Willie's Outlaw Festival 2021 in NH

 Back in the Spring, going to Willie's Outlaw Festival in the amphitheater in New Hampshire seemed like a great idea.  Live music was back!  But as mentioned in the previous posts, being around crowds of people has become dangerous and scary again.  We went anyway.  It would be outside, we'd wear masks, and hopefully others would be too.  As it turned out there were very few people wearing masks, but we survived and had a great time, what a show!

This year's tour has a changing cast, but on September 10th they were going to open with Margo Price, then Government Mule, then Sturgill Simpson, and then Willie.  Good enough, to put it mildly!  Sarah and I loaded up the chairs, sandwiches, and our summer concert tailgating stuff and headed North at around 2:00 for a 5:00 show.

Wonderful weather and lots of fun sitting around the parking lot and talking to the other concert-goers, some of whom had seen DeadCo recently like us, and some of whom were planning to see Phil Lesh in the Fall, like us (we hope).  Government Mule t-shirts/gear predominated, surprisingly, though a good number of people were dressed in Western regalia, as was Sarah.  Soon it was time to go in.  We passed the three checkpoints (vaccine proof, metal detector, and then tickets), got our water bottles filled, and headed to our seats, which were exactly three rows behind where we'd been for TTB, next to the soundboard.

Margo came on first and from the start this was such a well-produced show!  She had a lead guitarist, a bassist, a drummer, and a rotating cast of backup guitarists who filled in very professionally, picking up her guitar part when she was singing, swapping instruments with not a wasted motion, and disappearing when they were not needed.  Margo concentrated on newer songs but did the great Four Years Of Chances, Tennessee Song, and Don't Say It.  Great opening act and nice split-to-here dress and boots.

Government Mule was on next and I'd never seen the band, though of course I'd seen Warren Haynes in other combos.  They also were very professional and in control of their sound.  Haynes stood in the middle of the stage and was the man, lead guitar and all vocals.  He was surrounded by a simple but rocking combo of bass, drums, and keys, though the keyboard player switched to a second guitar for some songs.  Here's their setlist:

• Traveling Tune
• Banks of the Deep End
• Stoop So Low
• I'll Be the One
• Dreams
• Revolution Come, Revolution Go
• Broke Down on the Brazos
• Tributary Jam
• Soulshine

The stage crew were working feverishly, but I was a little confused by their setup for Sturgill Simpson.  Here was this cosmic country guy (whom I'd never seen before) who favored lots of guitars, horns, and effects, and they were setting up for a bluegrass band.  He had put out a few bluegrass-tinted covers of his own songs lately, but I was not prepared for the amazing, full bluegrass band he came out with.  He announced this was their first show together.  They're incredible and will be more so with some practice.  Mark Howard on guitar, Miles Miller on drums, and (wait for it) ... Sierra Hull on mandolin, Mike Bub on bass, Tim O'Brien on guitar, and Stuart Duncan on fiddle!!!

They were great, and Hull's mandolin was the lead instrument.  She was wearing a white pantsuit and silver boots and playing like she was dueling the devil.  O'Brien, Duncan, and Bub are also some of the greatest bluegrass players around and showed it when they got a chance.  But the main attraction was that Simpson guy in the middle with an acoustic guitar and that great, sonorous voice.  He was the most riveting player of all on stage and he made that amphitheater ring.  Here's his list:

• Brace for Impact (Live a Little)
• Long White Line
• I Don't Mind
• Life of Sin
• All Around You
• Living the Dream
• Shamrock
• Sometimes Wine
• Juanita
• Railroad of Sin
• Oh Sarah
• Breakers Roar
• Sam
• Call to Arms

Whew, that was three great acts, especially Sturgill!  Time for another quick bathroom and beer break (and trying to avoid the unmasked minions).

When we last saw Willie in Bangor (back in 2019 when the world was young) they had taken a long time to get him set up, but this time he had a very basic show and he came out pretty soon.  He *is* 88 years old and in the middle of what must be a grueling tour.  He had the family with him, his sister Bobby on grand piano, a drummer, his son Micah sitting right next to him and trading licks, a bassist, and Mickey Raphael on harmonica.  Here's an incomplete setlist:

• Whiskey River
• Still Is Still Moving to Me
• If I Die When I'm High I'll Be Halfway to Heaven
• Everything Is Bullshit (Particle Kid)
• On the Road Again
• Keep on the Sunny Side
• Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys
• Good Hearted Woman
• Will the Circle Be Unbroken? / I'll Fly Away
• It's Hard to Be Humble

A very enjoyable set, not leaning as much toward a "greatest hits" setlist as when we'd seen him last, but still including a bunch of his most popular songs.  And his guitar work was as great as ever, he gets such a unique, warm but edgy sound from the acoustic he's played for years.  And speaking of sound, Bobby tinkling the grand piano and Mickey blowing the harp was timeless, the band could have played anything!

And speaking of playing anything, Willie the dad had apparently made up his mind that he needed to teach son Micah how to be a bandleader.  He had Micah sing a few songs, including his "Bullshit" song, which Willie played with a straight face.  Micah was great and filled in some guitar licks that Willie didn't get around to.  BUT ... we were there to see Willie and so the concentration on Micah was a little much.

Anyway, great set and I think everyone in the crowd was totally satisfied.  I know we were.  To see four fantastic acts like that from great seats, produced seamlessly, was a lot of fun.  And I've decided I like the small (8K seats, including a tiny lawn) amphitheater in Gilford NH (currently named the Bank of NH Pavilion).  There's such a mellow vibe, beautiful scenery, and it's not a crowded madhouse like others we've been to, particularly in Hartford.

Easy stroll back to the car and we had another sandwich and beer while the parking lot thinned out.  Very soon we got packed up too and got out of there and back home with no problem.  What a show I say again!

Dead & Company Back In Hartford: 2021 part 3

One of the most amazing things about the concert in Hartford that Sunday was that it was a "part 3" of the shows we saw in Mansfield.  As mentioned, they do not stray far from their repertoire, but they arrange it with such care, and what we saw on Sunday closed out thematically what we'd seen on Thursday and Friday.  Did they do this consciously, or was it just us who perceived it?  Does it make any difference?

Day off from touring on Saturday, but back to it on Sunday September 5th, and we with our ice chest full of goodies were off to the Xfinity Theatre in Hartford in good time, after picking up Dave.  The sky threatened rain all day and there were a few showers on the way down to Connecticut.  It wasn't a bad trip, but the traffic got worse and worse as we traveled along, though it was moving.

And then we got to exit 50 in Hartford at about 4:20, about a mile from the venue, and stopped!  And I mean we stopped.  We were barely off the highway and then advanced only a hundred yards or so in the next hour.  The line must have been backed up on the highway back to Massachusetts by then!  And the only reason we advanced at all was because some of the cars in line bailed out and went searching for parking in downtown Hartford, the people planning to walk in.

