Max Creek brought their sound to the sea on Boston Harbor on July 07 2019.
Pictures by Angel Simon
The Boston harbor boat cruise has become an annual day on the water for so many Creek fans. A day on a boat, with beautiful weather and your favorite band, what could be bad?
This was also an interesting weekend for it, as Boston had just hosted Phish for two nights. You could see some Creek freaks who had partied it up getting on board celebrating the day off between those Fenway shows and the next stop on Phish tour. Heck there were even rumors of Mike Gordon appearing from some fantasizing fans.
The day dawned warm and bright and we made our way into the city of Boston. Between this cruise and many others that we’ve done it’s become old hat, we’ve got it down! We met up with the crew, got the boat loaded up and watched as the dock filled with Creek freaks ready to get their boat on!
The band played two sets to a nice sized audience that populated the main deck but wasn’t packed and afforded for plenty of room. Everywhere we turned was an old friend- whether a veteran of the Caribbean boat cruise that Creek hosted back in 2017 to fellow Worms and Creek freaks. It was great to reconnect with so many friends and Creek family.
Any direction you looked there was the beauty of Boston harbor. There were tons of pleasure boats all over the place, and people just seemed to be downright happy. Planes fly low overhead on their way to Logan airport, and the temperature and weather were about perfect.
The first set started with Murawski’s Summer Sun; Mark Mercier came out of the segue into Boogie on Reggae Woman and John Rider completed the suite with his original Wild Side. I was very happy to hear Murawski’s Willow Tree as it is a personal favorite. The Grateful Dead’s Me and My Uncle was followed as sung by Mark Mercier followed by John Rider’s I Will Always See Your Face. That song included an incendiary solo by Murawski which reminded me of why I love this band and his playing. Watching his solos unfurl can at times feel like a personal tour of his fretboard and a lesson in how electric guitar soloing is done. It is always a treat. The set closed with the always fun and rollicking Tripping.
I happened to be standing next to sound man Steve as set two was beginning and I turned to him and said I think we’re about to get Louisiana Sun and he said “I think you’re right” as it went from hinting to the set two opener. Mark Mercier was in a covers mood as Little Feat’s Sailing Shoes came out. John Rider’s You’re the Only One for Me is always a pleasant group celebration. Drummer Bill Carbone celebrated with his vocal turn The Bees which segued into Mark Mercier covering the American classic Folsom Prison Blues which segued into a bit of a drum section with Jay Stanley and Bill Carbone steering things. The Folsom had Mercier changing lyrics to reflect local references like South Boston and Cambridge, a nice treat to illustrate to everyone that this show is a bit different.
The set essentially closed with Murawski’s Something is Forming and the band leaving the stage for a minute. They came back almost immediately for what feels like the docking tradition song, Back Porch Boogie Blues. This tight instrumental number is a great way to come down off of a great pair of sets but still maintain high energy.
We helped to unload the boat and see all of our friends departing. Another perfect day on the water was capped when we crossed the street and took in a fine Mexi dinner with fellow Creek freaks and reminisced about the show, caught up on life, and just watched the day darken into a perfect conclusion. Until summer of 2020 Creek freaks, we’ll have to bide our time to get on the water.
OR- we can all splash and have a great time in early August at Camp Creek!!!
SET LIST:
Set I: 01 Summer Sun > 02 Boogie on Reggae Woman > 03 Wild Side 04 Willow Tree 05 Me & My Uncle 06 I Wlll Always See Your Face > 07 Tripping
Set II:
08 Louisianna Sun > 09 Jam >10 Sailing Shoes 11 Photo Shoot Banter 12 Your The Only One for Me (X2)13 Camp Creek Banter 14 The Bees >15 Folsom Prison Blues >16 Drums 17 Something is Forming 18 Back Porch Boogie Blues
