THE COUNTDOWN IS ON! I believe a wishlist is is order: Help>Slip>Franklins>Scarlet>Eyes>Fire Set II: Estimated>Dark Star>Viola>Dark Star>Wheel>Other One>Cryptical>Wheel E:Lovelight

Looking forward to seeing Susan Tedeschi, maybe Derek will finish up at the Mohegan and head on over to the Fleet Center for a little jamming, hope the weather is better than it was today in little Rhody, anyway Im really psyched, wish the garden was still around, wish jerry was still around...o yeah and if anyone wants to give my ass a ride from Rhody for gas $ and a share of my stash on the tuesday show, i already got a ride back just a ride there would be nice

Enough already!!! PLQ is better, no TOO is better. What a bunch of babies. Isnt it enough that we get to enjoy this music again when just a few years ago we thought it was over (at least the dead stuff). Both bands are great (thanks Phil), Ratdog is fun so shut up and enjoy it.

Was it something I said?

No, sorry !!
Just ranting from some of the other posts from before. I love your wish list (Even though they have played alot of that already). I still stand by what I say. Well off to Boston. See you all tomorrow night

Max, I like YOUR setlist.

Well, "To go, or not to go? That is the question....."

Hey all. Looking forward to Monday's show.

Anyone have any info on what security is like at the Fleet Center?

Went to CSNY at the Fleet center and if you stay discret and sit down when you do your thang you should be alright, "To go or not to go is the ?" definitely go, will see Dark Star and Jack Straw for sure

Sullivan's Tap prior to the show.


Not only do you get to fraternize with other Philzoners over beers, you get to see Bosphan beat Just Another Deadhead's ass in the 2002 Law Enforcement Throwdown.

.I smell a terrapin coming one of these night. 6 extras for tuesday ...someone help me out. someone must need a discount ticket

I smell alot of cheese emanating from Bob's side
of the stage.

i'm hoping for a shakedown st., help>slip>franklins.,unbroken chain, im so pumped that i'll be able to hit the two shows in boston, check all u cats there tommorow, i'm so pumped whatever they play. later-dave

Hey Cryp!

Wassup?

E-mail me.

You goin' to HFD?

Shakedown opener tonight. I hope us Bostonians can be as cool as the Albanians (?) were on Saturday.
Sullivan's tap is a Gahden tradition. See you there.
Oh by the way- Mama tried>Mexicalli tonight too.

i have wheels (w/plenty of great music :-), live in nh and am seeking instant karma for a single boston ticket (either night)...cheers!

Werd up, Sully's is the place.

Can anybody rattle off all the songs Susan has played with PLQ, TOO, etc etc? Just trying to get my set list calls on . . .

SHAKEDOWN STREET!!!
woohoooooo

Lovelight, Midnight Hour, Hard To Handle, stuff like that...seems to me that she'll be sharing Pigpen duties with Warren, but I cant be sure, completely.

Shakedown for sure tonight!

We have 1 extra for tonight @ cost. I'll have email access (alexander.pozzy@gte.net) until about 2:30 pm, then will be hitting the road. Email me in time and we can make plans to meet. If you miss me by email but want the ticket, here's what you can do: Go to The Harp, which I've been told is across the street from the Fleet. We're shooting to be there by 5:30, but could be later depending on traffic. I'm 6' 2", dark hair pony tail. Will probably have a tan fleece vest on. But since I look like most any other hippie (oh yeah, I have a beard too), here's the trick - look for my wife, who's 8 months pregnant. I'll be the one standing beside her. Good Luck!

a bunch of us will be meeting here
the fours

then going to sullys tap after

Bill Flesh, if Susan's sharing Pigpen duties with Warren, that will be a small miracle as Warren will not be present in Boston.

AHHHhhhh!
wish I was there !!!!!!!!!!!

Ed: lol...i shoulda known that...i meant to say when she was onstage with Phil & Friends, thats what she did. I'd imagine she'll sing stuff like that anyhow...and perhaps the Donna howls in Playin', or something else such as that. I'd actually like to hear a Susan take on something like Sunrise, or one of those Donna only vocal tunes.

Also...the Derek @ Mohegan Sun show isnt today..it was friday...but he'll be back in town Thursday night @ The Webster Theatre, and with TOO in town for the next night, and the night off, rumors are flying...*wink wink*

partial setlist anyone??

willing to bet that as of now (805 PM) the show probably hasnt started yet...hold on, folks.

I've heard from a few people that Sat. night in Albany they came out around 7:40

Fleet Center, Monday Night

Set I
Cumberland (v. everyone)
Brown Eyed Women (v. Barraco and Phil)
Friend of the Devil (Bobby acoustic)
Jam>
Baba Jingo
Looks Like Rain (Herring nailed it)
Acoustic Jam, almost a stop
Jam>
Loose Lucy (v. Barraco)

per Taperrob

Incomplete from the show: Loose lucy brown eyed looks like rain friend of the devil

second set opener Standing on the moon

How's Susan adding to the mix? Nice show so far...

