Guest deadheadmike Posted January 4, 2010 Report Share Posted January 4, 2010 Set On The Road Again Stagger Lee (JK) King Bee Hurricane (JK) Women Are Smarter They Love Each Other (JK) Maggies Farm Stella Blue (JK) > Throwin' Stones > Brokedown Palace (BW) Loser (JK) Donor Rap - Good Night . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blindman Posted January 4, 2010 Report Share Posted January 4, 2010 So... an interesting night after the tsunami of music that was pushed out at the Civic the last couple nights. The Throckmorton is a beautiful theater and just across the street from the old historic Sweetwater. They chose not to open the small balcony which kept everyone on the floor in a GA setting. Mill Valley is just gorgeous and the restaurants and vibe is perfect for this type of 10 pack of practices. The Road Again opener was quick and fun but a bit disjointed since it appeared that Joe wasn't fully familiar with the tune. He struggled with the Fall dates a bit just because he is learning the Dead tunes as he goes. Joe is a big time pro and very good but everyone has to ramp up at some point. Stagger was awesome and JK is just so good on that tune. The King Bee was old school and good to hear but the set turned up on the Hurricane. Now I love this tune and it was fun to hear John work through it. The tune has almost a desolation like structure so JK had to actively reference his music stand as he filtered through the verses. He put a nice solo on the end and this tune will eventually be a barnburner once they work through it a few more times. The Women was good and peppy and JK had a big solo section at the end of this tune. It reminded me a bit of the Straw the other night (which was massive BTW) where JK just responds thoroughly to Bobby's assigned tunes. Then came the TLEO which needed to be sung by John and fortunately was. Jeff took his best solo of the night during the break and then handed it off to John for a nice mind melter solo. JK knows that tune so well and I think he was relieved to get away from his stand post Hurricane. The Maggies was a rework from Weir and he took all the vocals. Bob played slide on it and added a few bars of slide between lines which slowed down the tune. Didn't work for me but who knows how it may evolve. OK. Then came the Stella. It was almost too much as JK played the intro as a number of my hopes and fears culminated into a few bars of notes. Fortunately, all came down just as hoped and expected. The first few verses were pristine and delicate and pointed. The room was as quiet as possible all the way through. Then came the solo and it all came together. I spent some time nursing my hangover on the 1st thinking about the Civic and knowing how awesome the shows came off. I figured these ballads might be coming quick but who would've though this quickly. Anyway, it was as good as I could've wished and the East Coasters have this one now to look forward to. Bobby then stepped up and played a smokin Throwin. His interplay with John was awesome and again.... JK played a perfect throwin jam. Just super ripping. Almost like Bob knew he had to step up and the two just came together. The band then dropped into the Brokedown which was almost like an encore. Bob sang it and even the backup singers couldn't help him much. It was played beautifully, tne vocals were rough and I couldn't help but think of Buffalo. At the end, Phil stepped to the mike and told the band they would play one more. JK launched into the Loser and I figured it was Phil's turn. And then JK stepped up and crushed the Loser... and it was good. Happy New Year everyone... more shows to come this week.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forum MVP John A Posted January 4, 2010 Forum MVP Report Share Posted January 4, 2010 Thanks for the review, Blindman. Wow. JK Stella and Loser? And Hurricane? Talk about out of left field. Or have Phil and/or Bobby done that song before? I'm guessing not, or JK wouldn't have been given the vocals. Love how the repertoire is so quickly expanding. It's evident why they want to do all these rehearsals! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neutrino Posted January 4, 2010 Report Share Posted January 4, 2010 What a treat last night was!! The venue is wonderful, and the performance was spectacular. The sound quality was quite good, and not overly loud as I had feared in such a small room. I just couldn't believe it when I heard the intro to Stella. Only question was would they do the right thing and give the vocals to John? Certainly this was the highlight of the evening for me, but the rest of the setlist was also completely spectacular, and with many surprises. This performance may be considered a "rehearsal" but the playing was almost flawless. The only real flub came on Loser. Like the rest of the show, it was really a great high-energy performance, but it was actually the first time I ever heard JK completely forget the words to a song. His