I am not sure who to blame--the Dead or the bankers who designed the "New and Unimproved Lawn section"--but the sound up there just plain sucked! "Please turn it up" was all I was thinking, and by the second set someone did turn it up. 95 degrees, hot sunny, humid.
Show opened with a crisp Slip/Franklins carried over from previous night; I always enjoy the way the band ties things together like that. Baba Jingo? What can i say--never liked it, never will. I fully expected Low Spark and was very pleased; Winwood's voice is supreme! Not the same can be said for Bobby these days. I'm guessing the heat and the ailments of the road still havent worked themselves out this early in the tour. Music Never Stopped was decent, yet still barely audible in the back sections of the lawn. Me and My Uncle with Bob on acoustic was and will always be a timeless classic. Then with a Joan version of Mr. Charlie you could tell things were heating up. Joan really is a nice addition to the group, hitting those high "Donna gasms" we all love, yet with her own style completely diferent to Susan Tedeschi's during the fall tour, or was it spring. Anyway, an always pleasing but somewhat labored Bertha closed the set. Time to let the sun set and the cool breezes come in.
A nice long break from the heat and you could tell things were gonna get a bit spicey this evening. Started off with a nice jam into one of the highpoints of the evening; Joan's rendition of Reuben and Cherise brought a tear to my eye. Simply scary how Garcia-like this "all woman" can belt out this song! No More Do I, eh.... Born Cross-Eyed, real nice to hear; vocals again were a bit strained but you could tell this evening was going to be about technical "very spacy, very spacy jams" and less about crowd sing-along. I have to say I was getting very excited, yet still I wished for better sound, or closer seats. Nice long teasy jam, with no mistake a Dark Star was coming. Nice version, light show was excellent. Not as strong as MSG previous tour, but with an outdoor venue I imagine sound is tougher to control. It was very nice to see the band so tight musically, with Phil, Jimmy, Bobby all playing off each other well with those Joan-isms really fitting in nicely. Slipped well into Lady with a Fan (i.e. Begining of Terrapin Suite). Things were real nice at this point. Did I say spacy Jams? Real spacy... look up into the stars kinda spacy and forget it was 2003 in NJ spacy. You know those moments of "I felt like it was 85 again"? Nice choice for Peggy-O, real sharp transition. The play between Bobby and Joan was wonderful. I really like Joan. Back into Terrapin but I dont believe they ever came to the "TERRAPIN" crescendo part. Must be saving that for next show. Back into another long jam... excellent work by the whole band. Keys sounded excellent, Phil was a trooper as always pounding away, and Bobby and Billy looked tired. Here comes Dark Star again, real nice tease in and out here. The Band was really playing with our minds. Predictable yes, always appreciated. Red Rooster was always a favorite of mine when Brent would take a verse with Bobby; this one seemed labored. Thump, thump thump goes Phil... and THE OTHER ONE! hits you right in the face. Nice Job boys! Attics closer was sweet end to a Hot, spacy day, where even the band may have been a bit spaced from the sun.
I walked away feeling OK about this show. On paper, same show 10 years ago would have had me beaming for weeks.... Tonight I'll beam for a little while.
PS... While I think the idea of getting a show directly from the soundboard is an excellent idea and I know the boys would never give us anything but the best available sound quality known to man, I say boo!hoo! Charging $25 dollars for a "bootleg" tome is against all I stand for. I would feel cheated to buy one of these shows from a dude in a stupid "cat in the hat" hat, just like I feel cheated to pay 3.50 for bottled water.
Did I have a good time? Yes. Do I sound a bit negative? Yes. It's because for the last 20 years I haved loved nothing with more passion than the music the folks create, and I feel blessed and at times saddened that I still can "re-live" the glory days with a few new players and a few new tricks up their sleaves. Thanks Boys, thanks Joan. By the way... I hate the name THE DEAD.
Peace and Love, Praise Jah Rastafari
Addendum... I forgot to say all I could think about was the excellent sax playing. I though it was straight outta Nassau 89 (?) with Branford. Nice work.
Mike Dolan, Matawan, NJ
Franklin's Tower was the first Dead song I feel in love with. Coming right at the opening of the first show we saw since Jerry's passing, it was a make-or-break thing. Boy, did it make it. I felt warm all over... oh, that was the 90+ degree temperature...never mind, it was still a great rendition. Now, I'm not familiar with Baba Jingo and, truthfully, would rather have stayed that way. Low Spark was incredible, flowing right into The Music Never Stopped. I have to say I've seen Me and My Uncle done more times than I care for, but with Bobby on an acoustic, it had a new and tasty flavor. Then came the killer... Mr. Charlie. I couldn't believe it. I would have loved it if it was just a so-so rendition, but Joan's voice in a blues tune can't be argued with. It was incredible. The first set closed out with another song that maybe I've heard too many times. It certainly sounded like the band had played Bertha one time too many.
The second set took off right away with Reuben and Cerise. From there it went increasingly deeper into the cosmic ooze. Born Cross-Eyed was a welcome surprise, then in and out of Dark Star and the Terrapin suite. Stuck in the middle was Peggy-O, as it was written, but as I've never heard it performed. All three voices of the tale were present--narrator, Peggy-O, and William. The only downside was that Bobby seemed to forget his lines, not the first time in the show, and not the last. The show seemed to lose some steam after that with a hurting Little Red Rooster and an underpowered The Other One. Joan redeemed it when, during Sugaree, Bobby got lost again and she kicked into high gear and made up for it, belting it out as if it were written for her voice (no, I don't consider this blasphemy). Attics was an incredible encore that left me fully satisfied.
Now I need to address a certain element in the audience: Yes, Jerry is gone and this is a horrible void that will never be filled. Joan is not attempting to fill Jerry's shoes. She has her own place, and I think it's a good one. You can choose to like her or dislike her, but please keep it to yourself and let the rest of us enjoy the show. Personally, I think Joan does a great job. She has the perfect voice for the bluesier numbers, such as Mr. Charlie and Hard to Handle. I hope I get to see her do Me and Bobby McGee some day.
Charlie, Watchung, NJ