In the ’90s, a second wave of jam bands emerged, influenced by predecessors like the Grateful Dead and the Allman Brothers. Two who broke out into the biggest success were Big Head Todd and the Monsters and Blues Traveler, who first came together on the HORDE Tour. (Horizons of Rock Developing Everywhere, not to be confused with the faction, led by orcs, in World of Warcraft.)
At Wolf Trap, these two bands recently came together on the Blue Monsters Tour for a night of spontaneous musicianship and great songs.
Both BHTM and Blues Traveler formed in the ’80s. Led by the eponymous Todd Park Mohr, BHTM formed when the band members were students at the University of Colorado in Boulder. (Colorado is known for its jam band scene, and it is also home to acts like Leftover Salmon.) After years of building up a dedicated local fanbase in the Mountain States, BHTM broke through to the mainstream in 1993 with their platinum-selling third album, Sister Sweetly. They continue to play their biggest hits from the album, with “Bittersweet” and my personal favorite, “Broken-Hearted Savior,” making it into the set at Wolf Trap on August 23.
Watch the official music video for “Bittersweet” by Big Head Todd and the Monsters on YouTube:
The set mostly included original songs –“Dirty Juice,” “Resignation Superman,” “Into the Light,” “Dinner With Ivan,” “It’s Alright,” and “Long Coal Train — but they also did a few blues numbers, WIllie Dixon’s “Sittin’ and Cryin’ The Blues” and John Lee Hooker’s “Boom Boom,” as well as as covers of Boston (“Foreplay”) and Deep Purple (“Highway Star”), which closed their set.
While both BHTM and Blues Traveler are considered Jam bands, BHTM’s set was more traditional, and Blues Traveler leaned more into the jam band aesthetic. BHTM’s songs were relatively tight and constrained, while Blues Traveler stretched out many of the songs during their set. This was especially true of the covers they played, which made up about half their set: Van Halen’s “Hot For Teacher,” Led Zeppelin’s “Moby Dick,” “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Son Seal’s “Funky Bitch,” “War Pigs” by Black Sabbath,” and the surprising “The Devil Went Down to Georgia,” by Charlie Daniels; for the encore, they finished up the evening with ZZ Top’s “La Grange.”
I was a huge fan of Blues Traveler during my high school years. I still own my CD of Four, their biggest-selling album, and I was excited to hear some of my favorites from that album, “Run Around” and “The Hook.” They opened with “Things Are Looking Up,” and the set also included “But Anyway,” “Carolina Blues,” and “100 Years,” on which they were joined by mandolin play Josh Himmelsbach.
Watch the official music video for “But Anyway” by Blues Traveler on YouTube:
For someone who came of age in the ’90s, this was a great nostalgia-laden trip. It brought back a lot of memories, and the tunes were as great as they ever were.
Here are some photos of Big Head Todd and the Monsters performing at Wolf Trap on August 23, 2024. All pictures copyright and courtesy of James Todd Miller.
Here are some photos of Blues Traveler performing at Wolf Trap on August 23, 2024. All pictures copyright and courtesy of James Todd Miller.
