Phil Once Again, Armonk part 2

Woke up in the Armonk La Quinta after a nice sleep.  Breakfast was open until 10 that morning and we sure didn't want to miss that (sarcasm intended)!  The place was pretty full, probably mostly with business-people who spent Friday on the job but left early to get back to Podunk (not Armonk).  A bunch of stragglers remained however: a mish-mosh of families on their way to somewhere, elderly folks on their way to somewhere else, and partiers like us who were just stopping in for a spell.

We all hit up the lobby for an American motel breakfast of hard-boiled eggs, make-your-own waffles, and catch as can pastries (good blueberry muffins actually).  We sat in the back room, thankfully far away from the blaring FoxTV station, along with a Mexican family and a couple of young black guys who bitched half-heartedly about ho's and then probably went back to their suburban homes.  Have you been to America?

OK, time to re-gather in the hotel room and it wasn't long before we were all ready to focus on the excursion we'd planned, to the Butler Sanctuary, just North of Armonk in Mt. Kisco (which is a town).  It's so rare to see them in the wild and we were psyched.

Jumped in the car and pulled into the Sanctuary parking lot not too long after that on another lovely Fall day, with a few dark clouds in a mixed overcast, a nippy-but-warm-feeling-inside Fall glow, hints of a languorous idyll hiding among the rocks, and the musty and moldy but bright smell of a full-lunged Autumn day in the woods.

The Butler Sanctuary is right off 684 and was noisy at the parking lot, but straight-away we climbed right up to the hawk observation platform, high above the highway, where we could see Long Island Sound in the distance to the South and a trio of predators circling to the East.  We amateur-observed a bit and talked to a couple of late-season official observers; we were far away from the highway and what it represented with just a short climb.  We then went downhill and uphill and downhill and uphill past a few dog-hikers and jeez, we loved the place.  The light and the mix of trees (ash, beech, oak, and maple, with a few pines and other sorts) were so refreshing and the rock outcroppings, the stone walls, and the roll of the land were just incredible.  This place is highly recommended. 

We didn't go for the longest walk around the perimeter trails that we had considered, for several reasons,  This place is a bit more challenging than you'd think because of the frequency of elevation changes ... you're rarely *not* going up or down.  And we weren't as equipped as we might have been for such a woodsy walk.  And anyway, we were well aware that in a few hours we'd be dancing all night, and that was really the point of this goddamn expedition, not trying to catch a glimpse of butlers whisking around silver tea sets!!

Got back to the parking lot after a really fun time, and then headed into Mt. Kisco itself to seek out the Mt. Kisco Diner we'd seen mentioned on signs.  Turned out it was in the middle of a charming North Westchester town and we got seats after a bit of a wait, and got some VERY large dishes: Chef's Salad, Portabella Grill, and Aruba Wrap.  Sarah and Dave got fancy drinks too.  We had a fine time there but had to leave the deep-fried green beans behind.  Maybe we'll go back there another time when we're looking for good, pricey, American food with a bit of high-calorie whimsy and a suburban ambiance.  They actually have a burger served between two grilled cheese sandwiches!?!

OK, back to the Armonk hotel, a bit of catching up with the internet, and then we were off once more to Port Chester to see Jay Blakesberg's show at Garcia's.  Jay, of course, is one of the pre-eminent photographic documentarians of the Grateful Dead and other rock artists.  We were running a bit late and the Church parking lot was not open to us hoi-polloi (turned out they were having a function that night), but we found a great spot on the street and soon settled into folding chairs at Garcia's (with adult beverages) in plenty of time for Jay's slides.

Garcia's is the Capitol Theater's side-bar, which is open at times that the Theater itself isn't and functions alongside the Theater, sometimes as an overflow for the crowds there.  They have their own functions too, and we'd seen that Blakesberg would be presenting a slide-show of his photographs there in the afternoon before the P&F show.  Jay walked around nervously in a paisley shirt, but seemed to figure all was ok eventually, and settled into his stool on their small stage.

This was another great time!  Jay's done some fantastic rock photography over a long career, and in his rambling, rapid show frames his iconic pictures in his own experiences, including some poignant seventies-teenager moments and some brushes with larger-than-life (they wish) characters like Tom Waits and Bill Murray.  About 50 of us were sitting in rows of folding chairs listening to this, and the crowd gradually filled in around the edges as the show went on.  Two surprising things were that GD crowds are generally 60-70% male, but the audience at this event was predominantly female.  Also, when Jay asked, "Who here was at Fare Thee Well?" well over 50% of the hands went up.  I guess we profiled ourselves there.

One fun thing was that Phil and Friends launched into their soundcheck in the middle of the slide presentation.  Jay said to the audience, "Want me to go ask Phil to turn it down a bit??"  I was so focused on the slides that I didn't pay a lot of attention to what they were playing, but one song you could not help but hear was Nicki Bluhm singing the Jefferson Airplane's Somebody To Love.  

Great time and got out of there just in at the right moment to escape the forming crowd and to walk up the few blocks to Kiosko, where we had another delicious, quiet and private meal.  Fed the meter (well, the parking ticket dispenser) on the way back, and then figured we might as well go in.  They sure searched me thoroughly this time (ok, no cavity inspection) and they made me discard a couple of un-documented tabs of ibuprofen that I had in my pocket.  The interior doors weren't open yet so we had plenty of time to kill and we hung out back in Garcia's, where Jay and his paisley shirt were still holding court,  Would have liked to talk with him, but he was busy entertaining paying customers.

Before we knew it, it was time for the Saturday show in the Capitol!

We had seats a few rows back and a few seats to the right of where we'd been on Friday.  The crowd was late-arriving and we had plenty of time to detour to the smoking area (where I met a guy from Scroon Lake), drink some beer, and watch the pre-show.  It soon became apparent that, not only were lots of people in costume, but lots of people were already very fucked up, and they got more fucked up as the night went along.  Didn't see any puking, but saw a few people fall down in ways that had to hurt, saw a few people who had no idea where they were, and got bumped into by a number of fellow concert-goers (I was on the aisle).

At one point someone danced or staggered too crazily and launched a beer all over the woman standing in the aisle next to me, getting my right side too.  But the worst was the people who were on their phones!  We were listening to a fucking concert, sitting in (or trying to stand at) $100 seats, and some idiots spent most of the show on their phones.  A woman near me actually tried to stream a video *with sound* while the music was going on.  She soon gave it up with a disgusted look.  A trio two rows in front of me leaned together and gabbed about some Facebook thread they were participating in, all the while waving their phones around and showering us all with the bright light.

And really just as bad was the fact that all this added up to us feeling cramped and uncomfortable in the theater we had had so many good times in.  OK, we could deal with that and a rock-n-roll concert is a rock-n-roll concert.  But we had to keep looking around us to see who would fall on us next, and this was not the loosey-goosey mellow good time we'd had Friday night.  The music was really just as good, but forgive me if I don't gush about the experience as much.

OK, complaining over!  Luther had moved next to Nicki in the middle of the stage and Scott took the spot between him and Jason.  They came out at about the same time they had the night before and the crowd roared.  They were as well rehearsed as any P&F band, and instantly launched into another excellent opener.  We were off!

Jack Straw
I'm a King Bee
High Time
Big Railroad Blues
Bird Song
Somebody To Love
Feel Like a Stranger

• Nicki was certainly feeling it that night.  She had a hippie gown on instead of the blue jeans look and proceeded to belt out the blues all night.  First up was a duet with Scott on Jack Straw, with Phil taking a verse too.  She wasn't really a convincing Shannon, but whatever.
• Time for more blues and Luther sang a gleeful King Bee, probably more faithful to the original Slim Harpo 50's version than to Pigpen.
• Barry got settled down at the pedal steel next and Phil was anxiously getting the band ready.  We watched for a second and agreed, they were about to attempt High Time, without Jerry!  They really did an excellent job on this, though there were a few missed cues.  Very good cover of a great early Dead song.
• Barry stayed on the pedal steel more for most of that first set, and he and Scott next led the guys through a fast, upbeat version of Big RR Blues.  Dave had commented about not being able to hear Jason at times on Friday, but on Saturday he was dominant on a lot of songs, rocking his organ lead here.
• This time they didn't stop ... they just kind of wound down from the country blues, Phil the bandleader made sure they had everything just perfect, and they gently rolled into the Bird Song of death.  This was a highlight of the weekend shows to our ears.  Nicki was as excellent as she was all night, and the song had exactly the right feel ... floating but in pain.
• OK, time for a rocker.  We'd heard Somebody To Love in soundcheck and when they lit into it, everyone on the stage was instantly having as much fun, or more, than anyone in the audience.  Nicki got the lungs going here and they crunched right through the Airplane classic.
• Then it was Scott's turn and he was Feeling Like a Stranger!  This is a showstopper for him and we were glad that Phil set him up to do it.  Very nice first set closer.

Well, the only thing to do was sit down and let the wasted people filter out a bit.  There was a guy passed out across the aisle from me, but that kept him quiet.  Started down to the smoking area with Dave after a bit, but from the top of the stairs I could see it was a mosh pit down at the bottom, and I bagged.  Got a beer successfully at the upstairs bar, even though I had another drunk guy hanging over my shoulder and yelling endearments at the bartendress while I tried to order.  Then back to the seats to mellow out for a bit.  I think the band realized that they had to keep things moving and they came out after one of the shortest set breaks ever.  Dave made it back just in time for...

