Most Wednesday (or maybe it was Tuesday or Thursday) nights after I got my driver’s license in high school, I drove up to Providence’s Living Room with my high school pal Larson Sutton to see Max Creek. We saw countless shows and somehow never missed school that following day, despite getting home rather late. Back then, you had to contend with smoky rooms and second hand smoke at the nth level because you could smoke indoors. Also, I wasn’t 21 so I was not able to have an adult beverage at the show (or did I????). The years were 1988 to 1990. After seeing all those great shows in high school, I went off to college and life and had not seen a Max Creek show until Friday of last week.

Larson, fresh off his 20 year plus stint living in California and now a prolific music industry writer, invited me to a Max Creek show way back in the winter months of 2023. “Circle your calendar, June 9th, Ocean Mist, Creek, make it happen,” or something like that were Larson’s sentiments. Larson had seen Creek over the years and was still very much in tune with their careers, their side projects, and how great they were. I was excited to walk down Creek Lane and I invited Rachel to join me on the walk. 30 something years after seeing Max Creek at the Living Room in Providence, there I was at a Max Creek show at the Ocean Mist in South Kingstown. Far too long in between sets, I soon discovered.

I am a huge music fan. Not sure what I can muster up here as a music writer, so I will lead with this. Max Creek was absolutely incredible. The sounds and rhythms and beats and guitar licks and drums pounding filled the Ocean Mist was super positive vibes. It was a master class on great music to wind down a busy week of family, work, sports, life, you name it. Honestly, apart from the Grateful Dead cover of “Fire on the Mountain,” I can’t honestly remember the name of one song. And being honest, the song names really don’t matter to me because the music was that incredible. Call them Song 1, Song 2, whatever – they were all 1000% enjoyable and groovin’ and I danced and boogied for nearly 3 hours of Creek!

Don’t be like me and wait 33 years for a Creek show. This band could play in front of 30, 300, 3,000 or 30,000 fans and get the entire place dancin’ and groovin’ and feelin’ alright for hours. Huge thanks to Larson for cluing me in on the event. Psyched that Rachel got to witness a piece of my musical history and why I feel in love with jam bands at such an early age. Ocean Mist did a great job hosting the event. Memorable on so many levels, Max Creek you are and will always be one of my favorite musical experiences.