Take You to the Leader of the Band

     With just about a month before Dead & Company's "Summer" Tour, I thought I'd put forward an idea that I don't think is too controversial, and I'll be shocked if anyone disagrees with me.  While I often describe Dead & Co as Bobby's band, and while Mayer is obviously the lead guitarist and the main soloist, neither of them are truly the leaders of the band.  The true leader of the band, and perhaps the most powerful man in the Dead world, is Jeff Chimenti.

     Jeff got introduced to the Dead world when he joined Ratdog in 1997, and has played in every iteration of the Dead since 2002, at first being partnered up with Rob Barraco, but they soon realized (and I'm editorializing here) that he could do the job of two keyboardists and then some.  Not only has he played in the main Dead bands and the individual members' own solo projects, but he even has his own group Golden Gate Wingmen with some other Dead alums.  At this point he has played just about every song in the Dead's canon, including rarities like "What's Become of the Baby," "Rosemary," and "Blues for Allah."  While Phil has traditionally been the driving force behind reviving old songs and plays a much larger section of the repertoire than Dead & Company, I think that Chimenti at this point knows the music better than any other living person, and is truly the heir apparent to the Dead's legacy.

     While he doesn't get that many actual leads in Dead & Company, Jeff is really the one that keeps the music going.  In a band like Furthur where the band as a whole seemed more familiar and confident with the songs he could step out and play outside of the songs' traditional confines, but with Dead & Co he instead functions as the backbone of the band.  He provides a solid structure and outline for how the song progresses, especially in songs that are newer to them.  Their most recent tour in Fall of 2017 saw them break out a number of songs, and ones like "Greatest Story Ever Told" or "Spanish Jam" were incredibly Jeff heavy.  Some of these are songs that the drummers and Bobby have been playing for over fifty years, but with "Spanish Jam" especially Jeff was absolutely the driving force keeping everyone on track.  And when even his best efforts don't keep the drummers or Mayer in line, he can slip into whatever erroneous groove they've created and steer the train back onto the right tracks.

     Not only has Jeff mastered the piano, rhodes, organ, and synthesizer, but he is also a good singer.  Now this is a spot where he definitely has to concede to Mayer and Oteil that they are better, but the fact that he can not only play anything with keys on it but he can also provide harmonies and back-up vocals puts him at the top of the list of the Dead's keyboardists.  Brent was great on the organ and synth, and sang some great songs really well, but I always thought that his palette was too electronic in a cheesy 80's kind of way (don't even get me started on Vince's 90's sounds).  His early electric piano sounds almost empty to me, and his mid-80's MIDI sounds really kill my buzz.  In '81 and '82, and then from like '87-'90, he had a slightly more full-bodied sounding keyboard, with the later years actually having some good MIDI tones.  He was of course a master of the organ himself, and Chimenti often plays his same organ.  But I think that Jeff has the advantage of 50+ years of hindsight to look back on the music and really get a feel for what songs are better for which type of keyboard, and I think is overall more versatile.

     Keith has of course always been the piano player, with his grand piano from '71-'77 being the best sounding keys to ever be played with the Grateful Dead.  While comparing his piano skills to Jeff's is really more of a difference in taste than a comparison of skill, I will say that Jeff is way more confident and up front with his playing, whereas Keith was pathologically shy and froze up during some of his solos.  Keith was great at creating a tapestry behind the band that they could play off of, feeding into and off of Jerry and creating shimmering patterns in the music.  But it is no secret that Keith's playing and enthusiasm tapered off severely in the late 70's, resulting in several trainwrecks and, even worse, boring moments in the music; at least with a trainwreck there's a difference in musical opinion and some excitement.  He also allegedly resisted the band's efforts to get him to branch out into synthesizers and electronic tones, and while a purist might defend that decision, and while I disparaged some of Brent's tones, I think that Keith basically forced himself out of the band by being a stick in the mud.  I think when they took away his real piano and stuck him with a tiny little electronic thing he really deflated, and you can hear that in the music.

     Some people prefer Bruce Hornsby's piano to Keith's, which I think is nonsense, but so is a lot of what I think.  He is definitely a great pianist, can sing very well, and can play accordion, which is a bonus.  He definitely did enjoy playing with the Dead, and was in The Other Ones before Chimenti was, but I think he just can't...swing as well as Jeff.  He did love to play "Dark Star," and of course played very well with Jeff at Fare Thee Well, but he just feels to straight to me.  It would be cool to see him and Mayer play together, they both have pop sensibilities, and could play a neat ten-minute "Dark Star."  But for that classic "tear down the universe down" vibe, I just don't think Hornsby can provide all the time, whereas Jeff needs just the slightest provocation for him to get into total metaphysical music that transports your mind.

     As a sort of counter-point, I was not always on the Chimenti Bus.  In fact the complaint I left my first Furthur show with was that the keyboardist didn't seem to know the songs!  Looking back, I see now that I was naive, and just hadn't been exposed to any live Dead before.  I also hadn't really gotten into jazz yet, despite playing jazz trumpet in high school, and Jeff has a lot of jazz stylings in his music.  He'll play chords that are just a little dissonant, and I originally thought that was because he was just playing the wrong chord, but now know that he's just thinking outside the box, which is what this music is all about.

     Like I said up top, I don't expect this to be a controversial opinion, but I'm curious to see if any of you disagree or have anything to add, so feel free to leave a comment below.  I think that Dead & Company is a great band, but the only way for them to reach their full potential is to let Jeff get out there!  He's done a great job keeping the foundation of the songs strong, but by now hopefully the members of the band are all confident enough that Jeff can play more leads and stretch the music in new directions without losing anyone along the way.

Ghost Light (Spooky) 2018-04-14, Thunder Road

     This past Saturday we went to see the latest jamband supergroup to hit the scene, Ghostlight, with Tommy Hamilton (guitar/vocals), Holly Bowling (keys/vocals), Raina Mullen (guitar/vocals), Scotty Zwang (drums/vocals), and Steve Lyons (bass/vocals).  They were playing at this new place in Somerville called Thunder Road, where we saw previously Midnight North (with a much smaller crowd).  It's a funky little place with a big bar, tv, and tables upstairs, and a smaller bar and pool table downstairs.  The stage is this tiny little thing that makes even a small band like this one seem pretty cramped, but the sounds and lines of sight are very good.

     We have of course seen Tommy with JRAD a bunch of times, but had only seen Holly online solo or playing with the likes of Phil Lesh.  Raina is from Tommy's other band (American Babies,) but the other two were totally new to us.  We got there early to eat, and more importantly to get a good spot over against the wall where there were coat hooks and a ledge for drinks.  We made friends with Joe, who was sitting next to us and was at Midnight North as well, and a taper who showed up (Craig?  Sorry if you're reading this, I can't remember your name) who had recorded them in Bridgeport the previous night and promised us we were in for a real treat.  While I haven't been able to find "Craig"'s recording, this just posted when I started writing, and is listed as and sounds like a Matrix recording, which is great!
https://archive.org/details/gl2018-04-14.matrix

     To get my one complaint out of the way, which really is a petty complaint, if you're going to advertise a show as starting at 8, you should at least be on stage by 9.  We got to watch the Bruins kicking ass in the playoffs while we waited though, and once the band came on stage the night only got better.

Set 1

Jam > Lead Weight > Tangled Up in Blue > * If You Want It (title unconfirmed) > Lead Weight

Set 2

Epic Battle Between Light & Dark > Untitled (D Riff), Isosceles > Greatest Story Ever Told %**, Boy > Epic Battle Between Light & Dark, 100 Years Ago > Untitled (D Riff)

Encore

Old Time Religion ***

* w/ Lead Weight & Isosceles teases

** w/ untitled (D Riff) teases

*** w/ Greatest Story tease

% Ghost Light Debut (Grateful Dead)

     I won't do a song for song recap for this, and part of the reason for that is also one of the reasons I loved this show so much.  With the obvious exceptions of "Tangled Up in Blue" and "Greatest Story," these were all songs that I, and much of the crowd, was totally unfamiliar with.  At straight-forward Dead shows, and even JRAD, the whole crowd knows the songs so well the you can tell when you're hearing a good or bad version of the song, or you notice if the band does something with a song that usually isn't done.  Here though, everyone was figuring out the music as it happened, which really allowed us to get lost in the magic of the moment and dance our asses off.

