So Greg Norton (ex-Husker Du) made it back to town and this time he brought some friends! No, he didn’t come down as Ultrabomb. He came just to play the beautiful music of Husker Du with his friends. And “friends” means a couple Minneapolis buddies, local musicians who were asked to guest, and anyone who wanted to come up and sing.
They had a very loose setlist and after playing some songs as a three piece (just Greg, the drummer and guitarist who are friends from Minneapolis), they called people up to play and/or sing the songs. Some people knew the songs like the back of their hand, some didn’t. Some needed some help. Either way, it was all good and fun.
The band themselves sounded amazing. The guitarist, Jon Snodgrass from Drag The River, had a perfect guitar tone. The drummer, David Jarnstrom, laid down the perfect beats. And of course Greg Norton was on bass, which is just as legit as you can get. So many people came up to sing, I don’t know them all. And it didn’t matter. All were there for the celebration of Husker Du’s music. We all were one and one was all. No, ALL!
Speaking of which, Scott Reynolds, formerly from ALL, played an acoustic set of songs before Greg Norton and buddies came on. He winged it too, deciding on the spot to not play any depressing songs, which I was very thankful for, as I got some very depressing news of a friend earlier in the day and I didn’t need to hear any depressing songs. He also came up to sing with Greg Norton for a couple songs too, later in the set.
Things got bumped up a notch when Dave Quinn from Tiltwheel strapped on his guitar and sang through a few songs, including “Celebrated Summer”. Then they had this guy, who was singing along in the front row with everyone else, come onstage. He strapped on a guitar and they went through a couple more songs. But this guy was not done. He said “I can do more!” and played a couple notes of another song and BAM! Greg nods, the drummer kicked in, and they went through another song with him. And then another. He was basically there for the rest of the set. He knew all the songs, had a perfect guitar tone, but I didn’t recognize him from any local band (which could happen. lol)
So while gathering information for this review, I asked him, what’s your name? What band are you from? He goes “Max. I’ve been in a few bands you never heard of, but now play guitar for Taylor Swift.” Huh? You mean a tribute band for Taylor Swift? No. He’s actually Taylor Swift’s guitarist! Max Bernstein. He is a huge fan of Husker Du (obviously!) and couldn’t make the LA shows, so he came down to San Diego to help celebrate their music.
All in all, it was a great night. A lot of much needed fun. Here’s some pictures from throughout the night.
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