Deal
Walking Blues
In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed
New Speedway Boogie
The Wheel
Terrapin Station
In the Midnight Hour

• You know, we've heard Deal before, including at three of the four Dead & Company shows we've been to.  But it's a great song and they did a nice arrangement of it, Nicki sliding along right through it.
• They didn't bring Bobby out for Walking Blues, but did a fine cover anyway, or maybe in spite of that.  Luther was feeling it here and led the guys on a long outro jam, into...
• Most people didn't recognize this right away, but I did with the first sliding notes.  Elizabeth Reed is one of the best songs ever in my mind and these guys didn't nail it like the ABB used to, but who could?  They did a very nice job though and the Cap crowd was delighted.  Some reviewers think this was the most unexpected song of the weekend, but I've always thought this would be right in Luther's wheelhouse and he and Scott really wrung some of the deepest soul out of it, wailing away on twin guitars while Phil and John and Jason thundered in the background.  This was one of the pinnacles of the weekend!
• They funked from that right into the groove of Speedway, and Nicki came back out and helped nail the vocals.  This maybe wasn't the most soulful Speedway, but was very well played by the whole band.  And I realized, this was the fifth of the eight songs on Workingman's that they played that weekend!  Can't argue with that.
• They wound down and Phil instantly started up the cadence of Wheel, another of the most excellently played songs of the weekend.  Dave observed that they did a lot of tracks from first Garcia too.  The crowd tried to get into this but was a little bit off key by that point.
• The musical surprise of the evening for me was Barry Sless.  I'd been wishing after the Friday show that he'd just stick to pedal steel, but he had his electric out and was fantastic on it.  As Dave said, he did all the little Garcia parts that help make GD songs so great, and this allowed Scott and Luther free rein to add their own personalities to the songs.  As with the best P&F combos, they showed potential as well as polish.
• Same juncture in the second set that I talked about last night, when they lit into Help.  Would they wind it down now after that Jerry ballad, or would they take it higher?  They took it to Terrapin Station, and this sure was a fine one.  The three guitars wound around and around that baroque theme and the old man nailed the vocals (with Nicki's and Scott's help), preaching to us about the spiral light of Venus until there was a tear in everyone's eye.  Good ol' Phil.
• Tight little Midnight Hour to close, though Luther kind of blew the lines.  Oh well, you can't play the blues if you get all the words right I guess.

Yeeha!  This had been such a great experience, but I had to admit to myself that it would be great to get out of that hot and wasted crowd.  Phil came out for his donor rap after a bit of a long break.  I hope this won't be the last one I hear live.  Then they lined up and I called it: Music, sung by Scott and Nicki.

In my mind, one of the things that makes The Music Never Stopped such a great song is the quasi-descant, the "Donna part."  Brent, John Mayer, and others have had their shot at it, but what this really needs is a rocking chick singer letting it all hang out.  And that's what Nicki did here, just belting out the "There's a band out on the highway" and the "Keep on dancing through to daylight" lines.  This was a marvelous end to a marvelous weekend!

We needed a little water and a little rest before struggling out of the theater, but the Cap has a nice flow to it, and the crowd soon thinned out enough for us to exit.  We'd had another great time there and though this night was a little difficult, we won't hesitate to show up again the next time Phil's there with an amazing band.  How lucky are we to have seen those concerts?

So no butler sightings, that would have made the weekend too perfect.  Got back up the street to the car, twisted around to the highway, and got back to Armonk pretty quickly for another good night's sleep after a long day of having fun.

Phil Once Again, Armonk part 1

Albert Einstein is quoted as saying, "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results."  We keep going down to New York to see Phil Lesh and Friends, and to date we've been delighted by very different results each time, all excellent!

Seems we're doing it more and more often, but it's such a fun trip.  We heard Phil was coming back to the Capitol Theater in Port Chester for another Halloween weekend with a group of Friends, and so we got tickets and got a reservation at the hotel on Armonk that's so convenient.

What really made this a must-do thing was that the Friends on Friday, October 28th, were Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams(!), AND Luther Dickinson, AND John Molo and Jason Crosby, AND Barry Sless on pedal steel, AND Nicki Bluhm!  The Friends group on Saturday was scheduled to be the same except Scott Metzger would be added instead of Larry and Teresa,  Phil's also playing on Monday, Halloween itself, with the former group above, but we'll be back in Massachusetts by then.

So we took Friday off from work, had a morning session with Marina from Seaver's and a couple of contractors, and then threw the beer, sandwiches, and tickets in the car and drove down to Quincy to pick up Dave.  Back up to the turnpike (about 9 hours in advance of the start of open road tolling and the demo of the toll booths that have been there since Christ was a child) and headed West and then Southwest, starting with rain and finally sunny skies on a beautiful mid-Fall day, into and at last through the middle of Connecticut, driving with massive amounts of traffic the whole way, but moving quickly.

Got to the La Quinta in Armonk finally ... it really was pretty quick ... you can sneak up on Port Chester this way.  Checked into a nice first-floor room, and got psyched for the concert.  Got saddled up around 5:30 and fought more bad traffic down to a crowded Port Chester.

Our favorite parking lot is under different ownership and was not open, so we turned around and headed down the hill to the Church parking lot, which was the same price and just as close.  Up to Kiosko for another Mexican meal that couldn't be beat, though the waitress (not our normal one) almost forgot our drinks.  Same old routine ... checked out Shakedown Corner after that, which was packed with people but not much merchandise, and then into the theater at last.

Are we crazy to eat at the same place after driving all the way down there, and to retrace the same footprints?  Some would say yes, but we all say no.  This is the routine that we've lucked into (Kiosko is so excellent!) and that we follow.  Our favored parking lot folded and we had to change ... which was fine ... and we're going to sour eventually on Kiosko and/or it will go out of business.  But at that point we'll be glad to let fate push us in another direction, to another restaurant or to a different routine.  We don't need to struggle with fate.

We'd seen the poster for this show online, a proud-to-be-Headless Horseman outlined against a Nightfall of Diamonds, and Dave had to have that.  And they had the same motif on t-shirts!  Sarah and I both opted for that.  Up the lovely stairs, grab a beer, and then to our seats, which were dead center in the third row of the balcony.  We love the Capitol!

The had their loop of The Skeleton Dance playing in one pair of alcoves, and a new loop of the silent film Nosferatu in the center alcoves ... and lots of swirling lights and trippy patterns of course.  Hit the smoking area right before 8, and weren't too disappointed when they didn't come on until 8:25 or so.  Sitting in the balcony and enjoying the pre-show can be groovy.

The lineup was Jason far left, then Luther, then Larry ... the two stacks of guitar amps very close to each other, then Teresa, John behind her, Nicki to her left, then Phil with his control center of stuff (though curiously fewer speakers than we'd ever seen him with), then Barry to the far right.  Both Larry and Barry had other instruments they could pick up; Larry played his cittern a bit, played his mandolin a bit too, and also played a wonderful fiddle (it looked so small to us?!?).  And Barry ended up playing his electric guitar most of the night instead of the pedal steel he started on.  Teresa also picked up her acoustic for one song.

But, to leave the narrative for a bit, this was mainly about all of the band excelling on their main instruments, not about versatility or varied instrumentation (though those were featured of course).  It was delightful to see that Luther was having SUCH a good time playing with Larry Campbell ... who could not enjoy playing with Larry Campbell?  Time after time the two of them, right next to each other, faced off and let it rip and just *dominated* the song.  Or should I say, they tried to ... but just across the stage was the firm of Lesh and Molo and they weren't taking a back seat to anyone.  As before when we've seen Phil & Friends, Mr. Lesh was leading the band and was easily and gracefully playing better then anyone else on stage.

And as before, though I was so drawn in by the other excellent musicians, I kept forcing myself to turn back to Phil and listen to what he was laying down, which remains the most incredible music I've ever heard ... 45 or so years after I first heard it.  Maybe it's feeling myself get older this Fall, but I could see exactly how old Phil was, and ways in which he seemed older than he was even last March.  He was just a hair more stooped and a hair more of an aged, dignified, scarecrow inside his blue jeans and long-sleeved shirt.  An incredible man who plays with the old forces, but a skinny guy getting smaller.  How long will he keep on doing this?  I was very glad we were back at the Cap, back watching and listening to Phil.

