Seeing as I just acquired row33 center section seats, thought i would throw this up here.

very excited...hopefully they'll bring the good stuff...

"I accidentally met her in St. Paul, Minnesota." Heading to Somerset after the show in Joliet. WOW, this trip is goin' be a blast!!! Somerset is not too far from Bob Dylan's home in Minnesota. See you there Robert Zimmerman!!!

Well, well, what can I say? Tommorrow is the BIG day! I hope we got some good stuff coming our way!

joan has got the pipes i just wish she'd owned one.

zimmy's in his prime you lucky mofos!
phil and dylan duet!!!

"and it's easter time tooooo!!"

The Dead Float Right 8/3/03

Set 1:
Music Never Stopped
Duprees Diamond Blues
Minglewood Blues
#Big River
#Desolation Row
Johnny B. Goode
Aiko Aiko
Althea
Cosmic Charlie

# w/Dylan

Set 2:
Jam>
New Speedway Boogie>
Brown Eyed-Women>
She Said She Said>
Cold Rain & Snow>
Smokestack Lightning>
Eyes Of The World>
Drumz/Space>
Standing On The Moon>
Samson & Delilah
Donor Rap
E: We Bid You Goodnight


thanks to William-o, Lovelove, My_Siren and others

Looks pretty good as far as the setlist goes. Can't wait to see a review.

hey Althea! is that the first one? (this tour)

Yes it is the first Althea, not much action on this thread. hope someone gives a nice review.
Cant wait

First one as the Dead.

Yep. the first Althea, i bet Jimmy tore it up.
Not much action in this thread.. too far down
Hope someone gives a nice long review.

dammit.. didnt mean to post the same thing twice. computer froze didnt think it went through

nope, its not the first Althea. They played it at Saratoga and I think one other show.

This is definitely the first Althea! And probably sung by Joan.? Peace, G.

Dude...you r an idiot Althea has not been played by a current grateful dead production since jerry died u moron

I hope Bobby sang it

oh my Ross..... don't be so harsh... it was the first Althea you're right... but just becasue someone else is mistaken, that doesn't make them a moron or an idiot.... peace and good thoughts be with you always... xoxo mimi!

i may have been too harsh... I will tell you a funny story... played an open mike night in Kill Devil Hills, NC tonight...met some great people...asked the house peeps if they wanted to play they did.. without telling them the set we play a great Soulshine>Black_peter stop (Bad) Comes a time(NeilYoung)>(gary mooore tune)into ALTHEA ON A TURN a song i have never sang and remembered every word tonight after forgeting the last versus of Black_peter... really werid... then come to find that the dead played it tonight.. i was about to give a speech about how it had never been played since jerry died(i didn't) really werid...

really looking hot. i'm hope a good'ol time was had. opener to encore, nice flow. aiko, and all that stuff toward the end of the show...

some one tell us about it, someone else will love you lots for it.

oh, and we saw dark star orchestra at the zoo tonight. musically they are really good, really tight, and they really manage to stay tight in thier chaos- which i know sounds like butter staying in a stick even though it's melted, but to what it felt like was they wouldn't ever go out on a limb.

the intimacy and screw ups, amatuer improv and listless efforts are part of what makes the dead special- like watching someone fall down on ice skates. dark star almost promises that they'll never skip a beat.
i had a great time bouncing around the zoo lawn, sneaking shots and seeing everybody out.
china/rider was perfect. whoopieee....

Thanks for gettin' it back in the right groove Ross! And by the way... Congrats on remembering the words to Althea... Hmmm, wonder if Bobby could do that tooo... tee hee hee!

Love and kisses all around!
mimi.

So how did the Althea Sound.
Who Sung it?

Details please!

A review you seek? A review you shall get!

Venue Background: Floatrite Amp is kind of a crappy little space just inside of Wisconsin, but it's the Minneapolis/St.Paul area for all intents. They use this space usually for Ozzfest and harder type gigs. It's a big bowl amphitheatre, that up until this summer had no seating-usually just a big mud pit for moshing. They just poured concrete and set up plastic chairs just for this show. there is no roof, so you're very subject to the weather.

Beautiful, beautiful night. gentle breeze, the dark clouds were all pushed aside as it gave way to clear blues. the moon came up in honey in clear view of the band. there was no real shakedown st to speak of, just everyone kind of hanging out...i guess cops were cracking down hard on vending. Did get to see DeadicatedMamma and kids for a while before we went in...it was great to see her!!

We missed Hunter and Dylan, but you could hear it all very well from the lot. Got inside to find a massive clusterfuck where our seats were. it was bedlam, but fun. it's wisconsin, and it showed. everyone just hammered.

