A very windy and rainy night led to a cold morning, and naturally I hadn't gotten a good night's sleep. But it was a great morning anyway and we had room enough to set up a game of Trains after "breakfast." The forecast was for the day to clear up and it really did clear up nicely, though a chilly wind from the Northwest continued.
We debated our options and then drove down to the Boat Yard BBQ and Grill for a nice lunch. From there we continued down to Cove Island Park on the Sound, as far West as you can go in Stamford. Stamford is such a strange city, with a crazy mix of huge office buildings, train infrastructure, private homes, exclusive marinas, and some public spaces. We found this park very nice and had a great walk on the low-tide beach and around a few rocky points. One can imagine that in the Summer this place would be mobbed.
Back to the hotel for another Parks game and a short nap, and then it was time to saddle up for Port Chester again. Another fine meal at Kiosko, which was about as crowded as it gets. Again, was this the last time we'd be eating there? Could this be the last time? Maybe, I don't know.
Up into the balcony at the Cap and we were a bit to the left and one row back from where we were on Friday, not bad at all. Though Friday may not have been sold out, Saturday sure was and the crowd was very late arriving and then filled in with a vengeance. The band was set up exactly the same, and they came out a little late to let the crowd settle in. Here's the first set:
- Join Together
- Help on the Way
- Slipknot!
- Franklin's Tower
- Peggy-O
- Brown-Eyed Women
- Baby Don't You Do It
- Sugaree
- It Hurts Me Too
- The Last Time
I had called three songs on Friday, and Dave called the Help/Slip/Frank's trio on Saturday, after they opened with another great The Who song. They did nice covers of Peggy-O and BEW before surprising us with Don't Do It. Who knows how much should be credited to Billy for Sugaree (or The Wheel), as he was in the room and part of the creative process with Garcia and Hunter when it was put together? Then Brad followed with another eclectic vocal on Hurts Me Too, and they closed with yet another Stones song, similar to how the long first set had been structured the night before.
Set break, and I tried to time my last bathroom trip well, but this was a remarkably short break (20 minutes?) and they'd already gone into Drums by the time I got back to the seats. Here's their last set:
- Drums
- Space
- Morning Dew
- Uncle John's Band
- The Wheel
- Crazy Fingers
- Cassidy
- Love the One You're With
- I Know You Rider
After that they went into an unusual take on Dew, featuring Brad Barr's atmospheric guitar sounds more than the building crescendo we've often heard. This was really great, though perhaps more perfunctory than it could have been. But it was followed by great covers of UJB and then the expected The Wheel, with the expected crowd participation of course.
They threw us a curve ball next, with a long, spaced out introduction to a weird Crazy Fingers, with Reed singing to a syncopated beat of his own imagination. Again, lots of fun and Reed Mathis can do no wrong in my book! And next up was another song that snuck up on most of the people around us, Tommy covering Steven Still's great Love the One You're With.
The band finished with a balls-out sing-along of I Know You Rider, and the clapping did not stop. They focused the lights on Billy, sitting at his drum set, and he waved and waved to us all, then got up and did his old man walk to the wings. I'd seen Billy sneak a toke or two behind his drums earlier, but when he came back out he had an obvious doobie with him, and he puffed and puffed on it, while grinning at the crowd before the encore. People went nuts.
They opened the encore with a lovely Brokedown Palace. Tommy, Reed, and Brad had been singing well together at times all weekend, but on this the harmonies shone. If they practice a bit they could get really good! And then they closed with Touch, which was a) a great sing-along again, b) a tribute to Billy the old guy on perhaps the last time we'll see him live, and c) perhaps a tribute to James Casey, the recently deceased musician and band-mate of Billy's, whom we'd seen sing this song at that same theater.
Loud applause and the minions told Billy that he had to get the band together for a bow, which he obviously thought was a little corny. Yes it is Billy, but it's expected and brought a smile to everyone's face. Bye bye!
Waited a bit in the seats again. Not quite as good a show as Friday's but whatever, it was still great. Pushed our way out past wandering people and then up Westchester Avenue to the lot behind Kiosko. Will we be back there again? Maybe! Easy drive back to Stamford this night and then up to our large room and soon to bed.
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