11/18/02 Fleet Center, Boston, MA
I: Cumberland Blues > Brown-Eyed Women (Rob) > Friend of the Devil (Bob) > Baba Jingo > Looks Like Rain > Loose Lucy (Bob)
II: Shakedown Street > Alligator > Caution...

Fleet Center, Monday Night

Set I
Cumberland (v. everyone)
Brown Eyed Women (v. Barraco and Phil)
Friend of the Devil (Bobby acoustic)
Jam>
Baba Jingo
Looks Like Rain (Herring nailed it)
Acoustic Jam, almost a stop
Jam>
Loose Lucy (v. Barraco)

Set 2.
Shakedown>
Alligator>
Caution>
Dancin' In the Streets>
Jam>
Shakedown Reprise>
Drums/Space>
He's Gone
Truckin
Jack Straw
Donor Rap
Enc: Golden Road

The shortest encore in Grateful Dead history (per Phil). Susan sang on everything but Truckin' and Jack Straw.

From what I heard, Susan did what Susan is very good at. The list appears to be my kind of show. This may have been the one. I look forward to the reviews from the trusted ones.

Looks like a winner. How's security at the Fleet? How's the "no smoking" policy holding up? They letting y'all dance in the aisles/hallways, etc?? Need feedback for tomorrow!!!! Leaving work early and hopping on the T.

from list alone, 1st set seems eh, but that second set! meaty shtuff there. all killer, no filler. this is going to get better and better.

holy philkin shit

Cannot wait until tomorrow! We'll all need feedback on Susan's performance, and the FleetCenter sound and scene overall. Anxiously awaiting the kindness. Gonna be another cold one tomorrow.. Layers boys and girls, layers...

That first set is awesome...Jimmy and Rob on the Cumby/Women? You kidding. Nice stuff to get y'all happied up.

holy philkin shit-what a set

WOWZA........somebody gimmee sometin' on this show ? Het LessThan, you doing hartford, philly or MSG ?

Thank the sweet lord my buddy made the trip off island for this one.

Pretty incredible setlist. If the show was anything close to what it could be I am sure some minds were totally blown.

vocals on he's gone? that must have been a little hard.

Jack F-n Straw closer.....

this is starting to hurt more and more....


Well good for you NorEaster's. Hope you rocked out. Do us a favor and let em coast a little tomorrow. Sounds like they poured it out for ya tonight.

philly and MSG .....you?

alligator.
loose lucy
bew
he's gone
shakedown reprise!!

sick

just in>> another good show.. easy entrance to the fleet center.. just a 7 min ride from home. good vibes where i was sitting. not many security problems that i saw.. although you have to play it cool. not a full house , a few seats in the balcony were open. the lights and back screen were top notch as always. highlight was for sure the alligator>cation>dancin. susan added her part which was great but not loud enough. everybody looked real loose on stage just having fun and really going for it . thunder(mickey) and lightning (billy) are really kicking ass back there!! 1 more to go in boston..

>>there was a crypt sighting, drinking dark beer!
didn't see any other fellow zoners, maybe tomorrow night.

sick show...missed cumby blues...fod acoustic was great...as well as all of set I...about an hour....set 2 was insane...shakedown...alligator....trippy ass caution....dancin(slowed down) mickey & bill mini solo...not up-tempo)...shakedown....mickey & bill ripped it up for drumz...probably 15-20 minutes....then band > space....awesome.....beutiful he's gone > truckin > jack straw...band stayed on stage > golden road......btw...tickets were in abundance....going for about $25 bucks....security sucks for smoking weed....they shine flashlights on you (at least in loge 3)....overall insane show....great night....can't wait till tomorrow

peace
j

really good show, scene was dope, so glad that i met everyone that i met. can't wait till tommorow another night another trip. later-dave, ps-there will be a full review tommorow, need to go space out to some dead

11/18/02 TOO-Boston

set 1: @bob acoustic
cumberland blues
brown-eyed women
friend of the devil@>
jam>
baba jingo
looks like rain@
jam>
loose lucy

hunter:
standing on the moon>
mountains of the moon
long john silver> ???
the wind blows high>
at a siding>
lady with a fan>
terrapin station>
ivory wheels/rosewood track>
terrapin station>
box of rain>
ripple
boys in the barroom

set 2: * w/susan
shakedown street>*
alligator>*
caution>*
jam>
dancin' in the streets>*
shakedown reprise>*
drumz/space>
hes gone>*
truckin'>
jack straw

donor rap
(phil: this is gonna be the shortest encore in our history; the shortest one we got)
golden road*

Wow>yes was one hot show...Susan was a welcome addittion just wish the boys gave her a little more room to cut loose.Was hopeing to hear her do Lovelight she's simpley incredible on that tune... Mmmm, maybe tommorrow night.

Man oh man what can be said about THAT.

Great show, great show, glad to see the magic still fills the air completely and inexorably to the point where you wish it might stop for just one minute so you can breathe . . .

First set thank you fun tight fast flowing great. Some hits. LLRain fun, good Herring jams, BEW great, good Rob there. Fun, engaging first set, go get more beer, pee.

