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.

Dave's Picks 30 (1970-01-02 & 1970-01-03)

     2019 is flying by, we're already on to the second Dave's Picks of the year!  The second one is always the biggest, because it comes along with a bonus disc, meaning we get two (almost) complete concerts, this time from the beginning of 1970.  As Dave has pointed out in his most recent Seaside Chat, the Dead really didn't take any time off for the holidays, going from playing New Years in Boston to playing in NYC at the Fillmore East just two nights later.  I'll admit I was a little disappointed when this release first got announced, since this makes for the 6th and 7th shows in the Dave's Picks series from December '69 to February '70, but I soon came around to the idea when I remembered just how good the other Picks were.

     The songs are kind of oddly arranged (not to mention the inexplicable track listings like "Cosmic KeithFan") on the discs.  1/2/70 takes up all of the first disc, and most of the second, but then after Monkey & The Engineer it switches over to 1/3/70.  The third disc is the rest of 1/2, and then the bonus disc is the rest of 1/3.  It makes more sense as far as fitting an hour plus of Live/Dead material on one disc, but is a little jarring when you aren't paying attention.  1/3 is also made up of an early show and a late show, which also makes the mixed up setlist even more confusing in the context of a whole concert, but the material on it is so good that it's not a problem, just another oddity from an odd band.

     I would have to put this at the top of the list for contemporary Dave's Picks.  The performances are more consistent than DaP 10 and 19 (also has fewer cut tracks than 19), and the song selections aren't as redundant as DaP 6.  There are some mixing and fading anomalies throughout, but the recordings themselves are crystal clear.  Thanks to Bear for recording, Jeffrey Norman for mastering, and Dave for picking!

• Mason’s Children
• The album starts a few bars into Mason's, skipping the "Zarathustra Introduction" opening that's on the circulating tapes, probably for the best.
• This is a bouncy version of the song, and a great way to start off the record.  Jerry's solos absolutely drip with electricity...or something else.
• Casey Jones
• TC provides some excellent backing parts throughout both shows, near the end of his tenure with the band.  I've said it before, but his playing at this point with the band really was fantastic.  He knew the material, was comfortable jamming into unknown spaces, and really had his own spot in the soundscape.  One of the many What If's of the Dead's history is "What If TC Stayed?"
• A solid performance, one of the strongest of their new songs at the time.
• Black Peter
• This is another new Workingman's song that they played very consistently in this period.  TC really embraces a bluesy approach to the organ, and Jerry's young voice sounds so good and clean.
• After going through the solo section normally, Jerry leads them on a one chord jam before going back to the lyrics.
• There's a bit of banter and tuning afterwards where Phil asks someone if their hit only lasted for one set, and Jerry says something about putting Black Peter on two different records?  These guys are weird.
• Mama Tried
• Pigpen tells everyone not to use dirty words in public, and the band launches into a neat and contained Mama Tried.
• Hard To Handle
• This feels more jammed out and fiery than I expected, almost like a '71 version but looser.
• Cumberland Blues
• What a hot version of this song!  Jerry even quotes the line of the lyrics in one of his solos, throwing off the rest of the band for a little bit before they snap right back into line.
• Everyone shines here, not exactly jamming but instead all soloing at once, trying to keep up with Jerry.
• That’s It For The Other One
• Jerry really emotes on the lyrics for Cryptical, singing lines that would make his voice crack and wheeze ten years later.
• The drummers take the time to stretch out their section, starting with a crash of gongs and cymbals, then building up patterns just to break them down, before finally settling into a quiet groove with plenty of room for Phil to thunder his way into the song.
• There is a small(?) cut near the start of The Other One, but it's very well mixed into the song so you only notice it if you're looking for it.
• Bobby takes charge right away, steering the jam so Phil and Jerry can take their own synchronous leads.  The jam between verses stays pretty close to the main theme, with Jerry playing some interestingly dissonant leads.
• In the second verse Jerry holds his "Coming around" line longer than normal ("Comiiiiiiiiin' around"), making the song feel for a brief moment like a tradition Round.
• Instead of jamming Cryptical's outro to a blistering peak, Jerry takes the shuffling lope that the drummers have going and does a neat little turn into Cosmic Charlie.
• Cosmic Charlie
• Some confusion in the timings and lyrics here, but still a classic Charlie.
• Uncle John’s Band
• Not exactly an even performance, with strange timings in some places, but overall interesting to listen to.  The middle jam has good energy, and TC plays some unique fills behind the last few verses.
• High Time
• Most versions of this song from this period feel janky and off kilter, but this one is just exactly perfect.  All the lyrics are correct, the harmonies are excellent, and the musical parts all fit together right.
• Dire Wolf
• Jerry tries to convince the crowd this is a fun and easy chorus to sing a long to, hard to hear how much they agreed with him. 
• TC does feel a bit out of place, even cheesy on this one.  I feel the biggest knock against him is the lack in dynamics, he only has a few sounds he can get out of that organ, compared to all the following keyboardists who would have a couple different instruments to work with.
• Easy Wind
• There's a weird change in the mix near the start, but the whole song sounds clear.
• Bobby takes a small solo with heavy backing from TC, but Jerry takes over after not too long.  Not the most rocking or melting version, but still has that nice swampy, sultry groove.  And who can complain about Pigpen??
• China Cat Sunflower
• One thing I've never noticed before that must be common in this era is that during the China Cat solo, TC plays Bobby's part right along with him.
• This is a relatively early China > Rider, but Bobby is already taking his solo in the transition jam to exciting places.  It's not exactly where it would be by '74, but has some of those familiar facets to it.  In some ways these really were the first seventies shows; but in reality the seventies started for the Dead in 1971 when Mickey left.
• Jerry, TC, and Bobby have some fantastic interplay going on right before Rider starts up.
• I Know You Rider
• Good harmonies here, and a blistering solo from Jerry, but they either skip the last two verses, or there's a very subtle cut in there.
• Phil does the same descending line on "rolling in your arms" that he does in DaP 19, to not as great an effect.
• Good Lovin’
• There's so much good Pigpen in this release.  He doesn't have any raunchy stories to tell in this one, saving them all for Lovelight later I guess.
• Just a small drum break after the lyrics before Phil rumbles to life and everyone jumps in with him.  Once again TC impresses the hell out of me here.
• The jam gets pretty far out, mostly still led by Phil, before they all settle back into the opening riff and close out the lyrics.
• Me And My Uncle
• A perfectly serviceable MaMU.  Gone are the raw, sprawling ones from '69, this is a lot more like an early seventies version, but again this is not yet the seventies.
• "Broken String Blues,"Bobby says before a bout of tuning.
• Monkey & The Engineer
• A rarity that Bobby brought into the mix a few weeks earlier.  Can't help but have fun with it, even if it is short.
• Morning Dew
• Just when you thought you were getting to Dark Star, the tracks jump forward 24 hours!  But if you complain about getting a Dew instead of a Star, you need to reexamine your life choices.
• You can tell just how much Bear would change around the sound system (for better or worse) by the difference in sound from the last track to this one.  Both sound fine, but different for sure.
• Jerry switches the last two verses around, but the playing is spot on.  Flawless solo in the middle, cathartically epic jam at the end.  Jerry and Bob's guitars sound so good together on the outro jam, TC providing atmospheric organ trills for them to play off of.  More flashy/splashy gong work from Mickey too.
• Big Boss Man
• Small audio adjustments can be heard at the start of this one, but the recording remains intact.
• This one feels a bit rough, the only real weak spot on the album.
• Dancing In The Street
• The first Dancin' in a year famous for them goes a bit off script.  The jam progresses like normal, with Jerry soaring on waves of sunshine while everyone boogies their asses off.  But right when you think they're about to hit another instrumental peak or maybe go back to the lyrics, everyone but the drummers drops out.  They don't really leave the song's beat behind, instead sticking to the main rhythm while the crowd chants along.
• Bobby tries to get different sections of the room to clap at different times while Pig gently reminds them that they can't clap while they're sitting.  It doesn't really work out though, so the band comes back in and wraps up the song.
• St. Stephen
• This one feels a little shaky in parts.  Everyone's playing confidently, they're just not all confident of the same things at the same time.  The middle jam has some cool syncopation to it, but that dissolves into a bit of confusion when they try to come back in for the final verse.
• In The Midnight Hour
• This was newly back in the rotation, but was still a rarity.  It feels a bit under rehearsed at the start, with Pigpen mixing up lyrics and the band not always on the same part, but once they get jamming it's nothing but good times.
• The looseness of it allows for even more free form Pig-isms, making sure everyone is dancing and ready to see someone fine round about midnight before closing out the show.
• Dark Star
• Back in the previous night's show, where we left it off, Bobby tells the crowd they'll play some "easy-listening music," followed by one of the best and most complex Dark Stars I've heard in a long time.
• The jam before the verse sounds pretty much like most Dark Stars, incredible playing around the central theme without too much variation or exploration.  After the verse, the band gets quiet in a very noisy way.  There are some cymbal flourishes and brief organ swells, but it all resolves back into nothingness again and again.
• After drifting atonally and arhythmically through the darkness for long enough, Phil starts up a pulse for everyone to work with, and things get really crazy.  They drift through several distinctly thematic jams, like the Feeling Groovy and Tighten Up jams, a proto-Sugar Magnolia jam, and even a snippet of what sounds like the Beautiful Jam from 2/18/71!  But in between each of these familiar spaces are jams that are completely unique and fully formed, almost like they were songs the band was writing at the time that never reached completion.  The playing during all these jams is as close to perfection as this band can come, everyone telepathically in sync with where the music is taking them.  *chef's kiss*
• St. Stephen
• A little better than the previous one, which is of course the next one.  Still a little rough on reentry from the jam, but overall a stronger performance.  Or maybe it's just what it goes into that makes me think that...
• The Eleven
• One of the last versions of this excellent song.  Jerry (in)famously got bored with the how the structure of the song, saying it limited his playing, and he does sound a lot like he's trying to find new patterns to play with here.  To some success if you ask me, but I'm not gonna argue with him.
• Even the William Tell Bridge sounds nicely matured, a little less bare-bones than earlier ones, with more varied drum fills and TC in his final form.
• The shift into 11/4 time is a little shaky, with the drummers breaking early, but it all comes back together quickly.  The other members of the band also sound like they're trying different fills and rhythmic combinations to fit into the song, pushing it as far as it will go without devolving into chaos.  Even the drummers' little counter-solo after the lyrics gets broken down more than usual.
• The dark jam at the end neatly breaks down into a full stop, and then a full band launch into Lovelight.
• Turn On Your Lovelight
• This Lovelight is just long enough if you ask me, at around 22 minutes.  I think Pig might have had a few more things to say, but the crowd got the basic gist of it at least.  Pig does a lot of conducting and wait-a-minute-ing, getting the whole Fillmore East to clap, dance, scream, and tear the building down.
• It sounds like they're getting ready to close it all down about 15 minutes in, but then they get back to rocking and rolling, Jerry throwing out licks and leads left and right.  Pigpen, failing to get Bobby to sing, gets that screaming crowd to sing along with him, bringing things to a huge, if sloppy, close.