I think that this was just a huge fuckup on the part of the concert organizers and the police, they did not anticipate the number of cars.  We'd been to sold out concerts at this venue before and they always managed to squeeze us into the existing lots, but this time they could/did not.  The time we spent waiting was apparently spent turning around the cars that were waiting for the regular lot and finding another place to put them.  Then they finally let us into that lot, 0.8 adventurous miles from the venue (not handicap-accessible to say the least).  And of top of everything, the heavens had opened and we were treated to a steady, pouring rain.

Oh well, as before that's enough bitching about the audience experience.  We got out our chairs and hung out in the rain while others tried to barbecue, play cornhole, and do the usual things you see in a Grateful Dead crowd.  But this fuckup will make me think twice before ever going to the Xfinity Theatre again.  They really did not do right by their audience.

Finally it was time to follow the crowd into the venue, a long walk.  The entrance was crowded with high people trying to stay out of the rain, but we got in and got to our seats, and they were very good!  We were under the overhang so no problem with the rain (which soon stopped, fortunately).  And again, the sight lines were great and the sound was even better, significantly better than it had been in Mansfield to my ear.  The screens were not working and this must have been a pain for people on the lawn, though it was ok for us since we could see the stage well.

The start was delayed while the huge crush of people finally filled the place.  The Xfinity Theatre holds 30,000 people, it's a very large amphitheater.  For comparison, the one in Mansfield holds 19,900.  Anyway, we were in, we were soggy, and it was time for the first set!

• Shakedown Street
• Samson and Delilah
• He's Gone
• Big Railroad Blues
• Lost Sailor
• Saint of Circumstance
• Franklin's Tower

This was more beautiful, well-arranged, excellence.  Shakedown was the perfect cure for the hassles of getting in and the ensemble singing on it was great, as inventive as anything we'd seen in Mansfield.  Samson was a given, as it was a Sunday.  But He's Gone was as majestic as Dew had been on Friday, and they followed it up with a rollicking Big RR Blues, again exploiting the blues edge they can get down so well.

Sailor/Saint has always been a mixed bag for me, I find a lot to criticize in Sailor but Saint can be fine, and this one was great too.  And then they ended the first set with a fantastic Franklin's, stretching it out to a long song on which everyone in the band had a chance to solo and shine.

My halftime experience is worth noting.  The concourses were jammed with people and so I went up to the lawn (not far from us) to hit the porta-potties up there and the beer stands.  This was a good decision, but the macadam walkway going up the lawn was barely visible through the people when I started, and after I got my beer it was not visible at all for the trek back down.  We've had a very rainy summer and the lawn section was a muddy horror-show.  But I'd been to Hartford before and was not thrown by this.  The only thing to do was to walk all the way around the lawn and then through the concourses back to our seats, which I finally accomplished.  In time for the second set!

• China Cat Sunflower
• I Know You Rider
• St. Stephen
• The Eleven
• Drums
• Space
• All Along the Watchtower
• Wharf Rat
• Playing In the Band

Again, this was an exquisite second set, satisfied us immensely, and was a great cap to their three-show New England loop.  They started off with China Cat and your first reaction was, "I've heard this before," but then you realized how excellent it was.  The wonderful sound in Hartford didn't hurt, and then they went into Rider.  I'm not kidding you, this was one of the best Rider's I've ever heard.  Bobby's playing was incredible and the sound was so well balanced.  I was trying to listen to Oteil, to Billy, to Bobby, and then John would crack off a run or Jeff would take it up to another level.

The Eleven is one of my favorite songs and St. Stephen is way up on my list too.  We'd speculated that *maybe* they'd play the pair, and then we heard a rumor that in sound check they'd done the William Tell Bridge, which holds the two together.  Well, it was as good as I could have imagined, what can I say?

Drums/Space and then Watchtower.  We knew we were winding down and this was a great, "Dylan," bookend to Masterpiece the other day.  And then they went into a wonderful, perfectly paced, perfectly sung Wharf Rat.  You can get into this song and totally lose track of time and space, listening to August West's song and then zooming out and thinking, "Yeah, but how threatened should this make me feel?"  Everyone in the crowd was entranced.

And then those notes rang out from Bobby's guitar and we knew that the world and we were one.  We had forgotten that we were due a Playing reprise and here it was, suddenly upon us.  No Donna (or John doing a Donna Scream), but again, the sound was great and the playing was spot on.  This is one of the most important songs ever and we were so glad that they did not abandon it, they book-ended our New England tour experience with it.

Short encore break again, and then they delighted us some more with Werewolves of London.  In other situations I've seen this song (written by Warren Zevon) as an outlier, but in this case it fit in perfectly.  People were laughing and singing along and dancing and we were not the least of them.

Amazing, amazing show and we had just experienced an amazing three-show window into their tour!  It was a long walk back to the car and a long wait until we finally could get out of the parking lot (which we filled with lawn chairs, beers, and sandwiches).  We got out of there but the line of cars from the closer lots was still creeping along.  Got back home after a not bad drive on 84 and 90 (and dropping off Dave), and I took some time to wind down and got to bed by 3:30.  Long day.

So was it worth it?  You betcha, the traffic sucked all weekend but the shows were the best.  Will I do it again?  Yes, but with a grain of salt.  We were so psyched this time after the last year and a half of Covid.  But I hope that for the next tour in New England they play closer venues with better parking experiences, like Fenway or Gillette (or Gilford NH??).  Of course, I'd love to see them in a theater like the Boston Music Hall (now known as the Wang Center).  But whatever, I'll be there!

Dead & Company Back In Mansfield, 2021 ... part 2

Thursday's concert was available quickly, and we listened to it Friday morning and early afternoon before we left.  In review, it was as excellent as we had thought, but it left a few open questions.  Would they do the Jam > Jack Straw we thought they were overdue for?  Would they reprise PITB after leaving Dave hanging time and again?  And would they finish Dark Star with the second verse or would they figure one was enough?  Would they play the Morning Dew and TOO we anticipated?   And would they "treat" Dave and me to Sugaree and Black Peter, which respectively are our bête noires for reasons too painful to get into?

Time to get on the road and go see, but the traffic did not cooperate.  128 South of the Pike was excruciatingly slow, and 95 was as well.  We finally made it to the shopping center in Mansfield to meet L, and she'd been delayed also so we didn't have to wait that long.  A bit of serendipity was that we discovered I'd left Sarah's tequila behind, but we were at a TGI Friday's and the bartender pulled into the parking lot for work, spied us, and talked some Dead and then told us that he could make margaritas to go!  Sarah and L took advantage of this, for sure.

Got in line for the venue and it took even longer than it had the day before.  By the time we got there we felt like we'd been in traffic all day, and we were almost through listening to the tape of Thursday's concert a second time!

Oh well, beers and sandwiches and then again, no line to get in.  This time we knew where the water bottle filling station was and what stands had the best beer.  Dave was tempted by the t-shirts on sale but didn't get one, though L got the excellent Mansfield poster.  This was a beautiful, breezy, late summer day.  Time for set one:

• Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo
• Cold Rain and Snow
• New Minglewood Blues
• When I Paint My Masterpiece
• Dire Wolf
• Jack Straw
• Sugaree

This was delightful!  You can never complain about an opening Half-Step, and CR&S is one of my all-time favorite songs, which they played with the dark, bluesy seriousness you want.  Minglewood is always a treat, and Masterpiece was also done with gravitas, Bobby's singing was great.

