Furthur / The Dead / The Other Ones | OtherOnes.Net

Aaahh, here we are, gathered at the Gund Arena (isn't there a shot for that?), with the familiar sites and sounds and smells of the faithful followers of the vibe, ready to get it on with the 2002 Other Ones. After seeing this show, I hope this line up lasts. This is an extremely phat-sounding band, meaning very full, yet still able to skip and skitter and slide and turn on a dime and pull out transitions that made my jaw drop like it was UIC Pavilion '87 all over again. The show opened with a rousing "Cumberland Blues." The water was fine right off the bat, so everybody jumped in and made themselves comfortable. They had to get down, and so did I! The back 50 or 100 feet of the floor was open, and it served us well as we boogied to the feast of fun being served up. By the end of the first set, it was like dancing in the halls on the Spring '89 tour (complete with speakers in the hall). Happy spinning freaks everywhere with nothing left to do but dance, dance, dance. Hell yeah! Oh how I have missed doing this. The next song blew me away. In the context of my Dead past, having "Estimated Prophet" come as the second song in the first set would leave me wondering if I hadn't come in late somehow and missed the first set. But this is now, and the old playbook has been thrown out. I love getting hit by musical curveballs, and this wasn't just the location of the song that left me in total bliss, but the execution was so right on that I was beaming from synapse to synapse. After each line in the verses, Bobby would step back and let the band explore the Estimated signature theme for a bit before singing the next line. It was kind of scary at first.... I thought Bobby forgot how the song went (Hey, this ain't Truckin'), but soon realized it was a new wrinkle in the magical fabric of what I still consider the quintessential Grateful Dead song.
I would like to pause a moment to give a much deserved tip o' the cap to Mr. Jimmy Herring. This was the first time I have had the pleasure of being present to catch his vibe, and I loved every note of it. It evoked Jerry without sounding forced or contrived. Very natural, very powerful, very beautiful.
The twin setup of keys and organ were a tasty treat as well. That probably more than anything gave this band the bulk it had, yet the deft playing of Rob and Jeff (I can spell their last names, I just like to think I'm on a first name basis... )also gave it the ability to skip and skid and stutter. It was very big yet danced very lightly. Estimated jammed on, and for me, the show went ballistic when they lit the fuse on "Hard to Handle." Here we go, something I've always wanted to boogie to in person!! Man, this version raged, and Susan Tedeschi made her first major impression of the night. My impression... HELL YEAH! Right On! The people around me went absolutely crazy with this one. It was a wonderful moment, and the playing was so tight, yet so out of control that it began to take this sober head back to planet zippy. The blues then got bluesier and bluesier until it had to be.. .could it be... it's gotta be... and it was... "King Bee." Again, Ms. Tedeschi made me wonder if a voice that powerful even needs a microphone. Pigpen was certainly shinin' down on this. Very nice. The first real pause of the night led into the first glimpse into the 80s songbook, "Hell in a Bucket." Wow! That chopper was chargin up and down the arena halls. Power, power, power. Mickey and Billy driving the two-headed, seven-legged beast for all it's worth until I had to laugh out loud it felt so damned good. "Berth"a came around next... more good clean fun and loads of energy. Phil dropping his trademark low end bombs, Bobby doing the rock star things he does so well.... I felt at home again. "Promised Land" took us to the break in dire need of one. Another romping, high octane thrill ride complete with the first forgotten lyrics of the night. It just made it that much more authentic. In light of the absolutely flawless musical performance, one botched line did nothing but remind us that these guys are human after all. Incredibly gifted humans, but humans none the less.