     "Lead Weight" was one of (two of, technically) my favorite songs of the night, and I was immediately impressed with Raina Mullen's playing and singing.  I was expecting her to be a third lead player, but she played a very solid rhythm guitar instead, leaving the leads to Tommy and Holly.  While Holly did some directing and coordinating of her own, it seemed that Tommy was the leader of the band, which was a cool change of pace from JRAD where Joe is obviously in charge.  "Tangled Up in Blue" really had people dancing and singing along, and then they took a hard left turn into deep space and cosmic improvisation.  I couldn't believe it when they came back into the song, it felt like we had travelled to a different galaxy completely where a structured song was a ridiculous notion.

     I know I said I wouldn't a song-by-song review, by "If You Want It" was another highlight for me and I would be remiss to skip over it.  This is an original song that is surprisingly well matured already, and the crowd picked up on a great place for a call-and-response "woo!" in the chorus, which had the band beaming.  Here's a crowd of people hearing a song for the first time, and not only are they dancing to it and having a great time, they're paying enough attention to help craft the music with the band!

     It was a short break, but it gave the sold out house plenty of time to go smoke, get another drink, and hit the bathrooms.  Soon the lights went down (they were never very bright to begin with) and the band came back on, and already people were cheering for them to play all night.  They opened with a song I didn't recognize, but is apparently an American Babies original.  "Untitled (D Riff)" was another of my absolute favorites at this show, so I was glad to have it reprised like my other favorite!  Obviously everyone went wild when they slipped "Greatest Story" in, with Raina and Tommy belting it out along with everyone else in the room.  They jammed on the theme of the song for a bit, and then took it into totally unknown regions, extrapolating off of a single riff that Tommy just would not let go of.

     A lot of songs they played were vaguely reminiscent of Dead songs (or maybe I was just projecting).  The song "Boy" that they played next it sounded a lot like "Morning Dew."  Maybe Tommy will see this and tell me I'm crazy, but I swear that he and I locked eyes when this one was starting up, and I gave him a "no" of surprise and hope and cocked my head, to which he also cocked his head and winked; obviously it wasn't "Dew," but the similarities to it allowed for some great solo work.  Tommy was at his liquid-silver-best this night, just letting the music flow from his guitar unadulterated by ego or mistakes.  Holly totally lived up to and surpassed our expectations for seeing her live; we have really only seen snippets of her playing in bands, most of what we knew being her playing acoustic piano solo.  To see her really let loose on synth, rhodes, organ, and more on top of her regular piano, and to even sing, was jaw-dropping.  She and Tommy truly are two of the most vibrant musicians in the scene today, and the back and forth that they had going created some of the most intricate musical shapes I have ever experienced.  It had the dense, jazzy quality that something like Phil Lesh's Q can create, but the pure fun and wildness of a JRAD show, all contained in the totally unique package of Ghost Light!

     I haven't said enough about Steve and Scotty, who are fundamental parts of this great band.  Scotty did a great job of keeping the beat in interesting ways, playing some nice fills and showing off some cool frills without going up his own ass like some jamband drummer seem to.  Steve was excellent, mostly laying down a groove for the rest of the band, but at other times almost playing leads while steering the band in their deep space explorations.  They both sang some great backing harmonies too.

     They closed the show with a traditional song that whoever the original artist(s) may have been would have been blown away by and sent us all home beaming.  I highly recommend seeing this band if their tour is coming remotely near you, but if you miss out on them this time around, Tommy made it sound like they'll be sticking around and doing some more tours, which I am all for!  It's great to have a new band with new material, especially when it's a jamband that's writing songs as good as these.

Pickin' On Dave Part 2

     Since my recent hiatus, there have been six new releases in the Dave's Picks series.  These six include only the second such release from the 80's, and some famous shows in never-before heard quality.  So buckle in, and feel free to leave your own thoughts!  Note that while this looks dauntingly long, that's just because of the way the setlists are laid out, and I will not be addressing every song to try to save me.

(Disclaimer: I edited this in a few different programs, so the formats are basically all over the place and I can't ge them to stay fixed, so if something is a different bold font, don't think too much about it.)

Dave's Picks 20 (1981-12-09  Boulder, CO)

     As stated above, this is only the second 80's release in this series, perhaps Dave's attempt to mollify the 80's crowd.  As far as that goes, I can think of a few 80's shows that are better this one, but there's a certain energy here that comes from the band being at the end of their tour that really let's the show punch above its weight.  The recording is not as clean as other Dave's Picks, but I think that's just a symptom of the 80's, and probably the main reason more shows from that decade haven't been released.

• Cold Rain & Snow
• Jack Straw
• This one has a small breakdown before the final verse, but they manage to keep it from being a total train wreck, and pull it together to come to a climactic finish in the jam.
• Friend Of The Devil >
• Nicely played, but the sound on Bobby's guitar gets very fuzzed out and it seems like either a problem with his sound system or with the tape; not an intentional Bob buzz.
• Little Red Rooster
• Bird Song
• This was highly praised leading up to the release, and while it maybe didn't live up to how it was framed, this is a nice little "Bird Song" to get you through the day.  Not as far reaching as others, but a good groove to lose yourself in.
• Mama Tried >
• Mexicali Blues
• Some truly inspired soloing by Jerry here, much quicker on his feet than I typically credit him with post-'78.
• The sound in this one suddenly gets better, making me wonder if it had been getting worse the whole time, or if this is just a cleaner bit of soundboard.
• Candyman
• Cassidy
• Looks Like Rain
• China Cat Sunflower >
• I Know You Rider
• Bobby has clearly *ahem* taken his vitamins for this set, and has a lot to say beyond just his verses.
• Scarlet Begonias >
• Right at the beginning of the jam the recording dips back into some kind of Aud/Matrix, which is still very clean but definitely not the quality of sound you normally expect in a Dave's Picks.  Luckily the playing at this point is so good that you don't really notice unless you're listening carefully, and it rectifies itself within about a minute.
• Dave has talked a lot in the past about how you can break most "Scarlet > Fire"s down into 3 parts: the Scarlet, the Transition, and the Fire.  Here the Scarlet is a solid B, B+, but the Transition is a straight A.
• Fire On The Mountain >
• The Fire is another B+.  Instead of an expansive melt, it's more of a fast burn that stays real tight.
• Estimated Prophet >
• He's Gone >
• Brent's voice is in fine shape for this whole show, and it really shows on this tune.  1981 is probably the year that he really found his sound in the band.
• Drums >
• Space >
• The Other One >
• The sound is a bit fuzzy again at the start of this, but it resolves itself about halfway through.
• A nice transition out of "Space" with a good Phil intro.  While I much prefer the more far-reaching versions from the seventies, a lot of these early eighties ones pack one hell of a punch, and this is a prime example of that.  Some people pointed out that the "Satisfaction" here is longer than "The Other One," which seems wrong, but the payoff here is much greater so I don't fund it to be a problem
• Stella Blue >
• Around & Around >
• Good Lovin'
• U.S. Blues >
• Satisfaction
• While it must have been a thrill to see these guys do this at the time, what a mess!  I mean it's a fun mess, but don't tell Mick and Keith about this.

Dave's Picks 21 (1973-04-02  Boston, MA)

     This has always been a favorite show of mine, and not just because it's from Boston.  Like DaP 20, this show comes from the end of a long tour, and the band is fired up and ready to play.  This is a classic '73 show where it feels like they play just about every song they know, and just about each one is a stand-out performance.  That being said, there isn't really that much to say about most of the songs individually because they're all such good versions, so we'll get through this one quickly.  I've always wondered why they played the Garden instead of the Music Hall like they did the times before and after this, but I suppose that really doesn't matter...

