Monday, September 22, 2008

Gaithersburg Rules OK!






D.C's Maryland suburb Gaithersburg held their 27th annual Celebrate Gaithersburg festival Sunday on the last day of summer. It was a beautiful afternoon and the crowd was treated to a great powerpop doubleheader of the Rembrandts and the Gin Blossoms.

The Rembrandts took the stage first working as a duet with Danny Wilde on acoustic guitar and Phil Solem on a Gibson hollow body electric. They played a really strong set, sampling each of their four discs, performing Just The Way It Is, Baby, Follow You Down, Johnny Have You Seen Her?, and Rollin' Down The Hill just to name a few. (Yes, they did I'll Be There For You!) It was great to hear them in this semi-acoustic setting as it gave their vocal harmonies a chance to really shine through.

Next up were the headliners the Gin Blossoms who rocked the house righteously with a tight 90 minute set that hit all the high spots in their back catalog such as Hey Jealosy, Allison Road, Mrs. Rita, Found Out About You, Follow You Down, and Learning the Hard Way.

Lead singer Robin Wilson came out alone for the encore strumming an acoustic and singing a great cover of Elton John's Rocket Man. He was soon joined by the rest of the band and members of the Rembrandts who provided able accompaniment.

All in all, a great afternoon of music! Following are a few more pics of the show.






Phil rips off a solo...



Danny sings Rollin' Down the Hill.


Robin unplugged on Rocket Man.



Phil soloing on Rocket Man.

2 comments:

steve simels said...

Wow.

Have I ever told you about my Ahab-like quest to get a copy of Danny Wilde's mid-80s MTV hit "Isn't It Enough"?

Seriously -- this sounds like it was tremendous fun.

MJConroy said...

I was there, it was a fine afternoon. I only caught part of the Rembrandts show unfortunately. I catch the GBs whenever I can - a nice bunch of guys - got to be in the studio with them for a recording of WHFS's "Just Passin Thru" way back when.
They did not do Mrs Rita on Sunday though - Jesse never took front and center.