Bonus Disc

• Cold Rain & Snow
• Ok, now we jump forward again to 1/3, but the middle of the first set.
• Bobby is on fire for this one, and very present in the mix.  He honestly outshines Garcia just a little bit.
• Alligator
• Very tight and deliberate playing from everyone, with excellent vocals from Pigpen.
• Drums
• That tightness carries into Drums.  It's not a very raucous or flashy drums, just some moody, tribal, setting of the scene before Jerry comes back in.  Normally the drum break would last a lot longer, and maybe that's why only Jerry comes in while the rest of the band is still scratching their asses.
• Alligator
• Jerry's solo doesn't go too far before the rest of the band jumps in with him, and then things really start to cook.  Phil seems to have a plan for this Alligator jam.
• Bobby does a lot to shape the music's direction, his counterparts working nicely with Phil's part to keep things nice and bouncy.  Bob even leads them through a small little China Cat jam that evolves into its own unique flash of bliss, before Jerry slides them into a We Bid You Goodnight jam.
• Feedback 
• Jerry and Phil start sounding like they're going into Caution after Bobby's done yelling "Alligatorrrr!", but instead they crawl up to their speakers and get into some spookily ambient and very long feedback, rounded out by TC's organ swells and Mickey's wind chimes.
• This ended the early show's set (except for the UJB encore at the end of the disc), which explains why they're saying goodnight on just the 5th track of the disc.
• Casey Jones
• You might think you don't need two early versions of Casey Jones on one release...and you might be right.
• Mason's Children
• This Mason's has a bit more pep to it than the previous show's version, if that can be believed.  The two versions aren't too different, but this one is just a bit more accurate and lively.
• That's It For The Other One
• To show you just how big of a hypocrite I am, and how I play favorites with the songs, I've gotta tell you that I'm glad they have two instances of That's It For The Other One > Cosmic Charlie on here.  To be fair, there's a hell of a lot more jamming to differentiate the Other One suites...
• This one starts out very mellow, but still just as tight as Alligator.  Even the drum break is restrained and almost introspective.
• Or at least until Phil decides it's Other One time and everyone freaks out at once.  Big gong splashes from Mickey, and a lot of intricate give and take rhythms between all the instruments.  They take this one far out, leaving behind the theme for a while to explore an empty space, only to come rocking back in for the second verse.
• Instead of a surprise transition into Cosmic Charlie like the other night, they bring Cryptical to its typically triumphant conclusion before calming down into Charlie's opening riff.
• Cosmic Charlie
• A much tighter version than the previous show's, with all parts and lyrics not only remembered, but played with gusto!
• Uncle John's Band
• In response to a request, Bobby says "You'll take what you get," followed by some classic Dead banter and complaints about feedback.  They're about to play a delicate song after all.
• It's not the strongest performance, with a few missed chords and a jam that doesn't go too far, but it's still a great way to end the set, and this disc.

Phil Lesh's Birthday Run, Capitol Theatre, Port Chester, NY 2019-03-16

     Phil Lesh wrapped up his birthday stand at the Capitol Theatre last night, and he left it all out  on the stage.  After two nights of intense music that went well past midnight, you would think a newly 79 year old would want to take it easy.  But instead, he invited even more Friends to join him, including an opening act, the Sisters of the Strawberry Moon.  In the very little research I did before the show I couldn't really figure out who would be on stage, but while I didn't catch the pianist's name, I can now safely say that the rest of the band is Amy Helm on drums/mandolin, Luther Dickinson on guitar, Grahame Lesh on bass, Allison Russell on banjo/clarinet, and JT Nero on guitar.  Allison and JT are in their own band called the Birds of Chicago, who I've seen and enjoyed at the Green River Festival.  The Sisters were very much just a meshing together of the different musicans' styles, but it worked perfectly.  The harmonies were heavenly, and Luther showed the crowd right away that he was bringing a lot to the table for when he would join Phil later (replacing Scofield).  Jackie Greene joined them on organ for the last song, and the crowd gave them a huge round of applause when they were done.  I don't know their songs enough to provide a setlist, but I highly recommend you check them out if possible.

     They wound up their set at exactly 9, which left us wondering if Phil was still going to play two full sets (he was).  The vibe in there was a lot less edgy and it was a lot less crowded than the previous night, perhaps because all the birthday expectations were gone.  It honestly felt more like a Sunday crowd than anything, and the music that was to follow the short setbreak reinforced that feeling.  My parents and I were in the left balcony this night, towards the center more than Friday, and all of our neighbors were thoroughly enjoyable.  A lot of very spaced out people being their friendliest to each other.  After not too long Phil came out, the lights went down, and we were ready for one more Saturday night (someone should write a song about that).

