Pickin' on Dave

    In 2012 the Grateful Dead’s Archivist, David Lemieux, kicked off the follow-up to the acclaimed Dick’s Picks Series: Dave’s Picks.  I’m writing this now because the 18th volume of the series, from 1976-07-17 (with bonus disc from the previous night), should be arriving today and I figured this was as good a time as any to take a look at the rest of the series.  I actually started a review of DaP 10 (handy abbreviation) before I took my own little hiatus from blogging, which I wisely discarded because it was looking way too long-winded (this one got away from me too).  So here I’ll just go over some of the background info, and then just point out some of the more notable parts of the series.

    While this is the successor the the Dick’s Picks series, between the final one of those and the first Dave’s Picks, there was the Road Trips series.  While Dick’s Picks did not always release entire shows, it typically would release the majority of a couple shows.  Road Trips, however, would focus on a period of time, like Winter of ‘68 or November of ‘79, and release some choice selections from a few shows.  Some of the Road Trips really are spectacular, but Dave Lemieux, when given his big chance, decided he wanted to only release full shows, which I have to agree with.  I’m far from the first Dead Head to say that each show has its own unique contours and timeline, and the setlist develops organically.  So while you most certainly can skip ahead to “Weather Report Suite > Dark Star . China Doll” (Dap 9), it’s much better to see how they arrived at that conclusion and what other musical events shaped the setlist up to this point.

    All (most?) of these release have been mixed by Jeffrey Norman, who at this point is probably the most knowledgeable person when it comes to the sounds the Dead can make.  He really has a masterful touch, and is one of the main reasons this series has been so successful.  DiP and the Road Trips both varied in sound quality, sometimes rather noticeably, but DaP has been consistently incredible.  Unfortunately we did not benefit from this with the first four releases, because we didn’t buy any of those.  Three of the four are available as soundboards from the Archive, but the fourth only has a single audience recording. After missing four stellar shows at the highest possible quality, we sign up for the yearly subscription every year now, which also means we get a bonus disc with the second one of each year!

    So let’s take this from the top and work our way down.  Like I said, I’ll only go over the notable parts of the releases, but for a lot of these that might mean talking about just about every song!

Dave’s Picks 1 (1977-05-25)

• One of the best shows of May ‘77 if you ask me, and a great start to the series.
• Pretty standard first set for the era, meaning all great performances.
• Second set for the ages; we should send this into space.
• Not the longest “Scarlet > Fire,” but definitely one of the best.  I love this era because the transition into “Fire” was still so new, and you know that almost no one in the crowd even knew there was such a thing as “Fire on the Mountain.”
• If the closing jam on “Fire” doesn’t melt your face, your sound system isn’t on.
• By the books “Estimated,” with a great transition into “He’s Gone.”
• My version has a sudden cut between “He’s Gone” and “Drums,” I wonder what I’m missing…
• You all know how much I love “The Other One,” and this is the perfect example of why.
• The only thing I love more than “The Other One” is “The Other One > Wharf Rat,” and boy do they do that.
• The only thing I love more than “The Other One > Wharf Rat” is “The Other One > Wharf Rat > The Other One,” and holy crap do they do that one too!

Dave’s Picks 2 (1974-07-31)

• ‘74 is sometimes my favorite year, especially these big summer shows.
• This is maximum Phil, the Phillest “Eyes of the World” there has ever been.
• Seriously, this “Eyes” is lethal if you’re unprepared for it.  Phil will mess you up.
• The rest of the band is also on fire, especially Keith and Jerry.
• This era is may be the best for Keith.
• Not sure how many times we they played “Spanish Jam” and “Mind Left Body Jam” in the same show, but it should have been more often than it was either way.
• This one came with a bonus disc from 1974-07-29, which is maybe a better show?  Discuss amongst yourselves.
• My dad was there and they did an epic “Spanish Jam > Wharf Rat” that was also released on the 2011 30 Days of Dead on Dead.net.
• The show also (not on the disc) features the best “El Paso” the Dead ever did.