Second set, this is like no other I have ever heard. Shakedown opener out of LONG jam, sick, sweet, fast and furious. Shakedown, into long jam into, wait, can it be, ALLIGATOR, rob ripping it up on Kazoo, what fun, what long lain dormant fun, from way back when, alligator, jamming, late 60's psychedelic into full blown acid test Caution . . . 'scuse me while I burn out for a while . . .

Into DANCIN' ala 70's disco style Susan singing great sexy as hell what a great lady to have on stage . . . Whoa nellie back into Shakedown, you know this town has got heart as the night is long . . .
then Doesn't matter what you wear,
-long jam, drums, awesome, s p a c e . . .

What I have to say next is special. Thank you Phil, thank you Bobby, thank you Mickey, thank you Billy, thank you Rob, thank you Jeff, and especially thank you Jimmy. He's Gone was perfect.

After that it was all gravy folks, rocking out Truckin' into the best Jack Straw these ears have heard in a long long time. Phil's rap too fast and mumbled to hear, even from the second row, and "the fastest encore ever" Golden Road to Unlimited Devotion.

I hope any doubts have been laid to rest, mine have. Can't wait till tonight's show . . .

..Decreed It...sure did decree it ...

That kinda enthusiasm ya just can't fake...

I was kinda woried at first as set list hit chat ...

But what the f*ck do I know...

wow...work piled up and i promised my self only TUESDAY night, DAMN!.....looks like i missed one hell of a show, especially the second set, boys must have been in a funky mood...that being said I can't wait for tomorrow night, can't come soon enough....

i think the boys will let Susan loose tomorrow on a Lovelight, maybe even since there is a full moon tomorrow night a little Dark Star>Lovelight>Dark Star, here's to hoping...

Excellent show...missed Cumberland (went with Josh Farrell a few posts up) great to hear Bobby acoustic for Friend of the Devil and if I remember correctly he was acoustic for Looks like Rain which is not denoted on the setlist link on the philzone main page. Hunter was great (from the balcony where security was less present). Shakedown was awesome as well as the Alligator and Caution Jam. Dancin was a good dancin but a fairly weak song in my opinion, it seemed like they weren't going anywher so decided to jump back into Shakedown but the SBD setlist has it planned out. Drums were great with a lot of experimentation and the space jam had some real depth. He's Gone: best song of the night as well as an upbeat Truckin that couldve closed the set but then BAM! Jack Straw was incredible, and then to my surprise Phil's donor rap, shorter than most PLQ ones (vocals were not turned up enough and I couldnt hear the lyrics a lot of the time, so the donor rap was plain inaudible, maybe that will be fixed by tommorow)Susan came back for Golden Road and though short it was good.

one more thing......


...friend went in tonight only to be disappointed he had missed a good chunk of the first set...

FOLKS TAKE NOTICE!!!!!!!

THE OTHER ONES TAKE THE STAGE IMMEDIATELY AT 7- GET THERE ON TIME

hey folks.... who sang alligator?

Who sang He's Gone? and Shakedown?

>hey folks.... who sang alligator?

Phil with Rob and Susan


>Who sang He's Gone? and Shakedown?

both Bobby


Rob sang Caution ala Pigpen, with a little backup from Susan

All I can say is.....OMG!!!! HOLY SHIT!!!

That would be like THE dream set-list for me. I'm so jealous... I surely would have had a heart attack, though!!!!

Thanks for sharing, guys....see everyone tomorrow night! Y E E H A W!!!

2nd set was one for the ages. had the thought that the beast is alive. for those who have never been to a Dead concert, this is as close as its gets.

overall the show was one of the best "Dead" shows i have seen. and Jimmy stepped it up a notch. but he wasnt filling shoes here, he was playing Jimmy.
the Looks Like Rain will bear witness to that.

Bobby started out acoustic for LLR and went back to electric during the ending jamout.

interesting Shakedown rap to transition into Alligator.

Rob and Jeff broke out the kazoos for Alligator.

the Dancin' had that nice 70's feel to it to start, but they changed it half way though somewhere.


the Golden Road played slower that the way PLQ does it, and they fubbed the 3rd verse.

Susan grooving to the music the whole 2nd set. she was setup between Phil and Bobby.

thought they ended the 1st set short (58 min), the set break was longer than usual.

and who noticed that Hunter played most of the Terrapin suite, although not necessarily in the order in which we are all used to. but thats Hunter. the crowd was up for the Box of Rain and Ripple.

crawled back into bed to tell Redneck that all our friends got to hear Alligator and I'm pretty sure what he mumbled was "Fuck Them". Said with love of course.

>>>>>crawled back into bed to tell Redneck that all our friends got to hear Alligator and I'm pretty sure what he mumbled was "Fuck Them". Said with love of course.


If I said THAT, it would flame thrower time.

Well, Key, YOU tell me how it was so I can have something solid to work with here for tonight......

LessThan> Philly and MSG....

I'm there, maybe catch up for some brews......post up on the Sat 11/23 page....may have an extra for Sat 11/23 if interested....