                                           

First Set

• Deal (JG)
• I'm generally of the opinion that I've seen enough Deals to last a life time, but the energy with which they opened this show was so infectious that I couldn't help but love it.
• It seemed like they were just going to play it in the 80's fashion with the middle solo, the "don't you let that deal go down" refrain, a big solo, then the refrain and the end.  But instead they added another final solo in after the second refrain just to make sure they had covered all the ground the song had available.
• Grahame got to show off his chops early with some very danceable lines; this whole night all in all felt like it was the "& Friends" night, after the Phil-heavy set the night before.  I think Phil wanted to show off how cool all his friends were, even if one of them was his son.  In fact, Phil didn't sing a lead verse until late in the second set.
• Operator (LD)
• I had seen Phil sing this before, so I was a little disappointed when Luther stepped to the mic instead, but he proved himself more than capable.  Well ok, maybe he came in a bar or two early for the first verse and the first solo, but he did it so convincingly that the rest of the band didn't seem to mind.
• Luther had two guitars, which I couldn't say more about other than one was white and sounded very clean, and the other was darker and sounded raunchier.  This was the 4th Phil show I've seen Luther play, and by far the best.  I think he knew he had some big (and weird) shoes to fill over in Scofield's position at stage left.  The band kind of forgot how to end the song and drifted apart, until Luther led the closing riff and everyone cracked up.
• This is one of those Dead songs that you'll probably never hear live unless you see Phil.  So go see Phil.
• High Time (JG)
• This is the kind of stuff I'm talking about when I say this felt like a Sunday show.  This was crystalline perfection, with a beautifully unexpected solo section.  High Time can be so finicky and faltering if not played right, and they got it exactly right.
• This was the only time all weekend when Jackie's personal stylings didn't elevate the song.  I just think there's no better way to sing it than how Jerry did it.
• King Bee (LD)
• Luther is Phil's go-to Blues Boy, typically of the Bobby Blues Boy variety,  but he got some good Pigpen work in this night.  It sounded like he said something about Pig at the start of the song, but it was hard to make out.
• Last time I saw Luther with Phil they did this song, but the two versions are night and day.  Instead of a brighter, peppier blues song like in 2016, this one was more the murky, dark version of the song like Pig used to sing.
• Or at least it was until they started jamming it out.  By the time Luther came back for the final verse it had turned into more of an uptempo shuffle.
• Tennessee Jed (JG)
• A typical Saturday Night Crowd loves to cheer "drink all day and rock all night," but a Secret Sunday Crowd can cheer that and then shut up to listen to the music, which of course is way better.
• Jackie and Luther got their leads in between the verses, but once the unfolding jam at the end started, it was Tench Time.  Benmont's organ work made it sound like he wrote this song with Tom Petty and had been playing it ever since.  Even some of the band looked shocked by it!  With Grahame's help he built a solid foundation for the Jackie to take over, who walked up to Luther to join forces in a charge to the end.
• Brokedown Palace (GL w/ Amy Helm and Allison Russell)
• My dad and I both leaned over as soon as Tennessee Jed ended and said, "Is Amy not coming out with Phil?"  And as if she heard us being impatient, she came out on stage immediately with Allison!
• What followed was one of the most beautiful renditions of Brokedown that I've ever heard.  Allison took Jackie's mic, Amy had her own, and they traded verses with Grahame with seamless fluidity that couldn't have possibly left a dry eye in the house.  And as if their individual parts weren't stunning enough, their harmonies can't be described as anything less than unearthly.
• I just listened to it again and I'm crying, you should be too.
• Sugaree (JG)
• I heard the first note of this and hung my head and said "dammit" to myself.  Why me, why another Sugaree?  Is it because one came on in the car earlier in the day?  Is it because I did something wrong?
• These were my thoughts as I sat down for all of 30 seconds before the music swept be back onto my feet.  "Well if they're going to play it like this...," I thought to myself as I started dancing.
• It's not like they changed up the arrangement or anything, this was just a damn good Sugaree with fiery solos left and right.  Tench actually did take it down into a barroom jazz kind of space during his solo, which definitely grabbed my attention, but the rest of the time it was wailing guitars and thrilled dancers.

      The lights came back on for setbreak, and we knew that Phil was giving us the whole shebang tonight.  Everyone was beaming, even the people mysteriously waiting in line for an empty stall in the bathroom.  I don't know if all the assholes just got too drunk at a parade to make it to the show, but everyone I ran into was happy and pleasant.  It's almost like we all love this music or something, go figure.  We made it back to our seats and prepared ourselves for the final set of the weekend.