Set I
Music: Good way to kick off the show, tight version, not too many miscues. the jam didn't get too far out, but the mix sounded great and jimmy sounded real good. good start! Crazy rooster crow at midnight!

Dupree's: Nice to hear, but they definitely struggled with this abit. looked like some confusion as to what/ or how to intro it. phil seemed abit aggitated- just my perception- overall cool to hear an old tune like this, but it did zap the energy abit. couple flubs.

Minglewood: Bob says something like, "cheese rednecks" before dropping the obligitory "girls right here in wisconsin." cheers. again, standard version, but it did bring the energy level back up. more nice work by jimmy.

Big River: A logical choice "met her accidentally in st paul, mn", but i didn't think they'd play it cuz they played it a couple nights earlier. no complaints. great song, drunk crowd in FULL boogie. energy level rising.

Desolation Bowl: oh well. smoke em if you got em. all 37 verses of her. actually a poignant moment in this when dylan forgot a verse (#23 i think, lol), and bobby picked him and sang out the verse. i liked it.

Johnny B Goode: funny, what's that like 3 times in 4 nights? good kick start to the energy again though. Rock'n'roll. go go, go jimmy go.

Aiko: more goodness. micky's vocals were terrible, but it didn't matter. what is this a buffet concert? lol. crowd, and myself just loving it. fun dancing time.

Althea: Woo Hoo! the bust out i've been waiting for. pretty sure bobby sang it, but i'm a little fuzzy on it right now. could've been joan? anyway, they played it very well through the verses, then just train wrecked it on the jam. nearly came to a complete stop. no worries. shake off the rust, this tune is back. "thinking alot about less and less, and forgetting the love we bring". they did fall into the thickness very well during the meat of the song...no complaints.

Cosmic Charlie: Fun tune. phil was thick on this and seemed to be having a good time. great group vocals, seering jimmy leads. good set ender...i love this song.

Overall, a fun first set. no big guns, save the althea bustout, but the energy level was high, and the playing was pretty tight for the most part. i was hoping for bigger things set two.

Set II
New Speedway: More confusion between bob and phil to start the set. finally they just start to lay down the groove, and then they just took off. really started getting into a thick jam, then POW! "Please don't dominate the rap jack!!" Crowd goes nuts, major sing along action. Very well played, very good outro jamming as well.

BrownEyed Women: more singalong dead! more 1st set songs in the second set (and more to come). well played, as it was in Milwaukee. standard version, but more good jamming on the outro...

She Said: Third time I've seen this tune this summer, and still not sick of it. really fun, great harmonizing between joan and phil, and jimmy really goes off at the end of the tune. they have yet to stop, segue after segue...

Cold Rain: It's like a whole nother 1st set! this was better than the redrocks version. very rocking...good keys solo. jimmy's solo got stepped on, so they headed back into the chorus ending by bringing it way down, then jimmy took a monster solo. they hold on the E on the outro jam, and it seems like they're gonna pop into drums as the jam starts to get more percussive. then i hear the chord snuck in there....that little E-diminished jazz diddy...i think bob threw it out there. the band latches on, but the drummers aren't in the right groove. or something. phil deconstructs it, and i'm left thinking we've been teased. i was so bummed!! they come to a complete stop. phil counts off, then bam!

Eyes: Woo Hoo!! clearly phil didn't like something about how they were going in? i didn't notice a key change, so i don't know what it was, but i don't care. they came back to it. The feeling around the crowd when they started was glorious...just "yesssssss". This was the definite pinnacle moment of the show. Jimmy fucking Herring. unbelievable. i haven't seen many better Eyes than this one 9out of about 12). more rock than jazz just do to jimmy absolutely RIPPING. group singalong, great harmonizing again between joan and phil. stellar, stellar moment.

into Drums: somewhat lackluster, as mickey spent a long time on the xylaphones, but billy k was throwing down some nice kit grooves early to match. mickey spent a little time on the beast, but never got it going on the beam, which was a bummer. still, some nice moments.

Space: very short. thankfully.

Standing on the Moon: logical given the half crescent staring bob in the face. nice version. they layed into it pretty good at the end, with bobby's voice cracking a bit on "i'd rather be with you". overall the sound on this tour has been good, but Phil just isn't nearly loud enough on the low end. his low Gs on SOTM should've been rattling my teeth, but there weren't. kind of a bummer.

Samson: I think they were up against the curfew at this point. something meatier to end would've made this show really good, but they ran out of time. good version, crowd ate it up. but i was still wanting more.

Bid U goodnight: obviously they were out of time at this point...11pm sound ordinance. no worries. nice ending to an overall well played, high energy show. had a great time.

Now bring back the Quintet!! ha ha, see you all at the Warfield.

Some highlights of last nights show...

