Squirrel Nut Zippers are always amazing and their show in Cain Park in Cleveland, Ohio was yet another incredible show. They have it all, astounding showmanship, incredible sound, fantastic sense of humor and a near-magical quality that pulls the audience in and is simultaneously sophisticated and intricate, yet down-home and fun as well. They played in the open-air Evans Ampitheatre venue where the ceiling is made of, I think, wood and metal. In spite of early concerns about the sound mix resulting from the acoustics, to my untrained ears it sounded perfect and wonderful.
They started with a classic ballad, "Falling in Love Again," which Katharine Whalen sang, and worked in a couple of other classic non-SNZ songs, all of which were lovely. They played many of the timeless favorite SNZ songs, including "Good Enough for Grandad, "Put a Lid on It," "Prince Nez," "The Suits are Picking up the Bill," "Hell," "Ghost of Stephen Foster" and others. They even played a brand new song Jimbo Mathus recently wrote, "Snip, Nip and Tuck," which was inspired by plastic surgery disasters in the news and had a delightful calypso style beat. They did two sets with a brief intermission, which in my experience is unusual for Squirrel Nut Zippers, but it just gave me a chance to get excited all over again.
In addition to amazing music, they put on a really cool show with dancing and much moving around onstage. Katharine, Jimbo, Je Widenhouse, Henry Westmoreland and the other horn player whose name I don't know did a group step-back-and-jump-forward movement that was very cool. Jimbo and Katharine danced along the front of the stage, which actually made me slightly nervous because right in front of the stage was the deepest orchestra pit I've ever seen, made of concrete. It must have been at least a 12-foot drop. But of course, no one fell off and all was well. They had a stage prop of two staircases back to back and made good use of those. Katharine climbed up and down them a couple of times, Chris Phillips made use of them once and Katharine and Jimbo both climbed up and then down them at the end, pausing at the top to take their final bows.
Bottom line, their music and onstage antics put smiles on everyone's faces. After the show I overheard one guy describe the band as "Fun, fun, fun, fun, fun." I'm pretty sure he said the word "fun" at least five times. After the show most of the band members signed autographs at the merchandise table and chatted with fans, which made it an even more unforgettable experience for those who got to meet Jimbo, Katharine, Chris, Stu Cole, Je and the new horn player whose name I don't know. I love this band and could happily see every one of their shows (with lottery winnings, I wish) and never ever get bored. I highly recommend Squirrel Nut Zippers to anyone who appreciates quality music and entertainment, served with a generous helping of beyond-excellent musicianship and a side of not taking oneself too seriously. If you get the chance to see them, go!
(Unfortunately, Cain Park doesn't allow photography so I got no photos. - but that was the ONLY disappointment, and it wasn't the band's fault one bit.)