Philzone.org - Philzone Phansite Community Discussion Board: Setlists and Reviews: Non GD Related Reviews: Archive: Zero 2/3/07 - Fillmore

a few high points. much drudgery. Donna pretty much sucked all the life out of the band when she came on stage. Judge's songs were welcomed with a bit more appreciation. the interplay between Pete Sears and Melvin Seals was kind of cool. a few of the songs they played:

Watching The River Flow
Crazy Fingers
Home On The Range
Mercury Blues

I'm glad I went. However, I wouldn't pay $25 two days in a row to see that. very crowded. ugly poster.

Wow! Were we at the same show?

Don't know where you were standing but Donna got a huge ovation when she sang, on "Watching the River Flow" and "Crazy Fingers" she was great!

What about that Layla to end the first set? Pete Sears nailed the piano section and Kimock went off.

I preferred Saturday's show to Friday's, better song selections and more focused playing from Mr K

The poster was one of the best Fillmore ones I have seen in a while.

Zero 2-3-07

set 1

Tongue n Groove
Greggs Eggs
Watchin The River Flow
Spoken For
Forever is Nowhere
Merl's Boogie
Home on the Range ->
Layla Reprise

set 2

Crazy Fingers
Catalina
That's What Love (Martin Fierro)
Many Rivers To Cross
Golden Road
Mercury Blues

just based on the setlist the 2nd night looks alot better than the 1st night.

donna was missing on friday too.
oh well.

kinda figured saturdays show would be more of a "rocker" considering the sleepy pace of friday's show.

good times.
glad i went and saw bruce last night though.

1st set started out great... The Watchin the River Flow>Spoken For>Forever is Nowhere kinda put me to sleep though. Especially Spoken For that song just doesn't do it for me... Kimock had a nice solo at the end though, and Donna sounded good, but the song just kind of brought the energy down a notch. Merl's Boogie got the juices flowing again , and Home on the Range was smokin, with Dan Lebowitz adding some nice accents. Lebowitz fumbled on Layla though, although they got it going towards the end... All in all a good set with one too many slow songs for me... Sound was great (vocals were crystal clear throughout), except that I could hardly hear either keyboard in the mix except when the rest of the band laid really low and Melvin or Pete took a solo. Kimock and Martin were both killing...

Second set was great... I moved to the back and could hear both keyboards perfectly... There was a funny moment when I think Pete's keyboard started acting up at the beginning of Crazy Fingers and started playing some re-programmed beat really loud. Donna looked a little thrown off...

All in all good show, glad I went... Wish they'd get back together more often and do whatever it takes to bring Bobby V and Chip back into the fold... (Which is no jab at Liam or Melvin, they both held it down admirably)

I find myself agreeing with Cliff. Donna came out after a really explosive "Gregg's Eggs" and yes she got a great ovation when she did come out but she kinda sucked the life out of what had happened before she came out. Donna Jean is beloved by Deadheads but the fact is she's never been on pitch and I could have taken or left her when she was in the Dead....same with Zero. They didn't need her at all. Judge was much better and it's a little strange that as the singer for Zero he wasn't billed as even going to be at this show and was instead treated as a "special guest" at his own party. Pete Sears did a fantastic job on "Layla". It was really great seeing a bunch of old faces at the show but besides "Catalina" in the second set, I found myself watching my watch and thinking that there was absolutley nothing at this show besides the opening two tunes that could compare to this band's glory days at the Maritime Hall.

It was nice to revisit but I won't be back for awhile.

I enjoyed it a lot. I'd never seen Zero before, maybe it helped that I didn't expect them to sound like they did ten years ago.

I like Donna Jean, I like "Watching the River Flow" and thought she sang it well.
I was impressed with Pete Sears's playing throughout, I'm a sucker for pound-the-piano rock and roll. As Brian mentioned, that was a pretty funny moment when Pete set off something he didn't intend to - he turned the keyboard off then had the tech come fix it. Melvin is a master of subtle background fills, then when he cuts loose it's awesome. "Many Rivers To Cross" was a great performance by everyone and the best organ solo I've heard in a long time.

Saturday was the night of sellouts--tried to make it to this one but I was too late, had the same luck over at the Indy with the North Miss. All Stars--I managed to get into that one though!

Donna sucked the life out of the Dead when she was with them too! Find most of the great 70's stuff repulsive because of her off-key presence

You would think that when re mixing the multi tracks that they would have put her voice through a pitch control modulator.

They didn't :-(

Yeah I'm not a big fan of Donna with the Dead... She definitely had a hard time finding the key a lot of the time.

I think she's kind of settled into her voice though... At Comes a Time and at Zero this past weekend I thought she did a fine job.

I didn't know melvin, donna, pete sears and young kimock were in Zero?

In 88-89 at the Last Day and other bay venues, it was usually kimock, banana, vega (or other bass player), greg anton and then the judge rolled in around '91, best of my foggy recollection.

>>I didn't know melvin, donna, pete sears and young kimock were in Zero? >>

Donna and Pete have some history with the band. Melvin and John Morgan have just recently hopped on the bus for the recent reunion shows, due to Chip Roland's unavailability and presumably Steve's desire to bring his son along for the ride...

You know, I still care for Donna from her history with the Grateful Dead, and her 70's stuff certainly doesn't lessen the greatness of one of their best prolonged periods, but I don't think God intended her to be anything but a background singer. Her lead vocals just don't cut it...sorry. Nice hair, though.

I'm still amazed after all these years, you guys can't grow up and give an honest assessment of a show because your blinded by dislike of DJ. You'll bitch in post after post about how Donna has sung off key for the last 30 years, but completely ignore the other singers (insert your favorite here) which sang equal to or worse than DJ. Grow up people! It's about the music, the experience, the friends, and the family.

Do you really think the "bad energy" was DJs fault? Gimme a break, it was a band song choice by the band, not Donna's pitch - she did a pretty good job. I too "felt" the "drain" but it was due simply to the fact we went from an oustanding Gregg's eggs into a totally different groove with Watchin the River Flow.

And the poster...don't get me started. A GREAT poster, I haven't heard anything neg about it, except for the few choice negatories here. Wood grain/mother of pearl, excellent text/font treatments.

A review of the Fillmore Zero shows was posted 2-16-07 on Jambase at
http://www.jambase.com/headsup.asp?storyID=9935