Dave’s Picks 3 (1971-10-22 & 21)

• From Keith’s first tour with the band.
• They added the excerpt from the previous night because Dave felt bad about it only being two discs.
• This means we get “That’s It For The Other One” AND “Dark Star,” which is a good thing.
• Keith must’ve had a different piano at this point, because it sounds...chunkier than the one he brought to Europe.  But still beautiful!
• Keith should not be allowed to use the organ, it is not his forte, though I can see why they thought it was a good idea with Pig Pen gone for the tour.
• Everything’s good, but not as good as it would be in a few months.
• Keith is responsible for “Playing in the Band” turning into a psychedelic monster.
• “Dark Star > Sittin’ On Top of the World > Dark Star” is one of my favorite “Dark Star” sandwiches.
• Rare “St. Stephen” with Keith, pre-hiatus.

Dave’s Picks 4 (1976-09-24)

• This one only has an audience recording (6/10-ish quality for an aud), so if anyone has the official one let me know and maybe we can work something out?
• I really like a lot of ‘76 and pretty much anything from September on is great stuff, this included.
• Really cool “Playing in the Band > Supplication > Playing in the Band”!
• There aren’t enough “Might as Well”s in the world.
• Great “Help on the Way > Slipknot! > Drums > Slipknot! > Franklin’s Tower > Music Never Stopped” transition!
• “Help > Slip!”is pretty standard (really good, really weird), but it gets even weirder when they come back into “Slip!”; they take it at its normal speed, but then do the “Slip!” riff more times than normal and at double speed!
• Rare second set “Music,” but ‘76 versions are always too short.

Dave’s Picks 5 (1973-11-17)

• Fall of ‘73 is one of the best periods of Dead music there ever was.
• Pretty famous show, one I had in my collection already, but this is much better sound quality.
• Great “Here Comes Sunshine” and “China > Rider,” both at their ‘73 best.
• I wish the Dead did “The Race is On” more often than they did; great song!
• Probably the best version of “Playing in the Band > Uncle John’s Band > Morning Dew > Uncle John’s Band > Playing in the Band” that there is.
• Not as good as DaP 2, but this one still has a solid “Eyes” with a nice transition into “Sugar Magnolia.”

Dave’s Picks 6 (1969-12-20 / 1970-02-02) plus Bonus Disc (1969-12-21)

• Strange collection of dates, but all really good shows!
• Three versions of “Mason’s Children,” which not everyone appreciated.
• But I did!  Especially the “St. Stephen > Mason’s Children” transition from the ‘70 show.
• Whole lot of Pig Pen!  Some real monster “Lovelight”s, including one where Pig Pen imparted some wisdom to us for what to do when a woman who won’t leave you alone: “You get her in the bed and you fuck her ‘til her legs turn red!”  What a poet.
• Really everything here is as good as it gets for this era, with some early versions of soon-to-be-classics and really evolved versions of the psychedelic monsters from the previous years.
• “Good Lovin’ > Drums > The Other One > Cumberland Blues” is not to be missed, gotta love that bonus disc!
• TC really shines in late ‘69, makes me think he could have become even better if he didn’t want to do his artsy things and not do acid.

Dave’s Picks 7 (1978-04-24)

• I think this show is great, but is not as great as some of the the others in the series.
• Sound quality on this one and the next ‘78 release are both 10/10, you can hear the fabric of their pants rustle as they scratch their asses between songs.
• Whole first set is really hot.
• “Ramble on Rose” is really big.
• “Staying Alive” teases in “Me and My Uncle,” pretty fun.
• One of the best “Music Never Stopped”s; some “soulful asides” from Bobby and Donna (they were on cocaine and had a lot to say).
• EPIC “Scarlet > Fire,” put this on your Must Listen List.
• Third disc kind of lets down the album.  Not bad by any stretch, they just sound like they left a lot of energy behind in the first two discs.
• “Drums” in ‘78 involved everyone in the band and its extended family banging pots and pans together while making gorilla noises, which is fun for a bit, but a little much for 15-ish minutes.

Dave’s Picks 8 (1980-11-30)

• The only 80’s release, and it’s barely in the 80’s.
• When this came out I wasn’t big on 1980 as a year for the Dead, but have since found a lot of other great shows, which gives this one more perspective.
• Relatively famous show in some circles, for good reason.
• Matrix recording instead of pure soundboard, met with varying levels of approval; sounds different in different contexts (ear buds, headphones, stereo, etc.)
• Another great “Scarlet > Fire” to prove that Dave is really obsessed with that pairing (3 out of 8 Picks so far).
• Synth intro to “The Wheel” is divisive among the Heads, but I like it.

