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This soon after Summer Solstice, it's all about waiting for the sun to set. The heat is sneaking into the mental bays labeled "normal" and "accepted" despite my efforts to maintain vigilance against such. The heat will, as always, set up its hammocks there and lazily radiate while the synapses struggle to carry, sweating and grumbling, onward. Monetary obstacles being what they are, I can't just pack up and make sure I'm at least to British Columbia by Memorial Day.

Still, it was a fairly nice night for some good, free live music. I strode down Cherry Street to the sounds of Hogs and a lone seagull, and arrived at Miller Plaza just in time to hear the headliner announced as "the greatest rock and roll band in the world!" (I know: NRBQ were here a couple of years ago.)

The Waybacks possess a healthy balance of talent and showmanship with the aforementioned lightness and tongue-in-cheek wit. The drummer (Chuck Hamilton) stays tastefully supportive, though he has chops when needed. The bassist (Joe Kyle, Jr.) played an electric upright. I'm sure that's easier to carry around (not to mention amplification) than a full-on double bass.

Then there are the guitarists: James Nash and Stevie Coyle. It's good and proper to have a live listening experience that amounts to nothing more (or less) than an a$$-whuppin', because such opens the tap of inspirational juices. It's likely I won't ever "shred" on an acoustic the way James Nash can, but I can at least practice.

Their tour schedule indicates that they pick up different fiddle/mandolin players based somewhat on region. It was therefore our treat to hear a guy named Warren Hood, who is adept on both instruments and at least approaches the style of the great Stephane Grappelli in the swing numbers.

There's nothing like that swing, either, especially when it speaks with a "gypsy" inflection. You know: "it don't mean a thing.." The Waybacks' uses of harmony -- vocal and instrumental -- are just poignant and angular enough for me, while remaining tonal and straightforward enough for, as I call them, "the GP." The crowd seemed to really like a new tune called "Petrified Man." On the lyrical front, I enjoyed "Motorway Livin'." (I am just guessing at titles, using oft-repeated phrases to guide me.) I also liked hearing the many musical references during the show. "Dueling Banjos" made a brief appearance, as did "The Simpsons" theme and a tune I haven't heard since childhood, "Shortnin' Bread."

The last song of their set was the treat-in-waiting, though. Alice has already commented on the way they built-up into it, and I knew something of the sort was on the way when they said something like "and we have had the privilege of playing this next song with one of its authors." That was somehow code to me that it would be a Grateful Dead composition, but my delight couldn't have been much more complete when, after teasing any number of Dead-penned motifs (the strongest was "Dark Star") during the song's intro, they broke into "Cumberland Blues." It made a perfect vehicle for their instrumentation and vocal style, and it got some audience members dancing around the plaza's maple trees and hollering like banshees. A group of mostly stoic Japanese kids even got into the groove, while some of the more mature citizens at least tapped their feet in time. The jam was enhanced by some "herring pick'ing," then slid into "Third Stone from the Sun," followed by old pickin' stand-bys "Red-Haired Boy" and "Blackberry Blossom," before the vocal coda returned. The sun finally went down when this tune started, and so sweet relief combined with giddy nostalgia for a most pleasurable cap to a solid evening.

After the last notes of the encore, I made my way through what remained of the crowd, and overheard an interesting tidbit. The Waybacks hail from the San Francisco Bay area, but a woman near me asked her friend, "Do you know Jim Nash?" "From Nashville?" came the reply. "Yeah. That [lead guitarist James] was his son." Well, now, at least one of those fancy California boys (hey, I was born there, I can kid) is actually a neighbor from just up the road.

I won't get to attend all, or even most, of the Nightfall shows this Summer, but I'm really glad I made this one happen. It was great. I didn't get there in time to hear Footloose, but maybe I'll catch them at another time and place.