A jaunty Dire Wolf, and then finally they started into the jam into Jack Straw that I'd been hoping for.  And of course, what was the set closer?  Both Dave and I went for a bathroom break during Sugaree (though the tape reveals it was a fantastic version, with John and Jeff going nuts).  And it's a good thing too!  The crowds were twice as bad as they had been the day before and this wasn't even set break.  People were sprawled all over the venue, then suddenly lurching in one direction, taking a few dance steps, and then lurching the other way.  It was a Friday and everyone was very high.

Back to the seats for some peace and quiet finally, and soon after that it was time for the second set:

• New Speedway Boogie
• Bertha
• Truckin'
• Dark Star
• Terrapin Station
• Drums
• Space
• The Other One
• Morning Dew

OMG!  After this second set I was saying that we'd remember this concert for a long time.  They opened with perhaps the best Speedway I'd ever heard, balanced perfectly between its darkness and depression and the incredible beat and groove.  Bertha was a pleasant surprise and Truckin' was done well.

And then they reprised Dark Star.  The jam started off well-disguised, but soon there was no question what it was.  And this was a fitting reprise to the amazing performance of the day before.  Again, they jammed forever and then finally came back into the Solar System and found themselves at the second verse.  Someone should take these two halves of Dark Star and put them together (over 30 minutes between them), and then loop them over and over.

We'd all predicted Terrapin and this was a fine one, perhaps a little short, so they could get back on schedule.  Drums and Space were also a bit short, but that was because they had to leave room for another of their masterpieces, TOO with a ripping, booming performance from Oteil!  This could also have been predicted based on the frequency of what songs they'd played when on the tour, but again, though the setlists were not unusual, there was still inventiveness in what was introduced how and all of the playing was top notch.

And speaking of top notch playing, it was now time for the majestic, apocalyptic, searing Morning Dew of death.  What a set this was!

OK, the band barely left the stage again and then came back for a sing-songy  encore of U.S. Blues.  My feet were not touching the ground as we left, this had been a fantastic experience.  We ran into our friends P&D on the way out and they were just as unattached from Massachusetts as we were.

Jeez, that had been fun.  We got out the lawn chairs again when we got back to the car and had a few beers and sandwiches.  Then we were able to get out of there through the same back exit and looped back up to return  L  to her car, then up to Quincy to drop off Dave.  Back home soon and time for sleep!

Dead & Company Back In Mansfield, 2021 ... part 1

 Back when life was a bit less inexplicable, Dead & Company had scheduled a stop in Fenway Park on their 2020 tour.  We all know how that turned out: the world stopped in the Covid-19 pandemic and the concert was cancelled.  With DeadCo, as with any band, there's always the possibility that they'll call it a day at any point and dis-band.  John Mayer had put out a solo album in the meantime, and we wouldn't have been surprised if he continued his solo career, and Bob Weir pursued his jazzier stuff.  An ending to this band would have been another cruel twist, and so we were very excited when instead they announced an *extensive* Summer and Fall tour for 2021, and that it would include two dates at the Xfinity Center in Mansfield MA, and one at the Xfinity Theatre in Hartford.  And we realized we'd be retired at the time, so there was no worry about making it to work the next day!

Well, apparently a lot of people were also very psyched for the concerts and the ticket rush was fierce, but we were able to get decent seats for all three of them with much clicking and recalculating, and waiting for spinny wheels.  We also got parking tickets for Mansfield.

We'd been to the GRF the weekend before, and had tickets to the Willie Nelson show the next week, so this would be a great peak in a late-summer of music.  Unfortunately, Covid-19 has stuck around, people have not been getting vaccinated, and variants of the virus are prowling around, even infecting vaccinated people.  They announced that all concert-goers would have to show proof of vaccination or a recent negative test, but this did not calm our fears totally, and we spent most of the concerts masked.  Some other people did too, but most of the attendees were unmasked and who knows if their "proof of vaccination" was real?

Oh well, on Thursday the 2nd of September we got ice, beer, orange juice, water, sandwiches, chips, gummies, chairs, and vaccination cards ready and hit the road for the South!  Picked up Dave in Quincy and then headed down to a shopping center in Mansfield to rendezvous with friend L.  We had had torrential rain from the latest tropical storm the night before, but the weather was great and the sky was maybe going to clear.

Then we got in the traffic jam.  Don't know if you've ever been to the Xfinity Center (previously called Great Woods and the Tweeter Center), but they don't know how to let cars into their lots quickly and pre-concerts become a clusterfuck of cars backed up on 495, on 140, and all local roads.  Whatever, we got in to the Red Lot after spending 30-45 minutes creeping along at slower than a walking pace.  The Tour advertised that they were carbon-neutral, but they must not have been counting all the cars sitting in traffic.

But plenty of time for some beers and sandwiches and then there was no line to get in!  We showed pictures of our vaccination cards, got right through the metal detectors, and then each called up his/her ticket on his/her phone to get scanned.  It would be even easier if they had paper tickets, but no one misses a chance to say, "You have to install our app," these days.

OK, time to stop bitching about the audience experience and to start gushing.  Our seats were pretty far away but the sightlines were great and we could see everything happening on stage, though we sometimes had to look at the big screens for detail.  This was essentially the start of the middle third of the tour, after a break of about a week.  They have a 31-date tour scheduled which started in North Carolina on August 23rd and after another break later this month, will continue on the West coast until Halloween!  The shows so far had been excellent and this one was excellent too:

First Set

• Playing In the Band
• The Wheel
• Iko Iko
• It Hurts Me Too
• Ramble On Rose
• Brown-Eyed Women
• Let It Grow

The opening jam threatened to lurch into The Wheel but instead resolved in PITB, and we were already impressed.  Though they stick to a repetitive repertoire, they mix this up well and still manage to show inventiveness as well as incredible talent.  For me, It Hurts Me Too and Ramble On Rose featured incredibly infective blues playing from the whole ensemble.  Brown-Eyed Women is always great as well, though their long jam on Let It Grow left a little to be desired.

Mobs of people at halftime, but everyone was mellow and eager for the second set.  Bathroom and beer and then I was back in my seat in plenty of time for:

Second Set

• Deal
• Dark Star
• El Paso
• Uncle John's Band
• Drums
• Space
• Casey Jones
• Stella Blue
• Sugar Magnolia

Deal was a bit of a surprise to open the second set, but thankfully this didn't go into Estimated or Sugaree (though Eyes would have been fine).  But when they finished Deal (which was excellent itself), they started into a jam of death that eventually became Dark Star but still was way out in space, parsecs from the lyrics.  How fine is it to hear a Dead band spin out the Dark Star net and catch our minds and souls in it, and then go on and on for 15+ minutes?  Well, we enjoyed it.  They finally did get to the first verse, but after that jammed some more and suddenly found themselves in a soulful El Paso.

