Reviews
Between the sunny day, the fun lot scene, and the TRULY S U P E R show.... WOW!!! Bob Weir steered this ship tonight!!! Bobby's stage prescence kept things on course and operating flawlessly. His voice hasn't sounded this strong in years. Jimmy Herring's timing and his ability to play the songs as written are incredible assets. He also brought forth the spontaneous licks that added a great guitar dimension to the show.... More jamming tonight than the SPAC show, which, to me, is right on the money.
The band's overall chemistry, the Joan Osborne vocals, and the all around beautifully delivered show is likely to be one of the stand out performances of this tour!!! Steve Winwood deserves a mention - his addition during the first set enhanced this performance. The feelings of awe arrived and brought me back to the Grateful Dead shows.... Saturday @ Tweeter Camden - can wait !!
R L, Pompton Plains, NJ
Made the quick decision to ride the five hours to Jersey... no regrets. Tommorrow Never Knows was excellent; the band'sjust gettin better and better every time i see em. Great crowd, great light show, and the music was top notch. They really had it together compared to the Merriweather, but, hey, I think every show's a good show at least in some respect : )
Suz, Maryland
With this being the only show I was going to see on the first leg before the Dylan run, I went in with high expectations, especially on the heels of an off night. The stars must not have been aligned because the show was, to put it mildly, lousy.
From the right channel crackling at the beginning of LTGTR I had a bad feeling that we might be in for a rough ride. The band was never in sync from that point forward. The transitions were sloppy, and Bobby was being very overbearing in 'leading' the band through the changes. While I love Bob and Ratdog, for goodness sake, leave Even So>October Queen>Deep End for Dog tour only. That combo just ate all the energy out of the first set. A lengthy Drums>Space began the second set which led to the SLOWEST Smokestack I've ever heard. They got the tempo right during the ending jam but the damage had been done. Mojo Working was an interesting choice, but then Bob screwed it up again with a forced transition into Schoolgirl (during which the rest of the band got lost and it was only Bob, Mickey, and Billy for the first couple of lines). There were some minor rally points, Tons of Steel being the major one. After that there were more problems shifting gears into the Eleven and the rendition of Slipknot was hideously lame. In the era of composing setlists, NFA just seemed too scripted to be interesting out of Slip. It was a shame that the only time Phil's presence was known all night was during the donor rap. The band could have used some of his direction. In the post Dead years I've seen tons of Ratdog and Phil shows, and I left last night during the encore thinking that it is a shame that the very different vibes of each band has yet to be transformed seamlessly into the Dead. Hopefully last night was just an aberration and the second night at PNC will be better.
Keith, Hamilton, OH
I experienced my first Dead show on my third birthday, 6/28/85, and two others followed in my early childhood. However, the concert on 6/24/03 was the first Dead show that I captured entirely--that made me walk away glowing with a newfound appreciation to the music that had raised me. The mellow first set was more of an invitation to the audience to get into the groove. The second set, compiled with fierce energy, invited the audience to give their groove back to the stage. "Fade Away" was totally intense; everything was just amazing. Jone Osborne did an excellent job and I think her confidence level was striking; sharing a stage with a legend is not easy, but she made it just flow.
The only disappointment was the vibe. Inside everyone was jammin', but once the grass started (general admission), it seemed people were just not feeling the music like they should have been!! Oh well, I had a fantastic time just closing my eyes and feeling the music pulsate through me. THANK YOU OTHER ONES!!!!!!
Patty Youngclaus, Sparta, NJ
I agree, sadly, with Keith of Ohio about NJ 6/24. I'm not going to rehash the show in detail, as his points are on the money... Jams stopped short, few real transitions, and poor song choices and performance (the crackling speakers were fixed quickly). One high point: the drums at start of set 2 were very interesting and mighty danceable.
You may not want to post this. But, I think having my concurrence with what Keith posted will lend balance to the record versus all the glowing reviews you mostly receive.
Mike, Bedminster, NJ
This was easily the first OFF night for the boys of this tour. Coincidentally, this was the first day of sunshine for this tour making for a very hot, dehydrating day. Up until this point, it had been the L.L. Rain Summer Tour, with bad weather either in the forecast or pounding us dead on. Perhaps exhaustion hit the band as much as it did the tourheads. At this point, even with the day off before, everyone was tired from the absolutely KILLER run from Merriweather through Mansfield. In any event, it was Bob's day to shine as he took the reigns and headed a very defunct and uninspired first set. LTGTR never took off and the inclusion of Even So>October Queen>Deep End even had Bobby fans (myself included) begging for anything danceable. Gimme Some Lovin didn't even compare to the high energy version at Merriweather. Fire>Passenger was fun however. Space>Devils proved to be the highlight of the show (as it has been for the entire tour), so why not open the 2nd half with it? Good stuff. Got My Mojo Workin was a blast--a really raunchy tune with melodic punch. Tons of Steel was a treat and the first nod to Brent this tour. Tommorow Never Knows was very cool, but, again, another slow selection. The remainder of the set was typical at best, but nevertheless, tired sounding. The Brokedown Palace encore was AWeSOME though, giving us something to talk about after the show....
Jimmy James, Annapolis, MD