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DOORS OPEN AT 6:30 PM | SHOW BEGINS AT 8:00 PMNOTICE REGARDING COVID-19:
As of March 10th, 2022, patrons will no longer be asked to provide proof of vaccination to attend concerts at The Hamilton Live. We reserve the right to make amendments to this policy at any time as conditions change and as government and health officials advise to preserve the safety of our artists, guests, and staff. We are grateful to our fans for the efforts they’ve made to help us keep our concerts safe during this pandemic. If you have any questions about this policy or your ticket order, please reach out to us at [email protected].
For any wheelchair or ADA needs,please contact the Box Office in advance of the performance at (202)-769-0122.
EVERYTHING
New Year’s Eve, 1998, you’re walking along the Potomac River waterfront just before midnight. A mist is coming off the river, cars whiz along the Whitehurst Freeway standing thirty feet in the air, the cries of revelers rise from the nearby streets of Georgetown, but what calls to you is a rumbling beat, bass lines reverberating nearby. You trace the sound to an unassuming two-story building huddled under the elevated highway.
You go inside and find a five-hundred person frenzy, people dancing with abandon to a distinct go-go beat, traces of New Orleans funk rhythm, all writhing, jumping, losing and finding their minds in perfect sync with the six-piece band on stage. You’ve stumbled into an Everything show, the final performance at The Bayou, Washington, DC’s iconic venue.
Everything was a fitting choice to close out the near-50 year run of The Bayou. Native sons of Virginia, having formed ten years earlier at James Madison University, the band’s home turf was Washington DC. Riding the high of the commercial success of their fourth album, Super Natural, this was a leave-it-all-on-the-dance-floor send off for the club, and leave it all they did.That was an Everything show in a nutshell: the band did whatever it took to give people a night to remember. Their shows were a funky chaotic mish-mash of guest musicians, orbiting the rhythm section of Nate Brown and Dave Slankard, dipping in and out of groove-laden jams, Craig Honeycutt’s funk rap scat, Steve Van Dam’s howling solos and chicken scratch rhythms, and a staccato chorus of horns. The shows were sweaty, elated dance-a-thons grinding into the wee morning hours, when the band would load out and climb into their box van and head to the next town.
This was not a boxy-shaped touring van with bench seats and windows. It was a real box van, U-haul style, the sole access to the cargo space was a roller door you could only open from the outside. Inside the death can were couches, pillows, and a bunch of gear, amps and drum cases; towels hung from the walls for when the summertime temps topped 110. To say it was an intimate way to travel is to rely heavily on nostalgia. The was dues paying at its best.
Although they would later graduate to tour buses and air travel, their camaraderie translated to how the bandmates lived, as well. Whereas some groups come off the road and scatter to their individual domiciles, Everything lived as a family, at a hill-top farm house in the idyllic rolling hills of Rappahannock County. Barely a neighbor in sight, the place ensured that Everything was everywhere. The common areas downstairs at the Everything house was their rehearsal studio, except during their legendary parties when the entire place became a performance and dance space.
Across the verdant glen from the band house was a log cabin, hand-hewn logs and clay-mortar chinking, where their manager lived on the first two floors, while the third was dedicated to the management office and HQ of their merchandise business. As bootstrapped as the entire enterprise was, it grew into self-sustaining maturity. The lives of the band and their manager, Randy Reed, were dedicated to spreading the culture. The music and live experience through touring, and the material musical culture through T-shirts, CDs, artwork, videos, posters, glassware, all emblazoned with their unmistakable e: logo.
Oh, and the stickers. Arguably the most publicly ubiquitous branding sticker of the mid-90s through the Central mid-Atlantic, the e: showed up everywhere. Street signs, phone booths, newspaper boxes, car windows and bumpers, motorcycle helmets, light poles and street signs. Fans would circle the globe taking (pre-selfie-era) photographs of themselves wearing Everything garb, giving the e: a worldwide reach from the Great Wall of China to the Pyramids of Cheops to Machu Picchu.
As much as it was an enigma in the age of Google, the Everything name encompasses the essence of the band perfectly. The music is an eclectic blend of pop, funk, rock, Americana, and soul, and it carries the message of what is universal about music. Aspiration. Movement. Elevation. Unity. It comes through in the lyrics and it embodies the experience. Really, it’s all about the Love.
