The Week of Jerry Garcia's 70th Birthday

[John A]

Here’s a quick recap of my whirlwind, Grateful Dead soaked week of what would have been Jerry Garcia’s 70^th birthday.

It began Saturday July 28^th with one of Phil Lesh’s “West Coast Rambles” in The Grate Room at his Terrapin Crossroads (TXR) in San Rafael. Phil played with two of his Furthur band mates, John Kadlecik and Joe Russo, as well as two members of Chris Robinson’s Brotherhood; Neal Casal on guitar and Adam MacDougall on keyboards. A small rectangular space, The Grate Room only holds a few hundred. With the stage set against the long wall, there aren’t more than 10 rows of people stretching from front to back. The sound was good, although not what it will undoubtedly be when they do a major renovation of the room later this year. The current configuration is said to be temporary.

The show I caught was fantastic and about all I could reasonably expect from a 2012 Live Dead experience. The band seemed to be into the Garcia birthday spirit early, as they surged through one Garcia number after the next. If the song wasn’t a Garcia/Hunter original, it was a tune that had been handled by Jerry. I welcomed each and every song, all of which were solid (save for a Phil led Bird Song) and some of which were spectacular. First set highlights included an exposive closing jam of Mississippi Half Step, a punchy Stagger Lee, a ’73 style, up-tempo They Love Each Other, complete with the extra lyrics Garcia sang before the song was re-arranged, and a beautiful China Doll. China Doll featured a haunting center jam by John, but the surprise was the stellar vocal rendition by Neal Casal. He did a great job of getting inside the song’s pathos, a task difficult at best for musicians not intimately familiar with this material.

The second set didn’t lose a beat, again with all Garcia numbers until the set closing Lovelight. It was divided into two main segued blocks save for a start and stop before and after the center piece – a tour de force version of Morning Dew. So powerful was Kadlecik’s closing jam that when it was over Phil walked across stage and gave him a heartfelt embrace. I’ve never seen that happen! For the encore, John led the band through Let It Rock, making me wonder whether Phil had played this song since the mid-70s.

Here’s the list for 7/28/12:

I: Alabama Getaway (JK); Mississippi Half Step (NC); Stagger Lee (JK); Deal (JK); They Love Each Other (JK); Jam->China Doll (NC); Viola Lee Blues (ALL).

II: Shakedown Street (JK)->Jam->Althea (NC)->Cold Rain & Snow (JK)->Jam->The Wheel (ALL)->Bird Song (PL); Morning Dew (JK); Uncle John’s Band (ALL)->Iko-Iko (JK)->Lovelight (JK) (e:) Let It Rock (JK)

My enthusiasm for the above performance, coupled with the news that TXR was offering a live A/V stream in the “Living Room” of their next door restaurant for a $20 food and drink minimum, brought me back for the Sunday show. The Living Room is essentially an upstairs dining room, with booths still lining two walls, which has been converted into a space where TXR features talks, readings, Q & A sessions, and other events connected with the Grateful Dead world. I found myself sitting next to a built in book shelf stocked with what must have come from Phil’s home library. There were other odds and ends, like a 60s looking small guitar amplifier with a faded tie-dye cover. I even found myself flipping through a pristine, paperback edition of DeadBase IX. The sound was excellent, piped in via two small PA type speakers at moderate volume, and the video was a single camera angle straight at the stage via a 60 inch flat screen monitor. Certainty enough to do the job. The menu includes pizza fired in a wood oven, and the kitchen generally acquits itself quite well. Phil has established a built in audience that floods TXR repeatedly, and he’s fashioned a culinary environment that keeps them happy to splay open their wallets even further. The scenery doesn’t hurt either; one can watch boats cruise by on the canal that passes behind the property while relaxing in the lounge, the dining room, or the outdoor patio.

With the obvious caveat that I was on the “inside” Saturday, Sunday’s show was, while immensely entertaining, not at the level of Saturday’s. The opening set coasted along for the first half before gaining some momentum with The Mountain Song->Mason’s Children. The second set never really took off for me either, despite featuring two newly unveiled songs – The Beatles’ Across The Universe and Bob Dylan’s Changing Of The Guards – the former of which was excellent. The ballad slot, Stella Blue, was sung by Neal, and I didn’t get the same visceral reaction that China Doll produced the night before.

I was able to talk with John Kadlecik after the show, on the back deck by the water, and told him I was fascinated by the old school They Love Each Other from the previous night. He excitedly proclaimed, “Yeah, that was my request!” I also uncovered that he had no idea Garcia played Robbie Robertson’s Twilight 4 times in 1991, but that’s a story for another time…

Here’s the list from 7/29/12:

I: Touch Of Grey (JK); Dupree’s Diamond Blues (JK); Peggy-O (PL); Casey Jones (ALL); Mountain Song (PL) ->Mason’s Children (JK)->The Weight (ALL)

II: Jam->Across The Universe (NC)->Jam->Dear Mr. Fantasy (JK)->Cosmic Charlie (JK); Stella Blue (NC); Box Of Rain (PL); China Cat Sunflower (JK)->Changing Of The Guard (JK)->Terrapin Station (JK) (e:) Goin’ Down The Road Feeling Bad (ALL)

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Fast forwarding to Jerry’s actual birthday, August 1^st, I attended the San Francisco Giants game, which was Jerry Garcia Night. The Giants have now done this 3 years running, although last summer it was technically “Grateful Dead Night.” This year featured the band Moon Alice playing a mini pre-game set on the visitor’s dugout roof (Might As Well; Not Fade Away; Deal), Bob Weir, Jackie Greene, and Giants 3^rd base coach Tim Flannery on The National Anthem, a “70^th birthday edition” Jerry bobble head, Keelin Garcia throwing out the first pitch, Mickey Hart and Bill Walton doing Take Me Out To The Ballgame, and numerous between innings tributes on the jumbotron. Not to mention Dead Heads everywhere. After all, that’s where we are, right?