Minglewood - Bob sings, "A couple shots of whiskey, these CHEESEHEAD PHILLIES start looking good." It was very funny.

Aiko - Hey, of all the Mickey possibilities - I'll take this one. It was a fun tune.

Destolation - Watching Phil and Bobby try to keep up with Dylan's odd timing was great, and Bobby waiting to help Dylan with the lyrics was cool too. They were having so much fun! The entire band just had a blast playing with Dylan.

She Said - Joan is amazing!!!

Cold Rain and Snow - Phil was dropping bombs and his vocals were damn good too.

Eyes of the World - Wow - Jimmy Herring! That guy went crazy on this tune!

Bid You Goodnight - I wanted another song after Samson's, but they ran out of time. That said, this was a perfect closer to send me home happy.


This was a rockin show. I thought the Milwuakee show was slow and noodling at times, and this show was far from it - just a great time!!

(Robert, what do you think about Milwuakee vs last night?)

last night blows milwaukee away in EVERY aspect. last night was a blast, milwaukee was a letdown.
just my humble opinion. i agree w/ everything you said.

I agree. Call me crazy, but I'll take first set dance tunes in the second set anyday. That was just so much fun!

Did you check out the Star and Trib review of the show? It is pretty funny - the guy obviously didn't get it. He said that it was a good thing for the dead that Dylan played, and he provided the only spark during the first set! (oh yeah, althea, minglewood, durpree, music, aiko, cosmic charlie...those were such downers) I'll post the review below...

SOMERSET, WIS. -- The 1986 concert by Bob Dylan and the Grateful Dead at the Metrodome is an indelible event in Twin Cities music history. Not only was it the first rock concert at the Minneapolis stadium, but the sound system was so horrendous and the lyrics so indecipherable that the infamous concert remains a Minnesota music low point.

Nothing can erase the memories of the Dylan/Dead Dome debacle, but the collaboration of those two musical icons Sunday at Float-Rite Amphitheater in Somerset can replace the memories for the 17,000 who attended the seven-hour marathon. Dylan has never been more energetic (of course he only did a 70-minute set) and the recently revived Dead may not have the magic and mystique without their late frontman Jerry Garcia, but it's good that the band has come alive again.

The Dead (it has dropped the Grateful), making its first appearance in the greater metro area since 1989, lacked the focus, spirit and momentum of last year's two comeback reunion concerts (the band was billed as the Other Ones) in East Troy, Wis., the group's first full shows since Garcia's death in 1995. The 80-minute first set seemed like a performance by Bob Weir & Friends, not the reconstituted Dead, with four holdovers and four new members. Why bother to have stellar vocalist Joan Osborne in the band and not let her sing a lead vocal?

It's a good thing that Dylan sat in with the Dead, because he provided the main spark during their first set. Dylan and Weir traded off lead vocals on Johnny Cash's "Big River." The Dead turned Dylan loose on his own "Desolation Row," which was potent even though his tortured voice sounded like Tom Waits with a cold trying to do a Dylan impression. Then he teamed up with Weir for a spirited "Johnny B. Goode."

By contrast, the 110-minute second set was a ragtag winner, partly because the band turned Osborne loose on parts of "New Speedway Boogie," "Smokestack Lightning" and "Eyes of the World," and newcomer Jimmy Herring's ensuing guitar solos often took the music to another level.

In the end, as one graying Deadhead put it, the genius was gone, replaced by competence, but he was grateful to have a good old time with the Dead.

As for Dylan's opening stint, he tore through a rollicking roadhouse set, slowing down only for the jazzy "Bye and Bye." He played piano and harmonica (but no guitar) with conviction and sang with parched passion. For a figure of his stature and repertoire, it seemed like an insultingly short set. At the Dome in June 1986, he played for 2 1/2 hours after the Dead performed for two hours. But it was the quality that counted on Sunday.

Said David Smith, of St. Paul, who attended both shows: "That Dome concert was terrible. This has way better sound and a better temperature. It was so hot in the Dome. This is good."

Attn: Maiko

How was your show? (Without your recording rig.)
Or did you break down and bring it?

Here was my message: "nope, its not the first Althea. They played it at Saratoga and I think one other show."

Here was Black Peter's lovely response:"Dude...you r an idiot Althea has not been played by a current grateful dead production since jerry died u moron."

I, of course, was mistaken. Somewhere in the backwash of my mind I mixed up Althea with Stagger Lee. Imagine that -- a Deadhead who spaces out!!

Thanks for the kind words Ross. I've always said one of the things that separates the Dead from other bands is the sweetness and kindness of their fans. You are indeed the epitome of all the positive attributes I associate with Deadheads and the scene. Many hugs.

BTW: epitome (epit·o·me)-- [noun]a typical or ideal example.

