Riding Country with the Purple Sage

Hardly can they be called “new.” The New Riders of the Purple Sage have been, in one form or another, around since 1969, when Jerry Garcia of Grateful Dead fame played pedal-steel guitar with them.

With one original member remaining, the band keeps trucking along. If the concert at the Sun Music Hall on June 24 was any sign, it’s not without good cause.

Purple Sage’s best attribute, no doubt, is their ability to comfortably jam for several minutes straight. It’s an attribute well needed, because their vocals are often incomprehensible, and sometimes just bad. When David Nelson, vocalist/guitarist and original member, started to sing at the show’s beginning, I got the sinking feeling that it didn’t have a lot of potential.

Fortunately, there was not one moment during the show that I thought a note was missed or played at the wrong time or whatever. Even as many of their songs went on for quite a bit of time with constant playing from all of the members, they never seemed to be straining or struggling. And neither did the music.

Purple Sage played a country blues rock style, incorporating one more than the others at times. As I noted before, a lack of distinguishable lyrics made it a little more difficult to put the music into a context. Nevertheless a country undercurrent seemed to pervade their playing, suggesting that the band sang a bit about lovers (seriously, all rock songs are about lovers, right?) in the sense of how they can be together and enjoy simple times. And if that wasn’t at all what they sang about? Well, it was their fault for muddy singing.

Notable about Purple Sage was their demeanor onstage. They didn’t communicate as much with the audience, with barely an introduction and not even a word between songs about what they will play next. Bands sometimes go overboard with their non-musical wordy gimmicks, boring the audience with stories that no one cares about. Good thing that Purple Sage avoided that, and yet the lack of connection with the audience seemed a little awkward.

Certainly the crowd got into the show. This music had enough boogie that made dancing a natural transition, and much of the crowd didn’t hide from it.

The band went on without an opening act, by the way. And the concert got started a little before 8 p.m. this time (it was scheduled around 7:30). So maybe the concert seemed a bit rushed. But the New Riders of the Purple Sage did their best to make it quite a rush.

Grade: B