So what did they play?  Well it was a great first set ... here's the list and some notes:

Till the Morning Comes
Peggy-O
Uncle John's Band
Cumberland Blues
Rollin' and Tumblin'
River Deep, Mountain High
Sugaree

• Fantastic opener, showing some of their best cards right from the start.  Larry and Teresa sang this so sweetly and Barry Sless picked a perfect pedal steel.  Perhaps "You're my woman now, make yourself easy" is anachronistic wording, but people with their minds open get the point; this is about the kind of mutual support we all need.
• Another fantastic Peggy-O from Phil and L&T (Larry on cittern).  Phil was so eager he sang the "I would marry you" verse and in the middle of it chuckled at himself ... he'd stolen Teresa's part!  She tried not to give him mean looks.
• So these guys just hit us with the good stuff right off the bat.  Larry got out his mandolin, Nicki took a couple of verses, and they played another sparkling UJB and then let Larry and Luther just jam the fuck out of it.  We were up in center balcony, dancing our asses off.
• And they jammed and jammed and all of a sudden were playing Cumberland!  Barry had switched to electric guitar somewhere in there and the leads and overlays and rhythmic chording flowed back and forth between Barry, Luther, Larry, and or course Jason, who was tinkling the (electric) piano so daintily I can't believe it wasn't a melted mess.
• Luther's turn next and he got after it with no hesitation.  He pulled out the tin-can-and-strings guitar we'd seen him play at GRF and proceeded to howl the Muddy Water blues, and I mean howl.  He sang a few verses into the tin can and brought us all closer to the center of an echoing blues vortex.  Larry had the little violin out for this and tried to match Luther's funkiness. 
• And then they stopped for a short rest, Phil nodded at the players who would start the next song, Teresa turned to the mike, and she, Larry, and Phil hit it: "When I was a little girl I had a rag doll...."  We'd seen them do this before in the middle of Dark Star(!), but this time it was a stand-alone and the guys dragged it out and out.  She sang the "like a flower loves the Spring" bridge twice after long jams, and she could have done it several times more to my ear.
• Dave observed that this night (and the next) were a bit unusual for P&F sets in that they featured many separate songs more than free-flowing jams.  Perhaps that was because they had so many people on stage and wanted to be sure the individual talents were not swept away.  Another observation was that Phil likes a lot of guitars on stage.  Some of these songs would definitely have been more vivid if they'd just had Luther/Larry with Barry on steel, or Luther/Barry with Larry on fiddle/mando, or whatever.  Sometimes the tumultuous river of guitar sounds was excellent, as in Crossroads (see below) or Sugaree, and sometimes it was a bit over the top.
• Did someone say Sugaree?  Nicki stepped up for this and did a great duet with Luther, but Holy Fuck, this became an amazing guitar showcase.  Sugaree has been played over and over, but rarely with this degree of rhythm, soul, and searing guitar blues.

OMG, maybe going on too much again.  As with every other time we've made the effort to go see Phil, the first set was phenomenal.  Perhaps the rest of the weekend after this would now be judged/remembered at a higher level and with more discernment than the first set had been, after our tribulations getting to the Capitol Theater at that exact point in time?  But maybe now I'd be able to appreciate it better, having gotten back up to that plateau that Phil had brought me to before.  Whatever, I say again.

The Capitol that night was delightful, especially since there were a couple of empty seats around us and we had more room to relax and dance.  I'd checked the day before and some seats were still available, which had not been the story at other P&F shows we'd been at.  Maybe people are distracted by the election.

But anyway, had another fine half-time at the Cap, checking out the smoking area, getting replenished with local beer, and peeing in the stinky old bathrooms.  The film loops were going strong, the GD scene was happening all around us, and then the guys came back on after an average-length break.  Here's the second set:

Casey Jones
Midnight Highway
Cross Road Blues
Unbroken Chain
Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning
Help On the Way
Slipknot!
Franklin's Tower

• Casey Jones is a great song, though at times it has become an embarrassing and rote druggy sing-along.  And it was an awesome second-set opener, with Nicki giving it her laid-back hippie blues treatment and Larry playing some great guitar.  This needs a strong lead, and Larry did it like you wouldn't believe.
• Midnight Highway is another song Larry and Teresa kill (Larry wrote it with Julie Miller) ... this was *the* earworm from the show when I reminisce.
• In my mind, the next song was Crossroads, because Clapton's version (and spelling) is basic to my appreciation of this kind of art.  But this was something different, and was long, encyclopedic, lyrical, etc.  Luther and Nicki again paired off for the blues and perhaps didn't get to the furthest reaches of the song, but they, and the whole band, took us pretty far.
• And then one of the quintessential Phil Lesh songs.  Don't know what to say about Unbroken that I haven't said before.  There's such an incredible layer of rich bass sounds in this song, room for virtuoso drumming, melody lines to bite on, and a beautiful vocal line, which Phil falls right into.
• And then Teresa came back out for Trimmed and Burning!  I've gushed before about her talent at shouting out this song, and this was as excellent a rendition as I've heard her do.  We were gobstruck at getting River Deep and Lamps on the same night!
• Well jeez, it was getting a little late.  At other GD concerts we've been to, this point of the second set has then led to some varied results, mostly excellent.  We were just beginning to think that and then they struck those chords...
• Help On the Way, sung by Nicki.  Nicki's a tall woman with long dark-brown hair and was wearing tight blue jeans and a big Stetson that night.  She sang those great words ("Cause I love what I love and I want it that way") with a little shuffle.
• Fantastic Slipknot!, with lots of jamming, and then a short and sweet Franklin's.

Yay!!!  We were in the middle of the balcony at the Capitol but standing on the top of a mountain in our own way, or in our own minds.  We'd just seen and heard some incredible stuff and were still in that bubble.  As I've said before, I hope that bubble will always surround me when I need to call it up ("Phil Power, now!!!").

We were hoarse and tired but made as much sound as we could and soon Phil came back out and did a perfunctory Donor Rap.  Then the guys came back out, Nicki stepped up to the mike, and Phil started into the groove.  They did Turn On Your Lovelight for an encore!  This was one of the most unexpected GD encores ever.  Maybe Nicki didn't get as graphic as Pig at his peak, but maybe that's a blessing.

Anyway, we loved it and the whole Capitol was swaying and shouting and moving in time.  A wonderful end to a wonderful night!

OMG, time to sit down and take a few moments before getting out of there.  Back down the lovely stairs after a few minutes rest, and then followed the crowd out onto the street.  Not too far to the car, and then not too far back up North to Armonk, where our nicely-sized, quiet room was waiting for us.  One more beer, checked internet stuff, and then we all fell into a sound sleep.

Pictures from Sarah here!

An Evening With Eilen

We've seen Eilen Jewell a million times, but couldn't resist seeing her again at Sinclair in Cambridge on Saturday, 10/15.  We bought a parking space in a garage a few blocks away, with the tickets, and that was a good deal, though the garage had no pedestrian exits or entrances.

While I'm complaining, let me get it over with about Sinclair.  It's too precious to be a real rock club and too open to be a real folk club.  They had their seats set up for Eilen, which means you have to look was up to see the stage and get a crick in the neck, and the seats are those kind of cheap things that make you feel like they're going to collapse the whole time, or that you're going to fall out the back.  But their sound system is good and the beer was cold.

No opening act, Eilen and band came on not at all late at 7:00.  This had been billed as "An Evening With Eilen Jewell" and I wondered if that meant that she'd be solo or with alternating players.  But no, she had her usual 4-piece band: her, husband Jason Beek of course, and Jerry Miller, who's a phenom, as well as Shawn Supra on bass.

We had a great time and I loved her setlist, though I had criticisms.  The last few times I've seen her I was very impressed with her guitar work and this was no exception.  Her voice was great at Sinclair as well, milking that plain-spun honey in an authentic country style, while her band plays cracker-jack rock and roll behind her.  And her songs are so excellent.  She did some of her best, like Sea of Tears, High Shelf Booze, Rain Roll In, and Rio Grande.

Criticisms were that as great as Jerry is, he seemed a little tired of playing this music.  Some of his leads were really good, but on others he was trying way too hard to do something different and ended up leaving us scratching our heads.  Shawn just isn't as dynamic and down-and-dirty as Eilen's long-time bassist Johnny Sciascia was, and it was hard not to miss him.  And Eilen did no new, self-penned songs.

She covered a wide range of tunes from throughout her career, including four from her first record and one from her Loretta Lynn record (Deep As Your Pocket), and three from her latest record.  She also did three from her current project, covers of 30s blues songs such as Memphis Minnie's Nothing In Rambling and a Big Maybelle (Don't Leave Poor Me) and an Otis Rush song (You Know My Love).  They ripped through these songs fast, with no nonsense: verses, Jerry lead, and then one last chorus and done.

She also did a cover of Johnny Cash's Train Of Love that I'll remember for a long time, "Every so often everybody's baby gets the urge to roam" ... perfect for her style.  And she did her cover of Anderson's Dusty Boxcar Wall.  But I would have loved to hear new, Eilen Jewell stuff, and I felt a little disappointed about hearing none.

I was also a little disappointed to not hear her solo for once.  Every time I've seen her she's done the 4-piece thing, and I wouldn't mind hearing her tackle some of her excellent stuff without a safety net.

It wasn't a very long show, one pretty hefty set.  And then she came out quickly to cover Songbird from her latest record, which is a tribute to her daughter, Mavis ("Mavis" is an old English name for "song thrush"), who was bopping around the club and distracting her Mom.  There's a very cute picture of Mavis playing her Dad's drums on Eilen's FB page.

I complain, but we had a great time and loved seeing her again.  Come back soon Eilen!  She talked several times about how much she missed Boston, Cambridge, and Somerville, and how she had thrilled to Big Papi's last season.  It was a family reunion and though one may complain about one's relatives, there's still a great amount of love and appreciation there.

