History Repeats Itself September 20, 1993 - Buffalo News By Michele Marcucci History, as the cliche goes, repeats itself. Many experts seem to agree that history moves in cycles of about 20 years. God Street Wine -- like the Spin Doctors, Phish, and a bevy of other currently popular nouveau jazz-rock Grateful Dead ringer bands -- helps to prove that theory. Friday in Nietzsche's, "Nightmare," the band's first song, might have been better titled "Flashback." It and the spacey guitar jams that followed were heavily reminiscent of the Allman Brothers and bands of that ilk. The group, making its third appearance in Buffalo, announced it would need three songs to warm up, and, indeed, the first song and a half popped and spluttered like a faucet that hadn't been turned on in a while. But instead of spewing forth chunky brown water, the band played some of the generic white-boy funk popular when the Red Hot Chili Peppers first hit it big. After a warm-up that was half as long as what was announced, God Street Wine delivered the jazz-tinged licks the sizable crowd likely came to hear. The band's approach was similar to Phish's, minus that group's infamous stage antics and Grateful Dead-type following. Fortunately, the band mixed up the set with a number of shorter songs as well, avoiding the group nap that overly long, jazz-tinged guitar jams are wont to produce. This group's jams, however, do have a sense of direction that those of some others lack. Nietzsche's intimate, up-close setting also helped to keep things lively. At this point in their careers, members of the Spin Doctors, another comparable band, spent as much time on stage talking about marijuana as they did playing music. This band's talented musicians share their musical stories with audiences and eventually may share national attention with their counterparts. Article © 1993 Buffalo News