Enjoy Bostonians........bop n weave for me tonight.......

In a word - Smoooooooooking !!

Lots of teases......over all a C+ - B show


Some nice moments, Jerry was sorely missed.

Bobby sings way too much.

Lamest oncore ever.

Shakedown>Alligator>Caution!>Dancin>Shakedown was SICK. The Disco Dead train collides with Pigpen and the Gypsy Woman head on! Explosive

Phatrick, have you every heard of Q-tips? I am the biggest pessimist here regarding this gig...and it was great via cell.

An FYI, Jerry is dead, and he ain't reincarnating himself to do a little east coast run...

Who else thought Golden Road was lame?

Carl, I really want a review from you...I am deeply regretting not going.

>>>>I am deeply regretting not going.

Let's go tonight. I'm leaving about 12:30 - 1:00.

Playin & Dark Star should be great.

Soooooooooo tired of buzz killers.

Two nights at the Spectrum!!!!!!!!!!Can't f****n wait!!!!!

Hear that church bell ringin' now : )

Phatrick.....first show since the Fillmore run in 72' ?.....gimmee a break.........no its not the dead........yeah, other Ones tour in 96' was bogus........I miss Jerry, and its not the same band-never will be. But you Jer is watching, and He's enjoying the ride ! BUT the songlist....c'mon.......I'd go see a local band if I knew THAT setlist was comin'........Golden Rd Lame ? You saw the Dead do that how many times ? ( Not).......dude, relax, stop your what if'ing, and enjoy what you have, not what you don't.... Nothing left to do but Smile,smile,smile......

Yep, sorry to say but Phatrick's comments aren't very valid when you consider that every other one was extremely positive. If its a B- by Grateful Dead standards then thats pretty damn good considering the fat man is no longer with us. Also DON'T BUST ON GOLDEN ROAD!!! That is the song that got me hooked onto the Grateful Dead. If it wasn't for that song, who knows...

Did anyone else stumble across the "Travelling Vault" exhibit? The guy let me hold the Dark Star>St Stephen reels from Live Dead. All kinds of tapes and artwork. Pretty cool. Oh yeah, great show, too. Looking for that Dark Star>St Stephen>The 11>Viola Lee Blues>Cosmic Charlie tonight. Peace.

Never been to a bad show yet. Its all GOOD !!

Hope my ears stop ringing by showtime tonight.

The Golden Road is the bomb...one question. Why is are peeps so surprised at the "breakouts"? If Ratdog and P&F have done these tunes, why would they not be performing them?

sounds like the albany show was better than the first night in boston. did anybody see joey from ithaca in the p-zone? couldnt find him in the zone in albany. bummer. anyways........................

Very fun show last night! However, I'll step up with Phatrick and say it was a B- or so. Above average, but not at all mind-blowing, especially the first set. Golden road wasn't lame but any stretch - but my wife turned to me near the end and put it best - "these guys are good, but they ain't no Phil and Friends!" It seemed to me like a Monday night show, and the first of 2 in the same city. In other words, I think they held back a lot and will probably blow the roof off the place tonight. So here are some specifics:

First outside. We didn't move around much, but the scene right outside the Fleet was pretty crazy, and I must say I haven't seen that much open drug sales in many, many years. We were hanging out at The Harp (a cool bar right across the street and a great pre-show meeting spot), and when I strolled outside within one block I was offered coke, blotter, tons of buds, X, Nitrous, and even microdot, which I haven't seen in a good 15 years. I'm not sure if there was a Shakedown area around somewhere but we never saw it if there was. It may have just been floating around the surrounding streets.

Someone earlier said that they start promptly at 7:00. Not last night - it was about 7:30 when they came on. Security inside (we were on the floor) was annoying, but bearable. You just had to keep your eyes out and be discreet. They made the guy in front of us put his cigarette out, which was fine by me, but other than that I didn't see anyone get hassled.

1st set Cumberland to open was HOT! By far my favorite song of the first set. It's one of the tunes that P&F clearly does much better than the Dead ever did and I was looking forward to these guys ripping it up, and they didn't disappoint. Probably not quite as energetic as P&F versions, but still long with lots of great stuff coming from Jimmy's side of the stage. His sound is so great for this music. To me it feels like Jerry, but doesn't *sound* like him, which is great. I must say that with both P&F and these guys I don't miss Jerry any more. This music holds up so well on it's own. I mean, of course I miss Uncle Jerry, but the songs themselves don't make me wish he were up there playing them anymore. However, I do miss Warren a lot... ;-)

The one drag was that it wasn't nearly loud enough. This may be why nobody sitting around me seemed to think it was that hot of a show. We could talk to each other at normal volume and easily hear - not what you want at a show. I should have to scream in your ear for you to hear me over the music. We were near the front of the back section on the floor - pretty far from the speakers. But they should have it much louder back there for sure. It was hard to really get into the groove.

Brown-eyed was very nice, and we were off to a great start! I wish they would turn Jimmy up a little though, as you could barely hear him at times. Phil also was a little low in the mix for my taste, but it may all just be because none of it was loud enough.