Time to bring it back to a beautiful, dainty, UJB.  And after Drums/Space they lit into a riotous Casey Jones!  Again, though the setlist was not daring, the playing was amazingly excellent (especially for a band that must have had very little time to practice during the pandemic), and the range of emotion in the songs was incredible.  And speaking of emotion, Bobby then sang one of the best Stella Blues I've ever heard, one of the Dead's most heartfelt songs.

The closing Sugar Magnolia was a little perfunctory after that, and the encore break was very short (they didn't really leave the stage).  And they got out the acoustics for a lovely Ripple.  Time for curfew in Mansfield!

Whoah, that was good!  There were a few down spots as always in a Dead concert, but the musicianship was incredible and they wound up those songs like a Swiss watch.

Back to the parking lot and set up the chairs again while the exiting traffic clusterfuck slowly died down, and then we were out of there.  Not really any trouble leaving the lot by the back exit, turning back up to where L had left her car, and then cruising up 95 and 128 back home.  Same tomorrow!

Green River Festival 2021, Sunday

Well it was time for Sunday at the GRF, and it was probably about time for a more mellow day.  I'd seen 10 bands Friday and 15 on Saturday, so perhaps this was the day to just stay at our seats at the main stage and let the music come to me instead of me going to it.  Maybe.

Sarah got me up at 8:00 rather than at 7:00, but we got our stuff together in record time and were out of there by 9:20 or so.  We were checking out that morning, and so the car was packed with all kinds of disorganized stuff (including the table, which had been excellent), but we had it together.

Got to the parking lot and in line by about 15 minutes before they opened the gates, which was pretty impressive.  We were farther back in the FF line, with about 50 people in front of us, but when we got in we hustled to the sound tent and got our best seats of the weekend, go figure!

We had run into our old friend, EJ, at the GRF a few years before and had been trying to get together at the Festival ever since.  He's a long-time Western MA resident at this point and had been to many Festivals, including being a vendor at them back before we started going.  He'd been at Friday's and Saturday's shows but we hadn't been able to get together.  It's strange that sometimes you run into the same people over and over at these things and sometimes you just never meet up with your friends.

This morning was different (we hoped) and he showed up early himself.  Again, we almost missed each other as we were not at our seats when he first showed up there, but we got it together soon after that and had a great visit.  The music hadn't started yet and we were talking a while in our seats, and then slowly walked over to the Dean's Beans coffee truck and got some caffeine and a picnic table.  I got a plate of beans, rice, and guacamole at La Veracruzana, Sarah got some dumplings, and EJ got some bananas Foster bread and we talked and talked right through the first musical acts.  What a treat it was to see EJ again and what a great setting for it!

OK, time to screw around and see different stuff.  We missed most of Rachel Baiman, Soul Magnets, and Ali McGuirk but for a good reason!

Rachel Baiman at the main stage - She was there and singing, but we were talking with EJ and walking over to get coffee.  So Sarah says we should count her as "seen," even though it wasn't for long.

Bonny Light Horseman at the main stage - This was my "most anticipated" band of the weekend.  They're an all-star band of Anaïs Mitchell, Josh Kaufman, and Eric D. Johnson, each playing guitars and singing, and they do original English folk.  Are you blown away yet?  Well maybe not (most of the people I tried to build them up for were not), but they did not let me down.  What is original English folk you ask?  That's a valid question.  Just listen to these guys and open your ears to them, they are amazing.  I first saw Mitchell at the Boston Folk Festival maybe 15 years ago, and Kaufman (who played an incredible resonator guitar for most songs) has played with Bob Weir and many other bands.  They were one of the bands of the weekend for me and I stayed for their whole set.

Beau Sasser Trio at the medium stage - But then I toddled over to the other stage, meeting Tristan, DaveL, and Jack on the way, and settled in at the front of the stage with DaveB and Scott for some loud, rocking funk.  They were led (driven?) by an incredible organ sound, had a great drummer who rocked our souls, and had a great guitarist who played a peach Strat like a wild man.  They were incredible and I would have stayed for the whole set but I had to go see...

Ani DiFranco at the main stage - Ani was way up on my list of, "I can't believe I've never seen her/him!"  She has been around for a while and plays the kind of unique, multi-faceted folk I love.  She had two accompanists but who cares, she was dominating the stage.  She never plays two songs in a row in the same tuning, and everything she plays starts off edgy but then gets into a wild groove that takes on a life of its own.  I was so glad I saw her, and I enjoyed her act immensely.

Sierra Ferrell at the medium stage - Another OMG!  I had listened to a few of her YouTubes but didn't know what to make of her.  When I saw her live with a fiddler and a mandolinist I was blown away.  She played original songs in a traditional country and bluegrass style, in a way that took you back to a front porch in Appalachia, though you had no idea if it was a hundred years ago or a hundred years in the future.  Again, no others in our group saw her (as far as I know), but she and her small trio were one of the highlights of the weekend.

Watchhouse at the main stage - This is the duo formerly known as Mandolin Orange, who has done some great stuff over the years.  They've been at GRF before (several times?) but I had never sat down to watch them, and they surprised me by playing with a full band.  This was another excellent act, though they might have been even better in a more intimate setting.

Son Little at the medium stage - An R&B guitarist with a small band who didn't really shine for me.  He was trying to project a mellow groove and it didn't work quite as well as it might have earlier in the day.

Drive-By Truckers at the main stage - I was so psyched to see these guys, but you know how it is on Sunday at the GRF.  Sometimes you're exhausted and it's just time to leave.  We stuck around for a few tunes and their sound was great, but the scene was chaotic with everybody packing up (or trying to) and saying goodbyes to their friends so it was hard to listen to the band.

So we packed up and left too.  Soon got out to the car and took off, back on the highway pointed East this time.  What a great experience!

• The sound was as good as ever.  A lot of bleed from one stage to another but I'm sure they (Kodiak Sound??) could address this with experience in that venue.  Some feedback problems but again, it was a new venue.
• The instrument of the weekend was ... the saxophone of course!  If you lined up all the saxophones we saw they would stretch to Shelburne Falls.  Well, maybe you'd have to include the trombones too.
• Great seeing our friends and hanging out at the concert and at the hotel.  We're blessed!
• Great beer from Berkshire Brewing Company and I thank Gary for getting me a free one.
• Saw 8 acts on Sunday so that brings my total to 32 different bands.  My head is spinning.
• Many kudos to the GRF production people, volunteers, and staff for moving the Festival to a different place, dealing with an apocalyptic thunderstorm, and pulling everything off so well, what pros!
• I hope they have a better lineup next year, but I'm going to be there no matter what.

Great drive back and the kitties (who had been catered to by Uncle Andrew), recovered fine from us being away.  Nice to sleep in my own bed again, but the GRF experience is not to be missed.

Green River Festival 2021, Saturday

I was sound asleep, but Sarah woke me up at 7:00 and I was soon getting ready for the day.  The schedule had been pushed forward again and the gates opened at 10:00 for a noon start.  We wanted to get there on time to get a good place at the main stage, which meant we had to hustle.

And it was Dave's 30th birthday!  Our messaging apps were full of birthday wishes for him, as were our Festival friends.  And in the course of the day I overheard 4 other people getting Happy Birthday's from their friends.  I guess August 28th is one of those days.