• Promised Land
• Deal
• Mexicali Blues
• Brown-Eyed Women
• Beat It On Down The Line
• Row Jimmy
• This one actually does feel a bit staggered, Billy is doing some weird snare work that doesn't quite fit the typical rhythm of the song.  But the song was only a few months old at this point though, so they were probably just experimenting with its layout.
• Looks Like Rain
• Wave That Flag
• Box Of Rain
• A great version of Phil's best song, and unfortunately one of the last ten versions of before it was scrapped until the eighties.  I guess Phil didn't feel as confident in his voice, but if this show is any indication he was still singing well in the Spring...weird.
• Big River
• China Cat Sunflower >
• The "Feelin' Groovy Jam" had been introduced to the transition jam earlier in this tour, and it still feels pretty new here.
• While there are great "China > Rider"s earlier than this, Spring of '73 - Fall of '74 is the peak time for this pairing if you ask me.  Bob's solo had fully evolved, the "Feelin' Groovy Jam" extended and improved the transition, and the band just sounded so smooth and mature.
• I Know You Rider
• You Ain't Woman Enough
• A favorite rarity of mine from Donna, and something to let the band show how flexible and dynamic their sound was at this point in their career.  They could bust out a honky-tonk ramble, or melt your face with monster jams!
• Jack Straw
• Don't Ease Me In
• Playing In The Band
• Speaking of monster jams, find me a "Playing" from '72 to '74 that doesn't reach the stratosphere and I'll give you a dollar.  This one is no exception, and doesn't have a single flub or flaw in it.
• There are a couple of licks that Jerry plays that sound kind of proto-"Slipknot!," even though that particular riff wouldn't really coalesce for another year.
• Ramble On Rose
• Me & My Uncle
• Mississippi Half Step
• Greatest Story Ever Told
• Loose Lucy
• As Bobby pointed out a few times in his recent Duo Tour with Phil, this song underwent quite a few changes during its time in the rotation.  These early '73 versions are kind of slower and chunky, whereas the versions from '74 were sped up and peppy, but sill had the weird syncopation.  The versions from the 90's slowed back down but were more straightforward blues than the early ones.
• El Paso
• Stella Blue
• Around And Around
• Here Comes Sunshine >
• This is the real meat of the show, a crisp early "Sunshine" that goes into a crazy outro jam that never got paired with the song again.  Like with "Row Jimmy" before, they were clearly exploring these new songs on this tour to find what nook and crannies could be expanded upon.
• Jam >
• This is a very unique jam, it doesn't touch on any familiar themes like "Mind Left Body," "Spanish Jam," or Phil's weird jam in 6/4 that I don't think has its own name (if it does it's probably called "The Six" or something equally original).  It's just pure exploratory goodness with some great feedback breakdowns in it.
• Me And Bobby McGee
• Weather Report Suite Prelude >
• One thing I love about these early '73 shows is hearing Bobby try desperately to figure out what this song is going to be paired with.  There are some great pairings of it with "Dark Star," and this is a slightly more mature version, but it would ultimately be put on the shelf until Bobby completed the for the Fall tour.
• Eyes Of The World >
• Even though this song was just debuted during this tour, it's amazing how fast the band took to it.  Phil hadn't yet started soloing during the major chord sections of the outro jam, but the whole transition had already been solidified, including the riff in 7/4 time that eventually got transformed into "King Solomon's Marbles."
• Keith and Jerry especially stand out on this version, weaving around each other as if the same person was playing both instruments.
• China Doll
• Sugar Magnolia
• Casey Jones
• Johnny B. Goode
• We Bid You Good Night

Dave's Picks 22 & 2017 Bonus Disc (1971-12-07 & 06 Respectively, New York, NY)

     This show is from one of my favorite periods in Dead history, when they had both Pig Pen and Keith in the band.  From Fall of '71 to the end of Europe '72 the band still had it's original blues soul, while it was simultaneous expanding into the new psychedelic peaks that Keith would help the band reach.  Old songs were being brought back into the rotation, standards were being expanded upon, and new songs were being written almost faster than the band could play them; maybe that's part of the reason they just released them on the live Europe '72 record instead of taking them into the studio.

     The second Dave's picks of the year is always the biggest for the subscribers, because it comes with a bonus disc, meaning you usually get two complete shows.  The first two discs of this release are from December 7th, the third disc being the second set of the 6th, and the bonus disc being most of the first set of the 6th.  For my money the 6th is where it's at because it has more jams, but the playing all over both shows is so energized; Keith is clearly very glad to be in this band.

1971-12-07

 

• Cold Rain And Snow
• Beat It On Down The Line
• Mr. Charlie
• Sugaree
• Jack Straw
• Bobby was still taking all the verses at this point, and he sings it great.  It really is better with two people trading off though.
• Next Time You See Me
• Tennessee Jed
• This might be my new favorite "Tennessee Jed."  The combination of Pig's organ and Keith's piano is so well suited to this song and it's played with such enthusiasm.
• El Paso
• Brokedown Palace
• Run Rudolph Run
• A rarity from this December run.  While it's really just another Chuck Berry rocker, it's still always fun to hear Pig singing it.
• You Win Again
• Cumberland Blues
• Casey Jones
• Sugar Magnolia
• While the band was slowly moving towards what we now consider to be the traditional two set format, some songs like "Sugar Mags" and "Black Peter" were still being played in the middle of sets.
• Ramble On Rose
• Big Boss Man
• Mexicali Blues
• Brown-Eyed Women
• Me And My Uncle
• Smokestack Lightning
• Dave Lemieux held this up as possibly the best "Smokestack," and while I prefer the one from the Capitol Theatre in February, this one is undeniably hot stuff.
• I can't figure out why they didn't keep this one around into '72, I think it only would have gotten better.  It's a great blues song to jam on, and is different enough from "Lovelight" and "Caution," both of which were played in Europe to great success.
• As an anachronistic aside, goddam did Pig sing this better than Bobby ever has.
• Deal
• Truckin'
• It sounds like they were about to launch into something a little spacier like "The Other One" or "Dark Star" after this, but instead they bring it to a close citing technical difficulties (shocker).
• Not Fade Away >
• Goin' Down The Road Feeling Bad >
• The jam back into "NFA" gets a little stretched out here, which is a bit of a hallmark of '71, made even better by the addition of Keith to the band.
• Not Fade Away
• One More Saturday Night
• Bob was still singing some alternate verses at this point.

1971-12-06

• Truckin'
• Loser
• Mr. Charlie
• Jack Straw
• China Cat Sunflower > 
• I Know You Rider
• Tennessee Jed
• Mexicali Blues
• Black Peter
• Casey Jones
• Big Railroad Blues
• Me And My Uncle
• Ramble On Rose
• Playing In The Band
• They had been playing this song all year, but it was Keith's addition to the band that really changed the song forever.  While it had been a simple (or as simple as something in 10/4 can be) little rocker for the majority of the year, Keith really pushed the band to put the jam in the middle that the song later became known for.  While it wouldn't start to push the ten minute mark until the next year, Keith's influence would eventually bring the song to 40+ minutes
•  
  Cryptical Envelopment >
• While this song was really more suited to the sixties sound, versions like this with Keith are a fun glimpse at what could have been.
• Drums >
•  
  The Other One >
• This first part doesn't have any lyrics so could be called a Jam, but whatever.  They immediately drift into a very mellow kind of space instead of furiously charging through the song, which is nice.  Keith has definitely found his place in this song, and it's so fun to hear Jerry playing off of what he's doing
• Me And Bobby McGee >
• They never quite come back to Earth after the space of "The Other One" before this, and the solo here drifts a bit off track as a result, but the song stays together for a fairly unique version.
• The Other One >
• Jerry and Phil lead the way back into outer space immediately (with a little tuning up), and then the song starts to pick up momentum leading up to the first verse, and it stays pretty high-energy for the rest of it
• Wharf Rat
• One More Saturday Night
• Uncle John's Band

Dave's Picks 23 (1978-01-22  Eugene, OR)

     When they announced which show was being released for DaP 23 the comment section at dead.net lost its collective shit.  This has long been known as the "Close Encounters Show," for obvious reason.  Jerry had fallen in love with Spielberg's masterpiece, and you can hear him teasing the theme from the movie all the way back in December of '77.  While that stands out as the main event of this show, everything else they played this night is strong, confident, and mind blowing.  This period in early '78 is another of my favorites; Keith was playing with creativity and enthusiasm that hadn't really been heard from him for about a year, and the band was riding that creative wave.

