The Jayhawks @ Town Hall, New York, NY 10/23/26
Bill: The Jayhawks/The Cactus Blossoms
Venue: Town Hall, 123 W 43 St., New York, NY
Date: Friday 10/23/26
Ticket: Free +1 (last row of balcony but we went to the Orchestra and hijacked aisle seats in an empty row)
9pm The Jayhawks
Active: 1984 (Minneapolis, MN)
Latest Release: Sanctuary Park (Sham, 2026)
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Missed: The Cactus Blossoms
I've been listening to the Jayhawks nearly as long as they've been around, but somehow never saw them live. No Time like the present as they were doing a Town Hall gig that my friend/pilates boss Dana had a photo shoot for the show and invited me along as her plus one. We had the very last row in the balcony and after she did her shoot noticed there were a bunch of empty orchestra rows, so we got a round in the lobby and grabbed aisle seats in an open row downstairs a few songs in after she was done with her official shooting.
With a band like Jayhawks, it still is more about touring the new record than it is about nostalgia. Not that nostalgia didn't have it's place we still got the Hollywood Town Hall hits and they closed their main set with "Blue" from Tomorrow The Green Grass that got the gray's out of their seats after 90 minutes of deep concentrated stillness. The encore was Dylan's "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere" which I remember hearing at the very same venue a handful of years back when there was the Byrds Sweetheart of the Rodeo 50th anniversary show.
Sanctuary Park elicited some audience demand and Gary Louris insisted it was a 4 1/2--make that 5--star album. "What is up with the 1/2 star?" Gary pondered. Well, we all know it is more interesting to read a review that is ONLY a 1/2 star. I haven't heard the record enough to canonize it in my head just yet. I'm still in that honeymoon stage where it is brand new music to me. I've got it playing as I'm typing this, fresh cup of coffee in hand. I bet the rest of the audiences are also having a sip of their morning coffee right about now. What can I say? It sounds like a slightlier craggier Jayhawks with some Crosby, Stills & Nash-style harmonies and it is fine as good morning coffee sippin' music even as they sing about stealing daddy's car. "Leap of Faith" was the one I remembered from last night. I guess we all gotta take it. It'll be alright.
FOR FURTHER REVIEW
Golden Smog-Down By The Old Mainstream (1996)
Various Artists-Big Hits of Mid-America, Vol. 4 (1986)
The Byrds-Live At The Fillmore February 1969 (2000)
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