On a relatively mild March evening just outside the nation’s capital, a packed house turned out to once again welcome the lads from across the pond, Acoustic Alchemy.  The Birchmere is a regular stop on their U.S. tours, and the crowd was eager to show their appreciation for always coming to town. 

Since their last time at this venue, the band – Greg Carmichael, Miles Gilderdale, Fred White, Greg Grainger, and Gary Grainger - has changed up their set list and added a few surprise tunes that fans hadn’t heard in a while.  The opening tune, “Reference Point,” got the crowd primed and ready for a night of incredible music.  To me, just watching Greg and Miles effortlessly and seamlessly change leads on most songs is worth the price of admission.  These two guitarists are so melded into each other’s playing.  “Overnight Sleeper” and “Angel of the South” followed, which also gave the crowd a taste of what keyboardist, Fred White is capable of. 

Audience favorites, “Jamaica Heartbeat” and “Ariane” were up next, which got everyone totally revved up.  These are songs that Acoustic Alchemy almost always plays.  “Passion Play” and “The Last Flamenco” put everyone in a playful mood, especially the latter with its samba beat.  Watching the Grainger brothers on “Tied Up With A String” is an experience.  Trading off riffs between Gary’s bass and Greg’s drums, this duo never lets the pace wane.  Talent truly runs deep in that family.  Another classic tune is “Lazeez,” which truly showcases the gifted Greg Carmichael.  His passion comes through on every note.  Another up-beat song “AArt Attack,” which gave Fred some solo time, really took hold of the crowd.  We hated to see the night end.  Luckily for us, the band came back and gave us two more songs: first, the introspective “Augustrasse 18,” which again gave some spotlight time to Fred on keys, and then finally “Flamoco Loco,” where Miles just lets loose with his incredible scatting note for note with his guitar.  What a finale that was!

The evening went by way too quickly, but was just another perfect show.  We know that it’s only a matter of time before the Birchmere is filled yet again with British humor, talk of football, and beautiful music.