The Woomblies Rock Orchestra – Photo by Tom Alvarez.
The Woomblies Rock Orchestra – Photo by Tom Alvarez.
As a child of the sixties, I was caught up in nostalgia as I listened to the lush and magical sounds of the Woomblies Rock Orchestra, Friday, at the Franklin High School Community Performing Arts Center in Franklin, Indiana.
Founded by vocalists Phil Pierle and Paul Holdman, in 2000, the 10-member, Indy based group covered rock n’ roll music from the 60s through the early 90s. Playing to a relatively small audience, they nevertheless dazzled the engaged crowd, made up primarily of Boomers, many of whom were obvious die-hard Woomblies fans. As for yours truly, I could not help but wonder what took me so long to discover this popular group of virtuoso musicians that performed a repertoire which transported me back to the happy and carefree days of my youth.
The concert featured an artfully crafted program that included compositions by everyone from the Moody Blues to Hall & Oates to the Beatles to the Electric Light Orchestra. Highly entertaining and fast paced, the concert effectively highlighted seasoned artists who exhibited world class musicianship. Each worthy of note for their talent and showmanship, the band included vocalist-guitarist Pierle, vocalist-guitarist Holdman, bassist-vocalist Branton Millholland, Jamie Reid on drums, Greg McGuirk on keyboard, Tom Clark on saxophone and flute, Bruce Knepper on trumpet and flugelhorn, Cellist Grover Parido, Cassandra Tosh on viola and Julie Scull on violin.
The Woomblies Rock Orchestra – Photo by Tom Alvarez.
As far as the music itself, the set list of the 90-minute, fast paced concert was a cavalcade of hits that included songs such as “She’s Gone,” “Beautiful Day,” “Golden Slumber Medley,” “Live and Let Die,” “Year of the Cat,” “ I Am the Walrus,” “Evil Woman” and many others from the previously mentioned decades. I especially appreciated hearing the Woomblies treatment of Beatles’s songs in which they captured the sounds—note for note — of timeless hits created by the legendary band at the famed Abbey Road Studios in London.
Standing out in solos, in a show which featured individual moments for each band member to shine both vocally and instrumentally, were Holdman in “Love Reign Over Me,” “Touch Me,” and “Year of the Cat,” Millholland in “Living Thing,” and “Evil Woman,” Tom Clark in “Nights in White Satin,” and “Smoke from a Distant Fire,” Knepper in “Josie,” Scull in “Baba O’Reily” which was a showstopper and Parido in “Papa Was a Rolling Stone.”
The Woomblies Rock Orchestra – Photo by Tom Alvarez.
As far as the concert’s production values — the lighting and sound, except for a muffled quality when it came to those times when band members addressed the audience, was top notch. Another drawback was the lack of scripted banter by a designated spokesperson (s) to host the evening, who could have added polish to an already exceptionally produced presentation. It is a role that both founders, Holdman and Pierle , could easily fill. Like many in my generation, the older I become the more intolerant I am of the increased volume that is omnipresence at rock concerts. In the case of the Woomblies, however, the music they so wondrously executed caused me to overlook what were mostly minor distractions.
As previously stated, I regret that it took me so long to jump on the Woomblies band wagon, but in the future, I plan to make up for failing to support this artistic community treasure. These dedicated musicians deserve not only further recognition and exposure, but adulation as well.