But the above was all scheduled. What wasn’t on the program was the thick dose of mischievous Garcia laden energy that began to permeate the ballpark. Just after Keelin, Jerry’s youngest daughter, threw a perfect strike to Giants reliever Sergio Romo, Weir and co. stepped up for the Star Spangled Banner. And then their microphone began to cut in and out, giving us every other word intertwined with electronic snapping for several lines before an emergency replacement was whisked in front of them.

As the game began, a full moon began to rise, against a deep sunset, over the East Bay. And the Mets, despite parading one base runner after the next onto the base paths, couldn’t add to their 2 early runs. They stranded 13. One improbable Giants defensive play after the next kept the game close. But Jerry stopped short of delivering a dramatic walk off victory, as the Giants went down lamely in the last of the 9^th, taking a 2-1 loss in a game that should have been lopsided.

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The exclamation point on the week was last Friday, when I was lucky enough to attend Weir’s celebration for Jerry at his Tamalpias Research Institute (TRI) studio in San Rafael. The event was webcast for free and also broadcast on Sirius satellite radio, but a couple hundred fortunate souls were there live. In addition to the main performance space, they had a hospitality suite that featured state of the art audio via a Meyer Sound system complete with stereo subwoofers and a center channel atop a huge flat screen monitor. The spread included kegs of Lagunitas ales, bottles of chardonnay and zinfandel from Peter’s Family Vineyards, chips, salsa, cheese bread and bite sized meatballs.

Ironically, the sound in this ancillary room was far more satisfying than the sound in the performance area. This for two reasons; the mix to the hospitality room was fantastic and the sound jaw droppingly good, and the main space is designed for musicians to interact live in a studio-quality environment rather than as a space that will house a live audience. The room is constructed around a Meyer Sound “Constellation” system, with ubiquitous speakers that allow for powerful room correction. However they accomplished the mix for the crowd (barely a hundred people were able to squeeze in there as much of the extra space is needed for the extravagant camera operation), one had the sense that all areas of the room were acoustically equal while no area really shined from an audience perspective. Nonetheless, it was fascinating to have the luxury of moving between these spaces.

The program opened with an extended video segment, directed by Billy’s son Justin Kreutzman, honoring Garcia. I don’t know if this is online, but it’s a great watch. I particularly loved the parts with David Hidalgo of Los Lobos and Perry Farrell of Jane’s Addiction, but so much of this was exceptional. It had a great overall tone.

The highlights of my evening were quick exchanges with Bill Walton, Jerry’s daughter Trixie, and Jerry’s brother Tiff. I told Bill about my 1^st time in California, where I saw Weir dedicate He’s Gone at the Greek Theater to Lenny Bias, the #1 Celtics pick in the 1986 draft who had just died of a cocaine overdose. This just followed a Celtics NBA title over the Rockets, where Walton proclaimed in the locker room, to a deeply confused Brent Musburger, that they were concerned because, “Houston, it’s too close to New Orleans.” That got a wide smile out of him. I showed Trixie a picture I’d taken of the full moon rising and told her how I thought her father was being quite the prankster at AT&T two nights earlier. And seeing Tiff standing alone, I couldn’t resist saying something about how much his brother meant to me. Just then, Weir launched into Loose Lucy. I was compelled to blurt out, “You know, Weir shouldn’t sing your brother’s original songs.” After a few moments of silence I felt contrite. Just as a apologized, “I’m sorry, sir, I shouldn’t have said that to you,” Tiff growled, “Weir’s trying. But he ain’t doing ‘em justice.” The line of the night!

As for the musical performance, one would expect some ups and downs from a diverse group of musicians that ebbed and flowed and had a varying degree of familiarity with Garcia’s material. And Garcia’s material it was; every song from start to finish in the three hour plus set was a Garcia/Hunter original. Phil Lesh, who had a gig scheduled at TXR about 4 exits down the freeway, made a surprise appearance to open the show. Jim Lauderdale, who now has written numerous bluegrass albums with Robert Hunter as his lyricist, shined on renditions of Mississippi Half Step and Eyes Of The World. And Weir, who in some circles is notorious for his work with the Garcia/Hunter songs, seemed to have a much better time of it in this scenario. Rather than have to project through a full stage set up, with screamingly loud amps and monitors and to thousands of people, Weir had the luxury of being in a recording studio quality environment.

After the final encore (Ripple) the broadcast concluded with a dramatic Morning Dew from Alpine Valley 1989, magnificently filmed and majestically delivered. At TRI, one had to be in the hospitality suite to catch that. I miss you, Jerry.

[chuckvegas]

Well...wow!

[Guest crazy digits]

GREAT reviews...well written, thought out and incredibly lucky to have all that happen in a week's time....I have been listening to the sirius show and was very impressed with the music...very wavy...Thanks John.

[Dancin' Fool]

Thank you for taking the time to write this John! It brought me to those places I could not be. Thanks again!!

:headbang:

[John A]

One thing I'm remiss in not mentioning regarding the TRI event is the work of Mike Gordon on bass. I am decidedly NOT a fan of Phish, but he must be commended. A musical highlight for certain.