Melvin is in command of the keys. Jeremy held a beat and held the line, in tandem with the barefooted J-P. Oteil, another shoeless bass guitar phenom brings much more personality and dynamism to the role in the band, but make no mistake, J-P is busy thumping along at the low end of the register. What?!?! I haven't mentioned John, yet. Right. His nimble fretwork, noodling, plucking and strumming, singing while leading the musical harmonies, exchanging riffs with Melvin, interesting soulful strains wove together nicely with Jeremy, Melvin and J-P. The music cascaded across a set of audience pleasers from the first steps onto the stage, 'til the final cord got unplugged. Playing through Jerry classics, like "Reuben & Cherise," the Dylan standards "Positively 4th Street" along with "Corrina, Corrina" enabled some searing jams, interchanges between musicians. The New Speedway Boogie version the band ripped through segued nicely, bringing audience participation to the shared experience, as the ladies and gentlemen bellowed out, singing along, voicing rhetorically about getting to the top of the mountain, and finding one's way among hills in some way shape or form, rather, One way or another. The sticks Jeremy was playing with shifted first to one mallet, banging away, soloing into a drum Jam with a continuation of a rigorous performance that required all the musicians on stage to orchestrate and share roles with barely a glance among them. And, what about Melvin, again... he was throwing down, givin' a riveting performance, puttin' on a show, like playing a calliope or a harpsichord in days of old. He shared his mastery in a number of ways, sliding up and down the 88's, rising to tune in on the right tones of his organ, the box he was sitting in front of, always with a foot on the expression pedal, with the mood set variously to bluesy, gospel, as well as thundering rock & roll, with so many genres intended, in between. It was a great show, that their sound engineer, Armando, brought to the venue with all due precision of a world class act. A very pleasant surprise was the regionally high profile warm-up act, who are elevating their performances with each outing, the Joe Marcinek Band (JMB). Mixing up bass players, bringing in a lead vocalist, sharing the stage with old friends who can almost read one another's minds, having worked at their relationships for over 20 years, was an underpinning of solid, straight ahead contemporary rock & roll. Release of their first album '1 River Street' (cheeky name with a number of plays on words in the title alone), that bears a listen, or at least two or three. JMB was able to rev up the crowd, set the ambiance for the main Act while showing adept skills on originals. Before their conclusion the JMB musicians as well drove vibrations right through the center of the crowd on the familiar Black Crowes hit "Hard to Handle," demonstrating a knowledge of what had come before, in order to know where they need to go next. If you get a chance to see either of these acts again, seize the opportunity, buy their music and merch, to one day soon to rock and roll, again.

Stellar show, one of JGB’s best I have attended! Loved the Funk infused numbers, surprised by more than usual Grateful Dead songs. A wonderful surprise to hear Corrina and a sweet Help, Slipknot , Franklin’s Tower trio! Thank you so much for all you Guys do! Hartford loves you! 🎶💞

With Nate LaPointe as special guest and fronting on Cassidy. The drums was FIRE too!

I had such a blast seeing Melvin and the boys at the Felton Music Hall it was such an awesome vibe all around great dancing and great night all around. Can’t wait to see them again at the Warfield in January.

Wonderful show in a great, small-town venue. Really cool experience. Would love to find the setlist but that's a tough find. Anyone have that from The Newton last night?

The absolute master of the entire universe strikes again! Thanks FTC for hooking me up with a seat RIGHT next to Melvin cause of my broken foot. Always a hoot!

Every piece came together to make a fantastic music festival on the Chesapeak bay, for the Chesapeake bay! I would go again in a second! Thanks for a wonderful weekend

An amazing time w Melvin and JGB! Hosting the event we had 4 days in Charleston before the show to all hang out and see Charleston's best! Pearce

Fantastic venue, fantastic BAND! Beautiful joy day, great beer and food- and the music!! POW! Perfect sound. Loved it ALL.

Great show Crowd was almost always dancing, from Let's spend the night together till US Blues, It was better than expected and the place was rocking!

This was a fantastic show because of the band, the audience, and the venue!

Melvin and the band killed it as always and the folx at the Mystic were quick with the drinks and hospitality….10/10 will be back!!!

First time at the Brooklyn Bowl Philly. I like the venue. Decent selection of beers on draft. Fun that you can bowl during the show. Don’t know how much bowling is though. The sound is good but entirely too loud. I was looking forward to seeing Melvin Seals and JGB. I have seen the Jerry Garcia Band when Jerry was alive many times and this band puts on a good and similar shows. However, the mix was terrible- unless you like the rhythm section to dominate in addition to the heavy saxophone. While I have seen sax players with the original JGB, I was looking forward to the guitar player (John Kadlecik) because his sound is so similar to Jerry Garcia. However the mix was so low for the lead guitar. It was hard to hear him play. Many times the rest of the band would just drown him out. On top of that, many of the jams were saxophone dominant. . If that’s what you were looking for, you were probably really happy. However, I was really looking forward to hear Kadlecik play guitar. His playing was subdued during much of the show and he was far too low in the mix. Personally if Melvin Seals and JGB play again with that saxophone player, I’ll pass! However, if I know they are playing with out the sac player, count me in!

Great time, unbelievable performances all day !! Two kegs back stage !! Thanks for a real good time !!

Great venue! Small, intimate. Has Melvin and JGB ever put on a bad show? Perfect as always!

Wish there were more Jerry tunes but still a great night, under the sky and Melvin was on fire! Be back tomorrow! Thank you for a real good time!

Amazing! Just the fix I needed, and it was a double dose as I saw them in Rochester the night before. A good time was had by all. So much love sent out to all of us from the John K. and the rest of the members.

Got tickets the day of the show, happened to be on my birthday. What a great birthday present. Played a great rendition of Dear Prudence. It was my first time seeing this band. This year I got tickets to both shows. Can't wait!!

Incredible energy...Church all night long!! Rejuvenated and Satiated...the music, the people, the Love....Thank you! For a real good time!!!! 💙

I've seen Melvin and JGB at least 10 times now. This was the best show yet. Having sax legend Ron Holloway was a big plus! Never a bad show!