Second Set

• Viola Lee Blues > (ALL)
• We had been expecting Caution tonight, and this fooled both my Dad and I into thinking we were right (almost...).
• We definitely weren't disappointed though; who can complain about not getting one Primal song when you're still getting another?
• This one played out about as expected at the start: heavy blues, ricocheting solos, and thundering bass until the next verse.  But instead of building the final jam up into a blistering frenzy of flashing lights and guitar fireworks, Phil pulled the rug out from under everyone's feet and led the band into what could arguably be called Viola > Jam (or even Space) > Viola.  It was totally outside of what I expected from the song, and led into some thick layers of feedback.  I thought this was where the floating Dark Star Reprise would come in, then even thought this was the beginning of Caution (patience...), and then it became what sounded like a completely different song that none of us had ever heard before...but then they sneakily slid back into that Viola groove and finished up the final verse.
• Jack Straw (GL & JG)
• They slipped back into some more feedback ambience, led by Luther.  That boy likes to make his guitar make crazy noises. 
• Jackie and Grahame resolved the discordance into what could have turned into any Allman Bros song, but it revealed itself to be Jack Straw instead.  Grahame took Jerry's parts, and Jackie took Bobby's, both of them singing excellently.
• Like both Phil and Bobby have been doing since at least Furthur, if not earlier, the band took the opportunity to stretch out what had otherwise been two bars between verses into a mini jam, and it really started to feel like it was a hot sunny day in July.  The jam at the end was a little compacted and didn't feature as many hard bass bombs as the typical Dead version, but it was still played at a breakneck pace with a huge ending.
• Caution (Do Not Stop on Tracks) > (LD)
• Well it finally happened, and it took a couple of minutes to even realize.  Luther would fan his guitar for a bit and get everyone rumbling, and then it would die down...then he would do it again with slightly chords and it would die down again....and then he did it one more time and I realized that they were the Caution chords and punched my dad in the arm right as Phil started doing that signature Caution riff.
• Sure, it wasn't a total meltdown that resulted in all of us leaving our physical forms behind to explore distant galaxies, but it was pretty damn close.  Luther sang some pretty convincing lines about a gypsy woman and having to go down somewhere, but there wasn't quite enough mojo hand content for this aficionado.
• But then none of that silly shit mattered because the jam was kicking in and Phil was feeding back, and I was running out of room on my face for my grin to spread.  They were a little off kilter for the fanning at the start of the post-mojo jam, but Luther took over and got Jackie playing with him in some tight leads before fading back into the land of feedback and dark shadows.
• Truckin' (JG)
• Phil took a little bit of a lead himself out of the darkness, setting the rest of them up for the revolving intro into Truckin'.  My dad had been saying they would play this and I didn't believe him because I'm a fool.
• Grahame provided some great backing vocals here.  There was so much whispering, pointing, fist bumping, and smiling between these two all weekend long that I wouldn't be surprised if they started their own side band, or at least started playing racquetball on the weekends.
• Truckin' got everyone back on their feet and singing along after the roiling weirdness of Caution.  There were some exciting solos between the verses, but instead of a huge jam with a big finish they closed it out with a funny little vocal ending.
• China Doll (BT)
• The guy next to me had called that they would play this tonight, but he had promised that Amy would sing it.  While I haven't heard her sing it before, I have to say that it couldn't have been any better than this.  I don't think Tench had even sung any harmonies or backups this weekend, but he can apparently sing the ever loving shit out of China Doll.
• They switched the arrangement around a little so that the piano was the lead instrument, and if I hadn't heard Oteil sing the song before I would say that no one alive could ever do it as well as Benmont Tench.  I have a feeling like Phil had planned to go right into Terrapin from there, but the crowd went absolutely nuts once this song ended that the band had to just stand there and clap along.  I think it's safe to say we'll be seeing more of BT playing the with Dead in the future.
• Terrapin Station > (GL & PL)
• The poster for this whole weekend was a giant turtle floating above some bears who were holding its lines so it didn't float away (or a giant turtle being held up by the bears with sticks that was about to fall and crush them, if you ask my dad), so you know they had to do a high-flying Terrapin.
• Grahame and Phil traded verses on this, kind of like it was two generations of "The Storyteller" telling the same story years apart...or maybe I was a little high.
• Grahame played the solo just once through, and he did it nicely.  I was still sure they were going to finish Dark Star, and when they took off into the Starlight Jam it really seemed like that was going to happen.  Phil led them on an extended journey that seemed to have a definite destination in mind, but instead was just the most scenic route back to Terrapin that Phil could think of.
• The crowd screamed "Terrapin!!" at the top of its lungs in the lead up to the final jam, and Phil looked so goddam happy.  The rest of the band didn't go too far off the reservation in the outro, but Phil sure did some interesting leads throughout.
• Morning Dew  (GL, AH, & AR)
• The band held onto the last chord and the crowd cheered over it, but then everyone realized that they were still playing, and the were playing motherfucking Morning Dew.  And not only that, they were rushing out a music stand for Amy and Allison!
• Amy and Allison sang the "question" parts of the song ("I thought I hear/where have all"/etc.) and Grahame sang the answers ("I can't walk you out/there's no need"/etc.), and once again their harmonies were beyond description.  If this Dew doesn't make you cry you're a robot or severely dehydrated, and I feel bad for you either way.
• The band, perhaps overwhelmed by emotion, wasn't perfectly together in the build-up to the middle solo, but got it together immediately and did their best to live up the vocalists' perfection.  The solo and the outro jam were both played masterfully and with all the heart these beautiful people could muster, but those ladies stole the show and all of our hearts.
• Donor Rap (PL)
• Phil seemed really touched and emotional for the Rap, but everyone kept yelling and clapping whenever he got up any momentum, so it was very faltering, took forever, and was impossible to understand.  Let Phil say his piece, cheer when he's done, and give him your organs already.
• In the Midnight Hour > (JG, AH, & AR)
• Everyone had wiped the tears away by now,  and was ready to dance again.  It was about 12:30 when they started this, so it was really the obvious answer for what they should play.
• It wasn't exactly a perfect version, but everyone onstage (and off) was beaming, and they immediately picked up any beats they dropped.
• Turn on Your Lovelight (LD, AH, & AR)
• See comments for Midnight Hour.
• Molo wound up the song with a little drum solo and big group finish.  I realize I didn't say anything about him tonight, but just know that he might be the perfect drummer for Phil.  He's ready for anything, keeps the beat going no matter what, and even challenges the other musicians into playing better.

                                       


     Well damn, what else is there to say?  This show may not have been as technically great or mind bending as Thursday night, but it had more heart in spades.  It might have been the most cathartic concert experience I've ever had.  The whole band was hugging, fist bumping (even Phil!), and congratulating each other before they even had their instruments off.  Official soundboards haven't surfaced (take my money!), and the audience recordings are slowly trickling onto the Archive, so we'll just have to wait to hear it again.

Phil Lesh's Birthday Run, Capitol Theatre, Port Chester, NY 2019-03-15

     As you must know, yesterday was Phil Lesh's 79th birthday, and we were determined to help him enjoy it.  For the second night we showed up in Port Chester, this time meeting up with a good friend, and entered the Cap in high spirits.  The opening act this night was Deadgrass, a semi-electric Dead cover band, which seemed like a strange way to prepare for a Dead show.  They even played at least one song that Phil would be playing later in the night.  But no matter, we dug them for a bit before heading to our seats which were a little further right than the night before.  The sight lines and sound were still great, but because of a totally sold out and slightly more boisterous crowd some of the first set was drowned out by chompers.  There were a few halfhearted attempts at getting Happy Birthday started before the show started, but once the band came on stage we had better music to listen to.

                                        

First Set

• Liberty (GL)
• A great song to start the night off, even if not everyone in my section appreciated it.
• Grahame does such a great job singing this one, it suits his voice perfectly.
• Casey Jones (ALL)
• They got the crowd's attention with this easy singalong, and then Jackie and Scofield took advantage of the refrain at the end to play some scorching leads as the tempo got faster and faster.
• They maybe drew this out a bit longer than necessary, but as we kept saying, it's Phil's birthday and he can do what he wants.
• Mississippi Half Step > (PL)
• The first half of this song felt very thin and shaky, I don't know if it was the crowd, the mix, or what.  The solos between verses were short and it all felt uneasy until they started jamming out of the song.  I think the band was just trying to find that same groove from the previous night, and maybe trying to force it instead of letting it flow (maaaaan).
• I heard someone pointing out after the show that this was "a guaranteed song" because of the "on the day I was born" line, and I have to say that makes perfect sense.  Too much sense, even,
• Loser (JG)
• Jackie led the transition into this and once again made a classic Dead song sound like his own.  Sure, he skipped a verse, and he never sang the second "go down" line in the chorus, but the band never faltered.
• Jackie really was the leader of the band for the rest of the set, controlling the dynamics and energy like he ran the joint.  Phil wasn't exactly reserved, but kept his head down and let the boys do their own thing.
• Tench's grand piano was chronically low in the mix tonight, but his organ and Rhodes were still cutting through great and his solos on this one really burned.
• Minglewood Blues (JG)
• This was very different from how Bobby performs it.  It was bluesy in a more traditional way, not exactly histrionic thunder rock.
• The band had a good head of steam at this point and tore through their respective solos.  Grahame was still holding down the rhythm role until Jackie forced his hand into a solo, and then he showed everyone that he did indeed have that Lesh spirit in him.
• Before the last verse, Jackie held up his finger to get everyone to stay on the first chord and led a cool simmering down of the song to close it out.
• West LA Fadeaway > (JG)
• Jackie, in his new found position of leader of the Jackie Green and Friends band, was all over this one.  Once again his vocal stylings made the song feel so much more personal and vibrant than just a cover of a 37 year old song.
• Bertha (GL)
• Jackie had a new guitar brought out just for this set closer that I swear he must have stolen from Bobby.  It was hard to get a good look at it, but it looked like Bobby's white guitar that he played with Dead & Company this past Summer.  And it sure sounded like Bobby's guitar because it was way too squealy and whiny for my ears.
• Beyond that though, this was probably the highlight of the set.  The band had found their mojo again and were playing as one tight unit.  Grahame and Molo took over from Jackie while he was busy making his guitar squeak, and got everyone soloing at once, eliciting some bass bombs from Phil.

     Ok, so it wasn't the best first set ever, but everyone was still having a great time.  It had started pouring outside but that didn't stop people from rushing out to the smoking section for consumption of various goods.  After not too long the band wandered back out on stage, and the crowd started singing Happy Birthday, but Jackie gave us the "cut it out sign" until Phil was ready.  Phil, who had been fiddling with his computer stack, turned around with a big grin on his face and they put the video feed of him up on the wall, bringing new meaning to the term Big Phil.  Jackie led us all through Happy Birthday, and then Peter Shapiro came out with a giant cake that looked a lot like the one in the poster above.  Phil, Jill, and Pete all shared some hugs, and then Pete went back to the mic to say that coincidentally enough, this wasn't just Phil's 79th birthday, it was his 79th time playing at the Cap (since it reopened)!  I'll leave it to someone else to check the math on that (his eyes did look pretty red after all), but in the meantime I'll believe good ol' Petey.  But that was enough fun, it was time to get back to business.