Dave’s Picks 9 (1974-05-14)

• Only Dead show from Montana, but not sure what that means.
• Also, over 20% of Dave’s Picks are from ‘74.  Dave’s a great guy.
• “Scarlet Begonias > It Must Have Been the Roses” is good, but not as good as “Scarlet > Fire.”
• Really big “Playing in the Band,” exactly what you sign up for with the Wall of Sound.
• They kind of flub the reprise, but what can you do, right?
• “Weather Report Suite > Dark Star > China Doll” is obviously the meat of the show.  You can only imagine what it must have been like in the Field House with the Wall in such a small place.
• I love that they turned “WRS” into such a launching pad for these big jams from late ’73 - ‘74.  So many good ones: this, Dick’s Picks 14, maybe another Dave’s Picks….
• They somehow manage to play regular rock and roll after shattering the universe, just like the Dead are supposed to.

Dave’s Picks 10 (1969-12-12) plus Bonus Disc (1969-12-11)

• Very similar to DaP 6, maybe better?
• TC is once again killing it in late ‘69.
• I now wish I had kept the notes I had already made on this show.
• MONSTER of a “Lovelight,” all hail Pig Pen.
• The whole show really is fantastic, especially the early versions of what soon became staple in the repertoire, but the feature of the show is the “Alligator > Caution > Feedback > We Bid You Goodnight.”
• I always had a recording of just this progression on some strange CD, but I’m not sure if everyone is as familiar with it.
• If you are not familiar with it, you have to listen to it because it will make your life objectively better.
• Bonus Disc is also very good, but I hate how the list the tracks for “St. Stephen > The Eleven,” they mark the change way too late.

Dave’s Picks 11 (1972-11-17 & 15)

• I’d like to note that Dick’s Picks 11 was also from the fall of ‘72.  This is either intentional and clever, or coincidental and confusing.
• When ‘74 and ‘73 aren’t my favorite Dead eras, it’s usually fall of ‘72, and this is one of the many reasons why.
• The show was from Kansas, and the cover art is Wizard of Oz-esque.  When it finally arrived, the cover was in black and white and the inside was in color!
• Some people didn’t get it…
• Once again Dave felt bad that not all discs were filled up, so he added a 30-minute “Playing in the Band” to the third disc...God bless you, Dave.
• The whole show is really excellent, so it’s hard to pick out just a few stand-out performances.
• Let’s leave it at “Bird Song,” “Box of Rain,” “China > Rider,” and the entirety of the second and third discs.
• Maybe the best “He’s Gone” of ‘72?  Definitely way more expansive than any of the Europe versions, and seems more mature from even the two months prior to this show.
• “The Other One” isn’t as good as 1972-09-15 (swoon), but it’s not fooling around either.
• More jazzy and spacey than primal and ferocious.
• In my opinion maybe they should play “Dark Star” if that’s how they feel, but I literally can’t complain.

Dave’s Picks 12 (1977-11-04 & 2)

• I love this one, definitely one of my favorite Dave’s Picks.  Some people, including me, do point out, however, that Keith is not at his best in this show.  The rest of the band, though…
• Also, maybe the best Dave’s Picks cover art?  I got my friend a shirt of it, but I wish I had kept it myself.
• This time Dave filled two discs, but felt guilty that it wasn’t three, so he added an entire third disc!  What a guy!
• Gotta love “Dupree’s Diamond Blues,” especially the later versions.  Sure the acoustic ones from ‘69 are fun and cute, but the later ones are funky!
• ‘77 and ‘78 “Let it Grow”s were pretty awesome too, especially this one.
• Phil is moved to give the band goofy introductions at the start of the second set.
• The whole second disc.
• This “Playing in the Band > Eyes of the World” is one of the Grateful Deadest things there is, I mean just listen to Jerry!!
• “Eyes > Estimated” is always a fun subversion of expectations.
• This “The Other One” is going to beat you up and steal your lunch money.  It’s only a little over four minutes, which is appallingly short, but it kicks ass!
• As I may have mentioned, I’m not wild about “Stella Blue,” but this one is so beautiful, and anything that goes back into “Playing” gets pretty wild.
• The stuff from the Seneca show isn’t as good, in my opinion, but is still definitely worth listening to.

