Reviews
All I have to say is that this show was a ROCKER! From the start to the finish! I was down in the pit row six, dead center as the show began. The intro jam into "Alabama Getaway" just ripped! The crowd was the jury and they just took care of themselves! "Mama Tried" came next and Willie Nelson plucked some cool leads on this tune. Bobby and Jimmy traded some smoking slide action on "Red Rooster" with Willie chiming in here and there. Then Bobby said "here's something different" to the audience and then "The Race is On" popped in. What a show so far and it was only half way through the first set! A small jam formed and rolled into "Truckin." The whole place yelled out the line "New York got the ways and means but just won't let you be!" Even though I heard this tune at Merriweather it was a good choice being so close to NY. A small jam came out of "Truckin" and dropped into "Built To Last." Joan really did justice to this tune! She was graceful and raw at the same time, and her singing was straight from the heart. Bobby could really concentrate on his rythem structure that rang out so well, and Jimmy's leads were so clean and pronounced. This was much better than the Ratdog version. I thought this was the last song of the set but all of the sudden "One More Saturday Night" rocked the house for the closer! I was shocked to here this in the first set. Everyone was so surprised and just lost it. The crowd went into a dancing frenzy. The band was so on cue with each other as the "That's right, Saturday night" line between each verse roared out through the pavilion. And the "one more Saturday night" line was sung back and forth between the band and the crowd as the crescendos built up and ended with a bang!
Mickey and Billy started the second set right off with drums. It reminded me of a thunderstorm with Billy pounding away on the drums and Mickey working the lightning on the Beam. This session was joined by Bobby who was fooling around with his amps and threw some weird guitar comps for a good 5 minutes or so. Mickey and Billy left and the other members came in. For a good while, they jammed out into "space" then the drummers crept back in, along with Greg Osby on saxophone. Out of nowhere, the jam busted into "Playing in the Band." No one was expecting this--there was no subtle teases or anything--it just dropped out of the cosmos and into your face! Playing evolved into another jam that magically transformed into "Eyes of the World." Jimmy herring and Greg Osby stole this song. Jimmy was really ripping out some wild solos while trading off with the keyboards and Greg's sax fills were perfect. A super jazzy jam came again throwing the crowd in all different sonic directions. Then they threw it in your face again with "Masons Children." How did this come out of a jazz jam? I don't know, but this was a high-powered hard ride that Phil took into the fast lane. Phil let out the depth charges at the end of each verse going into the chorus as Bobby rocked out during the breakdown section with some strong off-beat comps that were layered by Mickey and Billy's double drumming! While the organs and Jimmy's guitar just wailed away into another whacked-out jam that seemed to last forever! Things eventually slowed down and off of one note "China Doll" slipped into the mix. What a perfect voice for this song; Joan sang it with such beauty and grace. As the spotlight hit Phil, "China Doll" evolved into "Unbroken Chain" which like "Mason's Children" had a powerhouse breakdown. "Saint Stephen" into the "William Tell Bridge" was an unsuspected double whammy! The place was roaring as everyone cheered and sang along! Then it was back to the ever-evolving jam that became a beautiful "Ripple." Finally a supercharged "Sugar Magnolia" had everyone rocking out and singing along as Bobby belted out the lyrics and added in a new comp style to the "sunshine daydream" part of the song. "Aiko Aiko" with Mickey singing and a vocal "We Bid You Goodnight" was the perfect way to end the show.
The selection of songs in the first set was great especially with Willie Nelson joining in for most of it and the second set turned into a giant jam with songs popping in and out instead of the other way around! The surprises and improv that I missed at Merriweather were all here at this show.... I was amazed and blown away! Thank you for ONE MORE SATURDAY NIGHT!
Neil Lewis, Stevensville, MD
I've seen the Dead over 100 times since 1977, and I must say that the 2nd set of Saturday's show was perhaps the finest I've ever seen. What's more, who could ever imagine the Dead, in the same show, playing St Stephen, Truckin, Sugar Magnolia, One More Saturday Nite, Eyes of the World, Unbroken Chain, and Mason's Children? Certainly not me.
