13 – Live – The Slambovian Circus of Dreams
Folks in these here parts of the Slambovian Highlands (which is everywhere the heart and spirt takes one on the journey of their lifetime) knows deep in their bones how good even an average night a gathering of the ghosts, the elders, the poets, the minstrels can be. The gift of a riff, an anecdote; a lyric, a solo, a chorus, a singalong, to take to heart and take home. So a live recording of an exceptionally special show is doublebonus doublegood in the grand book of Slambovian mythology.
Welcome to 13-Live. Well, twelve from a heartwarming Albany NY night in November ‘24 at The Linda as part of WAMC’s Live in Concert. (On a sadder note, the show was one of the last as the venue closed permanently in June 2025.) Feeling patriotic in this troubled two-hundred and fiftieth year of chasing the perfect union, track thirteen, from 2008, is a bonus take on “The Star-Spangled Banner” featuring the original Slambovian front guard — Joziah, Sharkey, Tink, and former drummer Tony Zuzulo — at the St. Pete Times Forum, in front of thousands of enthusiastic Tampa Bay Lightning fans.
But back to The Linda where all the action and energy really lies and the rip-rocking “The Grand Slambovians” that kicks things off in a higher gear than usual. “Time has come to know the reasons / Time has come to find the why’s” Yeah. It has. And the sooner we all get down to the business of figuring it out, the more dedicated to tomorrow we all are. Over a chugging blend of lysergic Americana and a Tuesday night hoot, “We are the daughters and the sons” Joziah knowingly rasps, too aware that one generation’s stumble is the next generation’s point of inspiration.
Slambovians worldwide know Joziah frequently intros “Silent Revolution” with “This one’s for the ghosts” but it sounds much more reassuring when he says it. Then Sharkey, Tink, Bob, Marty, and the perpetually in motion RJ, pick up on the beat and run, creating a thrilling momentum behind the chief instigator’s musing on the elders.
This crew has always echoed and amplified our greater moments, but “The Lost Highway” displays full stop how they forged it their way. Safe to say Sharkey’s solo is one of those ones you will remind friends about years from now. As good and grand as “A Very Unusual Head” is on any given night, there is something about this one that seizes room in your memory bank. “Enemies of Love” (destined for their next album) breaks the calliope gaze of “A Very Unusual Head” with a Springsteen-ian charge and is the band’s best single since the non-single “Living With God” from Flapjacks From the Sky (2004)
I could continue down this hyperbolic freeway, but I’d rather not distract you from hearing 13-Live as a whole. Do not just go to your favorite song, listen to it ten times then maybe take in another tune or two and continue your monotony. You do not want to miss the urgent impishness of “Bees.” The early Who-ish-ness of “Circus of Dreams.” The tidal Allman-roll that is “Step Out of Time.” The hallucinatory “Flapjacks From the Sky.” The exultant, tribal glee of “The Trans Slambovian Bipolar Express.” Simply speaking, 13-Live is long, long, long overdue.
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2025 Ulster County Poet Laureate, Mike Jurkovic has been published globally but with little reportable income. Full-length collections include Buckshot Reckoning, mooncussers, American Mental, (Luchador Press 2023, 2022, 2020); haiku collections Monet’s Bamboo (CAPS Press, 2025) Blue Fan Whirring, (Nirala Press, 2018). President, Calling All Poets, 26 years in the Hudson Valley. 2016 Pushcart nominee. CD reviews appear online at All About Jazz and lightwoodpress.com. He is the Monday 9am-10:30am host of NuJazzXcursions,WVKR-91.3FM Vassar College. He loves Emily most of all.
Mike is a frequent contributor to Lightwood. Read more poetry, reviews and articles by Mike Jurkovic here on Lightwood. Scroll to our Search Link and insert his name.