Dave’s Picks 13 (1974-02-24)

• I CAN’T BELIEVE THEY FINALLY RELEASED THIS!
• Seriously, if you don’t have this show in your collection I don’t know what you’re doing.
• They started ‘74 with three shows at Winterland, this being the third.  The second night is really good too, but this is clearly the best of the three.
• Best of the year?  I don’t know, but it’s up there.
• Honestly, listen to the whole show, it’s all the best.  The highlights are obvious and really everything is a highlight.
• It’s pointless to debate the best “Dark Star,” and it’s pointless to debate the best “Morning Dew,” but this is the best “Dark Star > Morning Dew.”
• “Spanish jam” tease in “Dark Star.”
• The night before’s “The Other One” also has a “Slipknot!” tease from Jerry, but that’s not on this release...
• I repeat, listen to this show!

Dave’s Picks 14 (1972-03-26) and Bonus Disc (1972-03-27 & 21)

• Right before the band went to Europe, they stopped at the American Academy of Music just to show everyone that they were about to blow all those European minds.
• Again, Keith is responsible for making “Playing in the Band” a psychedelic beast.
• Bless his heart.
• First disc is excellent, second disc should be classified as a drug.
• One of those discs that you can listen to on its own on repeat and never get tired of.
• Allegedly the first real post “Truckin’” jam that goes way out there and doesn’t return to the “Truckin’” theme.
• ‘72 “The Other One”s are probably the best ones.
• When they came back from Europe I think they got even tighter, though.
• I want to be upset that they separate “The Other One” and “Wharf Rat” on discs 2 and 3, but it’s all so good I can’t hold it against Dave.
• I bet it hurt him to do it too.
• If only Pig had stuck around long enough to give us more of “The Stranger (Two Souls in Communion).”  It’s such a beautiful song and I bet it only would have matured into something even better.
• Bonus Disc is great, with a much more straight-forward “Truckin’ > Drums > The Other One > Wharf Rat,” that sounds like it almost goes into “Me & My Uncle” too.

Dave’s Picks 15 (1978-04-22)

• From the show before DaP 18, which is an interesting choice.
• I like this one better.
• The sound quality on this one might be the best of all the Picks.
• I dare you to find a single mistake in this whole show, I DARE YOU.
• Seriously, every song on here is a contender for best version of that particular song.
• “Looks Like Rain,” “Tennessee Jed,” and “Jack Straw,” might actually be the best versions.
• Maybe my favorite “Estimated > Eyes,” depending on the day.  I truly love the “Estimated” outro though, Jerry is some kind of monster.
• “Not Fade Away > Wharf Rat > Sugar Magnolia”  will drop your jaw.

Dave’s Picks 16 (1973-03-28)

• Spring of ‘73 is an incredibly interesting period for the Dead, growing from the late ‘72 sound towards what would become ‘74 with the Wall of Sound.
• A sad time too, with Pig Pen’s death.
• I don’t know how they played all these songs in one show, but it must have been a loooong night!
• I like the later, more fleshed-out versions of “Here Comes Sunshine” better, but this one is fun.
• Donna sings “You Ain’t Woman Enough,” which is also fun!
• Epic “China > Rider.”
• While the first two discs are filled to the brim with greatness, the third disc is another in the category of “practically a drug.”
• They only play the instrumental intro to “Weather Report,” and it’s cool to see how that Bobby-tuning-ditty turned into a real song.
• One of the darkest of the “Dark Stars,” and also one of the Phillest.  Has anyone checked to make sure Springfield wasn’t actually leveled in ‘73??
• A great early “Eyes” out of “Dark Star” isn’t too surprising, but to close the show by going into “Playing”??  Incredible.  They just didn’t want to stop playing (ha)!

