Welcome to the Live Music page! Garrin has provided the notes about each show. Please note that the tracks below are random shows picked for your enjoyment. The tracks are MP3's are are not well suited for download and trade.
If you want to download and trade full-length Garrin Benfield shows,
please visit the Internet Audio Archive by clicking here!
Winter/Spring 2006
Spring 2005
Live at The Independent in San Francisco, CA
April 8, 2005
Children Go
What You Wanted To Hear
Don't Panic
The Loop > New Song
Cortez The Killer *
Answers
Another Hour To Kill
Another Hour To Kill Jam
Shelter From The Storm **
Calaveras
Tonight I Know
Black Crow
*With Samantha of Samantha and the Ritual
**With Jordan Feinstein of the Ritual
Garrin's Notes:
Great vibe in the room that translates to a lot of
chattiness on this recording, but the energy is there! The first gig for
keyboardist Henry Salvia, our first version of Dylan's "Shelter from the
Storm" with Jordan Feinstein of the Ritual on keys and Henry on accordian.
Samantha sings on "Cortez", which we rehearsed in the bathroom prior to the
set. First time closing a show with "Black Crow" which has turned into one
of my favorites. I also particularly like the energy of the "Another Hour"
jam. Good times.
Winter 2005
February 17, 2005
Loop Jam
Waltz # 2
Hungry Ghost
The loop
Garrin's Notes:
The proverbial industry showcase...a somewhat rushed set as I wanted to get
in a little bit of everything that I do. And a rep from Sony actually did
show up. I didn't get to finish "The Loop" because the MC was leering at me
(just doing her job). Recorded by Joe Baker at bayrecorders.com
Live at The Independent in San Francisco, CA
February 10, 2005
Don't Panic
Another Hour To Kill
Where Joy Kills Sorrow
Black Crow
The Loop
Garrin Solo:
Happy Birthday Rob
Waltz # 2
What You're Hiding
Solo Loop
Garrin Duo With Joshua Zucker on Upright Bass:
Unbound
I Let You Go
Hard Times
Full Band:
Hungry Ghost
Hungry Ghost Outro
Knives Out > Answers
Encore:
Children Go
Garrin's Notes:
This was a big show, and I tried to craft a diverse set list. The full band debut of Black Crow was a bit marred by feedback, and I had some trouble with my looper, but otherwise a really cool night. Recorded by Joe Baker of bayrecorders.com
Live at The Paradise Performing Arts Center in Chico, CA
(opening for Ricky Lee Jones)
January 22, 2005
Waltz # 2
Unbound
Give Peace A Loop
Garrin's Notes:
Through incredibly dense fog we drove to Chico, about 3 hours outside of
SF, to open for Rickie Lee Jones. The crew at this show was understandably
nervous when Rickie's car had not arrived even after the doors were open.
The House Manager kept suggesting I might play longer than normal...assuming
Rickie's car was even coming. She did show up, but I was already on my three
minute warning for showtime, so we didn't get to hang out at all. Ah
well...
Live at The Park in San Francisco
January 20, 2005
A Jam in G Minor
Lonely Journey
Cortez The Killer
Black Crow
Garrin's Notes:
A new venue, and me all nervous 'cause it'd been so long since I'd done a
proper show. Turned out to be a great comfy night thanks to the folks who
showed up and the righteous little sound setup I had on stage."
Fall 2004
Live at 2 Dogs in San Louis Obispo
November 18, 2004
Slippery SLO Jam
Wichita
Hungry Ghost
Outro Jam
Where Joy Kills Sorrow
Trance Americana Jam
Annabelle
What You're Hiding
I Let You Go
Cortez The Killer
Children Go > Cumberland Jam
Spooked Space and Epilogue
The Loop
Garrin's Notes:
Listening back to this show, I have conflicting emotions. On the
one hand, I can hear the tiredness in my speaking voice, and I remember that
I was pretty exhausted and disheartened by this venue, which provided a
little "all in one" speaker as the pa and was decorated with truly bad art
and flourescent lights which they agreed to dim. (Reminded me of that New
Paltz show a couple years back where the pa they provided was a kareoke
machine) But, I can also hear that musically I'm clearly in late in the tour
mode, taking risks like the "Space" jam and weird solo in The Loop. Rick
Bendes taped this onto DAT, I believe, and his presence made me feel less
lonely. The crowd at this show fluctuated in a way that was hard to
anticipate...we started out with a nice room and then went through two or
three changes mid show. I think a bunch of folks were in there waiting to
see a movie next door or something. You can hear all the little cafˇ sounds
in the background".
