Caspian - November 29, 2024 Beverly MA

 

Caspian
The Cabot, Beverly MA
Friday, November 29, 2024

Twenty years.

That is an impressive number. Especially when you are speaking of a band touring, recording, and performing. Adding a bit to this a genre that might not be commonly known. Those that are in the know, know that Caspian are, or should be, on the Mount Rushmore of post rock/instrumental bands.

The band announced they wanted to do a hometown 20 th anniversary show and it was held just this past weekend and for those that were in attendance, we all had many “moments”.

Fire Made Flesh began the evening of music, and we knew it was going to be special. Token “front man” Phil Jamieson welcomed us all and talked about how it was going to be an evening to celebrate and then launched in to “Of Foam and Wave”. A song they seemed to have put on the back burner for a little bit would be a fun trend for the evening. The song also had guitarist Jonny Ashburn and bassist Jani Zubkovs getting (and staying) wildly animated.

With the stage still dark an figure appeared to our right, it was Erin Burke Moran! The guitarist had left the band a few years earlier but was there tonight. They played a great version of RIoseco. It was nice to see Erin back on stage and the yelps from the audience and hugs on the stage resonated. Brombie followed and then we got yet another surprise. Behind the drum kit after 8 years (?!) was Joe Vickers.The band played a real rarity in “Loft”. Jamieson noted it was one of the fist songs they ever recorded and they are sure they played at their first show (in Beverly no less) 20 years prior. Vickers did not disappoint and seemed thrilled to be back behind the kit.

Gone in Bloom and Bough has taken a new approach at local shows since their show with the Orchestra a few years ago. Joe Arruda came out to play tenor saxophone through the last 1/3 of the song. It has grown more on me with each listen and its getting to be a really special moment to see and hear it in this form.

Enough funny business here comes “Arcs of Command”. A banger of bangers. The lights, the chaos, the guitars….its always something to behold.

We had to come down some after that and the band packed a huge gut punch when guitarist Calvin Joss took as seat, grabbed and acoustic guitar and performed CMF. CMF is the initials of former bassist Chris Friedrich. Friedrich passed suddenly back I 2013. In honor of Chris one of his bass guitars had a spotlight shone on it. It may have gotten dusty and after a few minutes the talkers seemed to realize something special was happening. Joss was able to perform the latter part of the song in silence.

The band returned for “Collapser” and then “Ghosts of the Garden City” (always a favorite) and when you hear the glockenspiel you know its about to get awesome. The transition to Flowers of the Light, from the bands most recent studio album “On Circles” was great to hear. Joss plays mandolin on this, but they resorted to a recorded track. Would have been cool to have Erin back to play, but we got him back soon enough as the band ended their main set with a long time closer “Sycamore”. If you’ve ever seen the band live you know when a show ends with this, it means business. The band actually stopped doing this as the closer, but it seems to be “back” and I think many are happy with that. The song ends with what is easiest to describe as a drum circle. Jon McMahon who toured with the band was on guitar behind Joss, Vickers and Burke Moran also came on stage for the “circle” the song builds and all members ditch their instruments to head to the drum kit for a bash session. It ends on the highest of high “THUMPS” and we, the audience exhale all at once. Its never ever not so totally worth it.

The band left the stage but came back for what replaced that “closer” for a number of years, “Castles High, Marble Bright. This for me, is their opus. I adore this song. Its got everything I love about the band and I love how it makes ME feel. It captures everything. I hope they never ever stop playing this live and it’s a perfect closer, even after the chaos of Sycamore.

Lights up, about 4 minutes short of 120 minutes run time. The audience filed out the exit and many, like me, wonder what is next?

One thing is for sure, we hope to be doing this again in 20 years!

Made some stickers to celebrate the event and handed out where I saw fit.  If you need one reach out!

Here is an image that Phil posted to his social that seems to sum it up:

You can see the full set list here
Check out the bands website