Music. Alcohol. Oysters. Books.

Another Beatles-related program by Craigie, this time focusing on the Magical Mystery Tour album, the soundtrack to the namesake movie. It was the second of three sold-out nights at HopMonk in Novato. The short opening set featured five musicians, each covering a Fab Four song. All sounded good, with Avi Vinocur standing out for his unusual a cappella version of All My Loving, and, among others, I especially enjoyed the Rainbow Girl Erin Chapin's strong rendition of I Should Have Known Better as well as Sari Jordan's moving performance of Eleanor Rigby.

Craigie started with the title track on acoustic guitar, then switched to electric for most of the remaining songs. He based his set on the US version of the album, which includes five 1967 Beatles singles, though he didn't stick to the original order and chose to skip the instrumental Flying. Blue Jay Way and I Am the Walrus sounded fantastic. Those were definite highlights! As usual, there were plenty of jokes and funny stories between songs. This is what makes Craigie's shows truly special. After Walrus, he stepped away from the album for three other Beatles songs, then returned to close the set with its final two tracks.

For the encore, John played Don't Let Me Down with Avi, Anna, and Sari joining in.

Overall, a pretty solid night. Magical Mystery Tour might not be the Beatles' most interesting album, especially its short double EP UK version, but it was wonderful to hear all those songs live.

Set list (opening artists, 8:01 PM — 8:32 PM): All My Loving (Avi Vinocur, a cappella), I Want to Tell You (Anna Moss), Across the Universe (Marty O'Reilly), I Should Have Known Better (Erin Chapin), Eleanor Rigby (Sari Jordan)

Set list (John Craigie, 8:55 PM — 10:28 PM): Magical Mystery Tour, The Fool on the Hill, Your Mother Should Know, Strawberry Fields Forever, Blue Jay Way, Hello Goodbye, Penny Lane, I Am the Walrus, Lady Madonna, Hey Bulldog, Hey Jude, Baby You're a Rich Man, All You Need Is Love, Don't Let Me Down (with Ari Vinocur, Anna Moss, and Sari Jordan)

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Два концерта у Джона Крэйги во Фрейте, субботний и воскресный, и оба распроданы! Открывают сёстры-двойняшки Shook Twins, с бородатым товарищем в шляпе, играющем на гитаре и басу. Симпатичные гармонии у девушек, но звучание местами уж совсем инди-фолковое, с педалями и электроникой. В общем, не могу сказать, что понравились. Выходит Джон, исполняет свои песни, рассказывает истории, все вокруг угорают, конечно. При этом хватает вещей не очень знакомых, говорит, во второй вечер сыграю сет, отличный от вчерашнего стандартного. Halloween Sunset, вот её узнаю, да и Westbound BART, конечно. Talkin' Leviticus Blues, очень хорошо! Whenever two men lie together they should be stoned, очень по-местному и современно. Присоединяются Shook Twins и девушка Aviva le Fey на контрабасе, бородатый товарищ на гитаре и мандолине. Звучит тема Savannah, потом особенно впечатлила удивительно смешная новая композиция под названием Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Выходит ещё и трио Rainbow Girls, то есть уже аж шесть девушек на сцене, все вместе исполняют песню Broken, ух, и мандолина хороша! Под конец прозвучали I Wrote Mr. Tambourine Man, Dissect the Bird и хитовая I Am California. Очень здорово!