NRBQ, or ‘Terry Adams’ New NRBQ’, or the band formerly known as the ‘Terry Adams Rock and Roll Quartet’, depending on who you ask, played the Iridium on Sunday, June 26. There is fervent debate among Q-Heads about the rightful naming of this incarnation of the band. For more background on the issue you can read a statement from Terry on the NRBQ website here as well as this thoughtful article on boston.com here.
As an enthusiastic Q-neophyte lacking the decades of storied NRBQ shows under my belt to compare it to, all I can say with any authority is that this was a really enjoyable, rockin’ show in a neon-lit basement club in Times Square on a Sunday night. Hal Willner hung out with a friend at a table in the back balancing out the table of baffled European tourists near the stage in the otherwise lightly populated room. The current line up features Scott Ligon on guitar, Pete Donnelley on bass and Conrad Choucroun on drums – Art Baron and Greg Ward sat in on trombone and alto sax, respectively . Everyone in the band had plenty of chops and musicianship to fill the big shoes of their predecessors, the band served as gifted support to propel the unique vision of Adam’s music forward after 40+ years of being at it.
The band is playing selected dates in July and August – http://www.terryadams.net/appearances.html They also released a new album ‘Keep This Love Goin’, available directly from the NRBQ website.