I thought the above by Jon Bream spent too much space re-hashing the past history of the GD in MN. Anyway, I concur with the other reviews. Great show. I was totally surprised by Cosmic Charlie. Hit me outta nowhere.

But the venue? One of the worst I've ever experienced. I thought it was a bush league operation in nearly every aspect. And the security/sheriff's dept. was oppressive and created a climate of fear for anyone who likes weed with their music. At $250 a pop, marijuana busts are a cash cow for St. Croix County, Wisconsin. Cheeseheads lead the nation in per capita alcohol consumption, then they bust kids according to the letter of the law for smoking a joint. I could go on about other issues, but I won't. Down with Float-Rite Park!

other issues...

the 'lawn' was made up of rocks, dust, and garbage.

my car (and many others) were flagged into a parking lot by the cops - and charged $15. turns out there was a free lot for the venue, but they were still forcing people into the pay lot.

there was trash all over the place.

people were cutting the seats apart in the reserved section.

to get to the bathroom, you needed to climb mt mckinley.

they were selling tickets in order to buy food/beer.

and i could go on...

BUT, the show still rocked - it made up for all the other issues with the venue.

could dyaln rag the piano through an entire show, as a mix of dead tunes and his tunes, while still allowing for the kind of drum/space to happen?

no body sings with the kind of life worn, "yeah, i know the score, but keeping track's a boor" style and inflection as bobby "the rag man" dylan. and it appears the old man still wants to Rock!

it'll never happen.

Holy fuckin' christ! Shit on a brick!
--Jack Black, the D

WHAT a show!

I've caught a few super high energy Phil and Friends shows, and I thought there were a few moments of it on the last three TOO's of fall'02. But nothing sustained like yesterday/last night's gig.

I'll post a full review later this week when have
time. But lemme tell ya, Hunter was excellent, althought the typically midwestern response was "i'm too cool to clap or cheer" or drunk. whatever. some of them were sleeping, eyes open.

Then, Dylan, man, right away his band was fuckin' rippin. It looked as though he like many was highly lit and possibly a bit tipsy although someone mentioned he doesn't drink much. I just
felt his band grabbed the reins with their energy and "they were running-guh." Just pumpin' it out Gump style alright. He seemed to be in high
spirits and again, the bass player walked his shit out a few times to the front of the stage. Love Dylan's new lead guitarist. Unlike the guy I saw this spring, he wasn't afraid to jam it out for a bit and see where things would go.

People around me were freaking out. Screaming. Few people commented & lol on the Jack Nicholson smiling face on black fabric tee shirt I was wearing. Lol right back atcha brothuh! Right on.

Dead got on and from point where Dylan jumped in with them, it seemed the energy just kept building, Eyes was crazy! I saw Billy smiling a lot the first set, Mickey and he were groovin' playin' smilin'.

Actually, not that they weren't second set, but
first set, everybody on stage, Robby, Joan, Bobby,
Jimmy, they were all smilin' talkin' laughin' a lot. I was just ecstatic that they were having
as good of a time, carefree and rippin' the music,
as most of us were.

Phil was moving all over the place, droppin' his bass then raising it, I suppose in the old rock'n roll style. Grooving hard with Bobby D. Bobby doing his little jumps when Dylan was out with them initially. Band was all smiles it seemed whole first set. People were in heaven.

Second set was more chill it seemed but I was
expecting something special after that first Althea. I thought, like wolfman sed that Bobby was struggling with the lyrics and the transitions weren't well, weren't quite there yet but I love that song. And Jimmy according to jambase.com's interview wanted to play it, so I'm glad I gots to hear it!

What can I say about the show overall though. Intense! Like 4 or 5 concert experiences rolled into one was what the Dead rookie that was with us thought. Of course, compared to about 3/4 of the live music and especially recorded, or clear channel music as you could call it, out there, this is just that, many of those shows energy and passion combined.

They played and played and played their asses off the second set! Mickey looked like he was working his ass off during Eyes. Just intense. Bill's eyes closed most of the time, but he just seemed ultra focused.

Bobby was so poignant and singing so hard to the point of his voice breaking on the last few "rather be with you's" of standing on the moon. I was thrilled! Like Jerry's legendary DixPicks 9 9.16?.90 performance. Just giving it all he had, even on those super high notes I wasn't sure he'd shoot for in his upper register, he went beyond them!

I LOVE this band. I love what Joan does with them. I believe we will be seeing these guys for
many many years to come. They are having so much fun up there. Bankrolled or not, their relationships are happy and I'm happy for them. It shows in every way on stage as well. What a great group.

Hypercritical folks can overanalyze and act like they could play it but, lemme tell ya, they are in a real groove y'all and its been 8 years since they've tried to do this last AND they've added 4 new people, try doing that with a catalog that large and a history that long. I couldn't make it three MINUTES, let alone three decades.

