rowe Posted August 16, 2010 Report Share Posted August 16, 2010 The band played a great, great show tonight in one of the most beautiful outdoor venues you'll ever see. With the band facing Lake Champlain and the Adirondack mountains beyond, only about 200 feet of lawn separated the stage from the lake. Lots of dancing room, great beer and food options and low key security helped make this a really fun night. But the real story was the band. They were totally on, especially Jeff. There were times tonight when Eaton's jaw just dropped as Jeff took the music to places few of us could imagine. With the clouds hanging low and rain threatening, the band tempted fate by opening with Cold Rain & Snow and followed with Lazy Lightning. Seeing they had induced no rain, they celebrated with a rousing version of Loose Lucy, all band members now in high gear. Easy to Love You followed and sealed the deal on an elective set. This is such a great song and rarely played. Mama Tried/Cumberland filled the cowboy slot and Jeff was really ripping it up by this point. For me, the Loser which followed was really special. Jeff sang it with such feeling and his lead was spot on. Then we were treated to a second Rob B tune, Blow Away which led the the set closer Music Never Stopped. Nice to have two jam tunes in the first set and the band did not disappoint as Jeff raised things to the goose bump level before the break. First set 70 minutes. Second Set opened with a long Shakedown and the jam really showcased Jeff. With no disrespect to JK, I really feel that Jeff takes the jams to places that JK rarely did. He is patient and lets things develop. He shows incredible creativity as a player. Women are Smarter was really fun and we were all dancing hard by this point. Unsure as to where the set would go from here, we were treated to the first of several surprises in this set, Mission in the Rain. This was so well played and sung by Jeff and appropriately, it induced the only raindrops that fell from the sky tonight. Truckin' was also a bit of a surprise and though this is never on my "please play this" list, it sounded really good tonight and the jam, though short, had a nice europe 72 feel to it. Instead of stretching this out, the band opted to rev things up and transitioned to a lengthy Caution which was one of the many highlights of the night. As we have come realize, Jeff is really in his element when it comes to late 60's, early 70's dead. I had some friends with me who had never seen the band with Jeff and I think they were all true believers by the time drums came around. Drums/Space were unique tonight for a couple reasons. First a local Digeridoo player joined for the drum segment (very cool) and second, Lisa did a really nice, long vocal piece as part of space. St. Stephen was well done as usual and we all expected William Tell and the Eleven to follow, but the band surprised again and busted out Doin That Rag. The band did a solid job on what is a very difficult song to play and Jeff held his own on the vocals. For me, the highlight of the night was the To Lay Me Down that followed. Honestly, this was one of the most beautiful things I have heard the band do. Jeff's singing was right on, the harmonies, sublime, and Jeff's lead, wow. Interestingly, the band announced that a local radio station had been running a contest for two weeks and the winner got to pick a song to be included in the setlist. The woman who won picked To Lay Me Down. Dino (I think he was at the mike) commented that it was a great choice. I agree..we owe that woman a great debt of gratitude. Honestly, I was hoping for something else to end the show..Going Down the Road maybe or Good Lovin, but had to settle for One More Sunday Night..which was well played and had the crowd rockin, and at this point in my life it's all good..so, of course, we danced hard. I could not for the the life of me come up with the name of the JGB blues tune that was the first encore, but the show closed with 15 minutes still on the clock (9:45) with a very nice Ripple. Second set 2 hours. What a great time in a beautiful place! This was my second time seeing the band with Jeff and all doubts and questions are erased. As I said before he takes the music places that didn't seem possible before. These guys just keep getting better and better. The only band taking the music furthur in my opinion is the Dark Star Orchestra. Thanks for a great night!!!!! Elective Setlist Cold Rain & Snow Lazy Lightning Loose Lucy Easy to Love You Mama Tried> Cumberland Blues Loser Blow Away Music Never Stopped Shakedown Street> Women Are Smarter Mission in the Rain Truckin'> Caution> Drums/Space> St. Stephen> Doin' That Rag> To Lay Me Down One More Saturday Night JGB Blues Tune (help please) Ripple Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forum MVP kdubfan Posted August 16, 2010 Forum MVP Report Share Posted August 16, 2010 Very nice read! Thanks for the post :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowe Posted August 16, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2010 In rereading my post this morning, I feel like I'm being a bit hard on JK. After all, I love JK. In part he is responsible for the very existence of this band! I continue to listen to the old DSO shows religiously and I am always amazed by his playing and singing. It is just that Jeff brings something to the band that has allowed them to grow, and that is exciting. It is easy to shower Jeff with love when initial expectations have been exceeded and that is exactly where I feel we are at with this incarnation of DSO. I also didn't mean to ignore