Chip and Carrie Reunion Tour

Early rock hit-maker Chip Taylor (Wild Thing, Angel Of the Morning) and Carrie Rodriguez (often mentioned in this blog) were a band back 10-15 years ago and their four records (plus two halves) were fantastic.  About 40 years apart in age, they’d met at a folk festival and Chip instantly realized this was magic.  She played fiddle but then he convinced her to sing and it’s all history from there.

I’d heard back in January or so that they’d be touring this year and hadn’t seen any announcement of a tour until I stumbled across it a few weeks ago.  The closest they were coming was the Iron Horse in Northampton and there was no question but that we were going.  We booked a room for the night at the Quality Inn in Hadley where we’d stayed once in 2014; and as the date got closer we were excited but knew this was going to be a mid-week hassle.  Oh well, nothing ventured nothing gained.

Got out to Northampton pretty quickly after picking up Sarah at the West Concord train on Thursday, August 25th.  But it was already 6:00 or so by the time we took a small wrong turn walking on a beautiful summer day in crowded downtown Northampton.  And the Iron Horse was packed when we finally got there for the 7:00 show!  It was set up with all tables and the best we could get was way up in the loft, in the back, but kind of centered on the stage.

This was my first time at the Iron Horse and I found a lot of things wrong with it.  It was small and cramped and dirty-funky.  We were shoved up under the ceiling (we could touch the tin panels) way in the back and the sound was nowhere near “good” back there.  The waitresses were working hard and the food was ok; the beer was cold (Switchback Ale) and food and stuff came on time, and then the band came on and they brought the magic.

Chip played acoustic guitar and harmonica or course, and Carrie stuck to her fiddle and her cowboy boot, which was as good as the shit-kicking heels we’ve seen her use for a percussion instrument lately.  They were accompanied by John Platania on electric guitar.  Here’s the setlist:

Set 1:

• Keep Your Hat On Jenny
• Let’s Leave This Town
• All the Rain
• Your Name Is On My Lips
• Oh Set a Light
• Do Your Part
• Red Dog Tracks
• Elzick’s Farewell
• Angel Of the Morning

Set 2:

• Sweet Tequila Blues
• Dirty Little Texas Story
• Memphis, Texas
• Don’t Speak In English
• Big Moon Shinin’
• Wild Thing
• We Come Up Shining

These were both very short sets, and the break between them was a little longer than you’d want, though that meant we had time to wait forever in the hot and cramped basement for a turn at the bathroom.

But no more complaints.  This was so worth it!  You’d have to call what they play a little bit of rock, a little bit of folk, a little bit of Texas music, and a lot of … well, magic.  They take their time, they listen to each other, they respond to each other instrumentally like they’re a hive mind of two (or two and a half, Platania was almost there at times).  And they sing together like you can’t believe.

They’d done five shows before this one on the tour, and have been singing off and on for the past 10 years since they released Red Dog Tracks and then split up for their own careers.  But they sounded like they’d been working on these harmonies for years.  Their voices are each wonderful on their own, and they fit together like lovers on a porch swing.  But that analogy doesn't describe the range of what they can do together, from whispers to shouting.  You have to hear these two.

It was futile to stand up and whoop as far back under the ceiling as I was, and there was plenty of that coming from elsewhere in that cramped room.  They ended too soon with their rote cover of Wild Thing, a song Chip *has* to play every time he appears anywhere.  We clapped and clapped while they stood there, then gave us one more drop of the magic with We Come Up Shining.

It was only 9:00 when we got out of there!  If we’d known it was going to be such a short concert we would have planned to head back to Woburn afterwards.  But the Quality Inn was there and we were glad to be able to have a relaxed time for reading and getting ready for bed before our early start the next day.  Actually got Sarah back for the 8:07 train from West Concord!

Fighting the Tide in Ipswich

You've gotta time the tide right if you're going to kayak in Plum Island Sound, and I pretty much did yesterday.  I put in at the Ipswich Town Landing, which was already almost full of cars (one was stuck on the launch ramp) by 11:00.  Had an excellent trip out the river, though some of the roaring motorboats had no clue about staying in the channel.  [Overheard from one boat, "It gets shallow on the edges here."  "Then stay in the middle."  Did they ever wonder what those red and black buoys were for?]

By the time I got to the mouth of the river though, I had to really fight the tide to get out into the bay.  The shore South of the river was filled with beach-goers, many of whom had arrived there by boat.  It was a glorious day to be at the beach or on the water and the whole area was a mess of boats and chop, particularly with the current stirring up the water.

And it *was* water!  The drought we've been living through lately has been depressing and I've hesitated to go kayaking on the rivers, since they're so low.  My heart rises when I see full bodies of water, or high tide.  It was wonderful to be out on the ocean and to be reminded that water is neither created nor destroyed, to see the blue goodness flooding the salt marsh.

After struggling out past Castle Hill I turned around and let the tide rip me back to the North, and then, assisted with a few strokes of the paddle, back into the maw of the river.  Made it back to the landing with the tide a little bit before full flood.  Put up quickly and not only were there cars waiting to take my parking place, people with trailers had parked all over the road around there by that point, some in people's yards.  Full day at the shore!

Ol' Brown Shoe Early Show

Late afternoon decision to brave the drive to Salem on a Friday night and go hear Ol' Brown Shoe at the Black Lobster.  They were playing the early show (7-10:30) before the reggae band upstairs. and the late evening August weather on the waterfront in Salem was delightful, as well as the music of course.

Drummer Kevin has split for Colorado, and so old drummer Jack Howard filled in, which was quite a treat.  Tim continues to get more and more comfortable with the band, and of course Larry was great!

Stuck around for both sets and some nice conversations with other fans and with the band.  Lots of fun again!  Here's the set list ... note that the second set was cut short to make way for the upstairs band:

I: Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard, Sample in a Jar, Ramble On Rose, I Shot the Sheriff, Samson and Delilah, That's What Love Will Make You Do, Let It Grow > Dancing In the Street, Ramblin' Man > Bertha

II: In the Midnight Hour, Loose Lucy, The Other One, The Weight*, Feelin' Alright, Birds Of a Feather, Sugar Magnolia.

* - Allegra Larson on Vocals

A couple of notes were that I mentioned Me and Julio to JeffL before the set, and he was nice enough to have the band open with it.  Tim did the vocal on Dancing and sang "They're dancing in Beverly" before realizing that we were not in Beverly ... so he corrected with "They're dancing on the bridge."  Note that the patio at the Black Lobster looks up to the superstructure of the bridge between Beverly (where they often play) and Salem, so this was a good catch.

GGW at BMH One More Time

It’s weird for a Grateful Dead fan to say he gets tired of the same old songs :) … I don’t, but it’s so fun to hear twists on them.  As mentioned before in this blog, it’s great to hear good ol’ GD songs given a facelift by younger musicians like Elana James (Ripple), Dave Alvin (Loser), the entire Songs Of Their Own series, etc.  And leading the charge are JRAD and Golden Gate Wingmen.  So we were very excited to get the chance to go see GGW again at the Brighton Music Hall on Saturday, August 13th.

Brighton was just on the cusp on the annual student invasion, but we were able to grab a fortunate parking space (no ticket this time) on a hot and humid summer day and had a pretty good dinner and some excellent beers in a frosty Sunset Grill.  Then a few doors down to the BMH where this time, even 30 minutes before the doors opened, we were 30th or so in what was rapidly becoming a long line.  Guess the word has gotten out about them!

We wanted to situate ourselves where we could see Jeff Chimenti’s fingering well, but a quick hop around the stage showed no great place, so we settled for second row, behind a couple from Fairfield CT who were on a brief GGW tour (Pawtucket the next night) right in front of the stage.

Had a beer and got a t-shirt and then Sarah came running in with the news that John and Jeff were joining the crowd for a break in the smoking area.  You can believe Dave was out there in a flash and was able to share a few mellow moments with John and Jeff out back.

Then he came back, the guys came on a little late, and they proceeded to rip up the place, which was packed by that point.  There's an excellent recording of it on IA.  Here’s the first set:

• Nobody Told Me
• Brown-Eyed Woman
• Seen Love
• Just Like a Woman
• Lazy River Road
• The Business
• Loser
• Feel Like Dynamite

We’d seen the first three songs done by the JK Band at BMH a few months before this (in a different order), but were not really upset by the duplication … John can play BEW every time I see him as far as I’m concerned.  Reed Mathis was obviously a bit high, and though this meant he drifted at times, he was playing and singing with the fierce abandon that’s so captivating about his performances.  Jay Lane was perhaps the player of the day, perhaps the best performance of his I’d seen, and I’d seen some good ones.  So the whole experience was excellent!

Of particular note in that first set were a fantastic vocal by Reed on Just Like a Woman … he’s born to sing Dylan songs; a beautiful, slow, meander through summer down the Lazy River Road; and a crunchy, threatening, desperate, psychedelic cover of one of Garcia’s best songs, Loser.  And then we all grooved into the set break, feeling like dynamite, rocking to Jeff’s milking the organ like Saunders used to do.

