Glenn Phillips kicks out the post-Thanksgiving jams
The guitar maestro offers an evening of masterful music
In the year 2000, guitar maestro and Hampton Grease Band co-founder Glenn Phillips was searching for a place to stage his after-Thanksgiving Day concert, a tradition he’d started four years earlier. The top priorities were a venue that would accommodate an early show, so his friends could bring their children, and make the event non-smoking because he was getting sick of (and from) playing in ashtrays masquerading as rock clubs. As he made the rounds, club owner after booking agent turned him down.
“Finally, I called the Red Light Cafe and the guy said, ‘Sure, let’s do it,’” Phillips says. “Hard to believe now, but that’s the way things were.”
On Nov. 23, Phillips plays two sets — 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. — and the audience is welcome to hang out for both shows. Performing with Phillips will be bass player Bill Rea and drummer John Boissiere along with Jeff Calder, lead guitarist and vocalist for the Swimming Pool Qs. Phillips and Calder also have a longstanding side project together, dubbed the Supreme Court.
The setlist for the post-Turkey Day celebration includes material spanning Phillips’ entire career including unreleased material, Supreme Court songs, and a medley of Hampton Grease Band numbers. For that special Phillips fan who has everything, 10 signed and numbered copies of the long-out-of-print, 40th anniversary edition, double-album Lost at Sea will be available for purchase.