Second Set

• Playing in the Band > (GL)
• Whatever the band was doing between sets, they sure didn't lose their mojo.  Grahame did a great job singing, and while Tench maybe a got a little lost in the changes between the 2nd and 3rd verses, he recovered right away and the band didn't miss a beat.
• The jam progressed in the same way that it has since the 80's, a pleasant and easy improvisation on the main theme, and then a sudden twist into the Dark Realms.  This didn't go on quite as long as the first night's Dark Star set opener, but it was definitely cut from the same cloth.  A very patient journey through ever shifting soundscapes.
• Phil was back in charge for the rest of the night.  Maybe he had been biding his time, or resting, or was way too high for the first set, but he had places he wanted to go in this set.
• Scofield got into to some call and response dueling with Tench and Jackie, but then Jackie took the lead from him and opened up his envelope filter.  My dad and I each would have bet you $20 that they were going into Estimated Prophet from there, and if you read just one line further you'll see that you would have won $40 last night; your loss, man.
• Shakedown Street > (JG)
• In a set jam packed with heavy hitters, this Shakedown in the middle of a PITB sandwich was hands down my favorite part of the night.
• They had clearly rehearsed an almost start-stop version of the song that had a lot of dynamic control to it, and it blew everyone's minds.  Phil was roaring away on his bass, and everyone got a chance to really tear up the solo section.  I think if they hadn't planned out the rest of the setlist already they would have just played this all night, and no one would have complained.
• They got pretty far outside the box after the lyrics, but then Phil brought them back to the main theme as if they were going to just wind up the song, but Grahame took the lead from there and wound everyone back into the Dark Realms.
• Playing in the Band (GL)
• It was here that we heard our first tease of the Playin' riff, but there was still a world of possible destinations open to us.  At various times I thought they were going to wind up the last night's Dark Star, go into Mountains of the Moon, or actually go into that Estimated we could have sworn we heard.
• Eventually though, through the clouds of delusion, Grahame and Phil leshed together to get the whole band into the PITB holding pattern that comes at the end of the jam.  Molo seemed like he was maybe caught off guard when they went back into the rhythmic changes before the final chorus, but he caught on quick.
• They really jammed out after the chorus ended too, which surprised me.  A nice, refreshing major jam with country flavors.
• And on a personal note, I'm so glad I got an immediate reprise to this Playin'.  I wouldn't be able to handle another unfinished one...
• Help on the Way > (GL)
• They didn't do any tuning or anything to tip this one off, but somehow as soon as they started the count-off I knew exactly what they were gonna play, and my fists were in the air as soon as the opening chords rang out.
• This was a particularly fierce performance with a lot of bite to it.  Grahame opted out of the solo section in favor of keeping everyone on the right chords, which let the other three leads let loose.
• The transition between Help and Slip! was pretty iffy, but they all got the timing right at least.
• Slipknot! >
• The Slip Riffs at the start were perfect, with Molo providing epic fills in between.  Phil took off at the start of the jam, but soon laid back a bit for the others to have their way with it.
• For my tastes, this Slip! focused a bit too much on teases and call and response than the more freeform versions.  But everyone was playing so well that I didn't bother getting caught up in personal preferences.  And Phil seemed to be on my side a little, so when Jackie or Scofield would get too into a particular theme, he would slam down and bring them back into the typical Slipknot! area of weirdness.
• They did an extended Slipcord sequence on their way out of the jam, but when Phil started the transition back into the Slip Riff only Grahame seemed to be on the same page with him.  But again the rest of the band recovered quickly and they finished up the riffs neatly, before letting the jam mellow down.  I was sure it would be Fire on the Mountain next, and I was close...kinda.
• Mountains of the Moon > (PL)
• Right, it's Phil's birthday, time for some heavy Lesh jams.
• I don't think there's been a run of Phil shows since...1995 that didn't feature this song, and this is why I love Phil.  What was a simple acoustic song that could maybe lead into Dark Star has turned into its own unique jam vehicle that has "PHIL" written all over it.
• This one didn't get into any heavy themes or jams for the most part, and was more of a hazy, spacey meditation.  Tench and Scofield both had some great tonal work that helped make the song.
• After the final verse the jam took off briefly and got people back out of their seats and swaying, if not exactly dancing.  But then Phil gave some arcane hand signals that confused the shit out of Jackie and Grahame, and he had to take over and wind things down to a little more than an ambient hum before resolving in another essential Phil song.
• Unbroken Chain (PL)
• If it wasn't for the opening sandwich, this would be the shining star of the night.  There was a little miscommunication at the very start after Phil's gesticulations, but everyone got in line before the first verse and it was gold from there.
• While there was some shakiness at different parts of the night, the band was absolutely in sync for one of the Dead's most complicated songs.  The instrumental section switches between 15 and 13 beats per measure, seemingly whenever Phil decides it's time to switch, but I didn't hear a single player miss any of those beats.  In fact, the leads they were playing through those tricky changes were some of the best I've heard any of Phil's friends manage.
• Grahame backed up a lot of his dad's vocals in this second set, and they sounded beautiful together.  And the outro jam had me in awe as Scofield attempted to burn his amp to the ground with just the sheer power of music.  If he had just one more minute I think the fire marshal would have gotten involved.
• He's Gone > (JG)
• You could almost hear the sighs of relief from parts of the crowd when Jackie started this one up; "finally, something we can sing along to!"
• Jackie maybe got a little too histrionic with his singing for such a gentle song, but who can blame the guy for having fun?
• They rolled smoothly through the lyrics and middle solo, and vamped on the "nothing's gonna bring him back" refrain for a little bit, but then instead of jamming the song out Phil decided it was time to bring the dragons back out.
• The Other One > (PL)
• It started off a little uneven, but Phil brought together with his intro run, even though it wasn't thunderous enough to bring the building down on us all (disappointed? me? noooo).  The guitars got themselves all riled up, but before they could really catch fire, the birthday boy stepped up to the mic.
• Look, I support Phil singing just about anything.  Bird Song?  Great. Dark Star?  Cool, man.  Truckin'?  Give it a go.  But I think Grahame needs to take away his dad's iPad next time he hears him start rehearsing the lyrics to this one.  If you think Bobby stretches out the space between each verse too much, you ain't heard nothing til you hear Phil.  But once again, it's his birthday, and if he wants to sing the song let him.
• It seemed like this was going to be my shortest TOO ever when Phil suddenly started up the second verse, but then he dragged it out longer and longer before finishing the lyrics.  And then instead of going into the next song right way, Grahame and Jackie decided they needed to get all of their Other Oneing out now, so they put their heads together and got truly gnarly.  They had been fist bumping and laughing all night long, and I am on board for this bromance.
• New Speedway Boogie (JG)
• Jackie eventually tore his eyes away from Grahame's beautiful beard and started in the tune our friend had just said she wanted to hear during intermission!
• Phil led Jackie lead this set closer, and lead it he did; well, when the crowd wasn't too busy forgetting how the song goes and chanting "one way or another" way too early.  Molo and Scofield stole the lead back from the audience and embarked on a solo section that was more of a tease showcase than anything else.  They teased Smokestack Lightning, Spoonful, One Kind Favor, and at least one other classic blues song that I can't remember right now, but made them all fit perfectly into the general boogie of the song.
• Then Jackie took over completely and kicked the tempo way up, leading the band on a headlong charge into straight rock n' roll territory, before suddenly picking up the final verse in this new jam.  They brought it back to the usual chorus and refrain, got the crowd singing along at the right time, and wrapped up the set.
• Donor Rap (PL)
• A fairly standard Donor Rap, no teases or guest stars, but Phil just looked so damn happy!
• Not Fade Away (ALL)
• The crowd had been clapping along to demand this before the Donor Rap, and from the way it was played I think the band hadn't really rehearsed it until they heard the demands.  Not that there was anything wrong with it, they just never really took it outside.
• Jackie wasn't wearing his hat for this one and I barely recognized him.  Thank god he put it back on.
• Ripple (PL)
• This, however, was a perfect encore.  It was played at a nice rockin' tempo, and everyone loves a singalong they can dance to!
• After the Other One I was skeptical when Phil stepped to the mic for this one, but he actually did a great job!  I couldn't believe it, but I would gladly listen to him sing it again.  Grahame and Jackie provided excellent backing vocals too.