expression of bemusement as he looked over at Phil was great. He made up for it with the guitar solo. Actually, this made it feel like a real rehearsal, and I loved it! It was interesting to be in such a small venue, and I had two observations. First, there were virtually NO TALKERS!! It is so nice to be standing there with a couple of hundred people who are simply there to appreciate the music, and not have to listen to clueless people around you (who are often drunk) have some inane screaming conversation. At the same time, the concert energy is just not there in such a small venue, as it is in a larger arena. I'm thinking that the optimal audience size for a show may be something roughly in the range 2000-5000. Large enough to have that somewhat intangible "larger than life" rock concert energy, but not a huge arena with lousy sound and a loss of connection to the stage. I did have an interesting pre-concert experience at dinner. I was having a meal with a very nice guy I recently met at a show and his young son in small restaurant very near the theatre. As we were talking and getting to know each other better, who should walk in and sit down in the table next to us 3 feet away? Jeff Chimenti and Jay Lane! I didn't want to bother them, but it was rather distracting to have these guys practically sitting at our table. I finally said I was sorry to intrude, but had to express my admiration for how this band is playing. I basically told them I was loving what they were doing, and it was a real privilege to be able to hear this band. Also mentioned that it was working so well due to all six of the members of the band (or maybe now 8) being such inspired players. They replied that they considered it was a great privilege to have been invited to be part of this. I guess there is one more observation from the above two about concerts in a small venue in small town: the band may very well just sit down next to you an order a pizza! I hope to be able to score a ticket to one more show. If not, I am feel happy and really honored to have been able to see this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forum MVP New York Steve Posted January 4, 2010 Forum MVP Report Share Posted January 4, 2010 What a treat last night was!! The venue is wonderful, and the performance was spectacular. The sound quality was quite good, and not overly loud as I had feared in such a small room. I just couldn't believe it when I heard the intro to Stella. Only question was would they do the right thing and give the vocals to John? Certainly this was the highlight of the evening for me, but the rest of the setlist was also completely spectacular, and with many surprises. This performance may be considered a "rehearsal" but the playing was almost flawless. The only real flub came on Loser. Like the rest of the show, it was really a great high-energy performance, but it was actually the first time I ever heard JK completely forget the words to a song. His expression of bemusement as he looked over at Phil was great. He made up for it with the guitar solo. Actually, this made it feel like a real rehearsal, and I loved it!It was interesting to be in such a small venue, and I had two observations. First, there were virtually NO TALKERS!! It is so nice to be standing there with a couple of hundred people who are simply there to appreciate the music, and not have to listen to clueless people around you (who are often drunk) have some inane screaming conversation. At the same time, the concert energy is just not there in such a small venue, as it is in a larger arena. I'm thinking that the optimal audience size for a show may be something roughly in the range 2000-5000. Large enough to have that somewhat intangible "larger than life" rock concert energy, but not a huge arena with lousy sound and a loss of connection to the stage. I did have an interesting pre-concert experience at dinner. I was having a meal with a very nice guy I recently met at a show and his young son in small restaurant very near the theatre. As we were talking and getting to know each other better, who should walk in and sit down in the table next to us 3 feet away? Jeff Chimenti and Jay Lane! I didn't want to bother them, but it was rather distracting to have these guys practically sitting at our table. I finally said I was sorry to intrude, but had to express my admiration for how this band is playing. I basically told them I was loving what they were doing, and it was a real privilege to be able to hear this band. Also mentioned that it was working so well due to all six of the members of the band (or maybe now 8) being such inspired players. They replied that they considered it was a great privilege to have been invited to be part of this. I guess there is one more observation from the above two about concerts in a small venue in small town: the band may very well just sit down next to you an order a pizza! I hope to be able to score a ticket to one more show. If not, I am feel happy and really honored to have been able to see this one. wow, great reviews, now, this is starting to look promising. