Glass Harp at the Agora, Cleveland, OH

Glass Harp @ the Agora
Saturday, May 11, 2002
Cleveland, OH

Review by Jane Skon

The concert was GREAT! Wish you guys could have been there! We missed you! It was a real jam session. No set list, just laid-back, high-energy, go with the flow jams! -- which is one of the things we love about them, right? I am more a "whole-picture" type, so I'll let one of my more detailed fellow-fans fill in the details. I'll give you my whole-picture perspective.

First off, I hope someone can tell Matt Corey, the saxophone player, just how awesome he was! He really fits right in with Glass Harp, seamlessly, in his ability to improvise and read the other guys. He can really jam! He was phenomenal! And Chris Queen was fantastic as well, as always. A young outstanding guitarist, by the name of Alex, also joined the group on a couple of songs. His sister joined the group with vocals on Can You See Me.

The guys did a nice blend of old and new stuff. They did songs from their early albums, like Whatever Life Demands, songs from Phil's albums, like Salvation Army Band and A Sign Came Through A Window, things from Strings Attached, and even a couple of things from their new album that they are currently working on.

They began with a generous rock set. After the break they came back with a brief acoustic set, where they debuted a new song of John's that will be on the new cd, if the producers (John said, as he pointed to either side indicating Phil and Daniel) allow it on. It was a great song. They really thrilled the crowd with their awesome arrangement of "This Boy". Then, with the intro and first line of Day Tripper, John handed off the acoustic guitar and hopped behind his drums and thus began the second rock set.

There were so many other concert highlights! Clapton's "Presence of the Lord" with Daniel on vocals was definitely one of them. "John the Revelator," of course, and "What a Day!" was a very nice surprise (I think to those on stage as well!) "Changes" was outstanding, too. Matt Corey's solo was great! I could go on and on!

The feel of the crowd was awesome as well. There was almost an interactive type of feel with the band. Some of the people around me were seeing and hearing GH for the first time, and others were long time fans from the old days. Many of the people around me did not want to let GH go. GH came back for an encore of several songs that were so awesome. They did one called "Special Friends," which I absolutely loved! They also did "Crossroads" by Clapton. It was fantastic! As we were leaving, people behind me were STILL calling, "More! Do Look to the Sky!" They didn't want it to end. I would say that none of us did.

So, that's my brief "whole-picture" take. I'm sure that I left out a lot of important stuff. Someone else fill in, please? Did anyone keep a list of the songs?

By the way, it was really great to see Cathy and Joe, Rick and Regina, the Bill Amey family, Roman and Julie, and all the others who were there! Let's do it again soon, okay? ;-)

-- Jane

- Read the review by Joe Petelin
- Read the review by Reuben Donald Budiardja
- Photos, mp3 and video clips from this show are here.