• New Minglewood Blues
• Right off the bat you can tell this is going to be a high-energy show, Phil and Jerry practically explode into the opening of the song.
• Dire Wolf
• This show is after the infamous "Laryngitis Shows," where Jerry had totally lost his voice so Donna and Bob took all the lyrics.  While he has his voice back for this show, it is definitely not back up to 100%.
• Cassidy
• Peggy-O
• El Paso
• Tennessee Jed
• Another feature of '78 is that songs like this, "Jack Straw," and "Ramble on Rose" that had been kind of static pre-hiatus started to take on lives and twists of their own.  The solos were at least doubled in length, and the band had fully adapted to the two drummer set-up.  This allowed what were otherwise standard songs to become behemoths.
• Jack Straw
• Row Jimmy
• While this is typically more of a ballad and one of the Dead's more delicate songs, this one has so much power and energy to it that it's almost scary.
• The Music Never Stopped
• Bertha >
• Good Lovin'
• Ship of Fools
• Samson & Delilah
• My god, talk about explosive!  Phil is really hot this show, and he just demolishes his part on "Samson."
• Terrapin Station >
• Drums >
• The Other One >
• Once again, Phil's energy in this show is palpable, and nowhere is it more apparent than here.  He challenges everyone else in the band to follow him into the abyss, and they do it without hesitation.
• Close Encounters >
• This starts out with Jerry doing his solo space thing, where it's just him and his guitar simultaneously tying and unravelling the fabric of the music.
• He switches through some different filters until he has finds the one that lets him fill all the speakers in the arena, and starts to toy with the riff that the scientists in Close Encounters used to communicate with the aliens.  Then suddenly, after letting it quiet down for a bit, he cranks it back up and drops the riff on the crowd like a bomb.  If this doesn't knock you on your ass like a kick to the gut would, then there's something wrong with your speakers or your brain.
• Saint Stephen >
• The running start that Jerry takes from his solo space into "Stephen" is one of the most jaw dropping things he's ever done, and when the band kicks in right behind him you can't help but laugh and cry with surprised joy.
• The jam gets a little loose and almost gets away from them, but they weren't going to let anything slow them down this night and they manage to come thundering back in and get it together.
• Not Fade Away >
• They really stretch this one out, with Jerry leading the way from thunder rock to abstract jams with hypnotizing riffs.
• Around & Around
• U.S. Blues

 

Dave's Picks 24 (1972-08-25  Berkeley, CA)

      This show gets overshadowed a lot by the one the night before and the Veneta show two nights later, but it is truly incredible in its own right.  From the quality and content of the banter ("he had roses for lunch") it's pretty clear that there had been some dosing going around for this show, and it really comes through in the music.  While the band isn't quite as tight as they would be in a year, the music has that acid edge to that that's a little loose and really adventurous.

• Cold Rain And Snow 
• Black Throated Wind 
• He's Gone 
• This song was still maturing at this point, with no outro jam or transition into anything else, but still played very solidly.
• Beat It On Down The Line 
• Loser 
• El Paso 
• Black Peter 
• While there are certainly more epic versions post-hiatus, these pre-hiatus versions with Keith are my favorites.  It's more of a blues song than a power ballad, and Jerry's voice is so crisp and clean.
• Jack Straw 
• Friend Of The Devil 
• This song had just recently been revived after a two year hiatus, but you can't tell from listening to it.  It's not like it's a complex song, but they play it like they've been playing it every day since they wrote it.
• The Promised Land 
• Bird Song 
• This has got to be one of the best "Bird Song"s they ever played, just pure face melting goodness.
• Playing In The Band 
• This and the "Bird Song" above are the worst casualties of being in the shadow of the Veneta show.  Most people, if looking for one of these from this era, will go right to the rightly praised show from two nights later, but these truly cut from the same cloth.
• Bertha 
• Truckin' >
• The Other One >
• Phil has an extended solo out of "Truckin'" that shifts from formlessness into "The Other One" seamlessly and with authority.  Then he slams down on his intro run and it's off to the races!
• '72 is my favorite year for this song, especially these late Summer/early Fall performances.  It's the perfect balance between the typical theme of the song and black-hole-creating vortexes, with just the right amount of heavy feedback.
• Stella Blue
• One More Saturday Night
• Sugar Magnolia

 

Dave's Picks 25 (1977-11-06  Binghamton, NY)

     This is another show that has been famous for years, and I was thrilled when it was announced.  My first Dead show was at this same arena in Binghamton, so I've always felt like I had a special relationship with this show.  Upon hearing it again though it didn't quite live up to how I remembered it.  Keith is kind of zoned out for a lot of it and the playing isn't as tight as other shows from this period.  That being said, the worst thing you can do for a Dead show is go into it with expectations, so the fact that it didn't live up to mine doesn't mean it's not a good show; in fact it's a great one!  Like with the first couple we covered here this is from the end of the tour, so the band is busting out all the stops to rock this sucker to a close.

Mississippi Half-Step


• This song was a masterpiece practically as soon as the Dead wrote it, but it was the Fall '77 tour where it really became the monster it is today.  Jerry's bigger sound that he got out of Wolf really turned the music up to 11, and the valleys and peaks he was able to craft and explore got more and more magnificent.
Jack Straw


• A great "Jack Straw," but the real highlight is the duo of Bobby and Phil performing "Take a Step Back" afterward.  Phil has clearly had his fill of Heinekens, but luckily is still playing well.
Tennessee Jed
Mexicali Blues
Me and My Uncle
Friend of the Devil
New Minglewood Blues


• While Keith spends a lot of this show comping and maybe even napping, he really comes alive for this song with a great solo.
Dupree's Diamond Blues


• This must have been such a thrill for the folks at this show to see such an old gem being brought back.  It stayed in the rotation for just a few shows in '78, and then was brought back in the eighties more or less for good.
Passenger
Dire Wolf
Music Never Stopped
Samson and Delilah
Sunrise
Scarlet Begonias


• Jerry either breaks a string or his guitar goes out of whack during the early verses, so the rest of the band just kind of jams for a bit while he gets everything just exactly perfect.
• They dropped the "Ain't nothing wrong with the way she moves" verse during this tour, and it throws me off every time.  Did Jerry forget about it? Did they think it sounded better without it?  Either way, bring it back!
• Jerry's a little absent for part of the outro jam, but Bob takes the reins for a bit and keeps the song going.
Fire on the Mountain


• I think part of my discontent with this show upon going back to it is that "Scarlet > Fire"s in the Fall tour lack the molten gold feeling of the Spring ones with Jerry's Travis Bean guitar, and also fall short of the more powerhouse versions from '78.  The transition here just seems a bit forced for whatever reason.
Good Lovin'
St. Stephen


• Alright, enough complaining from me, from here on out it's all golden.
• This is the best kind of post-hiatus "St. Stephen," where they still do a jam in the middle instead of going right into "Not Fade Away."  Jerry really takes the lead in this jam, taking it into slightly spacier and darker territory than "Stephen" normally gets into, with Bob providing excellent counter-parts.
Drums
Not Fade Away


• While not as sprawling as the versions from May '77, this is still a burning version that has a nice melty transition into "Wharf Rat."
Wharf Rat


• This is a great, punchy performance, and Jerry absolutely lets loose in the solo sections.
St. Stephen
Truckin'


• Most people refer to this as the "Truckin'" from post-hiatus, and you can easily see why.  They return to the "Truck-splosion" a couple of times, building the jam to higher and higher peaks, until they finally bring it to a climactic finish.
Johnny B. Goode

     So that's all of the Dave's Picks we've gotten since I abandoned this poor little blog in the internet.  Let me know how you feel about these releases, or if I missed anything that needs to be pointed out in the comments below.  At this point we know what Dave's Picks 26 and the bonus disc are going to be, shows from 1971-11-17, and 1971-12-14, respectively.  While I haven't heard those shows, and don't want to spoil the setlists for your or me, the one tease I'll share is that this confirms my suspicion that Dave is more of a "The Other One" guy than a "Dark Star" guy, and I can relate!

Phil and Bob Duo, Wang Theater, Boston, MA 2018/03/08

     After getting home late the night before and trekking through the remnants of the blizzard in the morning to get to work, I ended up getting sent home early because my office wasn't actually open to the public.  This meant I got a chance to rest and get myself ready for some more excellent music.  I realized that some of my sourness from the previous night came from the a classic mistake that I had made at the Wang six years earlier: going into a Dead show with expectations.  So I did my best to clear my mind throughout the day, and showed up for dinner with my parents ready for anything!