The reinvention process happening before our very ears is so exciting. They're so happy. We're so happy with them to share the experience. Share the Love. We ARE All One.

"Nothin' Left to do
But Smile Smile Smile!"

Opener was good.

Duprees was sloppy and not inspired.
Minglewood very routine.

The Dylan songs on this night were horrible. Bob sounded especially bad and lost his place a few times and was singing in completely different time than the music.

Aiko was ok except for Mickey singing it.

Nice to hear Althea with Bobby but it too was sloppily played.

Cosmic Charlie was good.


Second set they got it together. Much tighter playing and no major screw ups, cept for the pause between Smokestack and Eyes.


One thing I am noticing about this band is that Jimmy rarely plays any rhythm guitar, only leads. This tends to take away from the music IMO. I.E. on a song like SOTM, chords make the song what it is. With Jimmy playing lead over the entire thing it takes away from the impact of the song greatly.
I also think his refusal to play rhythm is what causes the inbetween song jams to lack any focus or fire and it prevents the songs from flowing into the next song.

Good point, Steve. The greatest Garcia solos were leads that morphed into rhythmic passages that matched up to Weir and then flashed back into another stunning rope of notes.

the venue left a bit to be desired.

the cops were a huge buzz kill.

the show rocked!! this was a much better performance then the earlier date in WI. at summerfest.
the bob dylan set sounded ok with his own band but when he sang with the dead it was pretty rough. i would think given the amount of dylan covers the band has done over the years they would have an endless supply of these tracks that dylan could do with them.
how about some tunes like:
memphis blues
tom thumb
maggies farm
baby blue
queen jane
masterpiece
mighty quinn
just to name a few, it would make far more sense then having dylan sing chuck berry and johnny cash tunes.

all and all great show great time

agreed about that lack of "chunk" in jimmy's playing...need some of that now and again, as it thickens things out abit...but i'm not complaining about his solos...just stellar.

GRRRRRRRRRREAT show! you're right, Wiley, I left the rig at home, and took advantage by moving around quite a bit to take it in from different angles. This band rocks, rolls, and everything in between. Definitely not the set list I was looking for, but that's a good thing. I hope they keep me guessing for years to come.

I much prefer Alpine, and even River's Edge, to this place. I missed the CA vendors, but didn't peruse the lot much to see what vending there might be. Was there a SHAKEDOWN ST anywhere in the lot?

Musically, this one just never got a whole lotta "TRACTION" for me. Felt like the band was playing the music, rather than the music playing the band, which is not that surprising. Can't be magical every night. They did achieve lift-off during Eyes, and even SOTM, and the crowd achieved lift-off during Brown Eyed Women. Seems they never hit a real home-run like I've seen them hit.

Overall, I loved each and every minute of it. Not my top fave show, but they've raised the bar to an incredibly high level for me to even be saying that.

"Go on home your mama's calling you . . ."

Peace,
Maiko

Well back to work after a nice weekend relaxing on Saturday and then tearing it up on Sunday to the Dead and Dylan and then enjoying a day off on the beautiful St. Croix River! First off like Wolfie and most other reviewers mentioned, the band was so much better than Summerfest in Milwaukee and that was none too shabby to begin with.We rolled in to the show as Hunter was taking the stage - could hear an excellent rendition of Mission in the Rain as we made it into the venue and located friends and seats. Having been here for a couple Ozzfests and Edgefests put on by the Minneapolis alternative stations I knew that people would be hammmered in true Wisconsin style,and they were! Unfortunately they were totally unprepared for the seats set on the infield concrete patch and many folks were unable to get to their seats at all unless they were there for Hunter. Not that big a deal to me but to those who needed seating for sight,sound,or comfort reasons it really sucked not to mention was twenty bucks more than the festival seating on the lawn. Dylan was outstanding and totally rocking the joint. My only complaint was that his voice is so parched that he's unable to really do justice vocally to the slower ballads in his catalog of gems therefore the show was balls out rocking and really got the locals riled up.After the break between Dylan and The Dead the boys and lady come out with a sweet Music Never Stopped. I really liked Joan's vocal work on the Donna part - nice and soulful with a lot less histronics than Donna gave you.Dupree's was a nice groove song and Minglewood really started to amp up the crowd even more. The Dylan portion of the set was great - Desolation Row was great! Tight and focused at times as well as sloppy and loose in some points. Big River and Johhny B. Goode were both excellent roots rockers that made the dancers swing hard. The Althea was a beautiful suprise and Aiko a rousing gospel thumper for the Sunday mass and masses!!! Overall a solid if little disjointed set due to Dylan's mini-set throwing off the feel a little bit but the spirit was right on and the crowd feeling very exuberant!! Now on to the good stuff - The second set was in my opinion fantastic!! Sure there were some minor quibbles to bitch about but compared to the highlights a minoe thing. New Speedway was a nice suprise for the opener and the Cold Rain and Snow and She Said,She Said were both stellar!! What else is there to say about the Eyes that the other reviews have not said - simply brilliant!!! Standing and Sampson were good showcases for the band's ability to rework the tunes a litlle bit but also leaving the with memories of shows and eras past. As always the We Bid You Goodnight was sweet and soulful and really well sung. Joan's ability to elevate the group singing is really evident in ballads like this. All in all a fantastic day spent with new and old Deadhead friends and acquaintances under a beautiful Midwest summer day and night. Hopefully The Dead will play 10000 Lakes fest next year and we can bypass this little makeshift venue until the new ampitheatre in the suburbs of Minneapolis and St.Paul finally opens in late 2004 or 2005. For me it was great seeing old tour buddies and friends from the Minneapolis music scene as well as meeting some new heads also. A great summer concert - Can't wait for fall tour be it Dead or Phil and Friends. Peace and Joy to all - Craybee