The set break brought Robert Hunter out to sing wonderful versions of "Sugaree,""Standing on the Moon," "New Speedway Boogie," and "Ripple." He stalked around the stage with the bravado of a man secure in the knowledge that his words had changed the lives of a lot of these people here tonight, and if they hadn't, he didn't seem to care. He exuded confidence and displayed a suprisingly powerful voice. It was the cherry in the cake of my evening, and I greatly enjoyed it. The second set for the Not the Ones You Were Thinking Of began with the familiar opening notes of "Morning Dew." With Phil taking the lead on this vocal, I was pleased to find his singing in above average form. He seems more confident in his abilities as a vocalist, and I didn't find myself cringing one time. A pleasant surprise. Another curve ball came with "Born Cross Eyed." I was internally puffing up my tail feathers for even remembering this forgotten nugget of 60s psychedelia. Somebody tried to convince me it was "New Potato Caboose," but I stuck to my guns and was proven right when I returned home and found the setlist in my e-mail box waiting for me. Hooray for those hearty brain cells. All of that aside, this was a very intense version of this song. It's hard to believe that the rust came off so quickly after being shelved for pretty much the entire life of the Grateful Dead. It sounded amazingly tight, yet authentically psychedelic. Candace's oil and colored water blobs on the scrims added to the authentic sound by creating the perfect acid head imagery. It was great to watch the beautiful lights all night long. Another peak was reached with "St. Stephen," another first for me. WOW. This was all that and a bag o' bud. Talk about your plenty, this had plenty to give and it served it up generously. Dare I say we were slathered in this tour de force. I have heard some great Stephens on tape, and this one did 'em all proud. It was perfect in every way. The crowd was frenzied, the band was cookin', and the vibe was as bright as the beautiful lights. I was so glad that I made it at this point that I almost missed it when they shifted so delicately into "Eyes." Blissful dancing abounded in the not-so-open spaces of the back of the floor. The band charged through, Phil and Rob sharing vocal duties, and delivered us all exhausted into drums. The cotton in my mouth was ready for harvest, so I retreated to the refreshment stand for the briefest of breaks before returning to take in the rest of the sound solo Mickey and Billy were engaged in. It was like listening to an old friend tell a new story. Beautiful. "Help On the Way"! Oh Yeah. Side one of Blues For Allah was what set my ears to the Dead, and I have always had a very soft spot in my heart for those songs. The first Hunterism that caught my mind was "crippled but free, I was blind all the time I was learning to see," so it's always nice to hear and sing along with this song. Again, the execution was perfect... better than I ever dared hope, surging through a broiling "Slipknot" and right into my favorite moment at just about any show, the fuel injected leap into "Franklin's Tower." I'd bet that better than 90% of the people in the coliseum went airborn in unison at the start of Franklin's. Does it get any better than that? No one got confused, and baby did the music play. Rapture. Pure adrenalin-fueled ecstasy. Yee f'in haaaa. The encore, "Touch Of Grey," induced the first major sing-along of the night, and it was wonderful. We have survived, they have thrived, and it's great to be alive. I wish I could get to see more shows.... See, if I had a gun for every show I missed, I could arm a town the size of Mount Vernon.... But this night will shine on in me for a long, long time. Peace,

Saw two VERY solid shows in Philly and I had to wonder if the boys would have anything left following that monumental show in MSG. Other than the fact that it was cold as hell and the cops weren't being very permissive about vending and whatnot in the lots, Cleveland proved to be better than I figured. This band has the energy, desire, inspiration and love for the music to make every show great. I've been telling people it's more like this band is simply throwing songs in to make the jams diverse. They are simply playing THE MUSIC and leting it flow from the source. I'd kinda like to see a show where they don't play any songs and just jam the entire show!
Anyway, they opened with a solid Cumberland which I was hoping might turn out to be a Maggie's. Seems like they're playing a lot of Cumberlands this tour, but it does get the groove going in the right direction every time. Estimated was next and I loved the placement of this staple. The jam was excellent and hinting of unfamiliarity making me think we were going to get an older breakout. The Hard to Handle that ensued was one for the ages and reminded me of what the old days sounded like with Pig. The jams were so lengthy and exploratory on both tunes, I had to wonder if they were going to do any typical first set shorter tunes at all. They did decide to bring it down a bit with some more older Pig in the form of King Bee, followed by one of the best, if not the best, Buckets I've ever heard. Bobby was really on this one and it actually brought a tear to my eye. It's so nice to still be able to enjoy the ride--especially when it's better now than in quite some time! Bertha and Promised Land finished up the set and the boys gave way to Hunter who was not nearly as animated as in Philly but was his always entertaining self. I know some folks don't care for his vocals, but it is eerie how much he sounds like Jerry on some tunes. It is always a treat to see him and hear his own interpretations of such classics.