FOTD was next. I've seen it with P&F a bunch of times, and it's always fun but never that exciting for me. A nice first set tune, and certainly didn't do anything to bring the atmosphere down. Bobby on acoustic was nice.

Baba Jingo next. It actually had some nice jamming in it between verses. But god aren't the verses painful! I had a bunch of people asking me who the hell was singing, and what this song was. I have to say I liked it much better than I thought I would, and most around me seemed to agree that it was pretty good. Another decent middle of the first set song. Kinda like all the others so far...

Looks Like Rain. I know a lot of people hate this tune. I'm not one of them. I really like it a lot and it was very well played. I was then expecting something really hot and jamming to wrap up the set - maybe a ChinaRider or HSF or something like that. Another good middle-of-the-road first set song, played very well.

Instead we get Loose Lucy to end it. Ooops. The jam into it was really cool, and had a nice bluesy feel. We were all throwing out different calls as to what it was going to be, but nobody could get it for the longest time. It's a fun tune that they did a decent job with, but for me it just ain't a set closer. The engergy was never quite there. We couldn't help thinking how nice it would have been to have Tedeschi out there with the "Yeah, Yeah's", but no such luck. When they went off the stage after the tune, nobody could believe it. Everyone was turning to each other, trying not to seem too disappointed - "was that ummm...a little short?" "Loose Lucy to close? What are they thinking"? That kind of stuff. Basically it seemed to me like they played a whole bunch of middle of the first set tunes, with no closer. Cumberland was a great opener, but other than that it just never really took off. Not at all a bad set, but nothing to get too excited about.

My conclusion was that they were cutting it short and holding back in order to go bezerk in the 2nd set. But I have to agree with Phatrick that it was good, but not great. B- proabably works for me. Enough to make me want to go back again, but not enough to make me wish I had tickets for tonight.

Second set review in a bit...

Sounds to me like last night they made up in one fell swoop for pretty much doing NO typical first set fodder on the first few nights of the tour.

Thanks for all the reviews, good people. I'll be joining the fun in Hartford and Chicago, can't wait.

Nothing left to do but smile,smile, SMILE
Enough said

Man oh man!! Another great show I missed!! God knows I didn't hear it, but WOW!! What a selection of tunes- Boston's definitely got game!!

Could this have been a show just for Bill Walton? He had to be lovin' it.

I've seen a bunch of people comment on the Volume of the shows being very low. What's with that? I don't want to hear conversations over the music? Ears should be hurting on the way out of the arena after a show.

Tee Zee

The sound in Albany was much louder than Boston, but still was MUCH louder than most latter day Dead shows were. The mix was better in Albany, also.

Ok, here's my take on the second set. In a nutshell, much, much better than the first.

Susan was out for the start, and we were so pumped to see her sing! Looking back on it now, it was quite disappointing for the most part. Everything she did sounded good, but you could tell it was new and they must not have rehearsed much, if at all. All night long she and they seemed very tentative about when and what she should sing. At least that's how it seemed from back where we were - maybe someone up front has a different perspective. In any case, I think the people catching her at the tail end of the tour will end up getting way more of a treat than we did, but it was still nice.

We all knew it was a Shakedown night - the only question was 1st or 2nd set opener. They did a really cool jam to open, and then BAM - a very hot shakedown. This is another one of the tunes that I think P&F play hotter and better than the Dead ever did, so I had high expectations. While I don't think it was quite as powerful as P&F, and not as funky without Warren, I still loved it. The jam went on for a while, and into my first Alligator! I'm not a big fan of most of Phil's vocals, but I think this tune fits him quite well. Fast and funky, and the set was off to a great start.

Next comes my first Caution, and I loved it. At this point I'd given up on even trying to guess what might be next. But who would have thought you'd ever see Alligator -> Caution unless you were there in '68? And played so damn well to boot! One of the hottest points of the night was Rob and Susan going back and forth on the vocals. They got the jam built up very high, but afterwards it seemed just as it got to a real peak, they let it down a bit too early. But it still smoked.

So here's a question: why didn't the Dead ever get fired up to pull out these old tunes, and mix up their setlists? Looking back on it, it seems like they were in such a rut, and were so damn predictable. I think it the later years when the playing was starting to suffer, they could have at least dusted off this old stuff, or just switched up their regular tunes into different slots, and things would have seemed so much better. But the beauty of it now is that they're playing this stuff SO WELL. What a treat, and how thankful I am to have another shot at hearing this amazing music.

So back to the show: Dancin'! Another first for me. Never seen the Dead or P&F do it. It was way fun, and this set clearly had the place going. However, as much as all this rocked, when I looked around the crowd, it seemed like something was still missing. The hyper-energy that you see at so many shows wasn't quite there. Everyone was on their feet, but to me just didn't seem completely taken with it. It was all too NORMAL. Walking around the halls I commented to my wife that it seemed like the cast from a Dead show at a regular rock concert. There wasn't that crazy, scary, exciting energy in the air. It all just seemed a tad flat, but not *that* bad - just not as high as it can get (see 2002 Gathering of the Vibes for that kind of energy).