     For this second show our seats were not all together.  We had one seat smack dab in the center of the balcony, and then two seats off to the right in the orchestra section.  My dad and I switched seats at set break, with me starting in the balcony and him starting in the orchestra; the balcony seat was streets ahead as far as sight and sound went, but the orchestra had a more intimate feeling, so we got a pretty good balance between the two of us.  Once again the curtain was down when we went in, so people were speculating about a change in guests, but soon the duo started tuning and the curtains went up to reveal the same set-up as the previous night.

Setlist with annotations once again courtesy of https://twitter.com/Terrapin_Nation
(*Wally Ingram- percussion, ^Bob- acoustic)

First Set

• Uncle John's Band*^
• Yet again they were showing us that they planned to repeat quite a few songs in this run, this having also been played in NYC the previous weekend.
• Of course no one can complain about hearing this song, and it came from the Dead's early experiments with semi-acoustic music so it fit this template perfectly
• Black-Throated Wind*^
• I thought this one would feel a little empty without a lead guitar doing that classic riff, but this was one of the strongest songs of the set.  Bobby just played and sang the hell out of it, the loose format allowing him to add in extra bars where he felt they belonged.
• Cosmic Charlie^
• Bob and Phil bullshitted (bullshat) a bit about when and where they wrote this one, none of which seemed too historically convincing.
• This was a classic song for Furthur to do, so seeing these two performing it again brought a grin to my face. 
• Lazy River Road^
• Phil loves this later-day Jerry tune, and while it is a pretty folk song, his singing wasn't as strong as it has been in the past and the song kind of dragged as a result.
• New Minglewood Blues*^
• I was shocked they did this without a lead guitar, but aside from some lyric confusion from Bob they really killed it!  Just goes to show that if you play a song for over 50 years you might be able to bust it out at any time and leave audiences wowed.
• Girl From the North Country^
• Definitely a surprise, and a definite casualty of Phil's weaker voice this night, but fun to see them do a cover that I'm not aware of any Dead band doing in the past.
• Box of Rain*^
• Not to belabor the point, but Phil just wasn't singing at his best.  Not only did he seem to lack confidence in the strength in his voice but he had a few misplaced verses here and in other songs.
• That being said, they more than made up for it with their playing, stretching the song out in ways that made you think they didn't even need a lead guitar!  And it's always such a blessing to see Phil play possibly his best song.

     At set break my dad and I met up to smoke and change seats, and we ran into the same guy I run into at every Dead show around Boston!  For the life of me I can't remember his name, and I feel kind of bad about that, but we still hugged and shot the shit for a bit.  While it wasn't snowing this time it was still cold and windy outside, so we were all huddled together, making it easier for lighters to do their jobs.  I met my mom at the orchestra seats down below, and after last night expected to settle in for another long wait for the second set.  To our thrilled surprise, though, the lights went down and the curtains went up just a few minutes later!

Second Set (^Bob- acoustic Larry Campbell- guitar, mandolin, fiddle Teresa Williams- vocals Wally Ingram-percussion)

• Alligator^ >
• This was a definite surprise for us, especially with Larry on mandolin!  Phil sang it like he had at Fare Thee Well, but of course the song had a much more bluegrass feel this time around.
• Cassidy^
• This was one of the exploratory highlights of the night, though sometimes Bob would lose Phil and Larry on the changes.  Bob has a way of playing this song these days that is very much his own, whereas Phil only plays it occasionally in his own way.
• Larry started off on fiddle for this one, which was a nice little twist to the song; it felt a little bit like the intro song to Firefly.  Bobby started on acoustic, but the two of them switched to electric guitar in the middle of the song and things started to amp up.
• Jack Straw
• Furthur was the first post-Jerry band I saw, and as far as I know that was when Jack Straw started to really stretch out.  The two of them led the band into corners of the song that normally pass by in a couple of beats, and let Larry explore them with his laid back leads.  While he did start to tear the house down at points, he continued the previous night's approach of mostly letting Bobby lead the songs.
• Mountains of the Moon >
• We pretty much knew they would do this one, especially with Larry and Teresa. We were surprised that Teresa didn't sing at all on this one in Boston, but Larry was on his bouzouki as usual, carving delicate and intricate leads in the air.
• Larry teased another song in the middle of one of the jams, and for the life of me I can't place it, so if anyone out there knows what it is please chime in so I don't lose my mind!
• Rosemary >
• Phil led the transition into this, and while we hadn't expected it we picked it out immediately, to the shock of the people around us.
• Mountains of the Moon
• Cumberland Blues^
• While Phil and Larry normally turn this one into a shredding rocker, this performance was more of a rollicking country good time.
• Viola Lee Blues
• We had assumed that "Cumberland" would be the last song of the night, but the huge opening of this proved us pleasantly wrong!
• They performed a stellar version of this when we saw Furthur at the Wang, and the last time we saw them at Fare Thee Well they famously conjured a rainbow above the stadium, so we were excited to see them do it again.
• They really took this one for a walk, going from furious blues to far-out space, making it seem like they were going to segue into a ballad like they had in NYC.  Instead they kind of snuck their way back to the final verse.
• Wheel
• They had also done this one last time Furthur came to the Wang, but I had missed that particular show, so this felt almost like a make-up for me.  We had also seen Dead & Company play the Boston Garden this past Fall where they did a fantastic "Wheel," but in some ways this one surpassed it.
• Ok, maybe "surpass" is too strong of a word.  Phil just likes to really take his time and stretch this song out more than Bob does, and the whole band was following him along the whole time.
• Morning Dew
• To us, this is the most classic Boston song to play.  At my Dad's first Grateful Dead shows in 1973 (Dick's Picks 14) they opened the first night and closed the last night with two epic "Dew"s, and once again Furthur played this at the Wang in 2012.
• Larry was on acoustic guitar, so while it wasn't the most barn-burning version, it was replaced thundering power with emotional finesse.  While Larry did play some truly inspired leads, he then backed off and let the Duo bring the song to its cathartic climax.

• Donor Rap
• E: It's all Over Now, Baby Blue
• A song I had been hoping to hear ever since listened to my first tape of it.  This was a huge surprise (two Dylan songs in one night!), and despite some more lyrical confusion from Bob it was an excellent way to end the Boston run of these Duo shows.

     We filtered out into the cold and met up with Dad, then made our way leisurely to the car; no rush for the train in a blizzard tonight!  In a way I am still digesting the wonderful music we saw both of these nights.  While a lot of Dead performances are dense and miltifaceted, this were so stripped down and bare; but strangely, this leaves even more to think about.  When they played as just the Duo then it really let you hear what these two have been building up in their heads for these songs over these 50+ years.  While one or the other of them would sing and "lead" the song, it felt like a very egalitarian partnership between the two of them over where the songs were going for the most part.  In fact a lot of the time it felt like no one was in charge, and that's the way it's really meant to be; let the music lead, and we'll all follow along.

Phil and Bob Duo, Wang Theater, Boston, MA 2018/03/07

     Hey there, everyone, long time no see.  I figure this incredible duo tour from Bobby and Phil is as good a time as any to try to get back into the blogging game.  This won't be as detailed a review as others that I have done, but I'm hoping that by not being as meticulous in my writing I'll be able to get back to putting out more or less regular posts.  Now without further/furthur ado, let's talk about the latest development in the world of the Dead.

     Back in December two of our favorite Pranksters announced that they were hitting the road as a duo, immediately conjuring comparisons and jokes about the Dead's own Hot Tuna-esque band.

     Of course Phil has been saying for years now that he's done with touring, and that seems to be holding true; three cities in two weeks is not what I would call a tour.  Either way, my parents and I were thrilled to hear that Phil would not only be coming to Boston for the first time in 5 years, but that the duo would be playing at the Wang Theater.  I had only been to the Wang once before for Furthur in 2012, so it seemed fitting to see these two there again.  Getting tickets was a bit of a hassle to nobody's surprise, but we ended up getting them for both nights anyway, and the hype just built and built in the last few months.

     All six shows were/are (Chicago shows starting tonight at the time I'm writing this) being webcast, so we got a little sneak-peak of what to expect when they played at Radio City Music Hall in NYC last weekend.  Rumor, speculation, and hopes abounded on the internet leading up to the shows, with the main rumor being that Trey Anastasio would be the guest in NYC, and John Mayer would be the guest in Boston.  Trey did indeed show up for the second Radio City performance in the second set, and while most people seemed to love it I thought he detracted a bit from the duo dynamic (more on that later).  Either way, we learned from the webcasts that while they were being billed as a duo, they often had Wally Ingram on auxiliary percussion.  He did a very good job of keeping the beat without dominating the soundscape like a drum set would, but occasionally left the stage to let the duo shine.