the efforts of other individual members last night, because they all played their asses off. The level of energy, professionalism, consistency and creativity these guys and gal bring every night is simply astounding. Keep up the great work! It is exciting for us New Englanders to think that we have more shows coming up in just a month..and some are even on weekends!! Looking forward to Lowell and Albany, at least! Peace, Rowe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forum MVP Rbarracoph Posted August 16, 2010 Forum MVP Report Share Posted August 16, 2010 The band played a great, great show tonight in one of the most beautiful outdoor venues you'll ever see. With the band facing Lake Champlain and the Adirondack mountains beyond, only about 200 feet of lawn separated the stage from the lake. Lots of dancing room, great beer and food options and low key security helped make this a really fun night. But the real story was the band. They were totally on, especially Jeff. There were times tonight when Eaton's jaw just dropped as Jeff took the music to places few of us could imagine. With the clouds hanging low and rain threatening, the band tempted fate by opening with Cold Rain & Snow and followed with Lazy Lightning. Seeing they had induced no rain, they celebrated with a rousing version of Loose Lucy, all band members now in high gear. Easy to Love You followed and sealed the deal on an elective set. This is such a great song and rarely played. Mama Tried/Cumberland filled the cowboy slot and Jeff was really ripping it up by this point. For me, the Loser which followed was really special. Jeff sang it with such feeling and his lead was spot on. Then we were treated to a second Rob B tune, Blow Away which led the the set closer Music Never Stopped. Nice to have two jam tunes in the first set and the band did not disappoint as Jeff raised things to the goose bump level before the break. First set 70 minutes. Second Set opened with a long Shakedown and the jam really showcased Jeff. With no disrespect to JK, I really feel that Jeff takes the jams to places that JK rarely did. He is patient and lets things develop. He shows incredible creativity as a player. Women are Smarter was really fun and we were all dancing hard by this point. Unsure as to where the set would go from here, we were treated to the first of several surprises in this set, Mission in the Rain. This was so well played and sung by Jeff and appropriately, it induced the only raindrops that fell from the sky tonight. Truckin' was also a bit of a surprise and though this is never on my "please play this" list, it sounded really good tonight and the jam, though short, had a nice europe 72 feel to it. Instead of stretching this out, the band opted to rev things up and transitioned to a lengthy Caution which was one of the many highlights of the night. As we have come realize, Jeff is really in his element when it comes to late 60's, early 70's dead. I had some friends with me who had never seen the band with Jeff and I think they were all true believers by the time drums came around. Drums/Space were unique tonight for a couple reasons. First a local Digeridoo player joined for the drum segment (very cool) and second, Lisa did a really nice, long vocal piece as part of space. St. Stephen was well done as usual and we all expected William Tell and the Eleven to follow, but the band surprised again and busted out Doin That Rag. The band did a solid job on what is a very difficult song to play and Jeff held his own on the vocals. For me, the highlight of the night was the To Lay Me Down that followed. Honestly, this was one of the most beautiful things I have heard the band do. Jeff's singing was right on, the harmonies, sublime, and Jeff's lead, wow. Interestingly, the band announced that a local radio station had been running a contest for two weeks and the winner got to pick a song to be included in the setlist. The woman who won picked To Lay Me Down. Dino (I think he was at the mike) commented that it was a great choice. I agree..we owe that woman a great debt of gratitude. Honestly, I was hoping for something else to end the show..Going Down the Road maybe or Good Lovin, but had to settle for One More Sunday Night..which was well played and had the crowd rockin, and at this point in my life it's all good..so, of course, we danced hard. I could not for the the life of me come up with the name of the JGB blues tune that was the first encore, but the show closed with 15 minutes still on the clock (9:45) with a very nice Ripple. Second set 2 hours. What a great time in a beautiful place! This was my second time seeing the band with Jeff and all doubts and questions are erased. As I said before he takes the music places that didn't seem possible before. These guys just keep getting better and better. The only band taking the music furthur in my opinion is the Dark Star Orchestra. Thanks for a great night!!!!! Elective Setlist Cold Rain & Snow Lazy Lightning Loose Lucy Easy to Love You Mama Tried> Cumberland Blues Loser Blow Away Music Never Stopped Shakedown Street> Women Are Smarter Mission in the Rain Truckin'> Caution> Drums/Space> St. Stephen> Doin' That Rag> To Lay Me Down One More Saturday Night JGB Blues Tune (help please) Ripple JGB tune is Let It Rock with some mind bending train whistle guitar by Mr. Mattson. A great time was had by all. Peace, Rob B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franknkeene Posted August 16, 2010 Report Share Posted August 16, 2010 What a most sublime evening. Rowe saved me a lot of typing. Only thing I have to add is mention of bare