Willie Nelson's Outlaw Music Festival (Ft. Phil Lesh), Darling’s Waterfront Pavilion, Bangor, ME, 2019-06-14

     Summer's here, and while everyone is focused on the Summer Tours of Dead & Company and Phish (more on those in the coming weeks), Phil Lesh is going on a mini tour of his own as part of Willie Nelson's traveling Outlaw Music Festival.  It's a rotating lineup, and this Friday he played in Bangor before moving on to Mountain Jam and then Connecticut.  We caught the Bangor show, since we have a place to stay with some family nearby, and what a show it was.  I'm mostly gonna focus on Phil since this is nominally a Dead blog, but the other acts were nothing to sneeze at!

     The venue is right between Main Street and the Penobscot River, which is a little weird, but also pretty cool when Phil plays Brokedown by the waterside (spoilers).  The stage faces a local bank's headquarters, and as the music started we could see them pulling down the shades and leaving for the day; hopefully a few of them came over for the music! Getting in was pretty easy, metal detectors in place but as long as you held everything in the air they didn't really care what you were holding.  I've been told that weed is legal in Maine, and this was a Willie Nelson concert, but the local cops all looked pretty suspicious of the crowd.  Maybe that was just because it was such a weird mix of people; local country fans, Heads from Canada, general music fans looking for an eclectic Friday in June, geriatrics hoping to find youth in Willie, and local kids hoping to see something cool.  It doesn't feel like it's meant to really operate at full capacity, but all in all everythingwent as well as could be expected, and it started out as a beautiful afternoon.

     We got down to our seats in the 7th row, and had some room to move down under a huge speaker stack right as Particle Kid was opening the show up.  Particle Kid was a weird act, featuring Micah Nelson (one of Willie's sons) on guitar with a drummer, a bass, and a guy who would wander on stage in a space helmet.  I would describe them as...Noise Grunge?  But with laser sound effects on the guitar and some looping sound textures.  They were definitely the loudest act of the night, which at first didn't mix well with the jitters of going into a concert, but by the end I was really enjoying them!  The elderly audience members didn't know what to think.  Following them was Lukas Nelson (Willie's other son) & the Promise of the Real.  Micah came out for this act too, and he and the bass player really clicked; at one point Lukas went to look at his bassist, and when he wasn't in his normal spot he looked over and found him and Micah terrorizing the drummer up on the edge of his riser.  They played some great pseudo-Southern Rock, with a little bit of jamminess here and there, a total crowd pleaser.

     The next act up was the Revivalists, who are on the poppier side of Alt Rock by my accounting.  They seemed fine, but now it's time for a digression.  We had eaten before going in, but I was feeling a bit peckish a few songs into their set so I went to grab a hot dog.  Easy, right?  Right??  Instead I spent the whole set waiting in line, marveling at how a modern music venue could handle crowds of people so poorly.  There were only portapotties for facilities (which were labeled with gender icons that got ripped off as the day went on), one place to get food, and huge lines impeding the flow of foot traffic everywhere you looked.  I made friends with some folks from Canada who I promised I would stop for Krispy Kreme on my way back to Boston, and I'm sorry to say I definitely lied to them (so sorry if you're reading this!), then eventually got back to the seats before Alison Krauss's set.

     Alison Krauss is a national treasure and everyone should listen to her.  Her voice is perfect, and she really knows how to put a band. together  One thing I was thinking about some of the earlier acts is that they don't really have control over the sound of their music; everything's turned up, and everyone's playing great, but it can all get lost in translation from stage to speaker.  Alison Krauss though (and Phil and Willie) has been around the block a few times and knows how to carve a song into the air in a way that lets every instrument and voice find its own space to be heard.  The set was a bit sleepy, and some of the folks who were too drunk or took their drugs too early were getting restless, but it was just so beautiful, especially with the sun starting to descend into some of the first clouds of the afternoon.

