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| Toad the Wet Sprocket @ the Hopmonk Tavern Novato (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Toad the Wet Sprocket brought the biggest concert to date to Novato’s Hopmonk Tavern Cookout Concert Series Friday night and thrilled a packed crowd with a fun evening filled mostly with hits from their thirty-seven years.
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| Glen Phillips of Toad the Wet Sprocket @ Novato's Hopmonk Tavern (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Formed back in Santa Barbara in 1986, Toad still features the original front line of vocalist/guitarist Glen Phillips, guitarist Todd Nichols and bassist Dean Dinning. For this tour, they have been joined by drummer Carl Thompson and Jon Sosin (lap steel, keyboards, mandolin). They began the set with “Windmills” off the Dulcinea album, a more sedate number that allowed them to show the fantastic harmonizing of the original three and fill an early evening under clear skies with drifting melodies. From there, they transitioned into the more elevated pace of “Come Down” off 1997’s Coil and then followed it up with the more recent “California Wasted.” The song is a lament over not being able to find happiness in the golden state with lyrics:
There’s too much in my head right nowGot no way to slow it down
No one’s gonna pull me out
Oh, I still make the same mistakes
Oh, California’s wasted on me
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| The crowd at Novato's Hopmonk Tavern (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
For those only familiar with their breezy FM mega-hit “Walk on the Ocean,” lyrics of this nature might be surprising, but longtime Toad and Glen Phillips fans know that many of the band’s songs are focused more on the struggles of life and explore much deeper (and sometimes dark) emotions, fears and questions. On this night though, the band seemed to be in a jovial mood and even the darker songs were delivered with an upbeat tone. They seemed to really enjoy Hopmonk’s Cookout vibe where the crowd is split between a large standing area in front of the stage and lawn chairs and blankets along a sloped hill on the side of the stage. It’s a very comfortable open-air venue whose planners leveraged fences, landscaping and sun curtains to eliminate any evidence that it's in the parking lot of Novato’s Costco and Target.
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Phillips introduced love song “Crowing” by telling the crowd 'Here’s one from thirty years ago back in the last century.' Next up, the band traveled years forward to 2021’s “Hold On,” a rocker that searches for common ground among people of diverse incomes and backgrounds. “Nanci,” a fun-filled acoustic debate over the merits of Nanci Griffith and Lorretta Lynn was followed by “Whatever I Fear” off 1997’s Coil as the sun began to set and the early evening wind picked up at the Cookout Concert.
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KC Turner Presents has been putting on this Cookout Concert Series at Hopmonk for a decade now and continues to up the talent bar every year. On this weekend alone, Toad took the stage on Friday (after quickly selling out the first show, they will be back on Wednesday, July 19 with a few tickets still available), The Mother Hips will do two shows on Saturday and Ramblin’ Jack Elliott along with Roy Rogers & The Delta Rhythm Kings come in on Sunday night. KC Turner is likely the hardest working music promoter in the Bay Area with a love of both musicians and music fans that evokes the legendary Bill Graham. Whether at Hopmonk, house shows, Turner is a constant presence on the scene, shaking hands and chatting with fans and rolling up his sleeves to make sure every event goes well. Before playing “All I Want,” Glen Phillips asked the crowd 'How many of you have either had KC and I for a house show or attended one at your friends?' and it looked as though nearly a quarter of the fans up close raised their hands in the air.
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“The Moment” from 2013’s New Constellation was the last of the more recent songs. For most of the crowd that seemed well-versed in Toad, it was a delightful tour through both better-known hits and deeper cuts. “Dam would Break” and “Fly from Heaven” followed and then Phillips introduced “Pray Your Gods” saying 'We dusted this one off after about 30 years.' The song begins slowly with Phillips in an almost spoken style and then slowly building into a big song when Phillips and Nichols have a nice guitar exchange back and forth.
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| Carl Thompson & Dean Dinning of Toad the Wet Sprocket @ Novato's Hopmonk Tavern (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
'Show them how we do the clapping thing' Dinning instructed Phillips as the band went into “Nightingale Song” – an old singalong that featured Sosin showing his mandolin prowess and was climaxed by Dinning going behind the drums and joining Thompson for a tandem drumming that brought one of the night’s loudest roars from the crowd. Guitarist Nichols took his turn on lead vocals for “Crazy Life,” allowing Phillips to display his best guitar-playing of the evening.
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As the sun began to set in Novato, Toad finished with a four song flurry sans encore: “Something’s Always Wrong” and “Walk on The Ocean” were followed by Phillips introducing each member of the touring crew. A full-speed “Fall Down” preceded the tender and appreciative closer of “I Will Not Take These Things for Granted” and the band exited the stage – destined to return to the same scene on July 19th.
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| Mini Trees @ Novato's Hopmonk Tavern (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Young Los Angeles band Mini Trees opened the evening and connected well with the early-arriving audience (the lawn on the hill had been completely filled by lawn chairs by 4:20 pm for the 6 pm concert). Lead singer Lexi Vega (stage name Mini Trees) and her band’s indie originals (along with an excellent cover of The Cranberries’ “Linger”) were met with a warm response from the crowd and their merch table seemed to do quite a bit of business after their set.
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