     The lights came back on and once again we sat our asses down to give our feet a little rest before the walk to the car.  Luckily it had stopped raining, so it was a cool and refreshing night when we walked out.  While the first set hadn't been anything to write home about on its own, but the two sets fit together nicely to make a whole show.  A bit of average intro stuff, and a little uncertainty, but all in all an amazing experience.  One more night to go!

Phil Lesh's Birthday Run, Capitol Theatre, Port Chester, NY 2019-03-14

     After a few years of catching Phil at the Capitol Theatre consistently, my parents and I somehow went 2.5 years without trekking down!  Sure we saw Phil and Bob do their duo shows in Boston, but even that was over a year ago now.  So when Phil announced this year's birthday run, we knew we had to go.  This lineup included John Molo on drums, and Grahame Lesh on guitar, both of whom we've seen with Phil.  Also included were two more guitarists who I always wanted to see with Phil, Jackie Greene and John Scofield.  On keyboards was Benmont Tench, a founding member of Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, who has never performed with Phil before.  He was the only one I was skeptical about leading up to the shows, but as you'll soon find, my concerns were ill-founded.

     Making it from Boston to Port Chester can be a bit hairy, but we made it down in plenty of time to catch dinner and the opening act.  The first time we came down here there had been a fairly legit Shakedown Street set up down the street, but the last few times it had just been a Shakedown Corner.  This time it was more like 5 people selling some shirts, but maybe we were just early.  The opening act was playing at Garcia's, the bar attached to the Cap, and it was essentially Midnight North with some people I had never heard of.  Grahame did a fair job of playing bass instead of guitar, and Elliot Peck sang as well as ever, but I was too distracted by thoughts of Phil to really get into them.  So I took off, grabbed the poster for this first night, and got up to our seats in the balcony in plenty of time to get into the right headspace.

     Note that this is from memory, and not as in-depth of a review as I would normally post, but I wanted to get this out before the next two nights.  Once I get my hands on the soundboards of these shows I'll revisit them with some more depth, so stay tuned.

                                         

First Set

• Mason's Children (ALL)
• This and Mountains of the Moon are the Phil songs to see these days.  He revived them as soon as he could, and he's been jamming them out ever since.
• Right off the bat I knew that Tench was going to fit in with Phil perfectly.  He had a grand piano, an organ, and what looked like a Rhodes.  He also had some electric keyboard set up, but I didn't see him touch it all night.  He stayed on the organ and the Rhodes for this one, and he wailed on those suckers.  He has a very unique style, especially on the organ, and Phil was beaming.
• This song was mostly led by Tench and Scofield, with Grahame and Jackie providing some heavy backing riffs.
• Mr. Charlie (JG)
• Jackie Greene took the reins with this one, singing and taking most of the leads.  He has a great voice that manages to be high in the register without getting squeaky or strained.  His slide work was also incredible.
• Grahame got one of his few solos in this one.  He an amazing guitarist, but whenever a solo would be nodded his way he would shrug it over to Tench, which I think was pretty classy.  He tours with his dad all the time and gets plenty of time in the spotlight, and I think tonight he was focusing on providing a steady rhythm guitar that would allow the other players to get off the reservation a bit.
• They finished this song up suddenly and Phil furrowed his brow, but then Molo and Grahame led them into the usual ending riff and Phil pointed at his drummer and laughed.
• Bird Song (PL)
• Looking back, this was the sign that tonight was going to be full of wild improvisation.  If Phil puts a jam vehicle like Bird Song this early in the first set, you better buckle your seat belts.
• Everyone got a chance to shine in this one.  It didn't have too many blistering leads, but the jam had a wide open atmospheric vibe to it.  Tench got some good piano work in here, but really grabbed my attention with some spooky organ work.
• The band didn't really pick up Phil's cues to go back into the chorus from the jam, but they got on track with him right away after he started singing.
• Move over JRAD, Grandpa Phil is in town!  All night long Greene and Scofield were throwing in jazz teases and classic rock melodies that I couldn't identify at the time, but always fit perfectly in what was being played.
• Scarlet Begonias > (JG)
• One of the drunk idiots behind me did call this one off of just one tuning note, but when I turned around and gave him a thumbs up he had no idea what I was doing.  Go figure.
• Not only was Phil stealing JRAD's teases, he was stealing their tempos too!  This was the fastest song of the night, and it got everyone up and dancing.
• Grahame again passed on a turn at the solo section, but the other three leads all got two rotations at it, each picking up from where the other left off.
• The outro jam didn't feature the usual Scarlet riff as the jumping off point, instead Phil steered them straight into the Unknown Regions.  The jam mellowed down eventually, and instead of jumping into Fire, Phil shifted them into Eyes of the World!
• Eyes Of The World (GL)
• Grahame did a great job singing this one, which makes sense because he grew up watching Jerry sing it from on top of a road case.
• Jackie took the first solo and really sped through it, getting the tempo back up a bit.  Tench took the next one, and had a very different approach.  Where Jackie's had been like a sprint through a field of many wild flowers, Tench instead found one perfect flower and wanted to show it to us in great detail from every angle he could think of.  It was beautiful!  Then Scofield got kind of bored and started shredding, which was also cool, but not quite as...hypnotic.
• After the final verse Phil wound the jam down to a neat finish instead of segueing into something else.  Molo also helped conduct this wind-down; he was really Phil's second all night long, which makes sense since he might the drummer who's played the most with Phil besides Billy and Mickey.
• So Many Roads (JG)
• This one took me by surprise, and I feel so lucky to have caught it.  Jackie sang it with so much soul and heart, one couldn't help but be moved by it.
• Now seems as good of a time to announce the MVP of the show.  And the result is, drum roll please.....Phil! *cheers*  It was a tight race, seeing as how all the players were at their best, but Phil really took the cake.  He had such good balance between ambient rumbling and clean precise notes, and his singing was as good as it gets.  He was so active, present, and excited during the whole show that he really deserves this award.
• US Blues (GL & JG)
• Normally a boring encore, this song works so much better as a first set closer.

     The band left the stage to raucous applause, and even though the lights didn't come on for another 10 minutes, we all knew it was setbreak.  This was the only night of the run that wasn't sold out, and it was a pretty easy going crowd, being a work night and all.  No one got into too much trouble and we all cooled our feet during an average-length intermission.  The security getting in had involved a good amount of patting down and feeling of shoes, but the staff at the Cap are so nice and professional that the only time I saw them scold someone it was a lady filming with the flash on, not the guy with the vape pen immediately next to her.  So everyone was able to elevate their headspace appropriately for the second set, which as we all know is when they bring the dragons out!  Even John Molo blew out a giant vape cloud when he got to his kit!  White Cloud indeed...