Phil opened the 2nd set with a well-sung Dew (although I still have a tough time with Phil on this one).... The jam was again very spacey and seemed to open the door to the SOURCE once again. I was not psychedelically altered but the jam out of Dew was altering in and of itself. Just about ANYTHING could have emerged from this whopper jam of goo, and I swear I heard about a dozen teases before it congealed into a very well-played Born Cross-Eyed. I think I liked this one even better than Alpine and it seemed even tighter and cleaner. I can't get enough of that syncopated, off-set keyboard comping and accents in that tune. It's always been one of my favorites and it's just great that they pulled this long-forgotten gem out of the closet. For that matter, it's rejuvinating for both fans and the band that they've pulled out all the old stuff they have on this tour.... Still waiting on that Easy Wind and Til The Morning Comes guys....
After another great jam, they continued with the old classics going into a solid St Stephen. This was my second of the tour. Philly's seemed a little better to me but Cleveland's had its moments of course. Jimmy is just tearing this song up. I love how he wails on the tease of The 11 a lot like Jerry sounded back in the day. Stephen poured into a galloping Eyes which Phil did a nice job on vocally. I must say that Phil has clearly worked hard to improve his voice and it is showing on this tour. (Not to digress too deeply, but the Terrapin in Philly was sooooooooo much better vocally than at Alpine as was the Birdsong in Pittsburgh last night!) Eyes featured perhaps the best keyboard solo from Rob that I've heard him play. The guy has a way of soloing such that the end of one line somehow becomes the begining of the next (as it goes over the bar as the jazzers would say). Anyway, this solo was a prime example of that. Rob is so precise that he's almost too good sometimes but this solo shows how he puts technical proficiency together with musicality and soul to faithfully represent this great body of art. He is clearly VERY serious about this music and you can see he inspires everyone else in that band. Talk about a dream come true for a former member of a GD-cover band. He should write a book about the whole experience. Eyes melted into Drumz>Space with some very nice grooves that continued when the whole band comes back to roll into another whooping epic in Help>Slip>Frank's. The jam after Help had me thinking Victim, and again, could have been just about anything before dropping into a very-well played and jamming Slipknot. Franklin's really got the crowd dancing hard and may've been the most energetic thing I saw in the 4 shows I caught. Phil signaled for the ending chords but Jimmy was having none of that and just kept soloing over the chords. Phil re-joined the fold and the jam finally ended to a very pleased audience. I was thinking double encore as it seemed there was time for it, but apparently they could only do one more. Touch was a nice encore with Bob singing rather enthusiastically. I like the way he does this tune and it appears he really gets off singing it too.
Overall, this band has some serious balls and should only continue to get better. Susan is a very nice addition and should enable some other cool breakouts in the future. See you on Summer Tour.

My friends and I got to our seats just in time to see the band walk out onto the stage and the lights dim. From that moment on, magic was in the air. The band got chugging with a strong Cumberland Blues. I was surprised to hear it followed by a well-executed Estimated Prophet, which flowed into a non-contrived feeling impromptu jam. A few Pigpen songs thrown in for good measure with Bobby and Susan sharing the mic on Hard to Handle. Bertha brought everyone back into the happy dance atmosphere and they ended with an album-esque Hell in a bucket, with Bobby really making us belive that he was enjoying the ride!
Robert Hunter was great. It's a real treat to hear the lyrics the way the writer had thought them up initially.
The band was back from their break and the set started off with space, accompanied by a beautiful light show with the same theme. Slowly a melody appeared from the cosmos... it was the space of night being greeted by the Morning Dew with Phil on vocals! Phil sounded really strong and carried the band nicely. Then, all of a sudden, from out of nowhere it came, Born Cross-Eyed! This song I can remember thinking to myself I'd never get to hear live, and here I was, hearing a block rocking version of this old gemstone! All of those complex transitions sounded smooth as butter! Then, just when I thought it couldn't get any better, the first notes of St. Stephen chimed through the Gund and made everyone who was still sitting down (shame on them) get out of their seats and shake what they came with. I was thoroughly enjoying this precisely dialed in version of this sought after beauty when a guy tapped me from behind and said "man down" pointing to my friend sitting down next to me. I looked down and didn't think anything of it--my friend seemed to be relaxing. Then about one minute later the guy behind me did the same thing and I tried to communicate with my friend. He wasn't responding, then he had a seizure. The lights were really crazy; I wonder if that's what caused it? Eventually he came to, but we had to leave. The good news is, thank God, my friend is okay. But I missed the rest of the show! I would highly recommend seeing this line up of TOO if they keep it (fingers crossed).