We suddenly realized we were standing in a puddle of beer, and when the crowd dispersed a little we saw that the whole Brighton Music Hall was a mess of drunk and high people and their detritus.  Saturday night had come quickly.  Not too long a set break … though it was after 11 by the time they came back on.  Oh well, time for the second set:

• She Belongs to Me
• Golden Wings
• Dark Star >
• Join Together >
• Dark Star >
• Estimated Prophet >
• Eyes of the World >
• Touch of Grey

More excellence, starting with another fantastic Dylan song, sung as a duet by Reed and John.  At Christmas buy her a big bass drum!  We were delighted to get an off-the-reservation Dark Star done as differently as you might hope by this fine group of musicians … this was not just a cover.  And to jump into the Who’s Join Together in the middle of it showed their imagination.

But the best moments of the evening were yet to come in the perhaps formulaic combination of Estimated and Eyes.  The two were killed by Reed on wild-eyed prophet and John on blissed-out hippie, and featured amazing combination keyboard work by Jeff and Todd Stoops, a guest from the JK Band.  As mentioned, Touch, the set closer, is a song that doesn’t allow you to stray too far from normalcy, but they tried!

Short break, and then they came back out to encore with Liberty, another best of the best songs.  Lots of fun on a late summer Saturday night.  Home quickly up Everett Street to route 16, and you can bet I was glad to wash the spilled beer off my legs and feet when I got home.  In bed around 2.

Hot Tuna Leftover Salmon and Other Fish

Went to the Wilbur on a Sunday night (8/7) to see Leftover Salmon and electric Hot Tuna.  Barry wasn't with Hot Tuna, but Justin Guip was on drums.  They were awesome!

2016-08-07
Wilbur Theatre, Boston, MA

Serpent Of Dreams
Ode For Billy Dean
I Can't Be Satified
Sea Child
Sleep Song
Bowlegged Woman, Knock Kneed Man
Come Back Baby
99 Year Blues
Good Shepherd
Bar Room Crystal Ball
Water Song
Funky #7

Encore:
Hit Single #1

Leftover Salmon set included:
Demon In Disguise *

Lineup:
Jorma Kaukonen - guitar, vox
Jack Casady - bass
Justin Guip - drums

*w/ Jorma & Justin sitting in

Supporting act(s):
Leftover Salmon

Larry and Teresa Steam Up Bull Run

It's been a great season for concerts, including Bob Weir guesting at Sir Paul's Fenway concert last weekend.  A review I read talks about the blessings bestowed on us this summer by certified rock royalty, such as Sir Paul.  Be that as it may ... and I can't imagine why I'd ever bad-mouth Paul McCartney ... one of the great things about great music is that it's ecumenical, democratic, expressive of the human spirit.  It isn't only dispensed by royalty.  And we were very glad after a foray into arena rock to get back to seeing the best artists of our generation in small venues.

Which brings me to seeing Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams at the Bull Run.  How could such an incredible act not be adored by the millions?  The Sawtelle Room at the Bull Run was two thirds full of  enthusiasts, but come on!  Oh well, one of the charming things about seeing an act like Larry and Teresa at a club in Shirley MA is that there's absolutely no pressure.  We all showed up on a Friday night and had a great time.

Picked up Sarah and Dave at West Concord and drove out there on a steamer of a mid-summer, New England night.  Ordered some great food and beer, talked with our table-mates, some of whom we'd met before at great Bull Run concerts (this was our 35th at the Bull Run by my count), and mellowed out in the air conditioning.  We stepped outside for a bit and Justin Guip was blabbing on his cell phone, Jesse Murphy (guest bassist) was doing some homework, listening to his ear buds on the bridge, and Larry in his black get-up was in his car texting and presumably roasting.  I went inside and headed to the bathroom, but Teresa jumped in front of me on her way to the lady's ... I almost followed her in.

They came on a bit late, as most acts do, though the room was more than primed for them.  No late arrivals here, we were all ready for the night.  They opened with a few numbers off their record (strange that they'd release a record last year and only tour for it now?!?) and ended up doing most of the numbers we'd expect from them in a short set, with a double encore.  For some reason, the sound wasn't great for the first few numbers, but then they got it straightened out with a bit of advice from the band.

As a listener pointed out, "Larry, the room's full of Deadheads heah!" A guy at our table recognized Dave's t-shirt from when Larry and Teresa played with Phil & Friends a few years ago.  The biggest whoops of the night were reserved for the "Dead" songs: Samson and Delilah (If I Had My Way), Deep Ellum Blues, Big River (an absolutely crackling version), and an encore of a song actually written by the Dead, their incredible a capella cover of Attics Of My Life.

But there was more for the Deadhead and music fan to go nuts over, such as Teresa belting out Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning, a tidy and precious rendition of Julie Miller's Midnight Highway (both of which we'd seen them do with Phil), and their top-of-the-heap (and it's a big heap) cover of the Louvin's You're Running Wild.  This was great stuff and the thing that had me riveted was watching Larry pick the country blues on his acoustic and his Telecaster while Guip and Teresa hammered and wailed behind him.  Again, how come the place was not full to see this stuff??

For me, the song of the night was Larry's If You Loved Me At All.  He's written some of the best stuff ever, and this was done perfectly.  Teresa has that twang (Larry: "I married Elly May Clampett, without the oil wells"), and Larry has that perfect, American, honest, gritty quality to his singing and playing.  He did a solo bit, where he picked out the tricky melody of Blind Mary from 18th century Irish harpist Turlough O'Carolan on his small acoustic, and then Duke Ellington's Caravan.

Another shorter than anticipated night at the Bull Run ... we'd all made it there on a Friday and were ready to go all night.  But the band wasn't; an act at this rank on the pecking order has to do a lot of traveling.  Larry and Teresa absorbed the accolades and tried to deal with the many requests (I shouted out for When I Go Away and the two looked at me like, "Thanks for the request but we're not ready to do that tonight," so I shouted out for Mountains Of the Moon, which made Teresa laugh (an obscure Dead song we'd seen them do with Phil)).

After the encore of Attics and Deep Ellum they signed for the crowds but we escaped into the steamy night and had a relatively quick ride back to Quincy and then to Woburn, making it home in time to go to bed by midnight.

Pictures here!

Dead At Fenway Park! Saturday

Yowza, time to truck into the city again and see Dead & Company at Fenway Park (7/16).  What a way to wake up!  We’d spent the morning downloading pictures and blogging and stuff, and had already downloaded and heard most of the show from Friday night by the time we had to leave.  The Friday show was great, perhaps the best of the tour so far, and the “second day” question was hanging over us … would the show tonight be as good?  You never know with the Dead.

Sarah and I parked in her building after a pretty quick trip in, and then had a slow, mellow walk through the Common, the Garden, and up the Commonwealth Mall, past the succession of iconic Boston sculptures to Hereford, than over to Boylston and up and across the Fens, including crossing the Muddy River.  It didn’t look black on that sunny afternoon, but had been in last night’s encore!

We waited in line at Yard House to show IDs and get wristbanded (the door on Van Ness was not open, you had to go through the front) and the place was already chock-full at 3:30!  They soon stopped letting people in because of fire codes, though Dave and friend Parker made it after taking the T from Quincy.  We had a leisurely late lunch and a few beers, conjectured about what we were about to see, and then headed over to the intersection of Yawkey Way (whilom Jersey Street) and Van Ness to meet friends.  We’d agreed to meet there at 5:30 and I was a few minutes late, but I then proceeded to stand in the middle of the intersection for about 20 minutes and no sight of them (though Scott and Michelle showed up)!  Oh well, not surprising that we had a hard time meeting up in a crowd like that.

And what a crowd it was.  By the end of the night, Fenway was packed as far as I could tell … don’t know if it was an official sellout [just saw on the Red Sox Facebook page that it was a sellout, except they apparently didn't sell the section under the press box?!?].  And this included all of the turf except for the stage and the grass part of the infield being covered with seats.  I’d guess that at least 40,000 people were there, possibly way more.  But back to the corner of Yawkey and Van Ness … after waiting for a while (and getting a t-shirt) we decided we’d better start in right away, knowing it might take a while.

Almost had to push our way down Van Ness to get to Gate B, but then entered and knew where to go.  It was just as much of a rush as it had been the day before to actually walk onto the field at Fenway.  Sarah and I took the time to tour around the field and she snapped pictures of me in front of the seat I was in when Dewey Evans caught a fly ball in my lap, and then posing at my shortstop position in front of the infield grass that was so perfect it had to be a painting.  Then made it to our seats in section B7, a few rows back and a few seats farther left than Friday, but essentially in the same spot.

BobR was sitting in front of us, totally unexpected!  We picked out W&L in their seats behind us and they eventually saw us too and waved.  At the break, Sarah found our friends F&P and B, though A was over sitting with their son behind the visitor’s dugout.  Again, Fenway Park was packed with friends … and then the band came on.

John was wearing a white t-shirt … guess his flirtation with picnic cloths was over.  The others were pretty much the same, though Bob’s hair was perhaps even more disheveled than it was Friday.  Hadn’t seen his stool before on the tour, but it was there last night.  He acted a bit tired at the end too, they are probably very glad to have a few days off and be returning to their native time zone.

They launched right into the Jam that we all know leads to Truckin’ and we were off on another beautiful Fenway evening, with the sky showing some blue but getting more overcast as the evening went on, though thankfully rain and thunderstorms held off once more.