     The next act was Phil, and the Heads were starting to stand up, stretch, and otherwise make their presence known.  I didn't see the staff hassle anyone for milling about or smoking or vaping, they were mostly keeping folks from sneaking into the very front row and blocking the exits.  Phil took a bit to set up; Alison had a whole stage set-up involving fake windows and a street lamp that needed removal.  We hadn't known the lineup going into this, and were hoping for Jorma Kaukonen to join him, since he had just played with him at the Capitol Theatre, and was playing with him the next night, but instead we got: Grahame Lesh, Ross James, and Alex Koford, all on guitar and vocals; Rob Barraco, keyboard and vocals, Eliott Peck, vocals, John Molo, vapes and drums.  This is kind of a half and half of the Terrapin Family Band and the lineup Phil was playing with at the Cap and Mountain Jam, and it was awesome!  I got the feeling that they hadn't rehearsed too much, but they really didn't need to, every one of them has been playing this music with Phil for so long that they know the music better than almost anyone.  After Phil got his computers set to the appropriate settings the rest of the band came on, and it was showtime!  As of the time of writing there are no recordings of this show out, so I'm going from memory here.

• Jam >
• This wasn't exactly a jam, mostly just Ross James getting the band ready to play some blistering rock 'n roll.  Phil was looking excited, maybe he had been hanging with Willie backstage?
• New Minglewood Blues (RJ)
• The straight folks in the audience were looking a bit nervous about all this talk of stealing women and seducing the sheriff's daughter, but everyone else was dancing immediately.  Ross James has always been a bit of a talk-singer, which works great in blues songs, but his real strength is his guitar playing.  He and Grahame took most of leads this night, but Ross' were the ones that got the biggest crowd reactions.
• Instead of the the "couple shots of whiskey line" he sang something else that I can't...quite...remember...but it sounded great!
• Jack Straw (RJ & GL)
• This seemed like the perfect song for this crowd: an easier tempo, a little bit of country licks thrown in, some jams, and some hot leads.
• They really eased into this one, showing how comfortable they were as a band.  I couldn't really see Barraco from where we were, but the rest of the band was trading smiles all night.  Elliott came out for this one and heped round out the vocals.  She's part of Grahame's band, Midnight North, and while I'm not sure on her official status as a member of the Family Band, I certainly would hope to see her with Phil as often as possible.
• The "eagles fill the sky" line got some extra cheers due to an earlier bald eagle flying overhead, wondering who all these hippies were that were scaring away its prey.
• As is typical at this point in Dead music, this song was stretched out a bit more between verses, especially right before the "gotta go to Tulsa" line.  Ross really led this one as far as when they would jam and when they wouldn't, and he and Grahame brought it to a triumphant finish that involved a lot of fist pumping from the crowd...or maybe just me.
• Box Of Rain (PL)
• There had been a few people yelling "let Phil sing!" after Jack Straw, and while I don't think they determined this, Phil did follow it up with Box of Rain.  A few people (me and the heady couple in front of me) muttered "careful what you wish for," but Phil was singing great this night.  He did seem to forget a few words (smoking weed with Willie will do that to ya), but the lines he did sing rang true.
• They stretched this one out a bit after the solo section, like Phil normally does.  It didn't grow any teeth or get feedbacky at all, but instead made for some nice early summer cloud watching.
• Ramble On Rose (AK)
• Elliott came back out for this one, but it was Alex's turn to take a lead vocal.  He did some great work in the jams, but spent most of this night playing rhythm and singing harmonies.  He emoted really well here, and got some of the sitters to stand up and dance a bit.
• Ross and Grahame traded some amazing leads here, and Phil was loving it.  The Moon, not quite full, was peeking out behind the increasing clouds on our side of the stage by this point, making for an even more beautiful evening.
• Music Never Stopped (RJ & EP)
• This brought some much needed funk to the night, probably the most dancing in the crowd of the whole show.  They really jammed out the opening of the song too, which is a nice twist.
• Elliott handled Donna's parts with so much gusto the chick in front of me turned around to the elderly couple sitting next to me and yelled in their faces "SHE'S DOING THE DONNA PART!"  This couple had exhibited some Maine feistiness towards other exuberant folks throughout the night, but were at a loss as how to how to react to this exclamation and just slowly nodded.
