Round III at the MAC Live

How well I remember Nov. 5, 2005. I’d made it all the way from my home in Illinois just a couple of days before and now was at the Withlacoochee Bluegrass Festival near Dunnellon, Fla., with my stepson, Tom Stout.

I was in for a treat that day, two performances by one of my favorite bands, IIIrd Tyme Out. The band had arrived barely in time for its afternoon show, with an explanation they’d just drove in from Kentucky, where they recorded a live performance the day before at the Mountain Arts Center in Prestonburg, Ky. The performance, the band told the crowd, was recorded for IIIrd Tyme Out’s third live CD at the MAC — and for the band’s very first concert DVD.

Wow! A live show on DVD? That meant I could actually enjoy this band’s great entertaining shows in the warmth of my home in the dead of winter? That I wouldn’t have to wait until June rolls around to see them at Bean Blossom, Ind? Or November and Withlacoochie? Great! I could hardly wait.

But wait I did, along with the legions of fans this great band has acquired throughout the years. I waited and waited and waited. The CD, “Round III at the MAC,” eventually came out, but the long-awaited DVD never appeared.

Was it worth the wait? You bet. I had absolutely no expectations from the DVD other than to hear some great tunes from a great band.

Clear-cut explanations for the delay were never publicly stated. But from the somewhat obscure comments at the time on the band’s Web site and from comments made by those close to the band, it can probably be safely assumed that bad things can indeed happen in this good musical genre called bluegrass. It sounds like the person originally designated to edit the concert video into DVD readiness perhaps disappeared — and took his work with him. But, the completed DVD did finally show up for sale in late summer or early fall, almost two years after it was recorded.

I picked up a copy at the Uncle Pen Days festival at Bean Blossom in late September. Don’t ask me why, I have no explanation, but I waited until this week to pop this much-anticipated DVD into the player. It’s beginning to feel like December here in Illinois and the timing seemed right.

Was it worth the wait? You bet. I had absolutely no expectations from the DVD other than to hear some great tunes from a great band. It surely delivered. There’s little to be seen in the way of high-tech video wizardry here, really nothing more than the performance as captured by four camera operators. Interviews with band members are entwined between the concert footage.

I’ve often thought IIIrd Tyme Out’s charm was its strength in being a solid band. Certainly, Russell Moore’s vocal work is always a standout, but basically this band just shines at being a unified force that entertains. The incredibly tight vocal harmonies and rock solid instrumental work is what makes IIIrd Time Out shine.

So, it seems natural that no single tune on the DVD stands heads above the others. It’s just one, combined strong performance that, like the band’s live shows, keeps building to a great three-song finale that’s become a staple ending for the band’s shows, leading off with Peter Rowan’s “The Moonshiner” and followed by a frenzied mandola solo leading into “John Henry” and finally, “John & Mary.”

Alan Purdue was on mandolin and mandola when the DVD was recorded and has since been replaced by the return of Wayne Benson to the group. But Purdue really gets into the groove and adds much of the excitement to the finale.

The band showcases its versatility on the DVD, offering straight-ahead bluegrass, gospel, a stirring a capella version of “God Bless America” and more contemporary sounds on the Moore-penned “Daydreams” and “Bobby & Millie.”

Will the DVD put non-bluegrassers in sheer awe and convert them into die-hard fans? Probably not. But it surely will be a great winter fix for IIIrd Time Out fans who are too many miles and months removed from the next bluegrass festival.

-Dan Tackett

Share This