Here’s the first set and some notes:

• Jam into Truckin' – Kind of fun to look around and see half of the people get what song they were playing right away, and then hear the other half of the crowd roar only when they lit into, “Truckin’, got my chips cashed in….”  And this was a titanic Truckin’ with an outro that could have turned into anything.
• But what it turned into was Big River, Bobby leading the way.  Maybe it was the humidity or the Park being so full, but the sound wasn’t quite as good Saturday night.  John tried to take off on this, but the song never really fell into place, though Jeff did his best on organ.
• I was hoping we’d get a brace (at least) of cowboy songs, but they came to a full stop, and then John started picking They Love Each Other.  Donna came out and the crowd went nuts, could be that some of them were unaware of her presence on this tour.  The harmony singing and particularly her singing on the “Lord you can see…” choruses was excellent.  John definitely achieved takeoff on this song!
• Deal – This was the third time (in 4 concerts) we’d seen these guys do Deal and so it was a little disappointing to get such a repeat, though this was done very well.  This really is one of the best little pieces of music that Garcia ever wrote, and the song contains boatloads of lyrical possibilities (see Hartford post) that John and Jeff love exploring.  Go to it guys!
• I called the next song in the middle of Deal; for some reason I was sure they’d do Bird Song next and by gum they did.  Don’t know what made me think that.  This wasn’t the best Bird Song in terms of diving full-tilt into the dark take on life that this song implies, but again the vocals were very good, and there were plenty of stretches of instrumental brilliance.  The Dragon of ensemble Dead playing almost emerged here and the song was riveting.  But in all, another case of a bit more practice with Donna and they might get there with this one.
• Passenger and Goin' Down the Road Feeling Bad – I have to admit I was off to the bathroom and the beer line as soon as Bird Song ended and it’s a good thing I made that strategic decision.  The tunnels were packed with people, even during the set!  There was a line for the bathroom and I had to wait for at least 10 minutes for beer.  Caught a bit of these tunes snaking down into the depths of Fenway (I was very bummed I missed Passenger), but the crowds pouring into the tunnels as GDTRFB ended and I was trying to exit were scary!  I was very glad to push my way back into the open air and have some time to sit in our suddenly un-crowded area after that.  Sent shivers down my back to imagine trying to navigate them during the set break.

Caught up and yucked it up with BobR and friends after a bit of rest, and then we bulled our way up into the field boxes to visit our friends there for a bit.  They could see the stage without standing on tip-toe since they were elevated a bit, but were jammed into those small Fenway seats that are kind of a nightmare themselves.

Back to our seats and the crowd was now pouring out of the tunnels, it was really kind of frightening how jammed with people it was, though we were ostensibly in the open expanse of left field at Fenway Park!?!  The guys came back out after an average-length break and we were off again, for the final time on this stand in Boston.

We’d been hoping and hoping that Donna was going to be at Fenway and that they’d play PITB.  It happened!  Here’s the second set:

• Playing In the Band - Dave called it from the first few random notes from Bobby.  We were so ready for this!  Need I say that this is one of the most essential songs of Western Civilization (and I mean West of Alpha Centauri)?  John got out the old wah-wah filter for this and at times it seemed there were four guitars playing ... might have been some looping going on,  Bobby may have played this song a few times before.
• We were waiting for them to come back into the chorus after the jam and for Donna to scream and rip the foundations of our world.  But before you knew it they were starting up with ...
• Estimated Prophet - My Dog, I've heard this song so many times I couldn't believe at first that they were playing it again and I also can't believe that it hasn't been played out yet.  But it hasn't been by a long shot.  Perhaps here Bobby first showed signs of being tired, and he didn't elevate this vocally like he can (on one chorus he sang, "Don't worry about me now, I ain't getting old").  But the firm of Mayer-Burbridge-Chimenti did the deep dive into this song and the team of Kreutzmann-Hart was right there with them.  This was excellent stuff and again featured great harmonies between Oteil and John.  Really, this may have been the song of the night ... just ridiculously good stuff.
• Then those guys were done being fantastic ... for the moment ... and so Bobby started up He's Gone, singing the "Rat in a drain ditch" verse in his best 2010's, raspy style, and then John and Oteil and Donna and Jeff coming in on the chorus.  This is one of those songs that means a lot to everyone who's paying attention, "Nothing left to do but smile, smile, smile."
• Wait, why would they do Sugaree now when they had their mojo working and could go into like, TOO (just a suggestion)?  Maybe because it's another of the most excellent things Garcia ever wrote and was done as well as Deal, wonderful!  Played a lot and a bit of a sing-song for the masses here, but good.  Again, maybe another sign of being a bit tired.
• And then another incongruous thing, Bobby and Oteil were suddenly right in the middle of Fire on the Mountain.  Odd place in the setlist for this, but maybe they were playing songs they knew they could kill.  And they did kill this, very plus version, especially Oteil floating above everything and John and Jeff (and Bob of course) hammering the melody.  Or maybe they were doing songs they'd practiced with Donna.
• Drums/Space - This interlude is evolving and hopefully won't evolve *into* anything, just become more itself.  In some ways, this is becoming the highlight of the night.
• And then a majestic descent into Days Between.  From their accounts, this seems to be one of the most meaningful songs in their quiver to the original members.  To me, this was one of the best versions I've ever heard because of the great timing from the band-leader, the pitch-perfect passages between verses, and ethereal piano from Jeff.
• Not Fade Away - Got to please the crowd and this song is one of the most epic sing-alongs ever, thanks and RIP Buddy Holly!  To see Bobby and Donna belting this out was beyond description.  This was a very perfect version.

The crowd was clapping of course, and everything was wonderful.  I looked around at Fenway and was feeling very good,  Then the guys came back out for the encore.  I don't know if I've ever seen Saturday Night, though it's one of the most classic songs ever and I've been there many a Saturday,  Anyway, guess what they played for an encore?

One More Saturday Night - No overt politicizing here, just the rock and roll of the ages, including a totally satisfactory Donna scream!

[Sarah's pix from Saturday]

Far be it from me to be analytical (if you've read this far, that's a joke).  I feel these were two of the best nights of the tour.  Friday featured a classic setlist and upbeat playing.  Saturday was tired but endlessly baroque.  Let me conclude my thorough exegesis by saying we were lucky to be there for both nights, in many ways!

Again I have to mention the awesomeness of the setting.  Fenway Park was delightful, and they’d set up a humongous stage, worthy of a stadium rock show, in deepest center field, but extending out to where Fred Lynn would play for a straight-away hitter.  When I turned around to see the whole park, as I often did, the seats were crammed with Deadheads dancing and having fun.  Lights from the stage played over the crowd, the grandstand, and the boxes where Jean Yawkey used to sit primly and watch her team.  And the almost-full moon floated up among the clouds, beyond the Cumberland(!) Farms sign, peeking in and out through cracks in the gathering cover.

I loved seeing the Dead in such a setting in the middle of my city.  I used to live and work in the Fens, 40 years ago!  But I came away from there saying that I may never go see a stadium show again.

Fare Thee Well in Levi’s Stadium last summer and these shows at Fenway were great.  But it wasn’t like going to see a concert, more attending an event.  The field at Fenway is not tilted towards the stage of course, and I had to stand on my tip-toes to see the band, and sometimes just could not see them through the heads in front of me.  Sarah and Dave had a worse time.  I need to see the band play to most appreciate the music … that’s why I go to concerts.  Sure, we were close enough to catch glimpses of interplay between the musicians, and see how Bobby’s gestures set the pace for the band.  But I needed to see more, and could barely see the drummers’ heads, let alone their kits.

And the security was a pain in the butt.  Friday night was ok, but with the packed crowd on Saturday they had set up steel gates around every section and would only let you in if you showed your ticket.  I had to flash mine about 25 times during the course of the evening, and they’d only let you in to section B7 (our section) via a circular path that was just stupid.  They were way past the point of considering the comfort/ease of the concert-goer in their decisions about access, which I hate.

We were meat as far as the concert organizers were concerned, we were not humans attending a concert.  You could say the same line is crossed all the time when dealing with large crowds of people.  I don't think people should stand for this, and I'm calling out the concert organizers as being uncaring about individual concert-goers' experiences.

As we left, we had to bluff our way past a cordon of security people to get to the exit we knew we wanted, otherwise we’d still be smashed into a cramped line in the bowels of Fenway.  No idea what they were thinking there, except maybe it was not wanting that many people on the scaffolding they’d set up over the bullpens, which was shaking while we crossed it!

Next time Dead & Company plays Boston they should do Thursday and Friday night at the Wang Center for the aficionados.  I know I'd be there and would pay a high price (but don't tell them that).  Then they should play the third night at Gillette and charge a low price, and might fill the stadium but I'd watch it from home.  Everyone would be happy!  It would cost them more in overhead to play two sites, but probably not as much as to move to a totally new city, they'd be able to contract for labor to do the package.

Oh well, I may be saying something different next summer, but if you ask me today I’m not going to see a rock show in a stadium again, so there!

So that was it for the Dead at Fenway.  We made it outside after a bathroom stop, and met up with S&M for the long walk back to Beacon Hill.  The crowd was still all around us like a cheap picnic tablecloth, including some motorists who did not want people walking in front of them, though the line of traffic they were in was not going anywhere.  We headed down Boylston and the crowd did not thin out until we were past the Hynes!  Had a nice walk from there and a chance to see Copley Square and some of the lovely architecture in Back Bay on a Saturday night.