• The first part of them unfolded nicely, mostly led by Grahame this time, but Barraco was providing excellent counterparts.  The shift into the second phase of the jam was the only rough spot of the set, and they recovered by letting Ross just shred his guitar to pieces until they brought the song to a close.
• Jam >
• At a typical Dead show I think most of the crowd would have known where this jam was going from the first 30 seconds, but it seemed like a lot of these people took at least that long to realize this wasn't just a tuning exercise.
• The Wheel (ALL)
• Ross started this one on a pedal steel, which I didn't know he played!  He switched back to his regular guitar halfway through, but I wish he had stayed on it more.
• Again, this one never really got scary or too far out, mostly staying adjacent to the usual theme in happier jams.  In classic Phil style, each verse was separated by another jam, instead of just going through them all at once.  They all forgot to repeat the "won't you try" refrain at one point and Phil cracked up; how do I get me some of that Willie weed?
• There had been no segue jams between the songs up this point, and I thought for sure this would be the song to break that trend, but no.  Instead they neatly wound it down into nothingness and stood back from their mics for a bit.
• Jam >
• The band engaged in some scheming and planning at this point, and then Barraco led them into a kind of Russian waltz kind of jam that everyone in the know could tell was leading into...
• Help On The Way > (RB)
• Barraco had contributed some great backup vocals so far, and I was surprised this was the only song he got to sing lead on.
• Even if this wasn't one of my very favorite songs, this still would've been the highlight of the night for me.  They were on fire at this point, and the musicians were shooting sparks off left and right.  It's not like there was a different arrangement or anything, the band was just so in tune to each other that any little accent or omission was carried out by the whole group.
• Grahame's solo might have been the best I've ever seen him play.  I thought each player would get one shot at the solo section, but instead Grahame just took it twice himself, and hot damn was it fire!
• Slipknot! >
• There seemed to be a little flub in the transition section leading to the Slip Riff, but the band hurdled over it and nailed the riffs.  Molo got to do the only real solo drum work of the whole show in the spaces between riffs, and then they finally went into a jam that got a little scary.  There was a lot of clanging chords and shredding lines, all while Phil boomed and swooped around the soundscape.  Grahame and Ross locked eyes right at the start and didn't stop looking at each other/shredding guitar in each other's faces until eventually the jam morphed into the Slip Cord and they made their way back to what we assumed was going to be the Slip Riff again.
• I Know You Rider (ALL)
• But instead, they drifted off into space until Phil started up a solid choogle that could have ended up in GDTRFB or Deal, but I correctly called as Rider.
• Not the most jammed out version of the song, I think due to time restrictions, but the band still played confidently.
• It had started to rain lightly sometime in Slip, so the "cool Colorado rain" line got some attention from the folks who didn't even know Jerry used to sing it.
• Brokedown Palace (EP)
• Elliott sang her heart out on this closing number, putting a soulful little bow on this festival set.
• Like I teased at the beginning, hearing this by a river really hit home, as cheesy as that sounds.  It wasn't just the lyrics and being next to a river though, it was the whole package of the performance; Barraco had finally moved over to the organ, the rain was clearing, and we were in the middle of a happy crowd; what could we do but enjoy it!

     That was it for Phil.  It looked like he was going to deliver a mini Donor Rap at the end, but instead walked off with the rest of the band.  My first Phil show with no Donor Rap??  We hung out for a bit waiting for Willie, with small rain showers coming and going the rest of the night.  He had a Donor Rap of his own, but it was about rescuing wild horses, which also seems noble.  He eventually came out, backed by a band that included both his sons, his sister, and some guys that I'm told are regulars.  The crowd was mostly standing for this one, and finally the smell of weed and vapes was freely blowing in the wind.  He played some favorites (Mamas, Don't Let Your Baby's Grow Up To Be Cowboys probably got the biggest sing-along) and some new songs, and everyone had a great time.  Lucas was his lead guitar and back-up singer, and certainly had his hands full, but everything seemed so relaxed and fun!

     He finished up with some time to spare before curfew, but that was it for the night.  I thought getting out of there would be a nightmare, but we were able to just walk right out and get back to the parking garage, then drive off into the clearing mist.