Showered, stretched, and ate a bit of breakfast (not necessarily in that order).  We had brought eggs, peanut butter sandwiches, and iced tea and coffee, and this was at least as good as the average American hotel breakfast.  We were packed for the day and in the car by a little before 9:00 and beelined for the Fairgrounds, parking a bit back from where we'd been on Friday, behind 20 or 25 other cars.  But we got a good spot in line, many of the people there early weren't Festival Faithful and had their own line, which was coming in after us.  Soon both lines stretched down the street farther than we could see.

The weather was delightfully overcast and late-summer temperature, as opposed to the heat spell we'd been having.  And they let us in right at 10.  The FF line did not have a "no bags" option, but a volunteer soon waved a few of us who didn't have bags out of line and told us to go right through another entrance.  But the people at the gate didn't know he'd done this and weren't going to let us in when we got there!  The guy next to me objected in a slightly strident voice, and one of the officials at the gate exploded at him, yelling right in his face to not raise his voice at him unless he wanted a really bad day.  Whoah, chill guy!  They let us in but I and my neighbor's friends had to calm him down, not the most mellow start to your day.

Anyway, same as you might expect.  We got seats in front of the soundboard (not quite as good as Friday but fine), set up our chairs and got some more iced coffee, read magazines, and toured around the vendors.  I was afraid I might regret not having a sweatshirt, but the sun behind the clouds soon warmed everything up and there was a nice wind to keep us from getting too hot.

Another day of trying to see everything:

Liam Hurley at the small stage - Though music didn't officially start until noon, a couple of artists were doing small "family" shows for the campers.  I saw a couple of songs from Hurley and the best part was watching toddlers dance and hearing him sing the ABC's song backwards!

Zara Bode at the small stage - Zara from the Sweetback Sisters did a family show next and on my touring around I managed to catch a bit of her act too.  She was aimed at the slightly older kids and tried to get a sing-along going with some songs that everyone knows but that I can't name.

Kimaya Diggs at the medium stage - She was the first on at just a few minutes after noon and she was a wonderful way to start the day.  Kimaya says she's a mix of Joni Mitchell and Ella Fitzgerald, but to my ear it was pure enlightening soul music.  She has an amazing voice and could fill a concert hall with her dulcet tones.  And she was wearing a nice home-sewn dress, perhaps from her mother, whom she eulogized.

Bella White at the main stage - Bella was first up at the main stage with a wonderful small country/bluegrass combo.  I stayed until the end of her set and was charmed, great originals that were old-timey at the same time.

Appalachian Still at the medium stage - Now you're talking!  This is a four-piece electric rockabilly band made up of people who aren't really professional musicians but who really like music (some of them are permanent staff at the Festival).  They opened with The Race Is On (which of course, is a Grateful Dead song) and did a number of great covers and originals, including the Band's Get Up Jake.  This was the good stuff.

Kris Delmhorst at the small stage - Kris is one of my all-time favorite folk musicians and has not slowed down at all over the past few years, writing and singing some of her best material.  She was accompanied by her husband Jeffrey Foucault and a stand-up bass player who could make the bass sound like he was bowing it when he was actually plucking it.  Kris was being drowned out by the main stage when she talked, but when she sang her voice resonated like an angel's.

Ghost Of Paul Revere at the main stage - Though they were being a little rude (unknowingly) to Kris at the small stage, I next had to go back to the main stage to see this trio, who do some great loud, funky, and rambunctious music.  I was fading by this point, as I knew I'd be by mid-afternoon, so it was time to head for the car and try to sneak in a nap in the shade.

Zara Bode's Little Big Band at the small stage - But on the way out I had to stop by the small stage again and see Zara's official band, who were all dressed up in matching suits and straw hats (except for Zara, who wore a gown).  They were fun but were bothered by sound from the other two stages.

OK, time to go out to the car and try to not wake up the people in the next car over who were doing exactly what I wanted to do: take a nap in the shade and the gentle breeze.  I got a good one in, had a beer from the cooler in the back to help me wake up, and then was back in the fray.

But, in the meantime other people had arrived.  Our friend Dreamflower had never been to the GRF before but showed up this year and was enjoying it immensely.  And Dave's friends Leen, Drew, and Cathy had decided to give him a birthday surprise and had secretly bought Saturday tickets and showed up suddenly.  He was not just surprised, he was discombobulated!

And, I thought others had missed out by not seeing Soggy Po' Boys, but I was the one who'd missed out.  While I was asleep the Underground System had played at the medium stage and were one of the best bands of the weekend according to everyone I talked to.  Oh well, you can't see everything.

So here's what I saw in the second half.

Whiskey Treaty Roadshow at the medium stage - This is another band of talented players who all sing, and they play every style around.  They can only be called Americana because they bring such an assortment of influences to the stage.  I stuck around for most of their set.

Jeffrey Foucault at the small stage - Accompanying him were his wife, Kris Delmhorst, and a bass player who could make the bass sound like ... wait a minute!  Hadn't I seen this band before?  Oh yeah, it was exactly the same band as "Kris Delmhorst" but they were doing Jeffrey's songs instead of Kris's and the two had switched places.  Almost as excellent though.

JD McPherson at the main stage - Here's another guy who played the good stuff and had the crowd dancing and dancing.  He's been around for a while now and is a multiple GRF performer.  But this time was the best I've seen him, mostly because his sound was pared down to just his great guitar (and voice), bass, keys, and drums.  He did some of his older songs like Dimes For Nickels and North Side Gal and was rocking!

Rebirth Brass Band at the medium stage - These guys had just led the kids' parade and when they took the stage they were hot.  What a great classic brass sound, spread across the front of the stage and with a honking tuba (the only one of the weekend!), a guy with a snare around his neck, and a guy with a bass drum and a huge cymbal standing across the back.

Valerie June at the main stage - A critic has called her "cosmic country" and I'd have to agree, though she was nothing like Gram Parsons.  She just holds down the stage herself with a guitar, and she played everything from Hank Williams to rap but in a style that was distinctly her own.  I was riveted, what an original musician!

Vapors Of Morphine at the medium stage - These three guys are a spinoff from the band Morphine, and we'd been told by our friend Scott that we'd better not miss them.  And he was right!  They consisted of a conventional drum kit, a guy playing the biggest baritone sax I'd ever seen through a MIDI (so he could make his sax sound like a banjo), and a guy playing the weirdest assortment of guitar-like instruments that exists, including a six-string electric bouzouki with the lowest two strings tuned deeper than any bass.  This band hollowed out your brain painlessly and replaced it with something else.

Jon Batiste at the main stage - I can't say enough good things about Jon Batiste.  It had been a long day and we were exhausted and another loud popular band was coming on and this might have been the time we snuck out of there and went back to the hotel to wind down.  But I'd seen Jon on video and was captivated by him and I think everybody else who saw his act live was captivated too.  He played grand piano (excellently), guitar (poorly), saxophone (meh), and melodica (pretty well, but who can tell with a melodica?) and sang, rapped, and danced.  And he was fantastic, what an entertainer and a band leader!  He was so in synch with his three backup singers and it's a cliché but he had the whole crowd in the palm of his hand, waving their arms, dancing, responding to his calls, and grooving on the great sounds he made.  Dave and his friends were all at our seats for this, and we stayed until the very end, how could you walk away from that guy?  And I've heard that he's just as good a person as he is a musician, incredible fun!