Second Set

• Dark Star (v1) > (PL, GL, & JG)
• I told you, dragons!
• In classic Phil style this started as tuning that slowly turned into a jam that led to the opening riff, but as we all know, it's all just Dark Star.
• This is a case where I'm gonna need to relisten to it at least 5 times before I have much more to say about it besides "WOW."  They got to the first verse pretty quickly, trading the lines in the order I indicated above, and as soon as they wrapped those up things got weird fast.  What followed was a series of mini jam episodes where the "leader" role would shift seamlessly back and forth, all while Phil really led the whole thing.  Eventually (this could easily have been 30 minutes, won't know until a tape comes out) the jam ended up in something sounding very familiar, that turned out to be Box of Rain.
• Box of Rain > (PL)
• First of all, shut up while Phil is singing Box of Rain, you animals.
• Second of all, this might have been the best version of this that I've seen, and not just due to its position in this awesome sandwich.  It was a great tempo, Phil sang it perfectly, and the leads in it were off the chain.  And then the leads turned into a jam, and it looked like we were headed back into Dark Star to wrap it up, but Jackie twisted a lick around and it resolved into Wharf Rat!
• Wharf Rat > (JG)
• This was Jackie's bid for MVP of the night, even more emotion than in So Many Roads, and he sang those lyrics with a uniquely personal style.
• I was convinced they were going to continue the sandwich theme and go from "live the life I should" and go > The Other One (v1) > Morning Dew > The Other One (v2) > etc., but alas it was not to be.  Instead they wound up Wharf Rat with some more heavy riffs from Jackie and Grahame.  They didn't jam much between the two final verses, but the jam back into Box of Rain hit some stellar places.
• Box of Rain (PL & GL)
• When Phil led them back into the lyrics my dad and I, and about 100 other people, pumped our fists into the air.  I was levitating at this point in the concert, I just felt so full of love: love for Phil, love for music, and love for everyone in the theatre.  Love will see you through!
• Speaking of the theatre, I can't think of a better place to see a concert.  The sound is so clean wherever you go in the Cap, and the light show had my jaw hanging loose a few times.  It's no precise, techno-organic monster like Phish has, but instead is more focused on trippy displays on the walls with some tastefully choreographed stage lights.
• Tench's organ work kind of stepped on Phil's singing here, but it all still sounded great.
• Grahame backed up his dad for the final verses wonderfully, and they wrapped the song up, leaving the rest of Dark Star as a floating variable for the rest of the weekend.
• Franklin's Tower (GL, JG, & PL)
• After some ass scratching and vaping by the band, they started up this Franklin's at a blistering speed.  They started it with the Slipknot! ending, which is another thing they're "stealing" from JRAD!  I'll admit that as a Help > Slip! freak, I was a bit perturbed by their absence, but I was too busy boogying to really be bothered.  And hey, maybe they'll do Help > Slip!> Fire one of these next nights.
• Phil got the whole band soloing at once at a few points here, keeping the song nice and punchy, the way I like it.
• Uncle John's Band (ALL)
• Both Frank's and this were strangely standalone versions, but I can't complain.
• Phil sounded like he was having some feedback issues with his rig for this one, but he conquered them before the dark jam got going.
• Scofield was really the one in charge for this, and Tench maybe got a bit lost in the 7/4 meter, but Grahame got him back on track while Jackie goaded Scofield into some crazy syncopations.  That Scofield can get so many different noises out of his guitar that it boggles the mind.
• St. Stephen >  (ALL)
• I saw/heard this one coming from a mile away, Phil really tipped his hand with some power chord tuning.
• There was some shakiness in the bridge and coming out of the jam, but once again the band was quick to get back in the saddle and get things moving along.
• The big jam in the middle had Jackie basically menacing Grahame into taking the lead.  He walked right up to him and started soloing in his face, and Grahame happily took the bait and started shredding.  The two of them made such a good pair, and could get some very grungy tones going.
• Let it Grow > (GL)
• This one took me by surprise, and maybe could have used some more rehearsal, but you could make a good argument for Phil just wanting to play it in his own way.
• Jackie and Grahame started it off with some more grunginess that I was sure would turn into a Tom Petty song.  Molo made some scowls during bits of this, which makes me think it was more of a rehearsal issue than a style decision by Phil.
• Either way, the solo section went off without a hitch as Jackie switched his attention back to Scofield.  The jam mellowed down into a meandering, spacey vibe that was reminiscent of Playing in the Band for a bit, before they shifted through the usual chord changes of the song.  They did hit all of the regular changes and the closing riff, but they did it in a very subtle way that once again may have just been down to not rehearsing a tighter version, but whatever.
• The Wheel > (ALL)
• This segued very nicely out of Let it Grow, and I couldn't believe they were still doing open jam songs this late in the set!
• The only hiccup here was going into the first verse, and the rest of it was the classic Phil Wheel: jam it out between every verse, let the momentum take you until Phil says it's time to sing again.
• The song did come to an end, but with only maybe half a second of being done before Phil started them up into the next song, so I'm leaving the "into" sign there.
• I Know You Rider (ALL)
• At first I thought it was GDTRFB, and rolled my eyes because to me that's the classic "boring" show closer, a real "roll credits" song where everyone gets a turn at a solo while their name appears on screen: Starring Phil Lesh as "Dad."
• But once Scofield shifted the chords I realized that it's the better roll credits song!  Once again Phil got the whole band soloing at once at the end, really whipping the exhausted crowd into a final frenzy!  There may have been some tears shed along with all the sweat.
• Donor Rap
• Before Phil came out for his Rap, people started singing Happy Birthday, and I wanted to tell them that his birthday wasn't until tomorrow.  But it was tomorrow!  Phil had played until after midnight on his first night of the run, which is impressive for a newly 79 year old.
• But Phil interrupted them with a story of a man named Chuck who was an organ donor who recently passed, and he encouraged the rest of us to promise to become organ donors ourselves.
• Goin' Down The Road Feeling Bad
• Uhh....see my Rider notes.
• In all fairness this isn't a bad song or anything, it's just a bit cliche.  And they rocked it right out, no matter how late it was!

     The band took a bow, the lights came on, and we sat our asses down after all that dancing.  A lot of people had cleared out early because they had to go to work the next morning, but we took our time getting out and walking back to the car.  All in all this was one of the best Phil shows I've seen, maybe one of the best in general.  I can't wait to see what he has in store for us the next two nights!

Dave's Picks 29 (1977-02-26)

     I would wish you all a happy new year, but honestly who cares about all that nonsense, the latest Dave's Picks is here!  Our favorite archivist is starting the year off strong with the first show from 1977, February 26th at the Swing Auditorium.  And being the nice guy that he is, David also included the last three songs from the next night at UCLA Santa Barbara.  Both of these shows are fairly well known already, but as usual Jeffrey Norman's hard work has made what was already a great recording by Betty Cantor sound crystal clear.  So let's get into Dave's Picks 29.