Anyway, a nice dancin went into drums. Don't remember much about it, but it didn't drag on too long. I can't remember if they really did space, or more of just a regular jam. I don't remember it getting all that weird.

Next was He's Gone. Neat little jam into it. Was excited to see if it would be instrumental or who might sing it. Bob did it, and was ok. It was a little weird, but still very enjoyable. The harmonies were awesome, and it was very touching. I can only imagine how powerful it would be if P&F did it with Warren on vocals - wow. In any case, it was solid and of course made us all think of Uncle Jer with a big smile.

Then Truckin.' Not much to say. It's Truckin'. Well played, but it's still Truckin'. Not a buzz kill, but nothing to get anyone too excited about, IMO. It was fun and we were all dancing along smiling, but at that point in the night it made me feel more like we were at a nostalgia type show than anything else. But only for a little while, and it was still fun.

Jack Straw to close smoked! We hadn't been watchign the clock, but it again seemed a litle early for a closer. I was expecting probably 1 or 2 more after Jack Straw, but it was one of the tunes I was hoping to hear, and they nailed it. I thought mabye a double-encore would make up for the short first set, and seemingly short 2nd set, but no such luck. I assume they had an 11:00 curfew, because only Bobby left the stage at the end. Then Phil practically speed-read his donor rap, which was pretty inaudible anyway.

The "the shortest encore ever" - Golden Road! One of my all-time favorite Dead tunes, and the highlight of most any P&F show. But as I said when I started "these guys ain't no Phil and Friends." It was fun, but short and just nowhere near as powerful or exciting as I've seen it with Phil's band. But this isn't Phil's band, so why should it be? Bob did a decent job on vocals, and it was a great way to end a very fun show.

It was good enough to make me go back, but not good enough to make me regret only going one night. I hope they keep doing this once or twice a year, but for my buck I get a lot more pop out of a P&F show, in case you hadn't picked up on that.

For me, this is a Dead show. I tell people I'm going to see the Dead, and I felt like I went to see the Dead. I'm so glad the magic is back!

The sound wasn't loud enough in Albany, I can't imagine how low it was in Boston then. It was louder during the second set in Albany though. Turn Jimmyy up!!!

What a sweet show. Cumberland is a favorite of mine and BEW was a nice surprise. Iwas caught totally off guard by Baba Jingo-band sounds great during this tune, but as someone said up above the verses are a little painful. I bolted outside for a hot dog and coke during looks like rain-sorry folks but I'm all set. Back in the seat for that jam before LLucy. Love the way Jimmy sounds with these guys- I thought he sounded alot more like himself last night as opposed to kind of Jerry-like at Albany. Could definately hear some Southern geetar influence last night.
Nothing needs to be said about alligator/caution- It is always crazy (for me anyways) to hear this old stuff. LOVE IT.
And for all you dudes who jumped all over my case last week for saying "oh no-Donna's back" check song 4, set 2 11/18/02. I won't go any further with that.
Great show though... Loved almost every minute of it. Looking forward to tonight, and killing time till Phil&Friends comes back to the Orpheum.
See you tonight- and by the way, Security suuuuuucks in there.

>>>For me, this is a Dead show. I tell people I'm going to see the Dead, and I felt like I went to see the Dead.
This was definatly NOT a dead show. There was something missing....Jerry
Im my opinion the boys seemed underrehersed. It was a solid show but like phatrick said I would rate it a B+. First set highlights. Cumberland opener friend of the devil ( seemed like Bob wanted to play blackbird. Bob was jamming out and Rob seemed to sing too early for Bobs taste which changed the acoustic jam into friend of the devil. I hope the tapes bear me out on this but I could swear they were going to play blackbird.) They nailed looks like rain. Then a nice jam and BOOM loose lucy. Thank you for a real good time.
Robert hunter bored me almost fell asleep. The sound sucked could barley hear him plus the nostop chatter from the folks behind me put a damper on Hunter Standing on the moon, terrapin, Box of rain, ripple and Boys in the barroom were nice but not loud enough. set break was too long 15 minutes before Hunter 12-20 minutes after Hunter.
Second set nice opening jam into shakedown into a hot alligator nice vocals by Rob and Susan but not loud enough. Into a hot Caution but the Dancin was very weak. It was too slow. The song has a much faster beat Shakedown reprise was unexpected but nice. Loved seeing Billy and Mickey back together. Nice Drums but boring space....someone is missing. They then played he's gone perfectly. summed up my feelings for the night. a nice truckin and then a hot jack straw to close. and Bobby left the stage and everyone else stayed. Couldn't hear Phil's donor rap and then a nice, but short Golden road. A solid show but I bet they get better as the tour continues.

>>Im my opinion the boys seemed underrehersed

funny. my impression at albany was entirely the opposite. i was blown away at how tight they seemed. everything seemed *very* re-hearsed. didn't go last night, but can't wait for tonight.

I'd say a big dark star jam is a lock. woohooo!

