Napa

[Rude]

Seats suck. If DSO gets any bigger this will become an issue.

[gr8fulpair]

The 69 show at Nelson ledges a few years back was just exactly perfect.

[Brian NJ]

First time seeing DSO in Cali- Thank You Mango for hospitality... Redwood was good, Grass Valley was really good, NAPA was indescribable....  I had a great time at these shows saw old and met new friends... Cali heads made me feel welcome.... dancin in lobby of GV all the room in the world getting staff to boogie... blowing out knee... mountain chalet courtesy of a china cat... jerry dancin till early hours and then NAPA. 1st set acoustic highlights for me operator and big iron... the simplicity of these perfectly intricate... second set highlights was the whole fuckin set!!!  Dark Star (song) never moved me much whether GD Further or DSO but NAPA DS had me under a spell and could not stop moving if I wanted to... couldn't stop the whole set. I have been fortunate to catch a few sets like this one but not like THIS ONE... Truly psychedelic and I haven't taken psychedelics in 20 years. As a testament to this, after all was finished and it was time to rest these weary joints I had a dream..... police came to arrest me for having too much fun not ordinary police ... these were wide flat egg noodle police arms legs hats everything flat egg noodle I don't think they were local cops......

 

[Rude]

First time seeing DSO in Cali- Thank You Mango for hospitality... Redwood was good, Grass Valley was really good, NAPA was indescribable.... I had a great time at these shows saw old and met new friends... Cali heads made me feel welcome.... dancin in lobby of GV all the room in the world getting staff to boogie... blowing out knee... mountain chalet courtesy of a china cat... jerry dancin till early hours and then NAPA. 1st set acoustic highlights for me operator and big iron... the simplicity of these perfectly intricate... second set highlights was the whole fuckin set!!! Dark Star (song) never moved me much whether GD Further or DSO but NAPA DS had me under a spell and could not stop moving if I wanted to... couldn't stop the whole set. I have been fortunate to catch a few sets like this one but not like THIS ONE... Truly psychedelic and I haven't taken psychedelics in 20 years. As a testament to this, after all was finished and it was time to rest these weary joints I had a dream..... police came to arrest me for having too much fun not ordinary police ... these were wide flat egg noodle police arms legs hats everything flat egg noodle I don't think they were local cops......

Probably MIB. Watched all those documentaries.

[Mango]

I can't seem to pull it together to write a real review....but here is a short one

 

Came into this tour a lot less excited than usual. Not because of any love lost for the music or this band but due to other factors in life. Home life is stabilizing and I like it....traveling is taxing and I'm sick of it. I planned to do 7 on this tour(a bit less than normal) but I ended up selling my Friday TXR ticket to catch a break. After Redwood City I really felt rather satiated and could have gone without the final two shows. The ride to Grass Valley was long and traffic-filled but the show ended up being a pretty good time. I don't altogether enjoy the crowd in the Gvalley/Nevada City area. Some may disagree but I find the locals to be talkative, drunk, and non-dancing. Fortunately there were enough of us dancing freaks to hold down a decent scene in the corner.

 

Picked up my Mom in Sacramento on the way to Napa. Was her 6th DSO show I believe. I was cranky as hell and it was super hot. A double espresso in the afternoon helped to elevate my mood along with the company of many friends. When we got into the venue I quickly spotted the acoustic guitars....hmmmm....acoustic, not my favorite. But perhaps a nice mellow show was what I needed. Going in I had no expectations of a barn-burner-show-of-the-tour...I was elated when I heard Eaton announce that the second set would be electric.

 

The acoustic set ended up being my favorite one that I've seen DSO do. Just an amazing vibe, due in large part to the massive group of friends that surrounded me. Highlights for me were Operator, Box of Rain, Rain, and It makes No Difference(big time props here). Good stuff.

 

Set 2 would be an absolute blowout, DSO at their best as far as I'm concerned. Doesn't get any better than an early style elective- taking this psychedelic music and playing it with precision and grace. Every jam was brilliant, every song selection being exactly perfect. Have been chasing the 11 for awhile and was relieved and overjoyed to get to dance it. Truly over the top....

 

One of the best I've ever seen.