Dave’s Picks 17 (1974-07-19)

• Much harder to compare to its contemporary (DaP 2) than the ‘78 shows were.
• I had this in my collection already, so I personally like it better, but cannot be objective.
• Keith’s birthday, and he’s playing like it too!
• It’s really everything good about summer with the Wall of Sound, everything sounds so big and it’s all so goddam good!
• Only mistake I can find is in “He’s Gone,” but the rest is so good you quickly forget it happened.
• Yes, they include “Seastones,” and I know why that’s a problem for some of you.  This is really the most listenable version there is, though (damning with faint praise or praising with hints of damnation?), and I listen to it each time I play the record.
• If Dave includes it, it’s worth checking out.
• Another sonic journey with its roots in “Weather Report Suite,” definitely one of the best.
• In fact, “Weather Report Suite > Jam > Eyes of the World > China Doll” is as ‘74 as it gets in the Dead world, and I could listen to it forever.  If you don't love '74 "Eyes," I don't know what to do with you.
• Could probably be called "Weather Report Suite > Jam > Spanish Jam > Eyes of the World," what do you think?  Seems like a little much, but I think you all should know about "Spanish Jam."
• After a typo, I now think "Sane-ish Jam" would be a fun name, but I'm getting pretty slap-happy here.

    Alright, that was a lot longer than I envisioned, but I’m not going back!  I was going to include a snippet about DaP 18, but then I wrote a stand-alone review for it, which is really what I should have done for these, but there’s just no time now.  My plan is stay on top of the new releases as they come out, so hopefully I’ll never have to do this again!  That means you should keep your eye out for July ‘78’s review!

    As always, let me know what you think!  Did I miss something about one of these?  Are they not all great?  What should the next one be??  Also, follow the blog on Facebook and Twitter if you want to know what’s coming out when, or if you want to hassle me outside the blog!

Dave's Picks 18!

     Today's supplemental post is kind of a prelude to this Sunday's more general post on the Dave's Picks series so far.  Today I'll go through Dap 18 with some more detail, but I'll keep it short because it's a Thursday and this two-week old tradition of doing shorter posts on Thursdays must be preserved!

 

     Dave's Picks 18 is comprised of one-and-a-half shows from the Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco, all of 1976-07-17, and some of the night before.  More of the previous night was released on the 2016 Bonus Disc, available to subscribers of Dave's, which I also have!  These shows have been in my collection for a while, so I was already familiar with them, but Jeffrey Norman has proved once again that he is a master of sound quality.  What I'll do is lay out the setlist, and put any relevant annotations below the corresponding songs.  So it might look long, but it really won't be...I hope.

 

Dave's Picks 18 Disc One

• Promised Land
• Chuck Berry opener, real hot.
• Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo
• Maybe a little slower than I'd like, but a great version.
• Also a great example of how the new formation of the band was maturing and coming into their new sound.
• Mama Tried
• Played this a few times this run, but this is a fun version.
• Jerry seems to be playing really loose the whole show, what you might call acid flexibility; plays around the song instead of playing the song itself.
• Deal
• Makes me wish Donna had come to Fare Thee Well!
• New Minglewood Blues
• Again, a little too slow, but you can tell they're having a ton of fun and figuring out what this song is.
• Keith is on fire this show, and this may be the best "Minglewood" solo he ever played!  I wish it went on for at least ten minutes.
• Peggy-O
• Solid, exactly what you would think a '76 "Peggy-O" would be.
• Big River
• Same as "Peggy," but with some really fireworks from Jerry, as always.
• Sugaree
• Long-time readers may remember I have a strange relationship with this song, with my opinion ranging from "overplayed and boring" to "what a gem of a song, it's so exciting!"
• This one falls in the latter category with an unexpected solo from Keith!
• Johnny B. Goode
• Chuck Berry set-closer, surprising and also hot!
• Samson And Delilah
• Again, what you would expect from '76

 

 Dave's Picks 18 Disc Two

• Comes A Time
• One of the best versions there is!
• Starts with kind of a tuning jam, a little rough in the beginning as the drummers try to figure out what speed Jerry wants to play the song.
• You could probably call it "Comes a Time > Jam," if you really wanted to, because they drift away from the theme and play in 11/4 time for a bit.
• Drums
• Short, sweet, and doesn't betray where they're going until...
• The Other One
• Phil does his intro!
• All of the comments for this and "Space" are going here, because I don't think they should have listed "Space" as a separate track...but I can see (hear) why they did.
• Another one they did a lot this run, and they sandwiched it each time they did it!
• Very different from the other versions, more uncertain space than driving madness.
• Space
• Eyes Of The World
• Love me some '76 "Eyes"!
• Again, I'm putting the comments on "Jam" here, but I once again see why they labeled it this way.  If you want to know more of why I think this, refer to this post.
• Very laid-back version of the song, and a good length if you put it together with the next track (as you should).
• The outro jam almost goes a few different places, Jerry hints at "GDTRFB," Phil teases "Brown-Eyed Women."
• Jam
• The Other One
• Just a short stop to pick up those last verses!
• Goin' Down The Road Feeling Bad
• Great version, fades away into "Saturday Night"
• One More Saturday Night
• Definitely too slow, this one's supposed to be fast even if it means it's a bit sloppy.
• U.S. Blues
• Not the encore, believe it or not!