feet in the sweet grass and that sweet and almost constant cool breeze through out the show and especially in the 2nd set!! My goodness - heaven on earth!! I don't recall ever reminiscing at a DSO show before. I prefer to live in the presence of the moment but when To Lay Me Down started, a tear rolled down and, I experienced Jerry in Jeff - this was a first. Some very beautiful woman "floated" up to me and put her hand on my heart. I looked at her and said to her, "October 17th, 1983, Olympic Arena, Lake Placid, NY." She held my heart for another few minutes, tapped it twice and said with each tap, "bless you, bless you" and floated away. oh also: An acrobatic bi-level plane did arcrobtics in the sky during set break. flips while flying straight up, stalling the engine due to gravity, falling downward backwards (the tail of the plane heading straight down), fliping the plane so the nose was now heading straight down to earth (lake), heading straight down seemingly going to crash into the lake when at the last moment leveled off and rolled a bunch of times. Crowd cheering!!! All while tailing a thinck cloud of smoke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TennKev Posted August 16, 2010 Report Share Posted August 16, 2010 Good reading folks..........thank you. Glad to hear fans and band had a grand ol' time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bengalsfanatic85 Posted August 16, 2010 Report Share Posted August 16, 2010 Great review by rowe, almost felt like I was there... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowe Posted August 16, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2010 Thanks for your comments guys and thanks Rob for identifying Let it Rock. How could I forget. It is funny how my 50 something brain works. It is also funny how I can remember the afore mentioned Lake Placid show like it was yesterday. The band opened that show with one of the all time epic Sugarees as I recall. I can just imagine when I am 80 (if I am so lucky). I won't be able to remember the name of the family member I am talking to, but I'll be able to tell them all about sitting in the 3rd row at the Hartford Civic Center on May 28, 1977! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forum MVP nwnj steve Posted August 16, 2010 Forum MVP Report Share Posted August 16, 2010 They played a let it rock in utica a few weeks ago & Jeff played the train whistle sound also ,freakin wild .Love it when he pulls something neet off then looks over at Rob E. or Rob B and gives them a look like did you catch that or what do you think of that or pretty freakin cool right?Or at least thats what it seems like at the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GermanShepherd Posted August 17, 2010 Report Share Posted August 17, 2010 My wife and I drove down from Montreal and it was the best decision we've made since being in Canada - okay, even if it's only been a week now since moving from Dayton, Ohio. The outdoor venues are definitely the best place for DSO shows, I'm convinced. Seeing Lisa singing again was great, as we've missed her the last shows we were at. Every time we go to one of these concerts, there is always a song that I've heard before, but seeing it live makes me become infatuated with it. Previous ones were Sugaree, then Let it Grow, Wharf Rat, and now I'm stuck on both Lazy Lightnin'/Supplication AND Mission in the Rain. Thanks a lot - now I'll be listening to these two repeatedly, searching David Dodd's annotations for meanings beyond my comprehension. I'm always a fan of the darker tunes, so my excitement when Cold Rain and Snow opened was high and I knew it was going to be a great concert. My first goal was to get enough of the tasty microbrews so that if it did pour, I wouldn't care by that point. Loose Lucy - wonderful. And my old Merle Haggard days came back when Mama Tried came on. Loser is a classic, and yes, it did seem very heartfelt and slowly stoned everyone listening. Shakedown... long. Very long. Loved it. Women are Smarter is my wife's current favorite, so we were delighted to finally see it in concert. As I mentioned, I'm now obsessed with Mission. Who doesn't love Truckin' and I was glad to see that it wasn't extended as well - it is just too commercial now, and I'm starting to really dig the lesser knowns. Space was really cool, what with that Digeridoo which I've only ever seen Xavier Rudd play, and Lisa's voice really made it heavenly. The rest of the 2nd set becomes a blur, thanks microbrews, but I remember the jam and seeing Jeff out front playing to the audience. I'm not sure anyone was actually really watching at that point, but I caught it. He was having fun with us, and it really didn't seem like acting or just playing the part. He was jammin' and there ain't no other way to put it. And Ripple to end it all. Fantastic show. A new #10 for us! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forum MVP anddave Posted August 17, 2010 Forum MVP Report Share Posted August 17, 2010 With no disrespect to JK, I really feel that Jeff takes the jams to places that JK rarely did quite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forum MVP John A Posted August 18, 2010 Forum MVP Report Share Posted August 18, 2010 Wow, folks, and Rowe especially, great commentary! Since when did show reviews read so well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forum MVP chuckvegas Posted August 18, 2010 Forum MVP Report Share Posted August 18, 2010 Literacy is like the Dude - it abides. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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