     Fast forward to the middle of this week, and the duo arrived in Boston with the second big snow storm of the last week.  There was some anxiety about getting in and out of the city, but nothing could kill our excitement.  We got dinner with some family friends who were at Fare Thee Well with us, and then made it over to the beautiful theater while it was still just raining.  We learned online that Mayer was in California, so the speculation engine really kicked into overdrive as everyone found their seats and got comfortable.  I took some shoddy cell phone pictures of the theater that you can find on my twitter page, but I don't think they're good enough to bother bringing them over to here.  The curtain was down, so we couldn't even use the stage set-up to base our speculations on....yet.  My dad killed some time by wandering around the theater and going up the faaaar upper left of the balcony, this being the location of his seat for his first ever Grateful Dead show on 1973-11-30.

     Soon we heard the unmistakable sounds of Phil and Bob at their instruments, warming up and counting off.  Just in time the curtains opened, lights went down, and cheer rose from the crowd.  I'll start with some general observations, and then add some additional notes to the setlist below.  First thing some of us noticed was that besides the duo's oriental rugs and amps, there was a smaller rug and amp set-up with what looked like a solitary guitar.  We missed a fourth vocal mic between bob and Phil.  These were for Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams, both of whom I absolutely adore, especially when they play with Phil.  They didn't come out until the second set, but I was pretty sure that was Larry's guitar from the start.  Larry also had a rack of instruments that we didn't see at first that included a mandolin, a fiddle, an acoustic guitar, and a bouzouki (or something).  Bobby had an acoustic for most of the night, but also had two of his most-played electric guitars, his black and gold Fender and his green D'Angelico, the latter of which didn't get played at all until late the second night; we love that guitar, and couldn't believe that he didn't play it more than he did!

     The first set, for me at least, was a lot tighter and more exciting than the second set.  Part of this maybe came down to a comment Bob made in the second set about the sound on stage: it seemed that that once Larry and Teresa joined, especially when Larry and Bob were both on electrics, the band could not hear itself very well.  Ingram's sparse percussion that seemed so perfect with the duo, now struggled to keep everyone on the beat.  This renewed and echoed my feelings about Trey's contributions the previous weekend; now it felt a little more like an under-rehearsed Phil & Friends, and the subtle interplay between Phil and Bob was getting lost when everyone was trying to get on the same beat.  That being said, there were some truly magical moments in both sets the first night and I had a great time.

Setlist with annotations courtesy of https://twitter.com/Terrapin_Nation ( *Wally Ingram- percussion, ^ Bob Weir Acoustic)

First Set

• Loose Lucy*^
• This immediately shattered one preconception we went in with, that they wouldn't repeat any songs from NYC.  While they do have a wide catalog, they must have thought about what songs they like best, and which ones would work best in this format.
• Me & My Uncle^
• When I Paint My Masterpiece^
• I've been looking for one of these for a while, and Bob absolutely killed it.
• Deep Elem Blues^ >
• This got surprising far out.  One little look between Bob and Phil and they immediately drifted into exploratory mode.  This is exactly what I was looking forward to, only the two of them onstage psychically weaving the song together and creating something entirely new out of an old standard.
• Althea*
• Phil got a small solo here while Bob switched to his electric guitar.  As far as Bobby singing Garcia songs goes this wasn't the best, but he gave it a shot.  While I love this song and had been hoping they would do it, the sounds that Bobby chose to make with his guitar didn't sit too well with me.  It was the combination of his usual slide approach with those piercing, whining sounds he loves to get out of his guitar that put me off: two of my less than favorite Bobby tropes combining.  To be fair my dad and many others loved this, but it wasn't my cup of tea.
• Bird Song* >
• This, however was exactly my cup of tea!  Like with Deep Elem the two of them were 100% game to leave the reservation and discover new spaces in one of the Dead's more exploratory songs.  Wally added some nice beats to this one while still letting the duo dictate the direction and tempo.  I also love the way Phil sings this song, especially switching the pronoun from her to him in the vocal reprise after the jam so that it honors Jerry as well as Janis.
• He's Gone*
• This song perfectly exemplified what I think is the most wonderful thing about these performances: the empty space that they left for Jerry.  Phil and Bob are playing their parts to the song, and Jerry's part is conspicuously missing, but they can clearly hear it, and their own imaginings of how it goes affected their playing in surprising and magical ways.

     This was possibly the longest intermission I've waited through as a Dead show, and the natives were getting restless.  We went out for a smoke pretty early on and discovered that the rain had turned into blustering snow flakes and there was already a few inches on the ground.  The crowd huddled under the roof of the theater like penguins, and somehow no one seemed to get burned by cigarettes, joints, or dab rigs.  We went back inside, took a piss break and returned to our seats, thinking they would be coming back soon...but they didn't.  The set break lasted longer than the first set, and even though that gave us plenty of time for drink and bathroom runs, it meant that the show would go even later.  While normally not a problem I still had work the next morning, and was starting to worry about when the last train I could catch was...but eventually we heard them tuning up again, and the curtain lifted for the second set.

Second Set w/Larry Campbell & Teresa Williams

• Crazy Fingers^ >
• Right off the bat this song was a little off-kilter, I think suffering the worst of the equipment issues they seemed to be having on stage.
• I was immediately impressed, however, by Larry's approach to being the "lead."  He actually spent most of the night laying back and comping while letting Bobby do his rhythm/lead guitar work, and I was so glad about that.  Trey really stole the spotlight, if not the show, in NYC, and it was great to have such a masterful musician letting the boys shine through most of the time, and then let loose solo after solo when the music called for it.
• Friend of the Devil^
• Larry was on madolin (edited from fiddle 3/14/18) for this one and it country bliss, while still maintaining a bit of a psychedelic edge.
• Tennessee Jed^
• The Maker^
• This is a song I had never heard before by Daniel Lanois, and apparently the Jerry Garcia Band used to cover it.  Bobby and Teresa took this as a duo and it was perhaps the best song of the night.  It's a beautiful song that the band took to right away, and the harmonies that the singers found were gorgeous.
• The song's main little riff sounds a bit like a sped-up Mountains of the Moon so I kept expecting that transition, but instead the song kind of wound up, with Bobby stepping to the mic saying, "so much for our seamless segue."
• This was probably a pause for the best, because they seemed to exorcise some of the technical gremlins they had been battling so far in the set.  They took this opportunity to joke at us a little and do the "Merry-Go-Round Broke Down" ditty, so that was nice; a little classic banter.
• Cryptical Envelopment^ >
• Long time readers, or recent readers who may follow me elsewhere online, may recall that I am a "That's it for the Other One" fanatic, so the opening notes of this of course got me yelling a little bit, and I may or may not have bruised my dad's arm by punching him (sorry!).
• This song has always been a bit loose tempo-wise, so the disagreements on beat and timing made it a little more authentic, if anything.  Phil did a great job singing it as always and Larry got the jam moving at a good pace, laying down sweeping licks while Phil and Bob twisted underneath him, Bob making the transition from acoustic to electric somewhere int he middle.  The music reached some truly weird spaces, leading me to think that they would reprise a trick from the last time we saw the Duo, as part of the Core Four at Fare Thee Well doing "Cryptical > Dark Star."
• The Other One >
• Those suspicions were soon laid to rest as Phil and Larry dropped down, and the beat started to pick up.  Again, a "real" drummer might have suited this song better, but while Wally's sparseness potentially kept the song from reaching Super Nova Drive levels, it allowed for the guitarists to really intertwine with each other and carve some amazing patterns into the air.
• Phil gave his classic intro run a few tries, and while none of them landed in a whole-band explosion, it at least made up for "Other One"s in the past that were missing the run entirely.
• While this could have been faster, it at least had more energy to it than most Dead & Company versions.  I think Larry is just better at spacing out without losing momentum, wheres Mayer can only seem to rock or melt, rarely both together.  Having a lead who could go places Bob didn't expect, together with Phil Fucking Lesh, made this one of the most interesting "Other One"s I've seen live.
• Mississippi Half-Step >
• Black Peter
• This was a given, for us, because Bob seems to know that my dad doesn't care for the way he sings this particular song, and therefore plays it just about every time we see him.  I don't mind it so much, but it's certainly not his best Garcia song.
• I actually really loved Bobby's wok on the slide guitar on this one, much more tasteful than on Althea earlier.
• Music Never Stopped
• This song suffered the most for the lack of a full drum set, it just felt like slog instead of a rollicking good time.  Which is too bad, because I love this song, especially when Phil and Bob are on it together!
• On the bright side, Teresa killed the Donna part on this and had me and everyone else in the theater cheering for more.
• Donor Rap
• E: Touch of Grey 

