Even though I'd brought my own pillow and humidifier, the bed was plenty big enough for tossing and turning, and the window was cracked so the temperature wasn't stifling, this was the first night in a strange place and so I didn't sleep well. I was exhausted from the stressful drive down and the long and emotional evening's entertainment, but I was barely less exhausted by morning. Oh well, it's not like I'm not used to this!
And the breakfast experience was not exactly a relief itself. Yes, the Hyatt House had a good breakfast, but the problem was getting to it. It's a huge hotel and over the weekend a lot of the people there were Deadheads. But everyone went to breakfast at the same time and that meant a line to even get in the little breakfast room, empty chafing dishes when you got to the head of it, and an empty coffee dispenser too. The kitchen staff was trying to keep up, but was short staffed and overtaxed. And if and when you got your food, good luck finding a seat in that small room, which doubled as their bar in the evenings.
Back up in our nice room, we played a couple of board games (Splendor, then Azul) on the kitchen counter. We would have liked to go downstairs to the bar to spread out a bigger game on one of their tables, but realized the breakfast brou-ha-ha would take a while to get cleaned up. We had brought some sandwiches for lunch and stayed in to eat them. We've gone for nearby hikes in other years, but the day was again very foggy and threatening rain.
Even so, after lunch we were determined to get outside for at least a bit. The Hyatt House is set in a couple of acres in a large circle of highways. Most of this hilly, rocky ground has been paved over and features immense, deserted parking lots and spooky, deserted office buildings. There's also a huge Wegman's, a prep school, a couple of apartment complexes, and a massive gym/pool complex squeezed in there. They've apparently struggled with groundwater though, and there are rocky dells with gaping culverts and (hopefully well positioned) holding pools between the huge buildings. We explored around one of the apartment complexes and then the Wegman's parking lot. Sarah braved the inside of Wegman's to get some spices (the Cap was doing a spice drive), though a laden Deadhead had warned us it would suck us in.
We then poked around the Histogenetics building, which looked like it dated from the 1970s or before, and was surrounded by a cracked, asphalt parking lot that seemingly hadn't been used in decades. The large lot is arrayed over several hills, and one knoll had a deserted lunch/picnic area on top, mostly blocked off by fallen trees. This was a spooky, post-apocalyptic office-scape, and seemed to be the norm around there from what we could see from the tops of the hills. Back to our room for a short nap and then an abbreviated game of Parks in the breakfast room/bar downstairs ... and then it was time to head for the Cap again!
Another trip to Kiosko, and another excellent meal. I had their Quesadillas de la Casa, Sarah got goat meat, and Dave had a very large piece of salmon. Our timing was right on, and we were soon up in our center balcony seats, timing the squirrel. The place had been pretty packed on Friday, but there had been a few empty seats. This was obviously not going to be the story on Saturday though, as the crowd just poured in and there was not a space to be seen. One usually has to stand through a show at the Cap to be able to see the stage, but strangely this did not hold true, however. Maybe we're *all* getting old, but through most of another excellent show, a large number of people stayed seated. For long stretches we could sit down and not have our view blocked, which was fine with me as my feet and legs were pretty worn out by the end of the evening.
The core of Lesh, Crosby, Krasno, Molo, Burbridge, Mitarotonda, and Hartswick were back, and we were excited to see that Natalie Cressman had joined her partner, Jennifer, and that there was yet another guitar setup over on the left side of the stage. They were later joined by John Scofield with his singular guitar sound, and by Adam Minkoff on organ and drums. Here's the first set:
- Friend of the Devil
- Deal
- Althea
- Peggy-O
- Crazy Fingers
- Stella Blue
- He's Gone
- Cold Rain and Snow
They opened with a formulaic take on FOTD and I remember thinking that of course I shouldn't expect a show as great as Friday's. But then they jammed into Deal, and suddenly this was far from formulaic. Hartswick and Cressman got their horns going, Oteil was doing his hopping-around thing again, they had Minkoff milking the organ and Crosby rolling on the piano, and we were all back smiling. Althea was a Mitarotonda showcase, and then Scofield came out for a beautiful Peggy-O, with a great vocal arrangement. Scofield stuck around for a great Crazy Fingers, on which he was as eclectic as ever.