Crossed into the Garden and just had to show S&M the Make Way For Ducklings sculpture, then up the Hill past the nicely-lit Massachusetts State House and down to the underground garage, where our car waited to take us home (S&M hitched a ride to Stoneham).  Got home and washed off my feet and legs in the tub before going to bed ... yuck!

Dead At Fenway Park! Friday

Just a (relatively) quick post this morning about Dead & Company last night (7/15/16) because we have to depart in a bit for tonight’s show!  Being in Boston, on our home field, I knew lots of people who were going to attend and this was a huge social occasion as well as a great musical event.

One could just imagine what it would be like:

Well ok, I've just found out that the above photo may be a fake.  But we were psyched!

Left work at 2, had to go home first for forgotten sandals and water, and then made it to the parking lot at Ipswich and Van Ness by 3:30 or so (@$55!).  I was early … much better than being late, and hung out at Yard House where eventually the forces gathered.  Stopped by the car to dump Dave and Sarah’s stuff and then strolled into Fenway Fucking Park, out onto the field to see the Grateful Dead (that is, Dead & Company)!

We went up one of the short runways to the bleachers, but then instead of turning up into the stands we kept straight over a runway they’d made … pretty much where Jack White had been standing when he played the “Bleacher Theater.”  I stopped as we crossed the bullpen and told Dave that’s where we saw Bob Stanley attack many a beach ball with a rake, which I’d been telling him about recently.

He wanted to hurry to our seats but Sarah and I were absolutely awestruck, as we were all evening, by the fact that we were now in the middle of Fenway Park.  Maybe I’ll gush more about this later but it sent a chill up my spine over and over and over to realize that our seats were exactly where Jim Rice used to play when there was a righty up, etc.  We saw new angles of the ballpark I’ve seen many times that I’ll remember for years whenever I’m watching a game.

Took the crowd a long time to get in.  No one seemed to believe that the show was really going to start at 6:30.  But it did.  The guys came out and lined up and lit into a jam, and the beer stands and bathrooms emptied, as a flood of late concert-goers rushed out.

Here’s the first set with some notes … again, probably add more later:

• Jam into Jack Straw, perfect Fenway July start; I should have guessed that they’d open with this on such a hot, wonderful, summer day.
• The Music Never Stopped with DONNA!  We were hoping she’d show up and she did!!  But it was really a train wreck on the first bridge, they ended up doing it and then the second as a round so Bobby could follow her and get some order/harmony in there; really jammed out, longest ever??
• Cracking tight short Next Time You See me … they instantly own this song.
• Loser … long and slow and beautiful with Donna; very good harmony, she and Bobby singing together as well as I’ve ever heard.  They picked the right song here!  At the end, Bobby said, “Miss Donna Jean, great to have her.  And now a little something for the kids, and another slow song!”
• Then a great Peggy-O out of nowhere.  This was a surprise.  Their cover is not as good as the more folky ones I’ve heard, such as the arrangement Phil Lesh does, but still a great song and John had some fantastic leads.
• Then Help/Slip/Frank’s – Great opening chords … talk about a chill down the back …  but then a false start to singing by John on Help On the Way, so around again; fantastic drumming on Slipknot! and then absolutely epic Franklin’s Tower with John shredding it.  Bobby explained the political process at the end.

The break between sets was pretty long but needed to be in order to deal with VERY long bathroom and beer lines (we could only get Bud Lite but were later directed to a stand where we could get Harpoon by our neighbors).  Then the band came back out and played an amazing second set after that incredible first set.

Trying to keep this short as I say, but this show was special.  I’ve heard and/or seen most of this tour, and this first Fenway show was the best of the tour IMO at first hearing.  As with Hartford, we were not looking straight at the stage (we were way left this time) and the seeing was not great, even from pretty close seats.  And there was some sloppiness, especially with fitting in Donna, but…

But the playing was fantastic.  John was so eager to rip off great leads (he was wearing a picnic tablecloth) that he was like a bronco busting out of the chute.  What can I say, Bob Weir pulled off another of his great band-leader performances; great singing and great timing.  And not sloppy at all were Oteil and the drummers, who filled our heads with incredible rhythm in that incredible setting.  As I say, listen to that tape!  And Jeff!!  They’ve turned his organ facing front and put him closer to the center of the stage … I think everyone recognizes how important his contributions are to this band.

As I say, the second set was as wonderful as the first:

• St. Stephen!  What a second set opener, like Boston Music Hall in 1976!  Meandering jam with hints of several other songs … what was coming next?  Then back into the last verse and “… the answer to the answer man?”  And then…
• The opening notes of Dark Star without missing a beat.  Dark Star in Fenway Park on a summer night!!!  They did their “spacy” Dark Star rather than their apocalyptic one.  Jeff had us in outer space with organ sounds from another dimension, John, Oteil, Bobby, the drummers … OMG!  Dave and I agree this was one of the best Dark Star’s we’ve ever experienced live.  They dropped into a jazzy jam in the middle of it … not heard that before, and ended it with a reggae jump into the “Mirror shatters” verse.  This was a bunch of Pranksters letting it all hang out.
• Into … wait, Bobby’s strumming but the others aren’t starting and then Oteil kicks in and: full-blown Terrapin Station with Jeff doing dreamy things on piano!  Donna on harmony again and she had her high points all night, but needs a bit more practice with the varsity IMO.  John and Oteil are meant to sing together.
• Drums/Space – This was different, more of a Drums/Space Jam than the traditional drum solo and then instrumental weirdness.  This was weird all the way through, especially with Mickey at the helm of the clown bicycle horns!
• And John was then toodling a bit but looking at Bobby like he's got an INTENT and suddenly everyone looks that way and suddenly John starts into a reprise of Terrapin Station!
• Yay!  What's next?  OMG, not a false note into the intro to Morning Dew.  Not to be described, I was so glad to see this in Fenway Park with thousand of friends in the middle of summer, but the backdrop of course were the horrors in Nice the day before, the attempted military coup in Turkey that day, the presidential election, etc.  Just focus on Bobby singing and don't get distracted...
• Fell apart a bit after John's crescendo, but then Bobby counted it off and wham: Casey Jones!  John gave the lead the psychedelic kick it should have.
• Encore: Black Muddy River - Garcia and Hunter did not stop writing great songs in the 70s ... this is one of their best and John sings it very well, and I was very delighted to see it done live..  There's a Muddy River in the Boston Fens of course, though I don't know if they knew this.
• U.S. Blues - Woohoo!  A second encore.  This is another song that has to be sung on a summer night in the (almost) beginning of July in an historic ballpark.  Nice job, but now time to go home.

WOW!  We hung out at our seats for a bit while the crowd tried to file out.  Went out the way we’d come in (for beer and bathroom breaks we used the door in the left-field corner, I kept asking people if this was the Manny Ramirez Memorial bathroom and they didn’t get it … Philistines!) so we could exit by the car.

Got to the car but then had to wait forever to get unblocked in the lot.  Dave ended up taking off to walk over to the Hynes stop.  A nice neighbor gave me a Heineken to ease the waiting.  Pretty quick ride home after that (gave J a ride, no Row Jimmy though!) and still before midnight by the time we got to bed.

Pictures from Sarah here.

Green River Festival 2016 Sunday, w/Less Rain

Ack!  It was Sunday morning already!!  As mentioned at length, we had such a great time at GRF in 2015 that we knew 2016 would have a hard time equalizing that; and several logistical things were not absolutely perfect, such as getting poured on yesterday.  But whatever, we were having a great time and were sad to think that this would be the last day.

Went over to breakfast and said hi to Jerry the cat, who ran the Black Mountain Lodge, even though the very nice owner and her daughter thought they did.  A couple of hard boiled eggs and excellent home-made cranberry muffins, and then back to the room for some iced tea and a shower ... and I was ready for another day!  Well, we still had to do some drying of chairs, hats, and stuff before leaving.

The weather forecast was ominous once again, but we sucked it up, packed it up, and hit the road for Massachusetts before the others were totally awake.  Got to Greenfield CC about the time we had on Saturday and this time Sarah headed for the people line, getting an excellent spot, while Dave and I crawled into the parking lot with the rest of the car parade.  Got the same great spot, facing out of there, and chilled in line for 45 minutes or so until they opened the gates and let us in.

Good thing we had such a great position in line because the hordes absolutely descended once they let us in.  The line at 12:00 was as long as it had been Saturday, we assumed ... we couldn't see the end of it as it snaked up the hill into the college campus itself!  And inside the field area the frantic rush was on to set up chairs and throw down blankets or farther back, umbrellas.  People were unfailingly polite of course, but this was a you-snooze-you-lose fest.

And this after the Biblical rains of the day before!  We'd been thinking Saturday that some people would stay home with the gloomy forecast (and possibility of lightning), and we'd been thinking the same Sunday after Saturday was such a downer weather-wise.  But the whole area was instantly as full as I'd ever seen it at that time of day, even though they'd moved the vendors' carts back into a bit of the parking area so there would be more room on the field.  The GRF has become a must-see event, and we couldn't argue with that sentiment with the lineup they had set for that Sunday.