 

 Dave's Picks 18 Disc Three

• Not Fade Away
• Surprising as an encore, especially at almost 15 minutes!
• Really good, you can see the beginning of the drawn-out, rock n' roll monster it would turn into in the next two years.
• Big River (this and the rest are from the 16th)
• Not sure any one release needs two "Big River"s, but it's still another great version!
• Brown-Eyed Women
• Like with "NFA," you can see they've realized this song is about to get a lot bigger, and is already stretched out in the solo section.
• Looks Like Rain
•  
• Peggy-O
• See notes on previous "Big River."
• The Music Never Stopped
• Goes into "Scarlet," which is cool and unusual.
• Really good, I just wish the '76 versions stayed on the jam longer.
• Scarlet Begonias
• Also really good, and another they did a lot in this run.
• Maybe not the best version from the run, but a solid "Scarlet."  Weird to have it not go into "Fire," but that wouldn't last too much longer.
• U.S. Blues
• Another one??  Really good, but come on, Dave!

 

Bonus Disc

• Playing in the Band
• This has always been one of my favorite "Playing" sandwiches, great to have a crystal clear version!  Thanks, Jeff!
• Some people label a "King Solomon’s Marbles/ Stronger Than Dirt" between this and "Charlie," but I think it's best left unlisted.  Really it's just Phil kind of teasing it while "Playing" unfurls.
• '76 is when they really perfected the "Playing" sandwich, and by this show they really knew what they were doing.  This and others from this year (like Dick's Picks 20 or the '76 show from 30 Trips Around the Sun) also have sprinklings of unique jams in the song transitions, sometimes on the "Playing" theme, but often totally unique!
• Cosmic Charlie
• I think they should have stuck with this for a bit longer in '76, I think it had all the makings of becoming a regular staple in the repertoire.
• Donna's voice goes very well with this song.
• Maybe they should have brought back some other oldies in this period of '77 -- they did bring back "Dupree's Diamond Blues" the next year, so I guess I can't complain.
• Spanish Jam
• Only version in '76 and I'm not sure why, they kill it!
• Probably my favorite thematic jam of the Dead's, and definitely the longest lasting.
• Drums
• The "Drums" from '75-early '78 are my favorites, so tight yet so expansive.  You can taste the telepathy!
• The Wheel
• The "Drums > The Wheel" transition was great while it lasted.  The drummers get into a definite rhythm and then Jerry jumps in on the off-beat and the rest of the band lands on the next beat.
• Such a great version, one for the books
• How do you tell when "Wheel" ends and "Playing" begins?
• Playing in the Band
• How do you tell when "Wheel" ends and "Playing" begins?...wait...
• Fades out before they finish, maybe a tape cut?  You get all the important bits, though, and no one misses a beat!
• High Time
• Oddly a frequent song in '76, when it was more of a rarity in other years.
• Not the best version, but I've recently realized what this song is all about and now I'm all about it!
• Sugar Magnolia
• Before the song, Bobby and Phil point out that sometimes drum sets break because people keep hitting them with things.  They also ask the crowd to wish Bill Graham a happy birthday...even though his birthday is in January.
• Great "Sugar Mags" to close out another awesome Pick from Dave!

I'd say you should all go out and buy this, but it's allegedly sold out, so hope you already ordered it!  Let me know what you think of DaP 18, and what you think Dave's Picks 19 should be in the comments below.  Also, stay tuned for my Dave's Picks review on Sunday, where I do something like this for each previous release, but album-by-album instead of song-by-song -- ain't nobody got time for that with 17 releases!