This was my second show of the tour, with Albany being the first. I have to admit, I thought the band was particularly tight this show. From the opening licks of Cumberland Blues, it just felt that Jimmy Herring was on. He seems to be working very well with Bobby and the rest of the band. Estimated Prophet is always one of my favorites, and being played in the first set was a nice place for the song to be in. The 15-minute version was splendid. Hard to Handle and King Bee showcased the vocals of Susan Tedeschi. I did not know what to expect with her, but she impressed the hell out of me. Thank you for a solid performance Susan. The show really took of for me with a fantastic version of St. Stephen in the second set. It got the crowd really moving and shaking. I was a little suprised with the band's next choice of Eyes of the World. This song is always a nice long jam session. Right after St. Stephen may not be the best place in the set for this, but it was still a splendid version. Mickey and Billy did their usual rhythm devils act. Normally I hit the men's room, but seeing these guys together made me savor the moment. The final three songs actually blew me away too. Help>Slipknot>Franklin's Tower was a great way to close out a show. The encore of Touch of Grey had me thinking that Jerry was up above watching everything smiling and nodding his head in total approval.
Looking forward to hopefully a spring and/or summer tour. These shows refuled my desire of the grate things we call... The Grateful Dead. Remember There Is Nothing Like A Grateful Dead Concert.

My first TOO show on this tour and I had a ball. The show was not sold out and was primarily local heads, it being the day before Thanksgiving. Opened with a nice Cumberland that segued into the revamped Estimated. A couple of highlights were Susan's take on King Bee and a Bertha > Promised Land that reminded me of the late 80's 1st set openers including Bobby flubbing the lyrics.
Hunter provided a nice break between sets. They should keep this up, a nice addition to make the time go quicker.
2nd set winners were an opening Dew, St. Stephen, and a set ending Help>Slip>Franklin's that had everyone rocking. After looking at all the other setlist on this tour, the 2nd set was one of a few that had that 80s/90s structure of four songs, drums/space, then three songs to finish. Heck, drums even came out of Eyes. Only thing missing was the Jerry ballad slot. Also missing was the Mickey "vocal rap" spotlight. No complaints from this fan on that aspect.
A word on the encore. The Dead never were huge fans of encores. No hyping up the crowd for the big hits or coming back a second time to show how much this crowd means to them. Jerry always thought you should leave it all out on the table during the main sets. Encores for the Dead are reasons to get the van warmed up so they could beat it out of town in comfort. With that being said a I Fought the Law would have been appropriate after a strong set but instead we got the next best thing, a Touch of Grey. I have not seen that as an encore in, what, one year since a Ratdog show? Guess somethings never change.

Man what a show in Cleveland.... I had a great time. Got there a little late but so were alot of people... a little slow gettin in. As I was goin through the gates the first notes of Cumberland Blues came through, and it sounded pretty good from outside! Finally I made my way in and caught the rest of it. What a great choice for an opener.... Estimated was next and I liked the way Bob held off of goin into the next verse... let the instrumental part keep goin. It was well done for sure and then into Hard to Handle. First time I had heard this live and thought it was pretty damn good.... Bob nailed it for sure. I'm a King Bee spotlighted Susan as she sang her heart out for this one.... A rockin Hell in a Bucket was next followed by a great Bertha with Rob on vocals.... A lot of energy only to end the first set with more energy: Promised Land! I about jumped out of my seat for this one.... Bob needed a little help with the lyrics on one of the verses(ha ha).
Second set opened with a spacy feel, then the first notes of Morning Dew were heard.... Very good. Next was a Born Cross-Eyed that was full of energy.... I really liked what they did with this one. They jammed with it, then it got quiet, and then the intro to St. Stephen was audible. The crowd roared and got on their feet (if they weren't already). Soon St. mellowed out and headed into Eyes of the World with Phil just singin away... more great jamming. Billy and Mickey went off on Drums, giving all they had. The rest off the band came back on stage and the drum kick led into Help on the Way. Again the place went crazy. They really went into exploratory territory with this one. At one point they went somewhere, weren't really sure where they were going, came back into Slipknot and into the Franklin's Tower. Man, talk about a party when that songs was being played.... I looked through the whole arena and everybody was dancing and celebrating. It was fantastic. An encore of Touch of Grey was a great way of sealing this great show to a close as they did powerfully. A great show!