OK, Saturday at the GRF was over and we picked up our stuff and screwed out of there as fast as we could, expecting a traffic clusterfuck *this* time since we were leaving with everyone else.  But again, this place was laid out so well there was no problem.  The parking had a well-placed exit and the line of traffic was moving well, out through the neighborhood and back to the highway, where we climbed West on route 2 into the late summer sky.

Back at the Rose and again we gathered our stuff and went out to the picnic table for some late night revelry, even though it was already pretty late and we were exhausted.  We all gushed about the great bands we'd seen that day but pretty soon had to get to bed ... probably around 12:30 when we went to sleep with the air conditioner off and the windows open to the starry Western Massachusetts night.

Green River Festival 2021, Friday

When the world was stopping last Spring, the Green River Festival did the right thing (as did other music venues) of postponing the Festival.  This was a big disappointment, but in respect to all the other sudden changes due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it was but a drop in the bucket.  We opted not to ask for a refund for our tickets, in hopes of supporting the Festival and helping it last out a year off.

They did last, and announced this Spring that they would be holding the 2021 Festival, but a month later in August, and at the Franklin County Fairgrounds (on the National Register Of Historic Places!) instead of the long-term site at the Greenfield Community College.  Over the last few months the pandemic has re-surged, but they opted to go ahead with the Festival.  They announced that they'd be requiring masks in lines, in restrooms and porta-potties, and in crowded situations, but many people did not wear masks at all.

So we were, again, more than psyched for the concert and a return to normalcy, but a little nervous about disease transmittal with so many people.  We and our GRF friends booked rooms at our customary spot, the Red Rose Motel in Shelburne Falls.  We slowly got together everything we'd need for the weekend, including a small table for the bathroom.  The forecast was for another day of extreme heat on Friday but then overcast and much cooler with a small possibility of showers for the rest of the weekend.  Can't ask for better than that!

Dave came over Thursday night and we got on the road by a little after 9 on Friday, August 27 for a mellow drive out West.  We swung by the Fairgrounds to check out where the parking and entrance line would be in case it helped us strategize.  We also stopped for lunch at a nice overlook of the Deerfield River.  Next was the Red Rose, and Rihanna checked us in early with commensurate merriment.  We unloaded all our stuff in no time flat, I took a dip in the pool, and then we packed up for the Festival.  The gates would opening at 2:00 for a 4:00 music start, an hour earlier than the traditional time.

Drove back to Greenfield, got into the parking lot behind a dozen other cars, and then got in the "Festival Faithful" line behind a couple of dozen other people.  Those of us who kept our 2020 tickets were the Festival Faithful, and we were allowed in first when the gates opened and got a 20% discount on Festival gear.

Not too long a wait and we were in.  Surprised to see other people in already and realized that the people camping on the grounds were of course set up already, if they were that eager.  Whatever, we got more or less our preferred spot a couple of rows in front of the soundboard tent and dead center.  Now it was time to wander around and kill two hours, which we did while the Fairgrounds swelled with frantic and joyous people.

All of us agreed after evaluation, that we hoped the GRF will return to Greenfield Community College next year, but we all could cite things we really liked about the Fairgrounds site.  It was much more walk-able to get to the porta-potties, from one stage to the other, and out to the parking lot when we needed a break.  The food vendors were more spread out so they were there when you wanted them, instead of crowding them all in together.  And the other vendors were arranged in a crescent around the main stage so it was easier to browse them all while still listening to the music.

It was also charming!  They have a classic grandstand on the cinder horse-racing track, an interesting circular central building, and lots of barns to hold the produce and livestock exhibits.  Several were rows of stables, and some of the campers had set up in them, each having their own private cubicle!  They set up the intimate, small stage in one of the barns and it was an excellent space, much more airy than the tent they set up at Greenfield CC for the small stage.

But in all we decided it did not work quite as well for the size music festival they try to hold.  The sound from the main stage or the medium stage would bleed over badly to the others.  In some cases it was so bad at the small stage that you couldn't hear the performers introducing the songs.  And though it never seemed very crowded, it didn't have the wide-open spaces that they have at the CC.  Some people tried to play frisbee or soccer but there wasn't enough room.  And for the people who need shade (who doesn't from time to time?) there were many fewer options, basically the shadows cast by barns which often were far from the stages.

Anywhere, where was I?  Oh yeah, in front of the main stage full of excitement, waiting for the music to start.  It was goddam sunny and hot and I had slathered up with sunscreen (Dave didn't and paid the price).  I asked one of the volunteers if he could arrange it to bring those clouds over there, over here so they'd block the sun.  He said, "I could do that but then we'd have a thunderstorm."  And he was right!

I was in the beer tent at the main stage and the clouds had gotten very close and then big raindrops started slowly spotting the dust.  Then there was a thunderclap and a flash of lightning.  I hustled down to our seats at the main stage and Sarah and Dave were gone as well as the stuff we wanted to keep dry.  I was about to text them to ask where they were and then I realized that they'd probably texted me!  And then the heavens opened.  They *had* texted me and were over in the grandstand keeping dry.  I hustled over there but the rain was coming down hard and I was drenched already.  I had to cover my beer with a CD I'd just bought to keep it from being polluted!

We sat in the grandstand while there was a Biblical downpour for 20 minutes or so, just an incredible hard, thick rain with whipping wind, which eventually stopped as the sun came out and the clouds moved away to the East.  Some people had tried to stick it out at the main stage with umbrellas, but they were eventually convinced to leave by the staff, as were all the vendors in the lightning-vulnerable tents.

The destruction was amazing.  Most people were soaked and most of the poor vendors' tents had blown over, dumping all the clothes or jewelry or carvings they were trying to sell into mud puddles.  Probably a few months worth of profits gone in a few minutes.  The cinder track was amazingly dry, great drainage there, but there were rivers of mud on either side.  The sun came out again and the Festival tried to get back to normal, but the storm slowed everything down by a half hour or so.  On the main stage they actually had to squeegee the water off the stage and do sound check all over again.

Oh well, that was unexpected!  Our friends P&D showed up and squeezed in, and soon the first act started.  The lineup was definitely not as good as most other years we've been at the GRF, but I wasn't complaining after being shut inside for 18 months, and it was as enjoyable as ever.  I made up my mind to see as many of the acts as I could, especially when it was so walk-able.  Here's what I saw:

Sammy Rae & The Friends at the main stage (the Greenfield Savings Bank stage) - This was a great start!  Sammy Rae is a dynamic singer and bandleader who reminded me of an R&B Brandi Carlile.  She was all over the stage egging on her big band, which featured two great backup singers, two trombones, a trumpet, and a pair of saxophonists (baritone and tenor) who just made a rocking sound together.

