PETER WOLF – WAITING FOR THE MOON – LIVE @ INFINITY HALL
By Joe Perusse
Peter Wolf brings his “Waiting on the Moon: An Acoustic Evening of Adventures, Stories and Songs” to Infinity Hall in Norfolk CT.
Between solo performances and The J Geils Band, the artist I have seen the most live is Peter Wolf. For this performance Wolf’s bad luck turned into my good fortune. Originally scheduled for July 19th, a date when I already had tickets to another show, Wolf told us after 4 years of trying to avoid Covid he finally caught it and it wasn’t pretty. As soon as the new date was announced I was on the website securing my ticket.
Arriving to the stage with his customary bottle of wine the evening started off with “Some Other Time, Some Other Place” and “Long Way Back Again”. Wolf showcased his harmonica chops on both numbers. Introducing his bandmates on guitar Duke Levine and Kevin Barry he then went into his first story of the night. Talking about how everyone was doing so many things during covid he didn’t do a god damn thing.
Once covid ended he wrote a book. He went into how his father taught him about music and love. In first grade he knew he was going to marry Joyce. His father brought him to Woolworth’s so he could get an engagement ring and when he gave it to Joyce the next day she put it in her pocket and said she needed an ankle bracelet. The day after getting her the bracelet he was looking to give it to her and she walked in with his friend Lenny who had already given Joyce a ring and bracelet.
Naturally the J. Geils Band song “Love Stinks” was next. “Nothin’ but the Wheel”, a Patty Loveless cover that Wolf recorded with Mick Jagger was introduced with a story about when Jagger and he went out into the crowd to check the sound at a stadium show during one of the opening acts. Jagger was wearing a hoodie to remain hidden and when they went to return backstage the security guy said hello to Wolf but asked Jagger for his pass.
At Wolf’s high school graduation, which was at Carnegie Hall, when he opened his diploma there was just a letter in it to see the principal. Deciding against that he traveled the midwest just dropping into different school’s art classes like he was supposed to be there. Upon realizing Boston had a whole bunch of colleges he headed there thinking this free art school would be the way to go.
At a message board looking for an apartment he ran into David Lynch who was looking for a roommate and they lived in bunkbeds until Lynch got tired of Wolf never paying rent. While doing the video shoot for the next song “Come as You Are” the director was having dinner with Lynch so Wolf signed a book congratulating him on all his success. The next day Wolf got a note from Lynch congratulating him on his success and a bill for $43.
He also said while making the video for the song he needed to jump around for the shoot and the director told him to get plenty of sleep the night before. Being an insomniac he called his doctor to get some Halcion. The next day on set he asked the director when he was going to start jumping. Wolf was then informed he had been jumping for 4 hours. He later found out Halcion has short term memory side effects and remembers nothing about making the video when he watches it.
Wolf told a story about going to John Lee Hooker’s hotel room and Hooker was just laying in bed mesmerized by the TV show Lassie. When he noticed Wolf just watching him he pointed out Lassie is one smart dog. This led to a cover of “It Serves You Right to Suffer”.
While playing with The Hallucinations, his first band, Wolf told a story about bringing Van Morrison on stage when they were playing the Them cover “Gloria” and the crowd booing when he started singing not caring that it was the person who wrote the song. Wolf then played his rendition along with grabbing the maracas for the first time tonight.
After a tale about Sly Stone holding a marketing meeting the bathroom of a recording studio that he walked in on the J. Geils Band song “Cry One More Time” followed.
Wolf talked about how whenever Muddy Waters was in Boston he would need to chauffeur him around. He was actually opening up for him the night Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated and was the person that went on stage to let Waters know. He said Waters told the crowd and told them to all get home safe. After that story we heard “Homework” an Otis Rush cover and “Growin’ Pain”.
“Lights Out” featured Wolf dancing around the stage or at least trying to. He complained about so many wires up there it was difficult. The crowd roared whenever he was up doing his signature dance steps. Another J. Geils song “Give It to Me” and the book title song “Waiting on the Moon” closed out the main set.
Coming out for a J. Geils heavy encore Wolf thanked everyone for their years of support including the Wolf Pac who was in the front row and everyone that sent him candy. “Start All Over Again” was followed by “Must of Got Lost” and “Lookin’ for a Love” although technically the latter is a Valentinos cover.
Peter Wolf is always a great time and through the years many interesting stories have been told at his shows. The book is due out in February or March and he said its available for pre order. As he said during the show for more on the stories told here and even more stories get yourself a copy. I know I will and I know if you do you won’t be disappointed.
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