i didn't get to Floatrite til the Deads set break . the set I did catch tho was plenty nice to me . perfect sound from where the car i was in was parked , and a perfect view of Mickey and Bill as well . the fractals made me sleepy so i just kinda spaced out and dreamt along with the tunes . it was very nice , but weird to be at the show and have to call someone from philzone to get the first sets list .

so the guy i was riding with committed a major foul by getting me to the show late . after the show he couldn't scam his way into the campground so i got ahold of one of my older more together bro's and got directions to the fishing hole he had camp set up for the night . you know the type of place;many turns on nameless dirt roads out in the middle of nowhere... we get there round 3 am and its an awesome breath of fresh air standing on a dock , staring out on a fog covered lake where you cant see the other side ...

sun comes up gently , and we see a bald eagle circling then she dips to the water and catches a fish (i caught and released a few blue gills and some northerns) . i got to see her a few times before my previous driver passed out with his drug rider in their car . got my stuff out of the car into my other bros car and off we went , leaving the dipshits at a fishing hole in the middle of western wisconsin . them with no sense of direction and no common sense to get home with hehehe. he called me at about 6 pm that night asking for directions back to the highway lol . i said , go the same way you came and hung up . made it to deer creek with time to nap . good to meetcha cosmic chuck , you got a great show bro...

After reading most of the comments and reviews I can add very little... This was my second show. Not this tour, but since 7-3-78... I've been out of the loop... The show was all good by me but the venue did suck.

My comments to anyone who cares at Floatrite:
1. Find some F'n trash barrels. I looked all over and, after passing food vender after food vender, found 3 at one of the "ticket" seller kiosks. Eventualy people just started tossing crap... really sad. (I learnded later from a cop and a security guy that the reason might be because FR hires an army of "little people" (ethnicity unknown) to litterally hand pick the entire site. Whatever. In the mean time paying fans need to stroll like pigs.
2. What does it say about site access when I had to help a man in a wheelchair up the frigging hill to the *only* handycap accessable biffys in the site!? Totally unhandy.

That's all I really need to say. 10K Lakes made this dump look like the gravel pit it may once have been. Needs a lot of work before I go back.

DPK

Well I've got to add my 2 cents here. The venue was AWFUL! Ecological disaster, and LOTS of cops. The sound inside down on the floor area sounded WAY too compressed. Each note was real stiff and died before it rang out at all. Sound up on the lawn was better. 1st set never really took off at all. The Music had the only memorable jam at all. Cosmic was cool to hear, but was very sloppy. There was NO creativity in this set and they sounded like they could barely even hold it together enough to finish each song. Second set started off with the highlight of the show ... the jam ... then straight into some blues. Pretty well done actually. The drop into She Said was like a trainwreck ... I saw many puzzled looks from all over, they almost had to stop here as they did before the went into Eyes. They were flowing into it nicely only to comepletely STOP and then count it off again. It was one of many really un-pollished moments. Bobby was so off key in Standing on the Moon it was laughable. Sampson started off really low key and weak. It souned like the drummers were alsleep and playing at half volume. Very strange. Well I'm sure mosy people at this show were so wasted they thought ot was the greatest ever, but I personally thought it was a really embaressing show for the band. Darkstar Orchestra has sounded WAY better than this show on an off night when they are all drunk. The crowd back past the first 50 rows were pretty much asleep ... everyone was just sitting around. I can't believe how LOW the energy was at this show ... Feeling Like A Stranger

alobar, sounds like maybe you could do a better job then the dead did that night.

was there anything about the show that didn't suck?

maybe you were the one who was sleeping. there was all the energy one would need during new speedway from where i was at.

