Hey Rosetta/Royal Canoe workshop - Hillside Sunday (July 27/14)

There's a possibility for greatness with every workshop. Putting two or three competent groups of musicians together to see what happens has the potential for greatness, yet often falls flat without cultivation. This set did have a great deal of thought put into it as apparently Hey Rosetta and Royal Canoe had burned up each other's inboxes as they narrowed down what they would do. Twitter had tipped it off but off the top of the set it seemed like the tweet had been a ruse since they were going back and forth, just assisting on the other's tunes like a pretty standard workshop. Then it began, as they all took their places and broke into it - Abbey Road,side B. It may not have been note for note, and wasn't mean to be, but had obviously been rehearsed. As it went on, without stopping, the swelling of good vibes grew. Somehow people were still seated partway through until finally a few in the crowd couldn't bear it anymore and jumped up - everyone else followed. It was rousing and uplifting and by the time it wound to a close there were grins on faces all around. The frontmen, Tim Baker and Matt Peters, realizing there were still a few minutes left after they had finished and walked off to thunderous applause, hopped back up. I was hoping for the beloved Hey Rosetta Graceland cover but instead it was another short, silly cover that almost would have been better skipped as Abbey Road was tough to beat.