Live at The Independent in San Francisco
Where Joy Kills Sorrow CD Release
Be Love
The Loop
What You Wanted To Hear
Don't Panic
Answers
Prelude
Another Hour To Kill
Jam
Unwind
Children Go
Encore
Give Peace A Loop
Where Joy Kills Sorrow
Hungry Ghost
Cortez The Killer will be available soon!
Garrin's Notes:
"This set had my psyche strung up pretty tight, this being the first time
we had played most of the WJKS material live, and we were trying to adhere
closely to the tempos on the record, etc, so I wasn't as relaxed as usual.
Having said that, listening back, there's a good energy to these tracks, and
we still managed to take some risks. My favorite moment of the night is
hearing us settle into the Another Hour to Kill jam...that's when the show
really took off for me, at least guitar wise. Wish you could've seen the
chickens dancing through the crowd during Children Go. Quite a sight.
Probably the best Cortez we've played, too. We'll post that soon." This show
is available for download at audioarchive.org. Recorded by bayrecorders.org
Summer 2004
Live at 12 Galaxies in San Francisco
Give Peace a Loop (solo)
Children Go
Cortez The Killer
Unbound
12 Galaxies Jam
Garrin's Notes:
"I was widely and thoroughly criticized for the shortness of this
set, as my crowd had waited quite a while to hear me this night, but I
remember thinking, "I've said what I have to say"...and I just dropped my
guitar and walked off the stage while everyone was still reacting. Anyhow,
this was the first time I ever attempted creating loops out of Cortez and
Children Go. I've since tried doing that at much more high profile gigs and
had it fall in my face...I think it's because reggae and bluegrass accent an
offbeat, so it's a little trickier communicating with your digital device as
to how you want it to work for ya."
Live at 12 Galaxies in SF with Dan Bern
(Please note that Garrin is "sitting in" with Dan. Garrin is playing guitar and not singing)
July 8 2004
Dan Introduces Garrin
Revolution
I Need You
Turning Over
El Paso
Juarez
Garrin's Notes:
"This was my first time playing with Dan. We met at SF's Elbo Room on a
Monday night at 1 am or so after my set. Mokai was on the bill that night,
so a bunch of us (Dan, Mokai, CC, the organizer of the show, Jason, Richard,
and I) decided to head back to my place to hang out. We broke open some wine
and broke out the guitars and played for what seemed like hours...jams,
Beatles and Dylan tunes, El Paso, and on and on 'til the sun was starting to
come up. Dan gave me a call a couple of days later and asked me to sit in.
The tunes you hear in this clip we went over after soundcheck but that was
it, so I was really trying to listen in and anticipate some of the weird
changes. Since this recording was made, I've played live with Dan maybe 8
more times, so these first run throughs seem a bit tentative to me, but
still I think they worked out pretty well".
Live at the High Sierra Music Festival!
Americana Stage, July 2 2004
Give Peace a Loop (solo)
Another Hour To Kill
Prelude > Crazy Love
Cortez The Killer
Children Go Where I send Thee (with entire audience shaking gbb shakers)
Hungry Ghost
Knives Out
Garrin's Notes:
"Ah, the heart of the summer, our first full band set at High
Sierra, me sick as a dog (of course! Why does that always happen at crucial
times??) We tried the unusual pairing of Prelude>Crazy Love, which we'll
probably not do again...also Jason's first try at implementing his marketing
idea of handing out egg shakers to the audience for Children Go, so they
could shake along and take home a goo-ga with "GBB" on it. Worked well. As
this set progressed more people showed up, the sun eased behind the tall
pine trees some, and I loosened up, started having a better time. We decided
to end with our new found cover of Radiohead's "Knives Out" which includes
these hippie-pleasing lyrics: "If you'd been a dog, they would've drowned
you at birth". In retrospect, our second show at High Sierra was better,
but the recording was marred by a tragically overmixed piano.
Winter 2004
Select Tracks from a recent show at Dolores Park Cafe in San Francisco (Including a read of Elliot Smith's Waltz # 2!)
Waltz # 2 -- Dolores Park Cafe, San Francisco, CA 02.06.04
Unwind -- Dolores Park Cafe, San Francisco, CA 02.06.04
Garrin's Notes:
"This was the first time I tried Unwind, alone, acoustic. Once
I've done that I feel like I have control of the tune. I no longer fear it".