Just being honest about the music, I was sober and wide awake ... listen to the tapes ... I also noted that the jam into and New Speedway was the highlight ... and yes most of it sucked I wish I would have saved my money ... and I've been playing for over 25 years and I can sing on key, unlike Bobby this night ... I'm cool with the fact that you liked the show and the energy, but not with the fact that you can't accept another opinion ... oh well some of us still have a discriminating ear

i am fine with another opinion. i would like to see people sometimes bring out the positives with the negatives. if there truly was not anything good at this show for you, then that is a drag and i guess staying at home and watching american idol would be the way to go.

does phil ever sing on key?

You're funny Notty Give it up man ... this is a forum for reviews ... deal with it OK

Dang, you guys are brutal.

We caught the first three Red Rocks shows this summer as well as the Float Rite gig. While the venue F-R venue did suck, imo, it was worth the trip up to the Minneapolis area.

Obviously there is more than one way to view a musical performance. I would be inacapable of the technical assessments above. And judging from those assessments, the authors would prolly be incapable of making my type of review. (Just the fact that someone has the ability to remember the technical nuances tells me we weren't occupying the same head space at the time. hehehe) Anyway, my most coherent memory of the Dead's first set revolved around the question of if I was laughing at Bob Dylan or with him. He seemed to have a tough time synching up with the band, to say the least. But everyone seemed to be in high spirits. I would have to say the Cosmic Charley was the high point of the first set for me.

I failed to catch any problems with the band coming out of the set break. The jam leading into New Speedway Boogie seemed in line with the RatDog shows I've seen Bobby do in the last couple of years. And Phil has been happy to launch his own sets with the quintet in a similar fashion. Althea was memorable and Joan really tore up She Said. While I've never been a huge Eyes fan, this version got my attention. And it was at that point when the show became really interesting for us. We sparked a salvia joint just as the drums started in. (That had been something I'd wanted to do for awhile, but just never dared. What followed was the most intense experience I've ever had at a Dead show, bar none.At first I watched colored beads fall from the brilliantly white wall in time to the music. Then I felt myself disintegrate to the beat of the drums as well, until all that was left of me was a sweaty ball of energy being held in place by a pair of cosmic pinchers. After a brief examination, I was placed in a coffin and then instructed to flee if I wanted to live.And I almost did just that. I could hear the coffin lid creak open and shut as I vascillated between deciding to flee or ride it out. After I finally decided to stay put, the Spirit asked me why. And I said something to the effect that I was doing what I loved, and might as well die there and then. At that point, the fear subsided and I opened my eyes to find myself reclining on the grass next to my wife. I was alive! Just about then the band broke into SOTM and it was about enough to bring me to tears of happiness. I found the rest of the show to be equally joyful.

I didn't mean to make this a trip report, but the salvia was the reason the show went as it did for me.

Btw, another thing I noticed about Float Rite when compared to the Red Rocks gigs was that the crowds at Red Rocks did a lot more talking while the band was playing. The acoustics at Float Rite are surely inferior to Red Rocks, but I could sure hear the band better in Wisconsin.

ww (I usually go by laughingwillow, but there is one registered here already.)

alobar, you are good shit man, till we meet again.

Cheers Notty

After the show Hunter mentioned on his site that
sound gear was still stuck at Joliet after last gig and that explained the sorta there, sorta not variety of sound that the Dead's gig experienced. Dylan, eh, not as noticeable but with a crew and band that puts the concert sound at such a premium, I remotely thought something was just different, y'know? Other than that, one of my favorite memories of the day was a song or two into Dylan's set wandering from my seat in (section 5 row 20 something) back over to where my buds were. My friends were on the lawn, about 40 rows back on left side of the stage, right above the "barricade".

I start from my seat wandering past the folks, up the aisle heading toward Mt. Port-o-Potty at the back of the lawn section, and I'm suddenly meandering through all these folks that are just streaming in through the barricades. All these kids, twenty-something's, middle-aged parents were all smiling, laughin', some are singin' along. But they're all obviously thrilled to be on the floor and headin' for the stage. Some fellas smokin' lotsa folks holdin' drinks. Folks yelling to each other, shouting at Dylan and generally whooping it up, having fun.

I'm thinking, "Am I in heaven. Wow. What a site." Heading back over to where my friends had been, I was grooving back to my seat, having a great time, and it seemed that Dylan and his band were too. Rockin' it out.

I got back to the first opening in the barricade where my friends had been sitting, and of course, the security guard, whom I'd chatted with checking my ticket on the way "in" to the reserved seating, said, "they took off about 5 minutes ago. I couldn't keep everybody in, they were just jumping over the fence so we all let them go in." I started laughing. That seemed to be about the funniest. Too much! So, I was again, at a Dylan show, like earlier when he was in Ames, Ia and lo and behold I could've saved 25 bucks and gotten better or the same seats, again. sweet. yes! it made me out loud even laugh harder. oh hell yes.

