When we bought tickets to Wednesday night in Hartford (11/22) in the frenzy of planning for the 2017 Fall tour, we didn't realize that it was the night before Thanksgiving, which came a bit early this year. Jeez, that presented a bit of a logistical problem, especially when we realized all roads to Hartford would be parking lots that afternoon. Oh well, you can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs, or something.
Anyway, we tried to prepare as well as we could. And in the few free moments in the run-up to Thanksgiving we did a little research into how best to get to Hartford that afternoon and what to do if we got there and found time on our hands, neither of which, we realized, might come true.
Oh well, things went as well as could be expected. Except it was raining cats and dogs and the wind was blowing like a Dire Wolf! We picked up Dave at Alewife after slogging through a packed, busy, and frantic Arlington and North Cambridge. And then we hit route 2, made it past 128, and then were in a long, long, long, long line of traffic crawling out through Lincoln and Concord, and Acton, and beyond.
Our plan was to continue West on route 2 (as bad as the traffic was on that road, at least it was moving) until Waze showed us that we could detour South-Southwest without increasing our problems. Oh well, we thought, at the worst we can follow route 2 out to goddamn Greenfield and then head down 91! And that turned out to be what we did when all we saw to the South was angry red on Waze.
And of course it was beautiful, even on an apocryphal late-Fall afternoon. As we approached the Connecticut Valley the clouds started to show breaks, and streaks, and sudden beams of sunshine tearing over the gray and green clouds and hills. By the time we finally got around Greenfield and headed South the low-on-the-horizon sun had ripped through the clouds in several spots and Dave (driving) had to put on his sunglasses. We got tied up in rush hour traffic a bit in Springfield and then held up by an accident just North of Hartford, but in all we had done the right thing and we pulled off the highway onto Trumbull and Church Streets in downtown Hartford in a bit over three hours, perhaps a couple of hours quicker and definitely with more of our sanity left than would have been the case if we had gone straight out 90 and 84. Who says the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides?
Got a good spot on the second floor of the garage across from the XL Center (the whilom Hartford Civic Center, built in 1974), though we suspected that this might be a trap. We'd been stuck in a parking garage in Worcester after a Dead & Company show before and we tried to position ourselves for a quick getaway after the concert, FWIW.
As mentioned, we'd done some research on things to do in downtown Hartford, but it was already late afternoon and we figured the best thing to do was to head right for the brewpub we'd earmarked. It was a cold, windy, few blocks but we got right up there and got one of the last tables at the City Steam Brewery ... it was packed and they were cranking the Dead on their sound system. We'd come to the right place and were there in plenty of time to relax and get ready!
The City Steam Brewery is a really fun combination dining room, catering center, and sports bar with its own beers that sprawls through several adjacent suites in the first floors of one of the oldest buildings in downtown Hartford, the H.H. Richardson-designed Cheney building. We had no idea about this when we got there ... it was just a brewpub we'd picked out, but serendipity had struck again. Jesus, just when you've resigned yourself to the fact that the world is a stressed out place where you don't belong, something brings you back in.
OK, several beers and several tacos later we were out of there and got in line for the XL Center just as the doors were opening. And it was probably a good thing we did, because this was one of the most thorough searches-entering-a-concert ever and we're sure the lines behind us soon stretched out back to 84 and beyond. They wanted me to prove to them that my empty water bottle (you were allowed to bring one in) was really empty.
On the other hand, we were soon seated with some good beers in the arena and had an interlude for some crowd watching and some more speculation about what they were going to play. It was about time for another Dark Star! They'd played in DC the night before and opened with Stranger (this had been Dave's prediction for our show), had done the Help troika, and also Terrapin. What was left? We agreed it was very probable they'd do TOO, but what else?
We were in row G (7th) of the balcony, but the balcony stretched up WAY past us, as balconys used to do in the early 70s. It was kind of funny to watch person after person turn up the stairs at the base of the balcony, stop short, and say, "Oh My God!" when they realized they had to climb like 70 stories on narrow concrete steps to get to their seat. We went up there ourselves to check it out, and from the top you could barely recognize that that was a hockey rink far below you, let alone a stage at the left end. Anyway, we had excellent seats, akin to where we'd been in the arena at Worcester, the first time we saw them.
OK, time for the boys to come out and light into the first song. We hadn't called this one! Here's the first set:
Iko Iko
Shakedown Street
They Love Each Other
Loose Lucy
Friend of the Devil
Bird Song
Iko knocked us all silly immediately. The arena was jumping and twisting already. And John and Oteil did a great unison backup in this, an element from their earlier tour that I'd complained about being lacking. And immediately Jeff was back blowing our minds on the piano, and Bobby was extemporizing on vocals!
And the "great" song we anticipated they'd repeat didn't take long. They had a false start but then ripped right into Shakedown, with John doing the wah-wah-iest stuff and again, John and Oteil pairing on the backup. I guess this was the municipality in which to sing "Don't tell me this town ain't got no Hart [sic]."
John took a turn at the mike with a good TLEO. I kept hoping Bobby would pick up his walnut guitar but he stuck with the Strat with the big pickguard all night. He had two clones on stage, which he switched between when one was slightly out of tune, but they were the same guitar. But we really couldn't complain about a nit like that ... they were *on.* And Bobby's a professional.