The Grateful Dead is whatever each fan decides it is, if someone goes to a TOO show and goes away saying "that was a great Dead show" more power to them! Now if that person went away saying "that was a great Jerry Garcia Band show" THEN there may be a problem :-)

Quoted from Boston.com's review of last night's show, "Weir admitted backstage between sets: "So far, it feels like we took the night off.""

Hey Steve,
Blackbird was a definite tease, as was a short Dark Star-ish jam out of Caution b4 Dancin

I thought Blackbird was coming last night, I heard it too.
I also forgot to mention how good the Bob/Phil/Susan harmonies sounded in He's Gone. Looking forward to hearing that on disc.

mp3's from some of lastnight can be found at www.nickspicks.com

yes, first set was iffy at least we got a cumbi to start things off and the Loose Lucy ender, was nice. 2nd set was on top of things, however a little down at times, hard to sing like Jer did as with "He's Gone", pass on it next time around. Looking for that dark start tonight, lovelight with Susan T. bring back the bus!!

Wsant sure if anyone had seen this yet. From the dead.net site:
11/17/02....

ALBANY........".The Home of the River Rats" trumpets the sign outside Albany's Arena. In the freezing wind, a thousand miscellaneous bundled up fans waited in clusters, backs to the wind. The building is from that era of hockey venues that seem to have been designed to double as fallout shelters. The concrete and steel surrounds a pleasantly rounded room, and it was packed to the rafters by show time. Taper section was forested with mike booms, and their attendant monks attentively guarded the sonic purity behind the sound booth. The ice below the floor kept things chilled till the middle of the show , when some of the coats began to come off


The band emerged on stage to howls of welcome and leaped into a killer first set, opening with a powerful Cold Rain and Snow and a long, high intensity jam, then set forth into a beautiful Good Lovin', Weir singing his ass off, the scrims lit by visual poetry of color, swirling hard on into Fire on the Mountain, red red lighting going blue and the band playing Fire a million miles a second as Jeff's Leslie speakers make the rafters ring .... "are you kind?"...".the fire from the ice" hang in the air and in my mind. The ice is definitely broken in the River Rats Arena. The fans realize that this is a major musical event and start high-fiving and grabbing each other.


Whoa - will you come with me? Uncle Johns Band ..... Jimmy's guitar beginning to soar and kick into a high high gear what a sweet strong sound he has, when he turns up.... This show rips!!!!! It sounds authentic and powerful as ever! Baraco's sensitive singing is so familiar sounding and Herring is taking chances now, with wider ranging experimental runs and flights of notes, in the fine tradition of crazy high guitar.... I wish I could play back some for you. Raging pink lights twirl as Uncle John's Band winds down.

This audience knows the music a lot better than I do. They dance hard, and the winter clothes are coming off. Dancing with beer and lit cigarettes really bugs me .... but they seem happy.

Lost Sailor- the audience sits, eyes shut, gently nodding, listening hard, the husky voice calling, as the lights tip into white tall sail forms.... "this must be heaven", he sings. Many seem to agree. The lights are really wonderful, flowing around the room in mysterious colors. On to Saint of Circumstance now, Phil's lovely bass line is louder, and Weir is truly singing well, as they push that crazy edge back into the music.

Drum space! Oh, incredible! Billy smiling as they played everything they had , and added lots of new, odd sounds, frogs, crickets and buffalo roaring, from Mickey's computer. Then huge energy pours out of them and takes the whole hall with them. There is a joy in this, a fine sense of happiness and heartfulness in the drumming, like two friends joking or rushing water tumbling down a long hill. When the band came back out to join them, they got into some amazing hot jazz, and picking up the Lady with a Fan, roll on in to Terrapin, big and fat sounding, like it ought to be. Phil's singing is strong and nicely placed. ...".Some rise, some fall", and this audience knows every word and sings along.

And then a surreal instrumental Stella Blue.... Jimmy playing slide guitar, so very sweetly - an intense, fragile crystalline sound to it, and the audience was enchanted, and gave a huge standing screaming thankful ovation. This tune is such a classic, the treatment so surprising, this is a treasure for the ages.

Walking through the halls during the second set, it was wall to wall beer-lines. Upbeat smiles and jokes were flowing just as fast as the beer. Clusters of hugs and howls of recognition as folks found each other. The Arena has circulatory problems, and bathroom insufficiency, and I got stuck way out there and missed a couple of tunes trying to get back to my seat after sightseeing.


The tapers had happy dazed smiles on their faces as the show ended. The lighting engineer was hugging the guests at the sound booth in a moment of extreme joy - the love of this music is a rich and grateful emotion, and that emotion was everywhere Saturday night. As the audience poured back into the snowy streets, they screamed and howled all the way down the stairs, shouting out their reaction to a night of supreme music under fortunate stars.

The band buses are lined up outside ready to roll, but they have been blocked, parked in by someone. The wind is picking up, an icy rain is falling and the fans head out in uncertain conditions, full of good soul music, and beer.