 

Break time for me...don't know when the next go round for me is...likely the Efactory show but possible not New Years(haven't missed one since 06)....times they are a changin'

 

Much Love to DSO band, crew, and family....see ya down the road <3

[Supplicated Velvet Thunder]

This was a perfect last night of an epic run of shows. Had so much fun dancin w my darlin that i booked a flight home right after the show. Been using a ipad for most of these reviews and it is not ideal. But since i dragged him to 3 shows during his meditation break week, Aric has been on his computer working constantly since we got home, so i am just gonna say screw it and finally post this review with the silly ipad.

I got a little obnoxious heckling skip on this run for his box, so i have to say i was stoked for the acoustic and loved the box! I had just taught Aric and Amber that the song Operator exists the night before when rattling off all the songs they were gonna play in my cryptical sandwich steal your face show at Napa (felt quite connected this tour hehe) and we all giggled when they played it. They introduced me to it, way back when Jeff joined. thanks Jeff!!!!

Lisa made my heart really happy during ca earthquakes and rain. Very magical. Wake up lil suzie!!!!! Hahahahaha i always thought this was just one of those funny lil songs the dead would play cause it was fun to play and popular but I GET IT!!!! WAKE UP lil suzie!!!! Hahahaha!!! Awake and ready!!!!! Very very enlightening shows. Very.... Trippy..... Despite sobriety i had to melt into rainbow goo by the end.

Really enjoyed the big iron and the ripple was just exactly perfect!

This second set is almost hard to put words to. Where to begin? Is that what they thought when they picked those first 4 songs to get us dancing and swooning so by the time they threw down the cryptical vortex we would all just be puppets to the music? (Yes, band included!) well, bravo! It worked! I could try to describe the second set and what happened to me but just as the help slip from the night before defies definition, this bit is just too far out. What i WILL say is this:

Ok i was sure this bit was gonna happen so when cryptical begins i kind of left my body. Dont know where i went, not far, i could still hear and see the music. Kinda floating though. Ok, so the. Other one begins and after the first verse during the second big jam segment they tackle at that point i come back into my body because there is a huge giant bubble vibrating there. Jeffs guitar notes were wrapped around skips bass lines which were somehow hooked directly i to my tummy mandala and it started spinning and bubbling and each note bounced and skipped and spun thru my belly and then as they built the jam it rose and i could almost see the notes going into my tummy and i wondered if i had sipped someones koolaid but it was just the music then suddenly the bubble just POPPED and i felt this incredible clearing thru all my chakras and by dark star i was lost in grateful for 2 in my 5 shows this run. Wow. Nothing like tis had ever happened to my during a show before. The meditation works! Sweet! Mantra on!

St stephen, wherever u go its still samsara so all the ppl r always complaining about their sufferings. But not you. Not us. Not tonight. This was bliss. Totally loved our corner spot of spinning joy throughout the 11 and i swear i am still high off of this show, a week later! Viola lee was sweet and the caution jam inside it was beyond ridiculous.

Dancin was the song that made me GET IT at my first DSO show, and mans world was the first song that i requested directly and they played the next tour. alligator was the first song i heard after i got it during dancin at my first show so it is easy for me to say that this was one of the best shows ever. Very personally touching and divinely timed.

Love u all, bid u was the perfect end. Dreaming if some new years shows though it isnt all that likely. By spring i hope to be ready for my heart to be a wheel so i can ROLL IT TO YOU!

[Supplicated Velvet Thunder]

Hahaha then i finish my review and look up and there is a certain red head and a certain guitar player and a certain sweet group of kiddies laughing outside the coffee shop window. Did i mention before how much i love Boulder, DSO and my life? All this after the trippiest day ever of rainbow colored clouds, gd music at the coffee shop and handbill on tack board.... One of these days so hard my hunny just asked if i dosed and i just laughed and said its just one if those days..... Still high off the 5 shows. Music, sweet music!!!!!

[Supplicated Velvet Thunder]

Woke up this morning w makes no diff stuck in y head, exactly as i had heard it at this show. Ahhhh, the flame still burns! Crazy i didnt give it its own paragraph in my review. Was probably the best part of the show for my heart (the rest was more for my head). Last i had seen it ws in CO at the show i met Aric at and cried over a certain tour lover that was the only guy that ever dumped me (hehe) and i mean i really soaked that balcony in tears that aspen show! So getting it at Napa, w everyone there, full family style, it just burst my lil heart open and i will never get over you, DSO and family! Thank you thanks for the chance to let my heart rain down and release!!!