     So it's time for me to admit something shameful: we left at the start of the encore.  Normally I shake my head in disbelief at people who leave before the show is over, but of course it's different when I have a good reason to leave...well anyway, we weren't the only ones.  Ever since the extra long intermission, people had been leaving at a pretty steady rate because of the weather.  On top of this, I was incredibly anxious about catching the last train home at this point (maybe why I didn't love "Music," I was so distracted by the time), knowing that the trek to the station would be slow at best in the blizzard outside.  So we bailed as soon as we encore started (stayed for the Donor Rap), and made it home safe.

     So that's the first night done, let me know what you think in the comments below!  I should have the next night up soon, and like I said up top I'm hoping to start cranking posts out again, so keep checking in.

Phil Lesh and Friends 2016-10-28 Capitol Theatre

(Writer’s note: I wrote this a while ago, and don’t want to change the whole thing to fit a month or so later, so just pretend it’s still October!  As always, pictures are from my mom, and the whole album is avilable here https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahebourne/albums/72157672315633374)

    It’s that time of year again: pumpkins are looking spooky, squirrels are putting on weight, and Phil is doing a run of shows for Halloween at the Capitol Theatre!  As soon as the shows were announced my parents and I got tickets for Friday and Saturday nights; the Monday night Halloween show will probably be great, but it didn’t work for our work schedules.  Our shows featured similar, but slightly different lineups, and Monday was the same band as Friday.  Everyone involved was a veteran Friend of Phil’s, with only Barry Sless (pedal steel and electric guitar) and Nicki Bluhm (vocals) being new to us.  Everyone else on stage we had seen with Phil and/or in their own bands: Larry Campbell (any stringed instrument he can lay his hands on), Teresa Williams (vocals), Jason Crosby (keyboards), John Molo (drums), and Luther Dickinson (electric guitar).  The next night was mostly the same, but instead of Larry and Teresa, Scott Metzger (electric guitar) from JRAD filled in.

    We got a hotel in nearby Armonk, and followed our tradition of eating at Kiosko, a local Mexican restaurant in Port Chester that we can’t recommend highly enough: great food at great prices with friendly services!  Our usual parking spot apparently was taken over by a new pizzeria, so we parked in the church parking lot across from the theatre; same price, but a little less convenient for getting in and out of.  We swung by Shakedown Sidewalk to check out the wares, then headed into the theatre itself.  Before heading to our seats we stopped at the merch table to get the poster for the night, which I just had to buy (my parents got the same design as a shirt).  Our seats were just a couple rows back in the balcony and dead center (ha), so we had some of the best vantage points in the theatre.  As they did last year for Halloween, they were playing the old cartoon classic Skeleton Dance on the walls, this time with the addition of Nosferatu and some spooky visuals.

    

To our surprise, the theatre was just about full by 8pm when the show was advertised to start; people must have heard that Phil’s a punctual kind of guy...well they started about half an hour later, so relatively punctual.  The lights went down, the band came on stage, and the crowd roared: here we go!

First Set

• Til the Morning Comes (LC & TW)
• One of the best ways to start a show is by crossing off a song I’ve had on my list as long as I’ve had a list!
• A song with an unfortunately short-lived lifespan on the Dead’s repertoire, this was one I knew Phil did with Larry and Teresa, and was so glad to finally see live.
• The very first lyrics were a bit misplaced, giving the song a slightly awkward start, but they recovered quickly and didn’t miss another step for the whole song!
• Larry and Teresa, a husband and wife duo, are some of the best musicians around, and their voices fit with each other so perfectly, especially on anything with just a little bit of a country flavor to it.  Larry is a master of any instrument that has strings attached to it, and his outro solo showed us that he wasn’t going to hold anything back for this show.

• Peggy-O (PL, TW, & LC)
• It just wouldn’t be a show with Larry, Teresa, and Phil if they didn’t do “Peggy-O!”
• They gave this one a really extended intro jam, with fireworks from Larry on cittern (or something) and Barry on pedal steel.
• I think Phil, Larry, and Teresa meant to swap the vocals in the same way they’ve done in the past, with Phil acting as Narrator, Larry as William, and Teresa as Peggy, but Phil was having such a good time that he sang the first few verses himself!  The main reason I think this is Teresa chimed in on a Peggy line, and Phil noticed and started laughing at the end of the line.  Could have been for any reason, but that’s my theory and I’m sticking to it.
• Everyone got leads in the jams between verses, with effortless transitions from one player to another.
• Uncle John’s Band (ALL) >
• Larry switched over to his mandolin and Barry got up from his pedal steel to strap on his electric guitar for the first of what turned out to be many times.  I had assumed he would be on pedal steel the whole night, so was a little disappointed to have him on yet another electric guitar.  He played great, and filled in a lot of the Jerry licks that pull these songs together, but his pedal steel voice is so unique and clear that I would have loved to hear more of it.
• Gripes aside, this was a beautiful “Uncle John’s Band,”  partly because it was Nicki Bluhm’s debut of the night.  She blended her voice beautifully with Teresa’s, and together they formed a powerful vocal backbone for the song.
• As I said above, Barry took a lot of the Jerry licks that we all take for granted, and really impresses me.  He was trading great licks with Luther in the first jam section, while Larry basically just soloed over them the whole time.
• They slid perfectly into the 7/4 jam section, and just when I thought Barry was really about to take the lead, Jason started going crazy on his piano.  He reminds me of Keith in that his physical presence on stage is not very dominating, but his playing turns everyone’s head.  He caught me by surprise last Fall with Phil, and he’s been one of my favorite keyboardists since.
• They nailed the closing verses and went back into the 7/4 jam with Larry getting back onto his electric guitar while Luther took some powerful leads.  Eventually Molo drove them into a new tempo, arriving on another Workingman’s Dead classic...

• Cumberland Blues (ALL)
• What a perfect song for this band!  Barry stayed on his guitar for a bit before sitting back down at his pedal steel, and things got very rockabilly from there.
• Larry took the first solo of the song, and it was hard to tell who was more impressed, us or Luther Dickinson!  He spent a lot of this night playing right up next to Larry, staring at his fingers in amazement while somehow managing to (mostly) keep up.
• The rocked their way through the song, really stretching out the jams between verses so everyone had time to solo and explore the song, like some kind of psychedelic country playground.
• Rollin’ and Tumblin’ (LD)
• Barry went back to his guitar and Larry switched over to a fiddle for this one, and we started to wonder if he would play a different instrument for each song.
• At first I thought it was going to be “New Minglewood Blues,” but then it was obvious what they were playing.  We saw Luther do this one with his band North Mississippi All-Stars at the Green River Festival this past year, and he really killed it then.  This was a great version of  it as well, but this band clearly wasn’t as familiar with the song and Luther’s way of playing it.  It’s mostly just straight blues, but a little loose with the tempo, and instead of playing a regular guitar he played a stick with some strings attached to a can, that he occasionally sang through.  Safe to say, he was the Bobby of the night in a few ways.