Misty Blues at the small stage (the Artifact Cider stage) - This was next in a long weekend of musical treats.  Misty Blues plays original, contemporary blues, and their singer and leader Gina Coleman has a unique voice.  Her register is very low and this works great with the keys and brass-driven sound.  This was the first time in the weekend that I thought, "I could sit right here and see this whole set and then go home and be satisfied."

Combo Lulo at the medium stage (the Dean's Beans stage) - These guys were fantastic!  They had a great horns/woodwinds section as well (that made 5 saxes in three bands).  And they bounced around between all kinds of reggae and cumbia sounds so fast you wanted to fasten your seatbelt.

Twisted Pine at the main stage - But soon back to the main stage to see the latest incarnation of Twisted Pine.  I've seen this band many times and they've never had the same lineup twice, though they've always been excellent.  The only holdovers from the original band are Dan Bui on excellent mandolin and Kathleen Parks on fiddle and vocals.  The highlights of their set were their excellent covers of Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds, and Dead Flowers as a tribute to Charley Watts (who died a few days ago), though they don't have a drummer.  They've always been so eclectic.

Soggy Po' Boys at the small stage - OMG!!!  I meant to just swing by this stage for a short time, but ended up sitting down up front and enjoying the heck out of them.  These guys play traditional blues but with lots of twists and turns.  They would start a song and then morph into a New Orleans band with their excellent section of clarinet, trumpet, and tenor sax, and then morph into somethings else.  They were led by Stu Dias on vocals and guitar, who was a force of nature.  At one point after he sang the most low-down blues you've ever heard, the clarinetist leaned over and gaped at him in astonishment.  Stu didn't see.  They were perhaps my favorite band of the Festival but no one else among our friends caught them.  They were fantastic!

The Big Takeover at the medium stage - This is another reggae/ska/pop band fronted by Jamaican NeeNee Rushie, who has quite the voice.  Another band, another saxophone!

Deer Tick at the main stage - This was one of the bands I was most looking forward to.  They've been around for a long time, but I'd never seen them.  They've got a solid guitar/bass/keys/drums rock sound and blew up the Festival, people were raving.

Pine Leaf Boys at the small stage - Just stopped by for a few tunes from these guys, who play traditional cajun.  They were drowned out by Deer Tick's finish, but managed to entertain a lot of people who loved their style.  I left during a traditional waltz and couples were dancing all around the barn and the stables.

Antibalas at the medium stage - I was beginning to reach the end of my rope by this point, but Antibalas was another excellent set of musicians.  They played infectious afrobeat music patterned after Fela Kuti, led by a strong singer, and of course they featured another saxophone and a brass section.

Shakey Graves at the main stage - The only reason I saw Graves was to go back to meet Sarah and Dave and leave.  There are a lot of people who like his music, but I'd seen at GRF a few years ago and he just doesn't do it for me ... a solo guitarist who plays incredibly loud with lots of reverb and dark songs.

Oh well, it was time for us to take off and we were anticipating a long wait to get out of the parking lot and on the road.  But this turned out not to be true at all, a quick exit and then a mellow trek through the residential neighborhood back to 2A and then to route 2 West.

Back at the Rose we settled down, washed off the sunscreen and the mud, and then grabbed a few beers and snacks and headed down to the picnic table.  Our friends soon arrived and joined us, having fun and talking into the night.  Tristan figured out how to turn on the lights so we could see each other.  And the atmosphere was deliciously temperate and silent.  A car would go by on route 2 every once in a while, but we could hear the night.  A train came by on the other side of the Deerfield River and long after the locomotive had gone around the next hill we could hear the boxcars, creaking by.

At midnight or so it was time for bed and we all fell asleep quickly after a long day!

Tedeschi Trucks in Gilford

 At long last, it was time to go see live music again!  The Covid-19 pandemic that's shut down the world for the last year and a half is lifting, especially in New England where a large number of people are vaccinated.  A huge portion of the world is still struggling with it though, large numbers of people are getting sick and dying.  Hospitals, care workers, and medical infrastructure are all over-taxed, and though vaccines have been developed they haven't been distributed equitably and idiots are often refusing vaccinations when they are available.  I feel very lucky to be located in the Northeast US, but acknowledge that we're still in a worldwide crisis and people are suffering.

When the Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion scheduled Tedeschi Trucks Band for July 17, they announced that the concert would be "limited capacity," and we're very glad it was.  Though I was at a sold-out Red Sox game in Fenway Park a few weeks ago, we three were all nervous about what kind of crowd situations we'd find in Gilford and if people would be vaccinated.  As it turned out it was so mellow and low-key it was kind of spooky!

Dave came over on Friday night and we had a hot Saturday to pack up slowly for our trip up North to Gilford.  Many places have stopped distributing paper tickets to concerts; your only option for some shows is to load the tickets to your phone, and I had to install two apps and change security settings on my phone to do that, another burden on the concert-goer!  The forecast was for probable rain and possible thunderstorms, but we had an easy drive up to the venue under overcast skies.

The "standard" parking lot there is usually packed long before the show, but this time we got there and it was deserted!  Not totally, but there were only about a dozen cars when we pulled in.  We could hear TTB clearly doing their soundcheck on the other side of the trees.  Nothing to do but get out our lawn chairs and hang out, enjoying a few beers and a few sandwiches.  There were a few sprinkles of rain, but nothing serious.  Sooner than you'd think it was time to start on the long walk into the amphitheater, though even by then the parking lot barely held two rows of cars.

I showed my phone tickets at the gate (you had to put all your stuff in a tray and then go through the x-ray gate, like getting on an airplane or something), we found where to fill our water bottles, looked at the Kubota tractor exhibit, and then wandered in and sat down.  And they were great, socially distanced, seats!  We were in a row of 8 seats abutting the soundboard to the right, the third row of the second section.  We had the three right-hand seats in the row, on my left were two empty seats, and then there was a couple on the aisle.  The three seats in front of us were roped off, and so we felt definitely not threatened by proximity, though we all wore our masks for most of the concert because the air got hot and sweaty and there may have been viruses floating around ... it's hard to change your habits after a year and a half of precautions.

But we were unimaginably psyched!  These were great seats in an uncrowded setting on a summer night, and we were about to see one of the best bands in the world ... after seeing none for a year and a half!!  TTB has had a few changes since we first saw them 10 years ago: Gabe Dixon instead of Kofi Burbridge, Brandon Boone instead of Tim Lebfevre (and Oteil Burbridge before him), and recently J.J. Johnson left the band.  And the act we were about to see was the "Fireside" version of the band, as in the shows they've been streaming over the past year.  That is, both Mark Rivers and Alicia Chakour were absent, as well as the horn section of Williams, Owen, and Lea.  Too bad, but they'll still lick (almost) any other band in the world with one hand tied behind their backs.

The band came out a bit past 7:00, lined up, tuned up, and then blasted us with excellent sound.  Here's the first set:

• Don't Let Me Slide
• Part of Me
• When Will I Begin
• Just as Strange
• Life Is Crazy
• Somebody Pick Up My Pieces (Willie Nelson)
• Had to Cry Today (Blind Faith)
• Idle Wind

So how was it?  I don't know, I hadn't been to a concert in way long enough to get out of practice and I was just so engrossed by the experience.  The sound was excellent: they did not have a lot of amps on stage but they sure had some awesome stacks of speakers to the sides and when you looked closely you saw that each amp on stage had a mysterious black rectangle pasted to the front of it instead of a microphone.  This was apparently what was feeding the PA and it worked incredibly well.  Probably also didn't hurt that we were right next to the soundboard.

