Bill Deasy and the Gathering Field at Mr. Small's
Doors open at seven, but I don't arrive until nearly eight when the show is scheduled to start. The theater, a converted church, is already nearly full of people, standing, eating, drinking, waiting. Everyone knows the show won't start on time, but no one is willing to risk missing the band's entrance. There is a warmth in the room, as if everyone knows each other. They don't, but they all have four guys in common, The Gathering Field. There are fewer than six degrees of separation in the room between the audience and the band.
One big party.
So Much Water
Information
Alcatraz
The Soul Is Human
Middle Road
Another Man
I Want To Be With You
Like a Rolling Stone
Dylan Thomas Days
Border Town
My Serenity
Right Where You Want Me
Lost it in the Sun
Rhapsody in Blue
Bound To Be
I Believe! I Believe!
Divine Intervention
Baby’s a Mannequin
Midnight Ghost
Lost In America
I’d Believe in God for You
Everything’s All Right
Who We Are
Rough Road
Proving Ground
Once one of Pittsburgh's favorite bands, The Gathering Field went on 'hiatus' almost ten years ago to pursue solo projects. Bill Deasy, the bands's leader and lead song writer, has put out a couple of great solo efforts in the interim. He is one of Pittsburgh's best singer songwriters, having penned countless memorable songs.
I will soon learn that nearly everyone in this room knows nearly every word of nearly every one of Bill's songs. Probably better than HE does! 
But I am getting ahead of myself. The room lights dim and the opening bars of Johan Stauss' 'Thus Spoke Zarathustra,' announce the band's imminent arrival on stage.
Tweaking the solemnity of the moment!
The opening chords of 'That Night' elicit crazy cheers from the excited crowd. I am myself swept up in the emotion of the moment as Bill Deasy strides up to the mike, acoustic guitar strapped around his neck, and leans in. For the next three hours, Bill and his mates play a continuous flow of semi-famous songs - no intermissions or breaks in action tonight - songs well known to most of the folks assembled. I am standing near the elevated Mr. Smalls' stage edge and the enjoyment the band feels playing these songs together is palpable.
Body memory takes over for them. Waves of sound wash over us.
The concert is a celebration of the release of a double CD live set recorded last fall. The last show these guys played together was recorded for posterity, not release. But the show was too good to keep under wraps and now it is available to the rest of us who may of missed it...
Check out Bill's website for more information. I think the CD will be available on CD Baby.
The setlist from the most recent evening is similar to the song list on the album.
The highlight for me is a more than six minute version of Dylan's 'Like a Rolling Stone,' once a standby in Gathering Field shows of the past...
That Night
Are You An Angel?So Much Water
Information
Alcatraz
The Soul Is Human
Middle Road
Another Man
I Want To Be With You
Like a Rolling Stone
Dylan Thomas Days
Border Town
My Serenity
Right Where You Want Me
Lost it in the Sun
Rhapsody in Blue
Bound To Be
I Believe! I Believe!
Divine Intervention
Baby’s a Mannequin
Midnight Ghost
Lost In America
I’d Believe in God for You
Everything’s All Right
Who We Are
Rough Road
Proving Ground
Thanks, Susan Logan, for the setlist!
One of two bands that have ever made me cry.
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