Wellll welll welll... lemme tell ya kids... minus the downpours, that was in fact one of my favorite all-time shows. Maybe it was because if I had listed several tunes that I really woulda wanted to hear- they would be the ones they played.
Mississippi Half-Step smoked IMO, they did a real sweet funky off verse version- personally have not heard it played this way before, with Bobby doing the Mississippi 1/2 and the rest of the band about 1/2 verse ahead pluggin in the holes, it was very much to my likeing and started the evening off with a sweeeet groove. Well shit, THEN they haaad to go and play the tune I have been waitng for for ooooh, some EIGHTEEN YEARS to hear them dig back up- with a real niiice smoooth Bobby on accoustic (yes?) and Joan on "Me and Bobby McGee".....mmmmmmMMMMM!! From there into a nice hoppin version of Aiko- yes it was Mickey- no matter here I thought they crushed it again and I sure didn't see anyone sittin. Then out came Winwood to do his Low Spark of High Heeled Boys, it was nice, but it was Winwood, didn't sound like the dead, sounded like Winwood, which I was ok with being how I missed his set. Never heard "A Little Peice for you", nice Bobby/Joan tune, but I went for water. On my way back from getting water, realizing how damned far that lawn was- dare we try a shortcut- use the LAMMY and go right in next to the stage- YUP- held that bad boy lammy right in his face like I owned the joint- "All Access Pass..scuse me, thanks" "sure, go right through sir" (ironically with the big words DOOFUS at the bottom..DUH).....out we walk RIGHT in front of the stage in the first verse of WHEEL, starin' at Bobby and the boys about 20 yards away....we had to keep moving throughout this one as we had no seats to go to, noooo problem, spun my way up and down the isles and slowly back up top in time for the nice Touch of Grey. They did it really well, but surprisingly Jimmy did Jerry- he doesn' usually do Jerry- does his own thing, but this time to me it was more Jerry than Jimmy- he's Fn forgiven b/c it was flawless and moving.
Second set Stranger was nice and got the place up and ready for a raucus second set- regardless of the driving rain- I danced my frozen ass off to keep myself warm! Into Scarlet they gooooo mmmm thanks again Joan and Bobby...then...then that Hard to Handle was in fact Hard to Handle as IMO it was better than the 2-14-03 version, as Bobby and Joan once again got us into a grooovy funk that would make anyone smile ear to ear. I was unimpressed with the Night of 100 Stars- though I must admit there was nothing I wanted MORE at that very moment was see 1000 Stars- this was not what I had in mind. Theeeen we got our sweet sweeet SUGAREE, which along with the Sax dude up there and Joan- personally I was in GD HEAVEN as again, since the Branson Marsalis jams (on W/o A Net) - I have been yearning for a horn section up there, as well as a female vocalist- this was in fact The Dead (post Jer) in their prime kiddies, they could have plaaayed and plaaaayed that tune for another hour and I wouldn't have flinched, my body soaked up the sound like a sponge, and wrung it'self out during the sharp twinge of those first few noted of St. Stephen, again, with Winwood's Sax dude...and into William Tell Bridge, but to our surprise, no Eleven to follow and into a happy bouncy Playin'. That Midnight Hour was so smokey and groovy and Joan/ Bobby practically had verbal orgasmic jammin sex back and forth and back and forth they went never missin a beat and Joan bein her sassy sassy girl self made it all the sweeter. Reprise Playin carried us out. So everyone was pretty quick to guess the toughy encore of One More Sat night- but NO ONE would have guessed they would have also done a very unusual Phils Organ Donor Speach > One More Sat Night! ;-)
So all in all, what a wonderful time despite the poor weather. Thanks for the great fun to the fellow boarders that I met and hung out in the pouring rain with: Thx Jry, Snowrider, Siren, Circus, SugareeMe, Robfla, NJ Dave, ptprp, PeggyO, and Slave.
Chip Selley, Boston, MA
Opened with a tight, whimsical, upbeat Miss Half-Step, showcasing the good harmonies of Joan with the Dead. Bobby broke out a crowd pleasin' "Me & Bobby" with nice vocal interchange with Joan again.
Winwood joined for Iko - Mickey sang, which is okay for this tune (but lord help him on Fire - just say no Mickey!).
Wowed the audience with Low Spark (is that a first for the Dead?). Great solos but the band got a little sloppy on the time changes. Nice to see Winwood playing the music with a qualified band though.
Phil's "Little Peace" was a chance to rest, followed by nice versions of "Wheel" and "Touch" (not my favorite tune, but I guess it sums up their spirit and attitude at this point).
Second set "Stranger" was great. Wonderful Herring solo (and an appreciative audience) with another vocal scat between Joan and Bobby. Scarlet, Jam, Hard to Handle all hot. Nice drumz but they took their sweet time going through space. Somewhat uninspiring Night of 1K Stars, though Sugaree, St. Stephen, and Playin' made up for it. Joan tired to direct the band in taking some solos but it just didn't work. these guys build off of each other and can build to a solo, but not too good at just jumping in on cue. Even so, funky Midnight Hour (I thnk they were actually playing this at Midnight), then back to Playin' and Joan wisely chose not to remind anyone of Donna with any wailing.
Not surprisingly, finished the night with One More Saturday Night.
Overall, the Night had its highs and lows, but the highs made everything worth it.
Q the E, Rhode Island