Select tracks from Garrin's show at San Francisco's legendary Plush Room!
Light The Way -- Plush Room, San Francisco, CA 01.22.04
Drums > Loop Jam (Excerpted from complete jam below with Russ Gold) -- Plush Room, San Francisco, CA 01.22.04
Children Go > Drums > Loop Jam (In it's entirety with Russ Gold) -- Plush Room, San Francisco, CA 01.22.04
Garrin's Notes:
"I remember being pretty nervous for this show. I'm surprised
that I was able to bend that energy into something creative...that's not
always so easy to do. This was the first time Russ and I attempted a duet
with drums and my looping...the crowd seemed to get off on it. We had a nice
baby grand on stage. I chose Light the Way to put up here mainly because of
that piano sound".
Fall Tour 2003
Selected Tracks with Adrienne Geren, vocals
Annabelle (Gillian Welch) -- Cyber Cafe, Binghamton, NY 10.29.03
Leg -- The Cutting Room, New York, NY 11.01.03
Outro of Hungry Ghost, Walking, Dark and Cold, Encore: Children Go
(with Jeff Gore, Garrin's bro, on harp) -- Towne Crier, Pawling, NY 10.31.03
Garrin's Notes:
"These were some of my favorites that
Adrienne and I sang on together on our first substantial tour. My brother
plays harp on Children Go. What you can't see here are our Halloween
costumes...good times, good times".
Loops
The following loops were improvised live, on stage using one acoustic guitar.
All the sounds you hear came from one Martin HD28! Enjoy!
Binghamton, NY 10.29.03
Pawling, NY 10.31.03
Washington DC 10.05.03
Amherst, MA 10.11.03
New York, NY 10.02.03
New York, NY 10.02.03
Amherst, MA 10.11.03
New York, NY 10.04.03
Buffalo, NY 10.20.03
Amherst, MA 10.11.03
Garrin's Notes:
"My first tour with the RC 20 Loop machine...I went through and got
these examples together from our various minidisc recordings".
Select Tracks from a recent weekend in Lake Tahoe, CA. These tracks were recorded in a cabin high in the hills above the lake.
Garrin played acoustic, JP Cutler accompanied on his acoustic and Jason Parmar laid the groove down on the Tablas. Chris Tabarez recorded and mixed this impromptu session.
Processional -- Lake Tahoe, CA 01.24.04
Sunset Light -- Lake Tahoe, CA 01.24.04
Garrin's Notes:
"What a great time this was, and a surprise, too. Chris had all his
gear with (a laptop, an mbox, and a couple nice mics) and he just quietly
set up around a living room jam in progress...we hardly noticed him crawling
around, and we got some pretty cool stuff, for how hungover we were".
Spring Tour 2003
Garrin Benfield Band, Broadway Studios, San Francisco, CA 05.30.03
Play Show in it's entirety!
To hear the tracks seperately, click on the song titles below.
Jam > I Swear > Jam
Hungry Ghost > Jam
Will >Jam
What To Listen For > Haia Poem > Jam
Ugly>Drum Solo
The Sense That I Get
Another Hour To Kill
Encore -- Children Go Where I Send Thee
Garrin's Notes:
"I approached this show as a kind of experiment, to try and string
all of the songs together with segues that were improvised except for the
presence of key changes and indicators. So, for instance, if a song ended in
G, and then the next one started in Eb, I would indicate that on the set
list and everyone in the band would know to modulate on my cue. I was
inspired to do this by Phil Lesh and his various bands. It was cool, in
fact, I want to do that again...the only draw back is what it takes away
from your ability to interact with the audience between tunes. My friend
Olive came up to me after this show and said being at my gigs was hard
sometimes because the "slow burn" made him a little sad. That stuck with
me".
Garrin Benfield Band, The Voodoo Lounge, San Francisco, CA 03.08.03
What To Listen For
I Swear
Hungry Ghost > Lonely Journey
To Know
Calaveras
Crazy Love
Garrin's Notes:
" The band's first foray or unconscious leap into jam band
territory. I'm glad we got this on tape because of that historical marker
which is probably only important to me. But some things are never as good as
the first time...like the jam out of I Swear, and the one between Hungry
Ghost and Lonely Journey. This was a Mission district Sushi joint with a
music room in back, with a big bulky pool table in the middle of the room".
Various Appearances
Garrin Benfield Solo Acoustic Radio Performance, Tucson, AZ October 10, 2002
I Let You Go
Crazy Love