Tyler Greenwell was playing amazingly and was a technical delight, but the band didn't feature the thundering sound produced by two drummers.  Dixon, Boone, and Mattison were also very good, especially Dixon on vocals.  You couldn't help but think, "Here's where Alicia would take over the stage," or "Here's where the horns would rock you like nobody's business."  So it was mellow and a little disappointing for a TTB concert ... BUT both guitar players were absolutely other-worldly.  Derek was his incredible, make-it-look-easy self and was all over the fretboard.  And Susan was possibly playing better than I've ever seen her, Derek just let her go and go she did.  She was switching guitars all night but her light green one is the best.

OK!  As I say we were all three feeling a bit more paranoid about the crowd and had our masks on.  So we took turns going for bathroom/drinks runs instead of en masse.  I walked all the way back to the entrance to get more water (why don't they have more than one filling station??).  It remained strange how empty the place was compared to other times we've had to struggle to get anywhere.  I don't know if they even sold any of the lawn seats.  Back to our row, and then after a short intermission the band was back.

Here's the second set:

• Gin House Blues (Bessie Smith)
• Laugh About It
• Looking For Answers
• The Feeling Music Brings
• Midnight In Harlem
• Gonna Move (Paul Pena)
• Dreams (Allman Brothers Band)
• That Did It (Bobby “Blue” Bland)
• Bound for Glory

Wow, this was excellent!  Derek and Susan kept up their fine playing and the rest of the band was right with them.  The middle of the set was where it took off: Susan did two songs she'd penned (including The Feeling Music Brings, dedicated to a friend of hers).  They then quietly hit a few notes and you knew that this was the intro to Midnight In Harlem that had been haunting your dreams.  They rose to the heights with that one and spun it down slowly, then stopped and jumped into the swinging Gonna Move ("... away from here, you can find me if you want to go there"), and then wound up in one of my favorite ABB songs, Dreams.  This was an incredible showcase for Derek, and he went on and on, standing right between Gabe and Falcon and egging them on.

They were both kind of short sets, in fitting with the mellow atmosphere.  Susan was as gracious as ever to her New England fans, and then they came back out after a short break to encore with Derek and the Dominos' Keep On Growing.

The walk back to the parking lot was short and not crowded (usually a mob scene), and after splitting another beer the exit line was down to a few cars and we were out of there for a rainy and dark ride back.  Gee, we should go to more concerts!  

Here's a preview from the Union Leader and here's a review of the tour opener from Jacksonville.

Why So Quiet?

2020 has been quite a year.  If you're reading this 5 years from now and you've forgotten how bad 2020 was, you need to pay attention.  I won't go into it much: the COVID-19 pandemic, racism in the United States and the world coming to a head, refusal to face climate change, wildfires and floods, Donald Trump and his sycophants, dysfunction at work, and of course getting older.

Speaking of age, I have more and more perspective each year and I like to think this all could be turned around.  We could end up better preparing for the next pandemic, addressing racism legally and in our hearts and minds, finding ways to mitigate climate change and prevent natural disasters, waking people up to not elect bad politicians.  And getting older also has the benefit of helping me take work less seriously ... I hope to retire on a happy note.

So what does this all mean anyway?  It means that I haven't been out to a fucking concert since The Kennedys in February!  As you may recall, things shut down pretty quickly and people realized that a sweating mob of stoned/happy people in an enclosed space was a breeding ground for the virus which could kill us all.  Best to cancel concerts and they did, left and right.

We'd had tickets for Phil Lesh, JRAD in Colorado, Kasey and Clayton, Hot Tuna, and of course the Green River Festival.  At first people thought, "Oh it'll all be over by July and the GRF is outside anyway."  But very quickly this was seen as unrealistic and we all shut ourselves away.  And here it is the end of the year and we're still shut away.

At first, musicians took up the baton and showed many free webcasts.  For a while it was Phish on Tuesdays, Weir on Wednesdays, Tedeschi Trucks on Thursdays, JRAD on Fridays, and Dead & Company on Saturdays.  There was also a great "Shakedown Stream" on Fridays with many fun interviews followed by archival Dead footage, much of it un-aired previously.  But then the bands ran out of old stuff to air for free.

Musicians and music venues have been suffering, as has an incredible amount of the economy and our culture, not to at all minimize the tragic fact that almost 2 million people have died already from COVID-19.  People are finding ways to struggle along when they can, and we've been "buying tickets" to see live streams online.  But nothing substitutes for live music.  Sarah and I want to be super-cautious about going back into crowds, especially since we're old and so are more susceptible to the coronavirus.  But we hope to be back seeing stuff live soon.

And when we do, the feeling will be thrilling.  I'm looking forward to the emotion of seeing Phil again, if we can, rocking in cheap clubs with fantastic bands, nodding our heads to flat-picking in coffee houses, and running around between stages at outdoor festivals.  Hope to see you there!

Weir River and Back

Dear Dad-

Dave is still living in the apartment you’ve visited in North Quincy, and this is great in many ways, one of which is that it’s near the sea.  I put the kayaks on the roof of the car and braved the Expressway to get down there this Sunday morning.  Picked up Dave and headed down Quincy Shore Drive to Hough’s Neck, both of us wearing masks (long story).

This Sunday was another beautiful mid-summer day with lots of swirling clouds, some of which threatened rain, and some sunshine.  We put in an hour or two past low, but on the ramp recently reconstructed by the city out on the Neck this was not a muddy proposition.  A few recreational Quincy boaters trying to figure out how to handle their trailers tried to tie up the ramp, but we were in and out before they knew it.

This time we headed due East, forgoing Hull Gut and staying in Hingham Bay, where the chop was incredible!  It was stirred up by all the boats coming and going into Quincy and on the superhighways to the Weymouth Fore River and Back River, as well as by the strong incoming tide and the Southwesterly breeze.

We were bound for the Weir River on the other side of the Bay, around Grape Island, Slate Island (you could see why it was so called by the rocks on its beaches), and Bumpkin Island.  When we got there there was a parade of boats going into the small harbor and another parade of boats coming out, and the coast was lined with an array of housing stock.  How was this different from sitting on the side of the highway, watching the cars?

So we floated South around the coast of World’s End (a state park) while we ate our lunch, and then headed back through the chop.  As you may recall, Dave’s kayak, Lizzy, has a high bow and it mounted each wave.  My Ruby has a bullet bow and it shreds the waves, though I was afraid of being buried in some of them.  We both had our skirts on of course and would have been sunk if we hadn’t!  As it was we got pretty wet.

But my point is that it was a beautiful day.  How was it different than the busy world?  Maybe not so much, but I think that difference is worth pursuing.  And I want to say thanks Dad, for giving us opportunities to realize the beauty of the sea, and for being an example of how it can and should be incorporated into one’s life.

-Jonathan