• Terrapin Station
• As a sign of what the year would bring, the Dead opened their first show of 1977 with this new and incredibly complicated song.  It's a testament to how tight and well rehearsed they were at this point that they not only don't screw it up, but they actually play it pretty damn well.
• It's not exactly perfect, but it is played at a brisker tempo than a lot of later versions and has some surprising twists, like the spacey fade out at the end...that turns into the first technical difficulty of the night!  This also reveals Keith's latest surprise: his Polymoog synthesizer!  React accordingly.
• Terrapin feels weird in the first set, especially as the opener, but we can't hold the 1977 Dead accountable for expectations that would come from 40 more years of playing this song, can we?
• New Minglewood Blues
• 1977 is my favorite year for this song.  It wasn't as light and contained as it was in '76, but not as over the top and filled with slide guitar as '78.  And after that it basically just turned into Just Another First Set Bobby Blues Song.
• Jerry's on the attack right off the bat, and Bob gets growly.  Keith goes for his usual solo spot but Jerry is all over him and then everyone just goes off at once.  Nice.
• They Love Each Other
• Donna's harmonies are especially sweet here.
• Jerry and Keith do a great job of intertwining with each other's parts during their solos, very intricate playing.
• Estimated Prophet
• Another debut in a strange place.  This is a harmless little Baby Estimated, just a tight standalone performance.  I'm sure anyone who saw these early versions were shocked the next year when it it had evolved into a deep, dark, second set jam monster.
• It's cool to see the bones of this song, just the Platonic Form of what Bobby had in mind before he got so...histrionic about it.  It's kind of like listening to a Playing in the Band from before Keith joined the band.  Just an exercise in strange rhythms.
• Keith really makes use of the Polymoog on this one.  I feel like this song is 80 percent of why he played that thing for a year and a half.  There are a couple alternate lyrics, and it winds down to a dark little ending.
• Sugaree
• They had started stretching Sugaree out the previous year, but '77 is when it really hit its jamming stride.  Past readers may recall that I'm not really in love with this particular song, but no one can deny that this is a great version.
• The band just sounds so good in this show.  Besides just the recording itself, Jerry, Bob, and Keith's tones all mesh so well with each other.  Phil's bass comes through clearly, no muddiness or anything.  While the drummers never get a proper Drums segment, their work through the whole show is spot on.
• Mama Tried
• This and Deal can be summed up as such: blistering solos from Jerry, but otherwise not much to say.
• Deal
• Playing In The Band
• Continuing in what was already a strangely shaped setlist, the Dead decided to end the set with what had become a standard second set jam vehicle.  But instead of doing a standalone version to end the set like pre-hiatus, or even like their last show at New Year's, they ratchet up the weirdness even more by making it a sandwich with Wheel!
• They don't hurry through the sandwich either, they take the time to let the Playin' jam develop.  To make a bad metaphor of it, Keith, Jerry, and Phil all try to run off with the jam in different directions, but Bobby has tied them together so that no matter how far afield they run, they always come back together.  Also there are drummers.  Metaphors aren't perfect.
• What is perfect is this Playing in the Band.  Jerry starts melting down while Keith keeps the beat going with some Fall '76-esque progressions, some darkness creeping in around the edges.
• The Wheel
• Jerry shifts keys and the effect is like a beam of sunlight suddenly breaking through dark storm clouds.  Then he slams them into the Wheel without the drummers going into their typical pre-Wheel holding pattern and it's just amazing.
• Like the Playin' that surrounds it, this Wheel is just exactly perfect.  They get all the changes right, they all sing together beautifully, and the outro jam is exquisite.  All the parts fold together seamlessly to move back into the Playin' theme.
• Playing In The Band
• Ok, so maybe by the end Jerry's a little out of tune and Donna forgets to yell, but this whole sequence is still absolutely top shelf.
• Samson & Delilah
• After an incredible first set, they come out guns blazing for the next one.  They're so excited Jerry even comes in way too early to start the song!
• After that it's smooth sailing.  Not the most driven version, but neatly put together with just enough fire to keep you dancing.
• The closing section with the chorus and drum break is arguably wrong, but the band is so together that it doesn't turn into a trainwreck (this time).
• Tennessee Jed
• This is another one where it feels like it almost goes off the rails a couple times, but the band instinctively corrects and you're left scratching your head wondering whether they really did skip a beat at all (they did).
• Great interplay between Jerry and Keith, they spin right off of each other as the rest of the band builds to the peak and the final chorus.
• Music Never Stopped
• More setlist strangeness, both Tennessee Jed and this feel very out of place here in the second set.  But who can complain about a second set Music?
• This is the first version where they dropped the extra bar after the "forgot about the time" verse, and you can hear Bobby count them off to remind the rest of the band.
• They slow things down for the first part of the jam, and instead of shifting directly into the more hard rocking part Keith and Phil force them into a detour through a jazzier little space first.; another '76 holdover that would soon disappear.
• Help On The Way
• One of the reasons I love this song so much is how it showcases Jerry's ability to carve a song into thin air.
• Good tempo, ~103 BPM.
• Half vamp/half intro .
• Keith on piano.
• Hee-ah, hush.
• Jerry's tone sounding a little thin, but he's aggressive on the solo.  Three times through, sounds thicker and more metallic as he goes.
• Only once through the outro riff like in '76, pretty tight through the transition.   
• Slipknot!
• Slip Riff sounds great, if not totally together: the first, second, and fourth rotations have two bars of 8 and then one bar of 9.  The third rotation maybe with just three bars of 8 if you ask Phil.
• Phil leads the jam from the start, Jerry waits a long time to come in.  His tone really gets fuzzier and darker in this song in '77; he turns into Big Scary Jerry.
• Very directed and inspired jam.  Drums present but not overpowering at all.
• Keith on piano.
• Sudden dive into Slipcord, preluded by Scary Jerry making big swoops to take control of the jam, a popular trick they would continue to do through '77.
• Slip Riffs good, almost perfect.  Counterparts from whole band.  Two times through riff like rest of the year.  Solid transition.
• Franklin's Tower
• Bobby teases China Cat throughout the song.
• ~107 BPM.
• There is still a small cut in this, like on the soundboard that has always circulated.  It is patched so well that it's barely noticeable.
• Good and bouncy, pure Jerry bliss.
• Promised Land
• Just to make sure you get it, I'll say it again: this is a weird setlist.  What is this song doing in the middle of the second set??
• Eyes Of The World
• During the tuning before they start up the next song, Jerry teases St. Stephen, presumably just to taunt the audience.
• Eyes starts out pretty and mellow, but turns into a grand exclamation by the end.  Jerry tears up all of the solos between verses, but then it's Phil's turn to shine after that.  This is one of his best post-hiatus solos, very assertive and coherent, with nice backing by Keith.  It feels like it might drift into Drums at a few points, but then Bob and Jerry slide in and it turns into Dancing.
• Dancing In The Streets
• An interesting pairing, a final remnant of that '76 vibe in this show.
• As soon as the lyrics end Jerry hits some combination of knobs and pedals that gives him a fierce wah-tone and then it's shred city from there.  It feels kind of like the rest of the band s chasing after him for the rest of the song, he's totally locked in and not waiting for anyone else.  But they mostly keep up with him and it makes for an exciting take on the song.
• They don't do the typical "disco" riffs at the end of the jam, which I think is too bad, but whatever.
• Around and Around
• No Jerry ballad tonight, they wrap up the second of two weird sets with a standard closer.
• There's either another small cut here, or the band skips a random verse in the final amp up without missing a beat...
• A song that definitely got overplayed in this era, but this one is alright by me.
• U.S. Blues
• A few forgotten verses in here, but it had been a long night so let's all just give Jerry a break.

 2/27/77

• Morning Dew
• The recording starts with the closing chords of Terrapin, and then they take a few beats while Jerry winds up for Dew.
• In a year full of famous Morning Dews, this one often gets overlooked because the soundboard hasn't circulated.  It's not as flashy as 5/8 or 5/22, but it sure does choogle hard.
• I swear I hear Bobby teasing China Cat again around the 10 minute mark...
• The song builds confidently through the verses, and Jerry plays a beautiful solo.  But then the real work starts.  Jerry doesn't actually lead through the outro after a certain point, instead mostly fanning chords while the drummers, Keith, and Phil explode in furious rhythm.  Every time you think they can't go for another rotation, they dive in for another go and around again until they finally come to the final climax.   
• Sugar Magnolia
• Nothing could be more powerful than that Dew, so Bobby decides it's time for some good rock 'n roll fun.  And ultimately I think that was the right thing to do.
• Johnny B. Goode
• The whole band goes nuts on this one.

     Well there it is, one out of three for the year down.  One of these days I'll probably try to rank all the Dave's Picks and rip all my hair out, but in the meantime just know that I would put this up there as one of the best.  In the interest of transparency, making shameless plugs, and laziness, I should point out that I lifted some of my own notes about Help > Slip! > Frank from this guest post I did for Dead Essays.  If the terms didn't make sense, you just might have to read that to figure it out...but anyway, let me know what you thought of Dave's Picks 29, smash that subscribe button, and tune in next time.