The 1st set, most of which Willie Nelson played on--and brilliantly at that--was terrific, though who knew there was much better to come. A hot jam opened the show which flowed nicely into a rockin Alabama Getaway with Phil and Joan nicely sharing the vocals, followed by a far too infrequent Mama Tried, and then, as if back at Radio City in 1980, The Race is On. Red Rooster was okay, but the jam that followed, which went into Truckin, was hot! Built to Last came next, which, while the band deserves an 'A' for effort, and Joan was strong on the vocals, the jam didn't really gel. Not to let the energy fall, they closed the set with a powerful Saturday Nite--unusual and welcome here, as opposed to being the encore, the normal spot over the past 25 years.
The 2nd set started off, oddly enough, with Drums and space, which was followed by a smokin' Eyes of the World; I hadn't yet heard The Dead play this without Jerry and figured it would be a struggle, but as is usual for this group, they rose to the occasion and then some. This went into a rippin' Mason's Children, then a beautiful China Doll, with Joan doing justice to the vocals as she sang with passion. A long and powerful Unbroken Chain followed into an absolutely terrific St Stephen where Jimmy Herring really let it rip, followed by a fairly pathetic Ripple (they'll get it right one of these nights) into perhaps the hottest Sugar Magnolia I've ever seen or heard. The Aiko encore was ok, though a bit of a letdown given the power and intensity that had just taken place, but this was followed by a beautiful We Bid You Goodnight. All in all, a fabulous, special show. I've never seen the boys as happy on stage as I have this tour. I've seen them six times since Alpine Valley, and let me tell you, THEY'RE BACK!!!!
Tom Zankel, New York, NY
This was my first show of 2003, and I'm happy to report I picked the right one. This was the best show I've seen in the post-1995 era, absolutely number one on the list. Come to think of it, it might have been the best show I've seen period. I'm not exaggerating.
First, the bad part: the lawn seating at the Tweeter Center is horrible. Bad view, mediocre sound. We had to get out of there. It took a few tries, but we finally managed to find some decent seats way over in the Phil zone. And I'm glad we did, because the show was spectacular.
The first set, with Willie Nelson most of the time, was nice enough. Willie was actually very low key, hanging out near Jimmy and standing out only a couple of times. The opening jam rocked, with Phil visibly leading the charge, breaking into a strong Alabama Getaway. The crowd was in fine form, singing along with the chorus of Mama Tried. The jams before and after Truckin' were also bright spots; during the first one, I expected them to break into Bird Song at any point... which would have been nice, though it never happened. The highlight of the set, to me, was Joan proving herself by bringing an all new feel to Built to Last. That's the best part of having the new members in the band: the ability to present songs in ways you haven't heard before. It worked beautifully on that song. The set closed with a spirited One More Saturday Night. It was a first set with a rather obvious country and blues theme to it; who knows, maybe they wanted to accommodate Willie.
As with virtually every great show, the real highlight was the second set. I knew something special was going to happen when they opened the second set with a full-blown drums and space, and a very spacey one at that. Out came the band with a guest saxophonist, who I later learned was named... um, Greg something. I'm not familiar with his music, but I want to get familiar with it, real quick. He rocked. He didn't struggle to keep up, he didn't drown people out; he fit in perfectly as the band played out a perfect song selection for the set. It seemed like every song was jammed out in a new and innovative way, exploring new space with every note. As the set progressed, you could feel the surge in energy throughout the crowd.
Anyway, they abruptly turned their cosmic musical exploration into Playin'>Eyes. Those tunes are always welcome, but the set really took off with an outstanding Mason's Children. Joan absolutely nailed China Doll, and so did the rest of the band between verses. The jam out of China Doll blended into a huge Unbroken Chain, which jammed out forever. Saint Stephen into William Tell's Bridge hit the spot perfectly. I saw Bob picking up an acoustic towards the end of another wonderfully long jam, but had no idea that Ripple was next... another brilliant choice. Sugar Mag was just the right finale to bring us all back into the real world.
To me, the Aiko encore was a little bit of a downer after that second set. It seemed a bit uninspired, and I still haven't gotten used to Mickey's voice. So what did they do? They made it up to us with a sweetly sung And We Bid You Goodnight. Just a perfect way to end the night. As they took their collective bow at the end, they knew, and we all knew, that something special had just taken place.
This is a show that I'm definitely going to try to get on MP3; it'll sound good, but I know it won't be the same. Every note was right in the moment. I may never have an experience like this again.
Jeff Tolin, River Edge, NJ
