Of the many storylines that came out of this year's Summer Camp Music Festival was Spafford's emergence as a true draw at one of the summer's first big-time festival plays.
Their appearance on both Thursday and Friday nights kicked off a season full of high profile festival slots, and a recently announced full fall slate.
After nine months of nearly unprecedented growth, a spring of hard touring, some primo opening gigs, and word-of-mouth explosion, these sets started a period where they can truly expand their audience -- wowing crowds who are primed to check out a band with their kind of improvisational chops.
With a showcase time slot for hard core early arrivers on Thursday (the fest's headliners were "off" that day), they'd have their work cut out for them... but they also had another challenge: Thursday's gig would be the first with new drummer Cameron Laforest.
Tomorrow's Verse's Ben Bowen was able to capture these images of the first gig with the new member, and also caught up with guitarist Brian Moss to get a quick report card on how he felt after the gig:
"It doesn't feel like we missed our stride at all. We only had a couple weeks to practice with Cam and he stepped up to the task and filled Nick's shoes quite well. We're obviously going to miss Nick and his energy but I'm excited to see where Cam can take Spafford and what lies ahead."
From an observer, it appears that Cam really picked up what Nick was going for, while adding his own little personal flair. Ben's on-the-groudn assessment: "It was hard to tell a difference for the most part which i guess is what you want in a replacement. Nick also seemed to be more of an electronic drummer; he used an e drum and pulled influence from EDM artists, while Cam is from a Phish cover band and you can definitely heard it with his jazz fills."
Want to see for yourself? Here's a pro-shot video of "Mind's Unchained" from Thursday's performance...
... and an audience shot version of the same, followed by "The Remedy" and "Backdoor Funk".
Fall Tour Dates
Wed. 9/27 - Charlottesville, VA - The Southern
Thurs. 9/28 - Baltimore, MD - The 8X10
Fri. 9/29 - Philadelphia, PA - The Foundry @ The Fillmore
Sat. 9/30 - Brooklyn, NY - Brooklyn Bowl +
Sun. 10/1 - Ithaca, NY - The Haunt
Tues. 10/3 - South Burlington, VT - Higher Ground Showcase Lounge +
Wed. 10/4 - Hamden, CT - The Ballroom at The Outer Space
Thurs. 10/5 - Northampton, MA - Iron Horse Music Hall
Fri. 10/6 - Cambridge, MA - The Sinclair
Sat. 10/7 - Portland, ME - Port City Music Hall
Sun. 10/8 - Albany, NY - Lucky Strike Social
Wed. 10/11 - State College, PA - State Theatre
Thurs. 10/19 - Columbia, MO - Rose Music Hall
Fri. 10/20 - Nashville, TN - Mercy Lounge
Sat. 10/21 - Asheville, NC - Asheville Music Hall
Sun. 10/22 - Asheville, NC - Asheville Music Hall
Tues. 10/24 - Charlotte, NC - Visulite Theatre
Wed. 10/25 - Athens, GA - 40 Watt Club
Thurs. 10/26 - Live Oak, FL - Suwannee Hulaween
Fri. 10/27 - Live Oak, FL - Suwannee Hulaween
Tues. 10/31 - New Orleans, LA - Parish @ House of Blues
Thurs. 11/2 - Baton Rouge, LA - Spanish Moon
Fri. 11/3 - Houston, TX - White Oak Music Hall Upstairs
Sat. 11/4 - Austin, TX - Antone's Night Club
Sun. 11/5 - Dallas, TX - HoB Cambridge Room
Tues. 11/7 - Lawrence, KS - The Bottleneck
Wed. 11/8 - Omaha, NE - The Waiting Room
Thurs. 11/9 - Denver - CO - Ogden Theatre +
Sat. 11/11 - Denver, CO - Globe Hall *
Tues. 11/14 - Seattle, WA - Crocodile Cafe
Wed. 11/15 - Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge
Thurs. 11/16 - San Francisco, CA - The Independent
Fri. 11/17 - Los Angeles, CA - Teragram Ballroom
Sat. 11/18 - Flagstaff, AZ - Orpheum Theater
+ notes dates w/ variable on-sale time
* notes special VIP “All In” date, tickets not available separately