Sarah stopped by the information booth to inquire about the rain coat she'd left with Ellie Buckland on Saturday.  Ellie had actually had it cleaned, dried, and folded for Sarah, wrapped up in a plastic bag with a nice note!  What a charming touch from both ladies.  And Dave showed his Good Samaritan side also, helping a collapsed concert-goer to medical assistance during one of the incendiary sets of the afternoon.  When Dave got back to his place in front of the stage, his Ginger Libation had been knocked over!  Oh well, he did the right thing and that's plenty of reward itself.

Set up our chairs, bopped around the main field a bit, and then headed directly down to the 4 Rivers stage to see the opening act, Sonya Kitchell.  I'd heard a few tunes of hers on the radio but was unprepared to love her set as much as I did.  She was on an electric guitar (picked up an acoustic once in a while), had a lead player, a bassist, a drummer, and a keyboardist, and proceeded to rock the hell out of the early afternoon.

Sonya looked like the folkie I'd heard on the radio, wearing a beautiful tiara of flowers and sporting a conservative, dark brown print dress.  And she sounded like a folkie in some ways with her delicately crafted songs.  But the stories the songs told were gritty, and her playing, especially when she got down with the other guitarist, had more crunchy rock than soft landings.  And I was delighted when she ended her last tune with a guitar lead that degenerated into feedback, and then leaned up her guitar in front of the amp, blaring the feedback across the lower field!  There were some people who didn't know what to make of her, but I loved it.  And she expressed delight that the rain held off for her set, which sentiment was universally shared.

Wow, what a start!  Next up was a bit of a slow spot, and I had time to tour the craft tents and to find some river rock earrings for Sarah.  Winterpills took over the 4 Rivers Stage and were just like every other time I've seen a song or two of their's before bailing.

The Parlor Room Stage was taken over by a tribute for Jeff Martel, a long-time GRF guy who'd died in a traffic accident.  Jim Henry was one of the large cast of characters they had for his tribute.  And up on the main stage it was pretty slow too, as a 30-year tribute to the GRF turned out to be a succession of talking heads ... we thought they might have a musician or two.  Oh well, ate some more stuff from La Veracruzana and then headed back down to the Parlor Room Stage for what turned out to one of my favorite sets of the weekend.

Bridget Kearney (bass player for Lake Street Dive, of course) has a side project with a New England Conservatory mate of hers, Benjamin Lazar Davis, and their writeups (and what I'd seen on YouTube) had them featuring Ghanaian and Trinidadian rhythms, and some odd time signatures and sounds.  Not exactly my cup of tea (and I was ready to bail for Birds of Chicago on the 4 Rivers Stage).  But when I saw them live, Bridget couldn't help but shine brightly as the great, poppy, lyrical, talented, perfect musician she is and I stayed for the whole set, riveted by her music.  The crowd at the Parlor Room Stage was as big as I saw it the whole weekend for that set.

They did one LSD song (Hello? Goodbye!), and a bunch of others she'd obviously written.  Some were in odd times but they were unfailingly catchy and infectious.  Bridget was on electric guitar and for most of the time played it like a bass, bouncing with inflection on the upper strings and wringing the soul out of the songs.  Benjamin played an acoustic and picked out the melody, while banging out the rhythm on a kick drum and at times a high-hat.  But then Bridget would suddenly rip off a mind-bending lead on the high strings, sometimes adding a filter that made her sound like she was playing a drum herself.

As I say, this was one of the most magical hours of the weekend for me, and I didn't want it to stop.  But when it did I didn't wait to applaud, I moved up the hill quickly and around to our seats while the North Mississippi Allstars lit into their first song!

Don't know if you've heard the Dickinson brothers, but they play loud rock and roll from deep down in the Mississippi swamp.  Luther Dickinson (whom we'd seen with Phil and Friends a few years before) was on guitar, brother Cody Dickinson was on drums, and they had a bass player.  That trio nailed the GRF crowd to their seats for the next hour.  The rain may have started during their set, but no one was paying any attention to it.

They burned up the place, making it hotter and hotter.  They did Next Time You See Me and Sitting On Top Of the World, and a tidal wave of blues, feedback, and rock rhythms that all piled up on top of each other.  Good thing they were a small band, they were dealing so much sound that if there'd been more of them our heads might have exploded!

I have to admit I slipped off in the middle of their set, though this was difficult, to hurry down to the 4 Rivers Stage to see Margo Price.  Margo is one of the bright young lights of country to my ear.  When I was trying to describe her to my non-country-fan friends I couldn't help but tell them that she was like Merle Haggard, Not that she sounds like Merle Haggard, I'd go on, but she's got that same mesmerizing quality to her singing and the set-pieces in her songs ring with the same truth that Merle's did.  Their eyes had glazed over already.

Margo's set was far from perfect though.  She was up there in a dress and a hair-weave that didn't really work (especially in the humidity), playing a guitar that went out of tune easily, and having interruptions all over the place.  She broke a sting, the rain started up as heavy as the day before and people reacted in a panic, and her pedal steel player had to move his rig to right behind her to stay dry.

But even with all these distractions, her set had a few moments of recreating the sound I'd heard on the radio, and I was very glad I'd seen her.  When she's up there on Mount Rushmore or whatever, I can say I saw her when.

OK, back up to the main stage to settle in for the acts of the Festival.  Next up was Los Lobos, and OMG, they were better than I'd ever seen them, though the rain persisted off and on throughout their set.  David Hidalgo was just firing up the late afternoon on his assortment of guitars (their equipment was on stage all afternoon, protected by tarps, which were unveiled to help set them up quickly).  Louie Pérez spent the set mostly at center stage, playing an incredible rhythm guitar, but finished up on the traps.  Cesar Rosas was in fine voice and was playing mind-altering leads, and Conrad Lozano was not holding back the big bass notes.  Not to mention Steve Berlin on funky woodwinds and Enrique González on drums.

They opened with Down On the Riverbed, played some songs from their new record (which Hidalgo apologized for, he knew the people were there to hear their classics), did a funky The Neighborhood that almost couldn't be recognized until the chorus, and finished their set with Bertha ("It was pouring rain but not a drop on me").  I've heard that song a million times, but this arrangement was tuned exactly to their sound and was fantastic!

Wow, that could have been the Festival-crowning act right there, but it wasn't.  By that point on a Sunday the GRF crowd is usually starting to pack up and leave, and we'd thought that the rain would hasten this annual exodus.  But it didn't happen this year; when we looked around, the field was still jammed full of standing, raving people, and when we looked toward the stage, we saw a stream of people going left and right, and up and down.  We almost got trampled a few times, though we were standing in front of our chairs, by frantic concert-goers rushing past us to try to get up to the front.  Most of our friends had come up to our seats for the last two acts and we were packed in like sardines between that and the milling crowd.

Geez, after saying all this about the other bands, what more can I say about Tedeschi Trucks Band, except that they were hands-down the best band of the Festival?  As much as I've gushed about other guitar players, Derek Trucks stepped up to the plate and played a thrilling, consistent, amazing set, probably better than I've ever heard him.  Susan Tedeschi exceeded anyone else we'd seen on vocals: Kam Franklin, Cary Anne Hearst, even Peter Wolf.  Her voice FILLED the evening air, you could probably hear her beautiful and powerful singing back in Boston (she was facing East).  And add incredible performances by Kofi Burbridge, the firm of Greenwell and Johnson on drums, Mike Mattison, Kebbi Williams, et al.!

The rain stopped and the sun peeked through the clouds over Susan's shoulder, as it set towards the ridge behind her.  They had David Hidalgo out for a tune and Luther Dickinson for a few.  On one song the lead vocals featured a duet between Mattison (the third most impressive member of the band IMO) and their new vocalist, Alicia Shakour.  And then her father, Mitch Shakour came out and shared the piano and the organ with Burbridge!  This made 14 (counting Dickinson and MShakour) incredible musicians on the stage, playing awesome rhythm and blues together.

They did Glory Bound, Made Up Mind, *nothing* from the new record I believe, and lots of new stuff.  But no one paid much attention to what they played, it was how they played it.  It was so riveting I could barely breathe.  We were at our seats for that set, perhaps 35 feet from the stage, and barely out of the turbulent crowd but dancing up a storm ourselves.  And from that distance we probably got the best available sound.

So they finally ended and that was it for the Festival.  A steady rain was falling again, and we packed up pretty quickly after a last porta-pottie trip.  They were barely approachable at that point and the field that had started so lush and green was now one big, trampled mass of mud and smooshed grass, covered with discarded cups and bottles.  Did these people think they were at Gathering Of the Vibes or something?  We picked up what we could and got out of there to our well-positioned car.  We exited the sneaky way and hit route 91 for the North, arriving a half hour or so before the T family ... all our other friends had gone home.

How to sum up?  I still think the 2015 concert was about as much fun as it gets, but 2016 was not far behind.  If not for the rain, maybe it'd be in front.  We've been there enough times so we know when to dodge the lines and how to quickly make timing decisions about what act to see next.  The theme of the concert to me was excellent guitar playing and excellent sound.  I can't get over how well it carried and the quality of the loudest notes.  It was a great decision to move the vendors back and leave more room for the crowd to act confused, as it does.  I met friends there, and we all had a wonderful experience!  I'm already looking forward to next year.