The Pat McGee Band
The Pat McGee Band is what is commonly referred to as a band of journeyman musicians. In the 25 years since their initial formation, they’ve acquired a fanatical popular following, one that was so determined that it produced sales of over 100,000 copies of their first three albums and eventually caused Warner Bros. Records to take notice and sign the group to an exclusive contract at the end of the ‘90s. The band’s dedication to working the road was so steadfast that at one point in their ten year touring stint, they played a remarkable 98 concerts in a period of 103 days. They shared stages with the Who, the Allman Brothers, James Taylor, and many more, and also achieved the ultimate honors -- performing for president Bill Clinton, touring with the USO and sharing their songs onboard the USS Eisenhower with 5,000 servicemen and servicewomen serving a tour of duty in the Arabian Sea.
“There was no plan B,” McGee says in retrospect. “We sold 12,000 copies of our first album out of the trunk of our car. We had a rabid fanbase that supported us every step of the way. We never had that huge pop hit, but in a way that helped assure our success. We never had to count on replaying a single song in order to move forward. It was our diligence and devotion, our steadfast approach to making music that was honest and expressive that became the backbone of our sound.”
Sadly, the band’s progress came to a tragic end in October 2006 when drummer Chris Williams succumbed to a heart condition. McGee struck out on his own, adding five solo albums to the half dozen efforts recorded under the band’s own banner.
It’s significant then that the band -- McGee (lead vocals and all guitars) Al Walsh (backing vocals), Jonathan Williams (keys, backing vocals), Chardy McEwan (percussion), John Small (bass), and new drummer Matt Calvarese -- have reconvened and will release their first new effort in 14 years early next year. Dubbed Sugar Packet -- after the nickname affectionately given Williams by his bandmates -- and recorded at 38 North Studio in Falls Church, Virginia with producers Kit Karlson and Chip Johnson, it reunites the original members of the Pat McGee Band and signals a return to the musical bedrock that was their calling card all along. Once again, the emphasis is on melodies that are both memorable and evocative, an upbeat party vibe that weighs heavily on the familiarity factor, three part harmonies, ringing guitars, steadfast rhythms, sparkling keyboards, and a sound that’s certain to revive their populist appeal.
“The music and the grooves came quite naturally, and once these songs started coming, I knew that the only musicians that were right to record them were my original PMB bandmates,” McGee maintains. “It’s also appropriate that the lyrics dig deep into life experiences common to us all, which can only find genuine perspective and reflection at a certain point where maturity replaces adolescence, and adult responsibility takes over the carefree existence we had in our youth. I take pride in the fact that I’ve been able to do this for 25 years, but that I’m still mature enough to be a good husband and a dad to four kids.”
Longevity has always been at the core essence of the band’s music from early on. Weaned on the classic influences of such tightly knit ensembles as the Grateful Dead and the Allman Brothers, as well as the Laurel Canyon glow evoked by preeminent ‘70s singer/songwriters such as James Taylor and Jackson Browne, McGee and his comrades effectively captured their own sense of optimism and exuberance. They reminded listeners why music is both important and inspiring, particularly to those experiencing both the discoveries and disappointments that accompany one’s coming of age.
“The new album boasts the vintage approach that the band made its signature sound at the end of the ‘90s,” McGee maintains. “It’s got that same earnestness, excitement and spontaneity that were the hallmarks of our music during our peak and prime. When I listen to it, I feel the years melting away, and the time we spent apart filling in behind us. We had an amazingly successful Kickstarter campaign, and that provided proof that our fans are still supporting us all the way.”
In the meantime, McGee is remaining as active as ever. His last solo album, an eponymous effort, found him working with such luminaries as Russ Kunkel, Leland Sklar, Waddy Wachtel and Danny Kortchmar (better known as The Section), David. Crosby colleague Jeff Pevar, Paul Barrere of Little Feat, John Popper of Blues Traveller, Pat Monahan of Train and Punch Brother Gabe Witcher. If one’s reputation is bolstered by the company they keep, then there’s no better evidence that McGee has achieved high status indeed.
Of course, that was evident early on given the audience reaction that greeted the band during their frequent tours throughout every region of the country. The gatherings McGee continues to preside over -- “Down the Hatch” and “Ocean State of Mind” -- continue to attract the faithful on an annual basis while reconnecting friends and fans through that common bond that McGee and company have nurtured so successfully over the past 25 years.
Now, with a new album on the horizon, their first quarter century is really only the beginning of their continuing career. Indeed, this welcome return of the Pat McGee Band makes this a reunion to relish.
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600 14th St. NW Washington DC 20005, Washington, United States
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