But then it was time for a slow introduction to Stella Blue and the entire theater was staring at Jennifer with excited anticipation as she slowly took her mike off its stand. She can sing this as well as it's ever been sung, and that's what she did, with Scofield adding some great guitar fills. The crowd didn't even bother going nuts, this was church for all of us. And after Jennifer ended they started another slow intro into He's Gone, and it was Natalie's turn. She doesn't have the coloratura of Jennifer, but her voice is possibly more mind bending. She can add a dimension of sincerity, originality, and soulfulness to a song like He's Gone, adding new notes and flourishes to the end of lines. You've got to hear her. And we all realized that she was singing He's Gone about Phil, and we all started tearing up yet again.
We'd seen Cressman do this song at the Cap before and it was followed by another Mitarotonda showcase tune, Cold Rain and Snow. They did that combo again, and this time Rick's excellent vocal was backed up by the whole band, playing at their loudest. This and Deal were possibly the songs of the set, though Stella Blue and He's Gone were untouchable in their own way.
Possibly a shorter set break that night, halfway through our annual(?) musical sojourn. The guys came back out and mixed it up a bit. Oteil had moved to the second drum set and Brian Rashap (Phil's longtime production manager) was playing Phil's "Big Brown" bass. Also, John Medeski was now squeezed in with Crosby on the keys setup. Here's the second set:
- Dark Star Jam
- Help on the Way
- Slipknot!
- Franklin's Tower
- King Solomon's Marbles
- Scarlet Begonias
- Comes a Time
- The Other One
- Dark Star
Again, they opened with a wild, long, out there Dark Star jam that wandered and wandered until we were a long way from Westchester County. The whole weekend was more or less a tribute to Phil, and this sure was. Their point was that, as Phil often said, Dark Star is always playing out there somewhere, and when our heads are in the right place we can tap into it. They sure tapped, then Oteil moved back to bass and Minkoff appeared at the second drum set ... and then suddenly, brahnga-brah-dong!!! we were riding the crest of a wave. Great stuff and so much like what Phil would have done. This went into a great Slipknot! jam, which at times threatened to break out into the Allman Brothers In Memory of Elizabeth Reed, which made Oteil giggle.
Then a fine Franklin's Tower that threatened to swerve into Blue Sky, and this of course had the whole theater singing along with Jennifer (as if), and then another unexpected and acceptably tight twist, into King Solomon's. I remembered the thrill of seeing Phil do this with Joe Russo in Boston in 2012. Fantastic that they'd do both an extensive Slipknot! and then a huge King Solomon's in the same set. Excellent Scarlet (which Jennifer topped off with the line, "Everybody's playing in the Happy Birthday Phil Lesh band!"), and another wonderful vocal from Oteil on Comes a Time. He can be so self-deprecating and was seemingly embarrassed to be featured on vocal when Hartswick and Cressman were on the stage, but he's pretty good himself.
Oteil then switched from his bass to Big Brown and we all knew what was about to happen. They launched into another loud and long intro, but you just knew that he was about to drop that bass run, and then we were off into TOO-land, and then ultimately into a tight Dark Star reprise, with Grahame up on the drum riser orchestrating the climax to the set. Friday night had been great, but this second set was awesome!
Phew, time to sit down again and get a short break for our aching feet and legs. Though we'd had some time sitting down during the second set, this had been a workout, physically and emotionally. Pete Shapiro and Phil's grandson Levon came out with a cake, and we all sang Happy Birthday to Phil, though unfortunately he was not there except in spirit. Then Grahame did another donor rap, which came out a little smoother than it had on Friday, but was still a bit hard for him to get through. Then it was time for all players to come out again for introductions and the totally expected Not Fade Away, with lengthy crowd coda.
Another night at the Cap was over! Back to the car in the foggy night and back up to West Harrison, where we fell into bed shortly.
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