• River Deep, Mountain High (TW)
• Each time I’ve seen a run of shows with Phil, Larry, and Teresa they’ve done this song, though this stood out as unique because it wasn’t sandwiched in the middle of a monster “Dark Star” or “Mountains of the Moon.”
• This one was definitely punchier than the other two, partly because it wasn’t surrounded by boundless space at either end.  Barry and Luther seemed a little less familiar with this one, but they still did a great job.  Once it hit the jam in the middle of the song, everyone really excelled.
• Of course the real star of this song is Teresa, singing with more power than you could imagine.  Not only did she sing well, but the song’s timing is trickier than it seems, making it that much harder to sing in time.  But Teresa killed it, as she always does.
• Sugaree (LD & NB)
• Nicki came back out for this one, and they mellowed slowly into the song with an Allman Brother’s-esque intro.  While I was rolling my eyes at getting yet another “Sugaree,” I could already tell this one would be special.
• Nicki and Luther traded verses, giving it a nice spin compared to every other version.  Luther flubbed a few of his verses (told you he was the Bobby) but Nicki nailed each one.
• Instead of putting a separate solo between every verse, they would each sing two verses, and then the solos would get doubled up so no one missed out.  This is another of those songs that is really very simple, it’s simple structure just makes it easier to play incredible solos over in ever-changing ways.

    They brought the song to close and the lights came back on.  We were thrilled so far; while they hadn’t done anything close to any of the setlists we had created, they had so far surpassed or at least met our expectations for the quality of playing.  I joined the line for the smoking section, getting the real cattle treatment.  While I think it’s great that a lot of people respect the Capitol Theatre’s rules about smoking inside (even joints, surprisingly), their smoking section is too small for the size of the venue, and getting out there in time for the second set is very cramped situation.  Sure, you can go out front, but then you’re smoking your joint right in front of a New York cop, as opposed to a venue staff member who just wants to make sure you’re not causing any trouble.  Either way, I got out there and back inside in time to hit the bathroom, get some water, and get to my seat before the second set started.

Second Set

• Casey Jones (NB)
• Didn’t see this one coming, but it was a great way to start the set!  Like with “Til the Morning Comes,” the beginning felt like it was a little off, but then they slid right into the song with no further troubles.
• Larry, Luther, and Barry (who was on his guitar instead of the pedal steel, which would have been great on this song) all got shots at the solo section, stretching the song out a little more.
• All in all a great performance, but it felt kind of slow and controlled the whole time, as opposed to the versions that pick up speed while the chorus repeats over and over and get a little loose.
• Midnight Highway (LC & TW)
• Phil did this with Larry and Teresa when we first saw them play together, and I didn’t realize until they started singing how much I wanted to see them do it again.
• Teresa picked up an acoustic guitar for this and Barry got back on the pedal steel, meaning this was the most amount of strings on stage at any point in the concert.
• This is a straight up country ballad, and Teresa just sings it so beautifully.  With the addition of Barry on the pedal steel, this version blew away the previous one we had seen.  It has such a soulful and forlorn sound to it.

• Crossroads (LD & NB)
• I kind of equate this one to “After Midnight” in my head, in that Phil took a relatively straightforward Clapton song (made famous by him at least) and stretched it out into a psychedelic journey through uncharted lands.
• Luther kind of flubbed his way through some more lyrics, but Nicki nailed this song.
• Like I said, the song eventually went far beyond its typical structure, but before they took it there they explored all the ways they could play the blues within its structure.  Barry was back on his guitar, and the three guitarists would trade leads amongst themselves and Jason, sometimes easing down to a shuffle, sometimes amping up higher and higher.  Eventually they wound their way into some far out regions, landing in some different themed jams.
• Suddenly Luther slammed them back into the song itself and everyone got back to dancing before they brought it to a close.
• Unbroken Chain (PL)
• It’s always a treat seeing Phil play his song, and this was a great performance.  He might be getting older, but he’s singing very well at this point in his life, especially when it comes to songs that are clearly dear to him.
• Having three guitars on this one also kind of works, because it’s a fairly dense song already, and it helps to be able to have one person basically just riffing on the different rhythms in the 11/4 and 15/4 sections to keep the song on track while blistering solos get laid on top of the shifting tempos.
• They drop the ball right at the start of the big jam, but immediately get it back together and don’t miss a step for the whole rest of the song.  It sounds to me like at least two people on stage tried to play the album version of the song, and then remembered how much it gets stretched out live.
• This just might be the best version of this I’ve seen live.  The first time I saw Phil with Larry and Teresa, in a lineup that was basically Furthur without Bob, might have been better, but this one is definitely going to stick in my head as a premium performance.  The solos were once again traded back and forth effortlessly by the musicians on stage, and then they seamlessly slid back into the end of the song with Larry dominating the outro solo.

• Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning (TW)
• I thought maybe they were warming up for “Death Don’t Have No Mercy” from their tuning, but really should have seen this one coming!
• A classic for Larry and Teresa that they might have picked up from Hot Tuna when they helped out on one of their recent albums, this was once again a top notch performance.
• Teresa sang this one a little differently from when we saw them do it previously; she was still singing just as powerfully, but perhaps with a little more nuance or finesse.
• The song itself too felt a little more uptempo with a bit of a shuffle, as opposed to the more apocalyptic versions that have been played.
• Help on the Way (NB) >
• I typically pride myself in spotting a song just from the tuning or count-off that leads into it, but this makes two time this year that “Help on the Way” has snuck up on me!  I was thinking “Ramble On Rose,” if anything, from the way they prepared for this song.  At least the shock of one of your favorite songs sneaking up and biting you in the face is a pretty good feeling!
• Molo counted them off, and immediately the place erupted into cheers and a renewed vigor for dancing.
• For my tastes, they could have gone through the solo section another time or two (or seven), but they really nailed this song as well.  Once again the abundance of guitars allowed for some creative mixes of rhythm and lead playing, propelling the song.
• There’s a DVD out there of Phil and Friends playing the Warfield in ‘04 with Joan Osborne (and Larry and John) where she sings this song, and I’ve always wanted to see a great female singer tackle it live, so I was thrilled to have Nicki singing this time.  Like all the other musicians on stage, she stepped right up and killed this song.

• Slipknot!
• This was the longest “Slipknot!” I’ve seen, and while that doesn’t always mean it’s the best version of that song, in this case it certainly meant there was plenty of incredible jamming.  They nailed the riffs at the beginning of the song and immediately dove into heavy guitar space.
• Larry started chopping at his guitar while Luther and Barry found some melodies to stretch out in the sonic playground Phil and John were laying down.  Jason was on his Rhodes, which was a little harder to hear at the time than his other keyboards, but it comes through clearly on the soundboard.
• At one point they started doing the ascending riff that typically signals the departure from the jam and descends into the closing riffs, but after letting it build for a while Phil waved them off and they flew back into the stratosphere.
• Eventually they went back to that ascending line and followed through into the closing riffs.  This time it kind of fell apart, but Barry and Phil kept it together enough for them to all pull into...
• Franklin’s Tower (PL)
• Yet another song that Phil loves to play, and he continued to sing very well.
• This is a perfect song to have too many guitars on, and like “Sugaree” is simple enough in its structure that you can lay down multiple layers of complex solos over it.  While it would have been cool to see what a pedal steel would have brought to these three songs, Barry continued to impress us on his regular guitar.
• They finished the song with the traditional “Slipknot!” riff, and left the stage.

    Phil eventually came out and gave his traditional Donor Rap.  It was hard to make out at the time, but is clear in the soundboard.  After we all turned to someone who we loved and loved us and told them we wanted to be organ donors (already am, don’t worry) the band came back out and prepared for a final surprise.

Encore

• Turn on Your Lovelight (LD & NB)
• While this isn’t unheard of as an encore, I once again did not see this coming.
• Definitely the best “Lovelight” I’ve seen live (well, technically better since I’ve only seen two).  Luther continued to struggle with where lyrics were supposed to go, but it was clear that he and Nicki were having fun.  And, more importantly, the interplay between all the musicians was incredible!  They stretched this out for way longer than Bobby plays it nowadays, and filled every second of it with virtuosic leads.
• There wasn’t any of the rapping that Pig Pen was (in)famous for on this song, but I’d rather they just play than try to recreate something that only Pig could really do.

    They brought the song and the night to an epic close, we cheered them off the stage, and the lights came back on.  What a show!  We hung out for a bit while the horde of people cleared out, and then eventually made our way to the car, and from there back to the hotel in Armonk.  We talked about the show for a while in hushed tones, and then retired to bed to prepare ourselves for another show the next day!

    Just a heads up, I may or may not post the second night’s review. I haven’t worked on it, and it’s already a month out.  I would like to eventually, and to get a review of Dave’s Picks 20 out, but haven’t had much time to write lately.  Stay tuned though, and feel free to leave thoughts and requests for topics in the comments section below!