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Asbury Night One...


VincentPuleo

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I was at both shows and the energy was amazing. I would rate both shows as very good, with moments of excellence. The vibe coming off of several thousand Dead Heads in a concrete vault is hard to describe. It comes through on the recordings available on archive. Check them out if you are on the fence about seeing Furthur. I think these two Asbury shows will push you over the edge.

In a nut shell, this band can really bring it. We all know what Bob, Phil and John are capable of. I think most of us are very familiar with their bodies of work. However, two grossly under appreciated components of this band are the drums and keys. The percussion section is so fun to watch/hear. Both Joe and Jay bang it out like you would not believe. Joe's whole body just writhes with energy and Jay is all over the place jumping around half of the time. I don't know how they do it. And as far as keys goes Jeff is right up there with the best out there. I love Barraco and what he does with DSO. And Jeff is the perfect choice for Furthur. Check out his piano solo on Althea. Amazing. I just want to give props to these guys because they are definitely overlooked. When you see them live you know they are a force to be reckoned with.

I'm over the issue of Bob and Phil singing. It's basically a crap shoot with both of them. You just have to accept it because it ain't gonna change. Phil's vocals on Peggy-O were fantastic, but he butchered Franklin's Tower. Really dragged the H>S>F trifecta down to the ground. Whatya gonna do? To be quite honest I thought that Bob sang really well on most songs. I didn't even take much notice of the choppiness he sometimes employs vocally.

My only issue with Furthur at this point is the jamming. There is no doubt that these guys can freestyle with the best of them, but there comes a time when the jam must end. After seeing them live it is very evident that Bob/Phil make the call on when to bring the song back down, but IMO they should leave that in John's hands. One of John's best qualities, along with all of DSO, is that they do the songs like the original GD did. Jerry always seemed to take the jams into outer space, but not out of the galaxy. A friend of mine always puts it like this: Jerry never went outside of the song. Even in the spaciest of jams you can pinpoint the song it belongs to. That's what Warren Haynes just can't do with these songs. But unlike Warren and many others who've tried to do it, John K. does this with the utmost ease, when give the opportunity to do so. Truly a student of the music. Unfortunately, it becomes very apparent when you see them live that John has clearly taken the solo/jam out to the limits he feels comfortable with (and they can be FAR OUT), but Bob will circle his finger in the air for the band to go around one more time. Enough already. Many times during the show, after performing a skin-blistering solo, I could clearly see John looking at Bob for reprieve, but Bob showed no sign of pulling out and heading back to the song. I'm sure this will clear up over time. That's just part of this type of music. Like I've said before give this band time to become intimately familiar with each other and they will be more of a powerhouse than they already are. I'm looking forward to catching them in February in NYC.

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This show was off the hook!

Thanks rob for giving me your spot at set break...i have never been that close to bobby or phil and it was so great to see john having a blast playing with them. Till next time, we're gonna beat on down the line!

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Guest deadheadmike

anyone notice the NOS tanks in the parking lot across the street about halfway between the convention center and the stone pony ... makes me wonder about the scene in bigger venues ... I remember that being very problematic in the lots during the early to middle 90's .

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I was at both shows and the energy was amazing. I would rate both shows as very good, with moments of excellence. The vibe coming off of several thousand Dead Heads in a concrete vault is hard to describe. It comes through on the recordings available on archive. Check them out if you are on the fence about seeing Furthur. I think these two Asbury shows will push you over the edge.

In a nut shell, this band can really bring it. We all know what Bob, Phil and John are capable of. I think most of us are very familiar with their bodies of work. However, two grossly under appreciated components of this band are the drums and keys. The percussion section is so fun to watch/hear. Both Joe and Jay bang it out like you would not believe. Joe's whole body just writhes with energy and Jay is all over the place jumping around half of the time. I don't know how they do it. And as far as keys goes Jeff is right up there with the best out there. I love Barraco and what he does with DSO. And Jeff is the perfect choice for Furthur. Check out his piano solo on Althea. Amazing. I just want to give props to these guys because they are definitely overlooked. When you see them live you know they are a force to be reckoned with.

I'm over the issue of Bob and Phil singing. It's basically a crap shoot with both of them. You just have to accept it because it ain't gonna change. Phil's vocals on Peggy-O were fantastic, but he butchered Franklin's Tower. Really dragged the H>S>F trifecta down to the ground. Whatya gonna do? To be quite honest I thought that Bob sang really well on most songs. I didn't even take much notice of the choppiness he sometimes employs vocally.

My only issue with Furthur at this point is the jamming. There is no doubt that these guys can freestyle with the best of them, but there comes a time when the jam must end. After seeing them live it is very evident that Bob/Phil make the call on when to bring the song back down, but IMO they should leave that in John's hands. One of John's best qualities, along with all of DSO, is that they do the songs like the original GD did. Jerry always seemed to take the jams into outer space, but not out of the galaxy. A friend of mine always puts it like this: Jerry never went outside of the song. Even in the spaciest of jams you can pinpoint the song it belongs to. That's what Warren Haynes just can't do with these songs. But unlike Warren and many others who've tried to do it, John K. does this with the utmost ease, when give the opportunity to do so. Truly a student of the music. Unfortunately, it becomes very apparent when you see them live that John has clearly taken the solo/jam out to the limits he feels comfortable with (and they can be FAR OUT), but Bob will circle his finger in the air for the band to go around one more time. Enough already. Many times during the show, after performing a skin-blistering solo, I could clearly see John looking at Bob for reprieve, but Bob showed no sign of pulling out and heading back to the song. I'm sure this will clear up over time. That's just part of this type of music. Like I've said before give this band time to become intimately familiar with each other and they will be more of a powerhouse than they already are. I'm looking forward to catching them in February in NYC.

Thank you for the very thoughful and well written critique. I wasn't at any of the east coast shows. However, I saw two of the Oakland concerts and have listened to most of the shows from last week. I think you are pretty much spot on with everything you said. As Phil and Bobby continue to increasingly trust John's instincts, I suspect this band will continue to grow even better. For that matter, as I've stated in previous posts, I would really like to see the band evolve to the point that Phil and Bobby are just two members of this band of six great musicians. It's still sounding a bit too much like PhilBobby and friends for me at times. Thus, we get travesties like Phil's singing on Franklin's. The other four guys are just too damn good to be relegated to supporting cast. This band is working in a way that no previous post-Jerry Lesh and/or Weir band has because of all six people. Bob especially is sounding far better than I have heard him since the GD days because of who he is sharing the stage with. I'm not sure that the two guys with the names in larger font have completely figured this out yet. It will be very interesting to see how this evolves in the coming year.

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