Tomorrow, they might go see Dylan in Hartford, or just kick back and listen to recordings, or cook something and watch the game. I'm off to Boston in the freezing rain, a frightful drive we probably shouldn't have attempted, in retrospect. The road is terrible tonight. Thoughts of untimely death on the highway flash through my mind as the rig we're in skitters and slips going up the hills. We average about 20 miles per hour for a long time, and as we descend the east side of the mountain, the sleet warms to rain and we hurry into silent Sunday and Boston at dawn.

Twas great to see the boys all together on one stage I'll give you all that. I thought they had some very high moments and that Herring did best with the bluegrass/c&w based tunes - Cumberland in Particular. I thought that he was a bit unsure though and only on a few occasions (Coming out of Caution for one) did he forget about the spot where he was standing and fly. Warren seems to be more comfortable in kicking out the JAMs - at least in my opinion. (Anyone who was at PLQ in Hartford two summers ago will have a tough time arguing about who leads in the guitar slinger duel!)

I thought that Hunter's Box of Rain was fantastic because it reminded me of the earnest belief that they all once had about the power of music to heal. Hunter also reminded me that TOO are lacking the emotion/ depth that Garcia brought to a show through Brokedown, Stella etc. I always came out of dead shows severely damaged by the power of rock and roll, but also moved by the soul - to me that is what the dead provided - but of course its different for everyone.

Great Time, Great Band - but they are and always will be the other ones.

>mp3's from some of lastnight can be found at www.nickspicks.com

Do you have direct links? I must be blind...

http://www.nickpicks.com/mp3/d1t06_jam.mp3
http://www.nickspicks.com/mp3/d1t07baba_jingo.mp3
http://www.nickspicks.com/mp3/d2t03alligator_drums.mp3
http://www.nickspicks.com/mp3/d2t04caution.mp3
http://www.nickspicks.com/mp3/golden_road.mp3

these worked earlier.. not sure if the still work

Alex,

So what you are saying is:

TOO are NOT phil and friends.

isn't that a surprise

Thanks Steve! 3 of the 5 links still work.

I've just got back to a terminal and after shows, I am a little TOO juiced to speak out my mind so I will try to patch in what I noticed but wasn't said before. I guess a top ten list of why I dug the show is in order:

10. Easy to come by tickets which meant it was easy to find your real seat as opposed to those designated to you.

09. Easy to get in and virtually no search... This was great, however, I did see many near busts or "hey you, whattayoudoings, movalong..."

08. While grooving to Shakedown, watching the great on stage communique between the boyz, no one wanting to step on toes.

07. Talking with a great many newbies and actually not having the singer on stage being out sung by them.

06. Baba Jingo!

05. Walking out of a show and not hearing, "That was the worst show..." or "That show sucked.."

04. The return of the much needed female vocalist to the band...

03. Giving and getting numerous free hugs...

02.5. Alligator>Caution and He's Gone... Never in my short life would I have ever thought I would see them play Alligator (complete with Kazoos). And I guess it is anything goes with He's Gone, no playbooks, no off limit songs, just doing what ever can be done. This is something of a mental debate in my head as Garcia et al understood that the "breakout" was something that had to be carefully picked when the time was ripe... However, there are just too many good good songs that are collecting the lyrical dust on the shelving and need to brought back, so maybe, (crossing fingers) if the band does hang together this may get to be standard fodder and then they can go to their bag of tricks to pull out a "What's Become of Baby" or "Childhood's End" or (Bob-forbid) Money Money, just to keep on toes...

02. Jimmy Herring freaking rules... Of the shows seen thus far and the ones heard on tape, this humble listener has yet to really notice any sort of listnesses or musical flubs... WOW is the only word I can get from my lips... I remember being up close for Furthur 98 in Hartford, CT and seeing some guy who looked really familar waving a bible at Bobby, Mickey, Phil and screaming "Shame on you" at them... This image ran through my head during a tasty solo at the end of Jack Straw (arguably the best I have I ever seen live). I just hope that some old time heads (my brother in law included) have a chance to give to this band and go see them. Leave the memories of Garcia and the dead in your head, clear out the sinuses and go see, prehaps, the best rock-n-roll band out there today. If you don't get a cold shake shiver up and down your back from them I don't know what you'd get one from...

AND finally after my little rant...

01. Seeing a show with my wife and walking away with that "feeling". I really thought that we'd never get to do that as she never got to see the Dead and never caught a truly great PLAF show with me (with the exception of GOTV and Hartford 01) that we both walked away with the feeling...

A quick couple o'cents from my wife...Shakedown was much MUCH better than the GOTV shakedown st. And although she misses Warren on the PLAF songs, she can wait to hear those when they do it again or when he guests with the other ones next time. Lastly, she is wishing for the GOTV to put on their production during 4th of July weekend up in Limestone ME with TOO headlining. I totally agree...

Everyone, have great shows, stay somewhat sane (cause you never know whats around the bend) and drive safe... Keep smiling and huge hugs to all, peace.

SHOW REVIEW:

See 11/19/02.

Except this was a 4.5
No free Buds.

Cryptical,
you obviously didn't sit in the 301's

OR

Take a meander in the back of the stage


Free Buds Abound