Another one we might have anticipated, especially since they were in such a funky groove, was a quick Loose Lucy after that. Dave called FOTD from the tuning and this was excellent too. I'd mentioned r.e. the first Boston show that the drummers were playing really well and this was more of the same. Mickey seems much more disciplined this tour (even though he's adding samples and weird sounds at the oddest moments) and Billy is mixing it up like he thinks he's Joe Russo or something. I think Mickey being more on the beat enables Billy to fool around more.
And then they closed the set with a great Bird Song. A setlist Dave caught a glimpse of had Good Lovin' as the real last song, but I guess Bobby has his reasons when he cuts a set short.
We really liked these seats also. It was great to be in such different parts of the arenas for our three nights on this tour. High up and straight back the first night, on the floor on the right the next, and then in the close balcony on the left, this was a great variety. I think there's something about me that likes being on the left facing the stage at a concert. I can see the instruments a bit better, since it's natural for a right-handed guitar player to present to (his) right. Or maybe it's a corpus callosum kind of thing and I can perceive sound slightly better with my ears at that angle. Or maybe it's something. But whatever, it seemed ... like it had in Worcester ... that I was right in the middle of the sound, especially Oteil's bass, which had never had a nicer tone. I'd lock on Oteil, feel how his sound was playing around with the beat laid down by Billy and Mickey, be amazed by John and Jeff when they took their leads, and realize that there was one sound that underlaid it all, though I still wanted him to switch to the walnut guitar!
Wandered around and got some fine beer again, then settled back to watch the people climbing Mount Section 201, which was daunting to many.
Yikes, I was about to go for another piss before the second set started, thought I had plenty of time, but then they suddenly bounded out on stage and started strumming. I guess they realized this was the night before Thanksgiving and they should not dilly-dally. Hmmm, John was raised in Fairfield. Maybe the band has been invited over to his parents' house for Thanksgiving, a nice thought!
Here we go with our last of 6 sets on this tour, here's to many more. And here's the second set:
Estimated Prophet
Eyes of the World
China Doll
The Other One
Drums
Space
Spanish Jam
Black Peter
Uncle John's Band
U.S. Blues
I think Bobby knew who was in the audience, singing me two of my favorite(!) songs. Whatever, though there some moments, this was a fantastic, solid, second set. In all, this was possibly the best concert of the tour so far. This was a smooth and professional Estimated Eyes (missing Deal!). Right after Eyes Oteil did a TOO tease, but then they turned on a dime and it was Oteil on another surreal vocal on China Doll, the whole thing a note-perfect, pace-perfect start to the second set.
And speaking of pace ... gee, I haven't been complaining about that! In Summer 2016 they were playing stuff almost comically slow sometimes. But that's changed; I referred to Sunday night's first encore as a "slow-tempo Brokedown," but that's Brokedown. They've picked up the pace a lot since then and on that day were playing right at the beat of our hearts and minds.
And then Oteil stepped back after the last chorus, and they paused for a split second, and then John started on the TOO riff, and then we were flying through the air and Oteil was dominating and we knew what was coming, and this time he hit the beginning of TOO like he meant it and we were flying up the cliff vertically. Amazing stuff!
Then Drums/Space, and then Space turned around a bit, and around again, and then they were all playing a textbook Spanish Jam, like it was a pop tune or something, it was so well formed. This was a Dead & Company debut and was led by that beatnic Jeff on grand piano.
OK, I admit that the following Black Peter was really well played and right in so many ways, but I'll say again that Bobby has a hard time switching persona to sing a tragic song like this. He's not a natural with the mysterious folk songs. But this and the following Uncle John's were again, such a treat: two more Workingman's songs done with skill, respect, and brightness. Like they were songs that had been written well over 45 years ago but still needed to be explored.
And then a closer of U.S. Blues, it's in their contract to play this regularly, like before big American holidays.
We'd all taken turns at the close-by bathroom during the second set and at this point started putting our coats on and getting ready to take off. Needless to say, we weren't going to leave early and miss a note of Dead & Company! But we realized that as soon as the encore ended, each added second we took to get to the highway might translate into an added minute of delay, and this would result in a shorter Thanksgiving tomorrow!
So we were all ready by the time they got back on stage and grooved with everyone to the first Dylan song on the tour, Knockin' On Heaven's Door. Great end to a great concert but as soon as they hit the first chord of the ending crescendo we were out of there.
We had to get a third of the way around the building on the concourse and didn't knock anyone over, though it was close. Ran down the stairs over on the Church Street side and then up to the car, which we jumped into and started like we were trying out for The Dukes Of Hazzard. There were still a few cars in front of us by the time we got to the bottom of the ramp, but we all paid up quick; I had my ticket and my Alexander Hamilton out and threw them at the happy attendant and took off up ... well, we weren't sure where we were but I guess it was Morgan Street because before we knew it we saw the sign for 84 to Boston straight ahead and that's the way we went. We were on the highway almost before Bobby stopped Namaste-ing, I figure. I hope they have a nice Thanksgiving!
There were a good number of cars out on the highway, but we made fine time back to Massachusetts, did a quick McDonalds stop because we were hungry, dropped Dave off in Quincy, and made it back in better time than I'd anticipated. Bed by 1:43!
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