We've been more selective than we used to be about what concerts to go to, not wanting to be in a poorly ventilated room with unmasked people in the continuing world of COVID-19. So when we heard that JRAD was coming back for two shows at the open-air tent in Boston's Seaport (currently called the Leader Bank Pavilion) we got tickets ASAP. Well, with a little hesitation. We'd had a great time the last time we saw them, at the Pavilion in 2018 (over 4 years ago!!), but part of that was that we had great seats and so the inexcusably-underpowered PA there was not a factor. We needed to get great seats again and luckily we did, right next to the soundboard.
Dave came up for the weekend and we got parking tickets online. We ate at home that Friday and then made it down to the Seaport through really thick rush-hour traffic. Rain showers and thunderstorms had been taking unpredictable paths through MA all day and we were hoping they wouldn't interfere with the concert. Close, but they managed to avoid us.
Made it to the show and celebrated with a beer by the shore. It really is a fun, almost intimate, place when you finally get there if you don't mind the prices and the takeoff/landing route from Logan isn't overhead, as it sometimes is. Got to our seat and the place was not full at all, must have been a lot of people stuck in traffic and/or at work. The crowd finally showed up by the end of the first set and the place seemed very full, though the people who had the seats to our right never turned up and so we had plenty of room for spreading out and dancing.
There was a sax on stage and soon Stuart Bogie came out and picked it up, followed by the rest of the band. We were psyched! Here's the first set:
- The Wheel
- Queen Jane Approximately
- Help on the Way
- Slipknot!
- Cats Under the Stars
- Feel Like a Stranger
- Not Fade Away
It had been too long since we'd seen JRAD! The first song we ever saw them do was The Wheel at soundcheck in the Paradise, and so that was a real "welcome back" song for us. And I can't tell you how great Queen Jane was, with an excellent vocal by Scott and a loping, not-in-a-hurry to get there, country pace. I didn't know whom to watch! Dave was booming and dominant, Marco was as brilliant as I've ever heard him, Scott was incredible, Tommy was playing Garcia's Wolf guitar, and Joe, of course, was the leader of the band.
Just a note that Dead concerts are so much fun and the people at them are generally so happy. That night and the next we saw a good number of excited kids accompanied by their parents. I love the fact that people want to pass their love of the Dead down through the generations.
And they're such an adventurous band. The Dead defied convention, and JRAD sure do to. After the drop-dead Queen Jane the whole band suddenly started into this cacophonous medley of sound that knocked us all flat and then suddenly stood us all back up as it morphed into Help. I hope the noise didn't scare the children, to coin a phrase.
Stuart was a great addition and integrated into the band very well. But he distracted a bit from the tightness they can feature ... they didn't want to lose him. Fantastic to see Tommy playing Wolf again, but he sometimes seemed a little uncomfortable with it. It has so many possibilities and he didn't want to play the wrong tone at the wrong time. And though we were well positioned in the Pavilion, the sound system there is just not that good and seemed overtaxed at times.
So a few faint criticisms, but we were having a great time and that was an excellent first set. Not too long of a break and then they came back out with:
- Here Comes Sunshine
- Truckin'
- King Solomon's Marbles
- Truckin'
- Cassidy
- St. Stephen
- The Eleven
- St. Stephen
- Reuben and Cherise
- Going Down the Road Feelin' Bad
Oh my God, what did we just see?!? The rain *had* stopped but the sun had set by then and so HCS was not as appropriate as you might think, but whatever, I love that song. They did a great intro to Truckin' and then played the shit out of that, including teases of Marco's Dropkick, and then suddenly were doing King Solomon's! The second time I ever saw Joe perform he did this with Furthur. And to emphasize their scoffing at convention, they went back into StS after The Eleven.
Stuart continued to shine too, and it was a great ending to the second set with a beautiful Reuben and Cherise (Tommy was in great voice himself) and then a rolling, sing-along GDTRFB. Joe was the gracious host, thanking us all profusely for the applause and saying, "See you tomorrow!" We thought this might signal no encore, but the band came back out soon and did a rocking and short Johnny B. Goode.
What a show! We were tingling from the experience, and the venue and the Seaport were still a hive of activity. But we made it back to the parking garage through it all (and some dentists of course, who were playing tag with the police). The underground spur back to the expressway was apparently closed, but we made it back up to Atlantic Ave after getting turned around, and had a short ride back home. We'd see them again tomorrow!
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