Philzone.org - Philzone Phansite Community Discussion Board: Setlists and Reviews: Non GD Related Reviews: Archive: NRPS Lancaster, PA 07/15/2007

New Riders of the Purple Sage
Free concert
Long's Park Amphitheater
Lancaster, PA

it is has been a very long time since i had been to long's park. when i told my mom i was going to see a show at the bandshell in the park, she reminded me of the time she took me to see red skelton there...i'm thinking that would have been in the 1967-1970 timeframe. i don't remember it at all. no red skelton tonight, but panama red was back in town.

anyway, i live about an hour away now, but when i heard nrps was giving a free show, i knew i'd try hard to get there. my oldest finished her softball tournament by 3:30 sunday, which would give me plenty of time to get home, shower, hang out a bit, and then take off for lancaster.

i pulled into the park early, so i drove through the whole place deciding where to park, or whether to park in the mall across the highway and hoof it. no need for the mall. plenty of spots this early. i parked right behind the bandshell itself. i walked up toward the the bandshell and checked out the couple of tents they had set up selling nrps wares and food vendors. grabbed a sandwich and a picnic table, and listened to a little of the opening act. that guy scarecrow - does he open all nrps/dnf shows? i know he opened for dnf in baltimore at the 8x10.

after a few tunes, i decided to go walk through the park. it really is a beautiful place. a fairly big lake, picnic areas, softball fields, volleyball courts, basketball courts, a petting zoo, playgrounds and wooden forts, and lots of wide open grassy areas. 70-some acres, i think.

i wandered back to the bandshell as 7:30 drew near. some guy obviously not experienced in public speaking made some nervous announcements, and then the band was introduced. it was 7:40 or so when they hit the stage, which i guess is way early when you're on nelson-time.

i thought they sounded great. and the crowd seemed very appreciative. i was stunned how many folks were there. thousands, easily. families, older folks, and lots of heads for sure. i stayed up on top of the hill for 45 mintues to an hour of the set, near this odd family. there was an old grandma type with a gravelly voice that was kind of annoying. when nelson introduced "henry" by saying that it was deadicated to all the dope smugglers out there, you should've heard grandma freak. then she was complaining about not knowing the songs. her son (i guess) told her he knew a couple of them, and that they would probably play "casey jones" later. then he starts singing "driving that train..."

oooooook, time to mosey. i wandered down to the soundboard area, then down to the stage. there were at least 4 decks plugged into the sbd, so i hope something from the night shows up on a torrent or archive site. i only 2 or 3 audience rigs though. that guy that paints at live shows was down front. he created a really cool painting of this show. here is his site. http://www.seanpoole.com/ i'll have to check back to see when the nrps show is up.

the band was in good spirits and spoke several times about how great the crowd was, and how much fun they had, and how they were coming back for sure.

lots of plugs for bear's picnic throughout the night.

after a double encore of "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35" (with the crowd screaming about getting stoned) and "Ripple", they called it a show, right around the 2-hour mark.

for me, highlights were "last lonely eagle", "garden>last time>garden", "higher", "diamond joe", and "take a letter maria". but the whole show was solid. even when dave flubbed the lyrics to ripple (he looked pissed about that).

i started off for my car, when i heard a stage announcement that the band would be out in about 5 minutes to sign autographs at the merch tent. about face. didn't want to stand in line forever to get autographs (and the line formed quickly), but hoped i could sneak up the side and get a few pics before leaving. after nelson sat down right in front of me, i snapped a couple shots, and told him "great show, dave, thanks!". he turned and said "thank YOU".

Contract
I Don't Know You
Whatcha Gonna Do
Last Lonely Eagle
Groupie
Henry
Garden of Eden >
Last Time >
Garden of Eden
Louisana Lady
Dead Flowers
Mingelwood Blues
Sing Me A Rainbow
Any Naked Eye
Higher
Panama Red
Diamond Joe
Take a Letter Maria

Encore:
Rainy Day Women # 12 & 35
Ripple


my pics...

the lake


gazebo by lake


swimming
please do not feed the ducks (actually you can)


drum circle
please do not feed the hippies (actually you can)


petting zoo


top of the hill an hour before show time


top of hill after show started


any naked eye


diamond joe


buddy


rainy day women


ripple


autographs - ronnie, johnny, buddy


autographs - david




there are some more pics here...
http://thenewriders.com/NRPSnet/viewtopic.php?t=273

weird to see the open space in front of the stage with the kids dancing. by the time i got down there, it was crowded (but not uncomfortable), and they had put up a snow fence to connect the hedges on either side, to restrict access to the stage.

when my wife saw the pics the next morning, she saw the ones from the autograph session, and asked if i was sitting at a table drinking beer with these guys. lol

Looks great. thanks

Looks like a great time, it's a beautiful park...doesn't get better than free music in a beautiful outdoor setting!

Nice review BoxOfEyes!

Looks like a great setting for a NRPS show.

WOW nice job !!

thanks for the review.
looks like once again the NRPS deliverd huge.
nice to see so many folks show up for the band.

if any of you come across a copy of this show, please let me know. thanks!

Far Out

and thank you

nrps in PA
cool

great review, love it !!

sweet. wish I could've made it.

Great review, thanks!

Wow, those Sean Poole paintings are very cool. The one from an 06 NRPS is outstanding:
http://www.seanpoole.com/index.php?module=pagemast er&PAGE_user_op=view_page&PAGE_id=115&MMN_position =211:21

And check out bluegrass mayhem ala Sam Bush:
http://www.seanpoole.com/index.php?module=pagemast er&PAGE_user_op=view_page&PAGE_id=78&MMN_position= 164:163

Makes me more psyched to see Sam this Sunday

i had no idea sam bush was in the park in lancaster in 2005.

Outstanding review, Box!!

Great pics, too

Thx for sharing

Very cool that this was a free show. About time the Riders drew a large appreciative audience. The way they've been playing lately, I'm surprised they don't sell out all their shows.

really nice review... eyez

Nice thankyou

>if any of you come across a copy of this show, please let me know. thanks!

just wanted to let you know that there is a sbd copy being torrented right now on etree.

thanks, john! i'm on it tonight! (just now saw your post)

7-14-91 I taped Branford Marsalis there (AKG-535's into a TCD-5M)..Let me know if you want it..I was the ony one with a tri-pod and it was one of the last musical events I taped because everyone else went digital and I couldnt afford to keep up.