Jonathan Valania

The latter days of ex-Band drummer/vocalist Levon Helm's storied career, including two solo Grammys, seem like one long last waltz, a victory lap for a man who stared down death, in the form of throat cancer, and lived to tell.

Still, the cure exacted a terrible price: the radiation treatments that eventually rid his throat of malignancy damaged his vocal cords, reducing his once-strong, clear tenor to a weak, scratchy rasp.

So, it was no real surprise that his band - a crack 12-piece that includes a full complement of horns and his daughter Amy on vocals - did most of the singing Thursday night at the Keswick Theatre. When, after four or five songs, including a stunning "Long Black Veil," Helm finally took a turn at lead vocal on Ray Charles' "I Want to Know," the sold-out, standing-room-only crowd gave the 70-year-old former drummer of the Band a warm ovation.

While his voice may be a ragged shadow of its former glory, his drumming remains above reproach. Perched stage left behind a sparkly, candy-apple-red Gretsch kit, dressed in a crisp white dress shirt and a black glove on his left hand, Helm was "in the pocket" incarnate, cranking out folksy shuffles and funky struts with the ease of a man a third his age. He also strummed a mean mandolin during "Deep Ellum Blues."

The freewheeling two-hour set was a rich pageant of rootsy Americana, including Jerry Garcia's "Tennessee Jed," Leadbelly's "The Bourgeois Blues," and Bob Dylan's "Blind Willie McTell." Musically speaking, the high point of the night was Clark Gayton's trombone overture to "All on Mardi Gras Day," a slow-burn medley of humid sighs and moody blues that sounded like a last-call love letter to the music of the Crescent City. Helm closed out this night with a pair of heart-tugging showstoppers from his days in the Band - "The Weight" and Dylan's "I Shall Be Released."

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