 

JRAD (The Raddest of the J's)

    If you’ve been paying attention to the world of Dead bands at all in the last few years, you have probably heard of Joe Russo’s Almost Dead.  If you haven’t, boy are you in for a surprise!  When Furthur disbanded, its drummer, Joe Russo, decided to form his own Dead band.  He was already in a band with some of his friends called Bustle in Your Hedgerow that did instrumental takes on Led Zeppelin songs, so they took that lineup, added another guitarist, and called the new band Joe Russo’s Almost Dead.  JRAD, as it is often called, is now the most unique take on the Dead’s music since Jerry’s death.

 

    The band consists of Joe on drums, his longtime collaborator Marco Benevento on keys, Scott Metzger and Tommy Hamilton on guitar, and typically Dave Dreiwitz on bass; although, when he’s touring with Ween they get Jon Shaw to fill in.  While JRAD plays mainly Grateful Dead songs, it doesn’t feel right to call them a tribute or even a cover band, because they have really created their own musical beast.  Joe was always an unstoppable force in Furthur, and now he has his own band to really go nuts in.  He’s taken on a singing role in a lot of songs, and he somehow manages to conduct the band while still drumming at full speed.

    Joe’s conducting is more like guiding or reminding, because the rest of the band is so tight that they already know what Joe wants to do.  Hamilton and Metzger swap lead and rhythm parts seamlessly and are constantly daring each other to go further, while Dave absolutely holds the bottom end on lockdown.  Marco and Joe had their own duo back in the day (they announced their reunion in the middle of me writing this!), and the chemistry between them is more like alchemy.  I thought that Chimenti and Russo could lock minds perfectly, but the levels Benevento and Russo reach together go beyond simple telepathy; it makes you wonder if they really are two separate people or just halves of the same musical coin.

    Having great musicians isn’t what makes JRAD so unique in the world of the Dead; plenty of bands have great players!  Their unique quality stems from their approach to the Dead’s song catalogue.  The lyrics are always the same, and some songs are played like the Dead played them, but these guys take playing with the borders and definitions of songs to unprecedented levels.  I don’t just mean that they go from one song into another, they open up the songs’ jam sections and even add new ones in unexpected and exciting ways.  They also throw in teases of other songs so effortlessly; even when they’re playing for their lives on the edge of a collapsing star they find time to throw in a “Friend of the Devil” tease, or a quote from “Bitches Brew.”  Marco, especially, seems to have a catalogue of songs ready at his fingertips that he can throw in at a moment’s notice to augment a song.

 

   Because they frequently find themselves on the edge of a collapsing star, or in some similar metaphysical predicament, they have had to learn to keep absolute control over the music, while simultaneously letting it evolve naturally.  They follow the music wherever it takes them, and hit so many different levels as they go.  While they can play in any number of styles (country, blues rock, outer space minimalism), their most powerful ability is to ramp up a jam higher and higher until everyone’s heads explode, and then just stay at that level.  I’ve lost track of the number of times they’ve hit a peak that I thought was unsustainable for more than a few bars, only to watch them somehow to get even higher while getting further and further out.  Joe must be powered by some sort of cosmic radiation, because no mere mortal should be able to do the things he does to drums for as long as he does them.

 

    The song combinations they come up with are incredibly inventive, too!  Here is a recording (tracklist error in “Scarlet > Fire,” “Fire” starts much earlier than is listed) of the most recent show of theirs I saw at the Paradise in Boston (11/28/2015), and take a look at the setlist below:

First Set: Bertha > Throwing Stones > Black Peter > Estimated Prophet > The Weight > Scarlet Begonias > Fire on The Mountain

Second Set: Jam > Here Comes Sunshine > Feel Like a Stranger > Help On The Way > Slipknot! > Jack-a-Roe > Cumberland Blues

Encore: One More Saturday Night,  Shakedown Street

    The sets look really short, but all of these songs are stretched out from their typical lengths -- “Throwing Stones” and “Here Comes Sunshine” are both over twenty minutes long!  “Throwing Stones” is a perfect showcase of Marco’s ability to pull a tune from thin air that sounds at once unique and hauntingly familiar.  The way they played “Feel Like a Stranger > Help on the Way” made it sound like that was always the traditional transition, and also makes me feel like it would work the other way, “Help on the Way > Slipknot! > Feel Like a Stranger”!