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forum MVP found Posted January 4, 2010 Forum MVP Report Share Posted January 4, 2010 AWESOME! Breaking out a lot of great tunes, digging the vocal selections. Looks like this Winter Tour is gonna be quite intense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forum MVP gr8fulpair Posted January 4, 2010 Forum MVP Report Share Posted January 4, 2010 YES! with each performance and subsequent review (and youtubes) I'm getting more pumped about this band. I am woefully bummed that I will be gone when they come to my town! The happy consolation is that DSO will be here two weeks later for two nights and I'm already holdin'! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forum MVP anddave Posted January 4, 2010 Forum MVP Report Share Posted January 4, 2010 wow, great reviews, now, this is starting to look promising. starting? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blindman Posted January 4, 2010 Report Share Posted January 4, 2010 Wow. JK Stella and Loser? And Hurricane? Talk about out of left field. Or have Phil and/or Bobby done that song before? I'm guessing not, or JK wouldn't have been given the vocals. Love how the repertoire is so quickly expanding. It's evident why they want to do all these rehearsals! Phil actually played Hurricane with his "friends" lineup with Chris Robinson. Saw them play it one night at the Fillmore and Chris was very good on it. Its a full tune.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blindman Posted January 4, 2010 Report Share Posted January 4, 2010 The only real flub came on Loser. Like the rest of the show, it was really a great high-energy performance, but it was actually the first time I ever heard JK completely forget the words to a song. His expression of bemusement as he looked over at Phil was great. He made up for it with the guitar solo. Actually, this made it feel like a real rehearsal, and I loved it! The Loser was interesting b/c JK did completely drop the third verse. John blushed and shook it off by crushing the solo and then dropping into the "Last fair deal..." chorus which he sings so well (right on key and strong). Cool thing about the Loser is that the band needs to give JK songs like Loser and Row Jim before they can begin giving him the Lay Me Down and High Time..... we're getting there quickly.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sister Bluebird Posted January 5, 2010 Report Share Posted January 5, 2010 The Loser was interesting b/c JK did completely drop the third verse. whoa, bobby was supposed to teach him audacious, not how to forget lyrics. well, at least he's learning from the best... i've seen john sporting jerry's love smile in some of the youtube clips, that smile that makes you feel like his beloved child. now forgetting lyrics. his jams are getting more and more powerful. maybe the morph is happening right before our eyes. remember those video visuals they did in the 90s where phil's face would morph into jerry's, jerry's into bobby's... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forum MVP VincentPuleo Posted January 5, 2010 Forum MVP Report Share Posted January 5, 2010 gaaad damnnit, it all rolls into one. The Stella was conjured. This is good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forum MVP Tom Banjo Posted January 5, 2010 Forum MVP Report Share Posted January 5, 2010 Thanks for the review blindman. I can't wait for Feb tour. I won't hide my excitement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forum MVP kdubfan Posted January 6, 2010 Forum MVP Report Share Posted January 6, 2010 Hurricane !!!! Stella !!!! WOW !!!! Any copies of this show around? I Need to hear this!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redeyedbert Posted January 6, 2010 Report Share Posted January 6, 2010 Hurricane !!!!Stella !!!! WOW !!!! Any copies of this show around? I Need to hear this!!!! Winter tour will have versions of these tunes. My guess is these shows don't have tapers. Anyone? Tapers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neutrino Posted January 6, 2010 Report Share Posted January 6, 2010 Winter tour will have versions of these tunes. My guess is these shows don't have tapers. Anyone? Tapers? No taping was allowed. They were also very stricked with even photography. The best you're going to hear and see are low quality recordings by cellphone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forum MVP chuckvegas Posted January 6, 2010 Forum MVP Report Share Posted January 6, 2010 No taping was allowed. They were also very stricked with even photography. The best you're going to hear and see are low quality recordings by cellphone. I think "low quality" would be putting it charitably. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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