I tried to spot my bud's bushy red beard and tall friend he brought up with us to experience the Dead for the first time. They were no where.
Just then, a baldheaded security guy with sungoggles and a goatee stomped up and stammered, "Aren't you checking their tickets."
The aforementioned guard half-laughed, "No. They were all running through anyway, so we all let them come in on their own--"

"Check their f'n ticket! You're supposed to be checking their tickets! They can't all be in here!" Good luck I might have said and looked back at the horseshoe shaped arc of the barricade, people were coming in, running down Mt. Potty in handfuls, it was a gorgeous site.

The sun had finally dispersed the clouds out, (not to be authoritarian) but just like I told my two homies it would. I felt two hours before Hunter opened that it might. It was breezy, partly cloudy. SOTM would be an appropriate tear-jerker for the night.

I headed back for my ticketed seat. At Dead setbreak, I ran into my friend from Ames, as I saw him standing. I also found another long time friend of mine who caught the Grateful Dead's last three-show run at Soilder Field. Then, talking with him, my two homies I was looking for shouted over to me, and there I was. We got the boot of course, and spent the rest of the second set about 20 rows back on Jimmy Herring's right side, groovin' in the aisle between sec. 3 & 4.

Lastly, I would like to say, in response to Hunter's laments about the sound quality that we could hear him alright (unless we were infront of the soundboard, and in the reserved section of course). I simply felt since it was more quiet with him and the guitar only. And because some were, around me, quite unfamiliar with him, that they weren't as excited about the quiet sound of him and his guitar. I could hear him okay. He glanced in my direction once when I was borrowing my friends binoculars. I thought Hunter's set was inspired and those up by the stage were much more into it, he sounded great. I really like the return to the mike stand despite the fact that he said he feels landlocked and stationary up there without the wireless mic. It sounded warm and fuzzy. As always, Hunter is now a mainstay in my mind of what the Grateful Dead's more acoustic and folk-rooted shows used to be, and now with him to anchor the setbreak, or where ever Robert plays each gig, it just thrills me that we are treated to Hunter and the boys both.

As Willow so appropriately chided us, I was too critical and opinionated. I'm voicing a different take almost a month later. Overall, rented sound gear, $15 parking (when othe lots were free) and all, it was a wonderful show. Wonderful people, in the "heartland" having a raucous good time, rockin' it out. Welcoming home one of their locals Dylan with his brothers in the profound and uplifting the Dead, between these two their is much musical history.

It felt right during the first set to be watching all of the Dead's band and Dylan throwing riffs around and having fun. With Hunter's opening, it was unique lineup with a ton of experience and influence rooted in americana, folk, bluegrass, and good old rock and roll.
God bless them, you and the tiny little globe. Thanks for supporting them in all their sink or fly experiments. They have a rare feel for music creation. What a treat. I can hardly wait for another show! See you in Oakland for NYE! (and hopefully Denver for Philmore Phil and Friends in November). Happy New Year (www.tortuga.com) and Namaste!

Hey, cray. Good to hear from another person not afraid to admit to being in ioway!

See you at the Denver shows, maybe? We have tons of fine connects living out there.

lw

A friend of mine who had all access and is pals with the Lesh's hung with the band at Somerset. They were indeed in serious logistical nightmare mode because of the problems in Joliet. One of the most important items that was missing was the array of sub-woofers that bring us the Phil bombs. That might account for the relatively weak sound up on the hill. It never grabbed you by the collar and said "LISTEN UP, DOG!" like I've become accustomed to. Bill (my friend) also mentioned that the band DID enjoy the fact that there was no crack-back echo like you get at venues with steeper hills or indoors.

AND, they thought that they could play until midnight, only to find out at the venue that the curfew was 11pm.

His overall impression of the vibe among band members was very positive, he said they were enjoying the tour and the new takes on the tunes with Joan, even with all of the problems they experienced in Illinois. I guess they were particularly dissapointed in their performance there, but Phil mentioned they were back on track and that they all needed a bit of rest to really crank it up again.

Just thought I'd share a bit of what was happening behind the scenes. It explains, to me anyway, why I had that "lack of traction" feeling about the show. Can't wait to hear some others from the tour to compare.

Peace,
Maiko

Just heard this show. Seems Dylan's every bit the piano player that he is a guitarist, unfortunately. Vocally, he does not sound like a well man, his 'stylistic quirks' aside. Definite candidate for the "Robert Hunter Legend Laying Waste To His Own Creations Award".