 

    One of the best things about JRAD is that they play small, intimate venues, so you’re always right in the middle of the action.  This also keeps the prices down in the $20 range, which is awesome!  As much as I love seeing Phil and Dead & Company, only Bill Walton can afford to shell out the money for all of those shows; and he’s weirdly tall and plays a silly sport, so how seriously can we really take him?
 

    JRAD also provides high quality recordings and videos of their performances.  Their Youtube channel posts HD videos of songs or pairings of songs just about every week, and they have a good amount of soundboard and matrix recordings on the Archive.  There aren’t any soundboards of their Boston shows, which is a travesty, so feel free to join me in demanding them from the powers that be (some guy name Costello).  Not only do they provide excellent snapshots of their music, they also post critically annotated setlists on their Facebook.  Check out their version of the show I was at in Boston:

Set 1 (9:31pm - 10:55pm ish)

Bertha (TH) >

Throwing Stones @ (SM) >

Black Peter (TH) ->

Estimated Prophet # (SM) ->

The Weight $ (see notes) >

Scarlet Begonias % (TH) ->

Fire On The Mountain % (TH)

Set 2 (11:22pm - 12:53am ish)

Jam ->

Here Comes Sunshine ^ (TH) ->

Feel Like A Stranger & (SM) >

Help On The Way (TH) ->

Slipknot ->

Jack A Roe (TH) ->

Cumberland Blues & (All)

One More Sat Night (SM)

E: Shakedown St * (TH)

@ MB def jammed on a very familiar theme in this one, but I can’t ID it yet

# With Shakedown Street Teases (Band)

$ First Time Played, The Band original. TH sung verse 1, SM sung verse 2, MB sung verse 3, JR sung verse 4 & All sung verse 5 & the choruses.

% With a China->Rider Transition Tease during the transition b/t Scarlet->Fire

& With a Duo Jam

* With Feel Like A Stranger Jams from MB & then TH

(As a refresher: use of a “>” means no pause between tunes, but no transitional jam between them either. For tunes with a jam at the foundation of the transition, I use “->” to note it.)

    Now, I have some issues with this: the “^” symbol is not identified; I don’t hear a “China/Rider” tease out of “Scarlet”; “Saturday Night” was definitely part of the encore, not the second set; there’s definitely a “Slipknot!” tease by Marco in “Shakedown.” But ultimately,  I really do love that they do this for us, and these are just the critiques of a nit-picking fan (Picky Dead Heads, amirite?).  These posts do a lot to help put the show back together in my memory, and they make it easier to imagine the shows I wasn’t lucky enough to go to myself.  There’s a bit of a “spoiler alert” factor for shows you haven’t listened to yet, but that just means don’t look at the annotated setlist before listening to the show!

 

    So that’s that, though there is still a lot worth talking about.  So let me know what you think in the comments, and we can talk all about it! Do you think Joe's hair is too floppy? Does Scott have one of the best guitar-faces of all time? Who can jump higher: Tommy or Scott (Marco didn't know when I asked him)??  Also, let me know what you want to hear about next time, or just share something fun; that’s why we’re all here, to have fun, right?  Actually, next time I think I  might do a look-back at the Dave’s Picks series, leading up to Dave’s Picks 18, which is on its way right now!  So also let me know what you think about all that great stuff.  You can follow this blog on Twitter and Facebook , and you can also follow me in real life, but that would be creepy.
 

P.S.: While I was finishing this up on Sunday, Jeff Chimenti sat in with JRAD for two nights over the weekend, and you can listen to pretty good recordings (I listened to only a minute or two of each, they just posted a bit ago) of night one and night two.  This, however, has set off a cavalcade of conspiracy theorists and detectives all shouting: “FURTHUR REUNION!”  Not only have Jeff and Joe now played together, but this past week Bob Weir sat in with The John Kadlecik Band.  And then, Bob sat in with Phil this weekend!  So someone go grab Sunshine and Jeff P, we’ll sit these guys all down, and we can find some dates that will work for all of them!  I know they’re all very busy, but when you really think about it, don’t we deserve this just a little bit?  Don’t we all want to live in a world with both Furthur AND Dead & Company?! #FurthurReunion , let's go!