Shakedown Citi, Stage One, FTC , Fairfield CT, August 7, 2026. I’m putting these reflections down while the bliss buzz is still buzzing from this show. Shakedown Citi is in a strong performance art spiritual space. Everyone is included. Cara Cavanaugh contributed spot on vocals, a stirring Sunrise, some heeled dance steps, and a number of key smiles. Kyle was manning the merch table. Kyle’s the dude we met playing sax for Yacht Lobsters. All together now. He joined the party, on the saxophone, for Dancin’ In The Streets – plus. Mitch, Matt, Snake, Dave, and Garrin were in full swing from the first note, opening up with Feel Like a Stranger. That initiated the flow through the collective creativity circuit\. For the next three hours we were in a room full of people moving, grooving, and frequently all smiling at the same time. Smiles that included the band. The power of the music driven bliss that is higher culture coming on strong. These guys are delivering big time.
Tribute band only scratches the surface of what these career musicians are doing. Dead influenced rock and roll delivered with bonus levels of talent, interest, improvisation, cohesion, delicacy, grit, some kind of love, and tons of creativity. There is very little separation of artist and audience. See these guys all the time. There’s little pretense. All for one, and one for all. There’s a joy being expressed. The whole room is moving. We’re moving together with persistent smiles, spontaneous hugs, dance, cheers, and tears. I’ve experienced collective ecstasy before during music performances. It’s surreal when it happens. While you can only speak for yourself when it is happening; that ecstasy sure seems to be shared. Here at FTC it may have stopped just short of that (and that may be me), but it’s close. That is a very high standard. Tonight it was right up there.
Opinions can wait. Popularity in terms of numbers is a mysterious quiz. In recent years I have found myself getting blown away by great performances by groups like Kung Fu, Donna the Buffalo, John Kadlecik, Spattord… in near empty rooms. What the heck?! Where is everybody!? Numbers of people listening can’t mean much when its comes to the merit of the art. That was some kind of special happening last night with Shakedown Citi at Stage One. Pretty small theater. (Great place to see a show! Excellent sound!) Home town Small Craft Warning warmed up the local faithful, and the gathering crowd for what would be a sold out show. In between bands there was a noticeable anticipation buzz. The ensuing blaster of a Shakedown show is the buzz energy feeding this entry. Grateful Dead music is grounded in the deeply free liberty to express one’s inspirations in a best available harmony with that which is about. Shakedown Citi very much appears to be grounded in that. It would not be surprising, based on these consistently high level performances, to see the scale of the show atmosphere grow a type of stage-audience separation that right now is minus the us and them feature. It’s just us. Circle the next date. Make the next move. You’re all but guaranteed to land smack dab in a groove.