Talk about going out with a bang......

It's very late & we just got in, but I wanted to pop in & start a thread on the whole Philly stand as opposed to each show....

Since I didn't have computer acsess all weekend, I couldn't review each show each day....

Quickly...........

Started out quite satisfied friday & went to incredibly happy Saturday & Sunday.

The level of playing on Sat-Sun was as close to summer of 2001 as anything I've heard or seen since Hartford 7-21-01, & I'm talking both within songs & jamming outside of songs at times. Any 'rust' from not playing for a year that was evident at the Warfield or Denver - let's be honest, I've heard both - was gone & Q is peaking now...

I made a 'request list' Thursday up here, check it out:

>>>>>By Bucky (Bucky) on Thursday, November 27, 2003 - 08:45 pm: Edit Post
Will be there, looking for, uh,

Help >
Slipknot >
Franklins

Viola

The Other One

The Eleven

Dark Star

St Stephen


What else?



Blue Sky

Shakedown

China > Rider

Dancin

Playin


I'm talking Fri-Sun here......


Not bad, huh?

Maybe Phil DOES read this stuff......


I'll try to write a real review later on Monday after a LOOOOOOOOOONG sleep......

THIS IS THE THREAD I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR!!!!!!

Bucky's ass got kicked..Thank you Phil and Friends..

Only thing funnier would have been if Bucky got kicked out of the Tower..Ha..

How can you even revue such a run..gladly we willl soon find out..

Three "Q" shows
Eagles Win
A.I. goes for 50
Mtn. Jam>Blue Sky>1000 Stars
The whole Sunday show
The 11
The Real Thing
Great zoners
Thanksgiving

we have a lot to be thankful for!!

Some random weekend Phila thoughts:

All 3 shows "A" to "A+" efforts - how often can you say that? I'd say that, individually, though, I enjoyed Tues Boston more than any of the 3 Phila shows (yes, including Sunday), and Sunday Boston was on a par w/ all 3 Phila's.

As in Boston, they managed to get Again & Again out of the way in a non-obnoxious way (ie, NOT in the Phat part of the 2nd set in the middle of something EPIC such as the Star or Terrapin). Let's hope it's a Three-Peat @ the Beacon. I actually really don't mind this song either as an encore or early/midway thru the 1st set. As with I Will Take You Home, it's the PLACEMENT that got my gall more than anything.

On 11/30, they FINALLY put The Other One and Dark Star together in 1 set where they jammed back & forth on both themes, although they coulda taken that concept A LOT further than they did (ie, like 11/8/69).

Man, SOMETHING'S gotta be done about THE WHISTLER. He is ALL OVER my Friday tape - some peeps said he was there Sat but I don't hear him - maybe way under the balc? The description of the Sat whistler doesn't match the guy I witnessed. The REAL whistler's whistle is VERY distinctive - true, there ARE other whistlers, but they are NOT THE WHISTLER!!! We were several of the priviledged few tapers who got away w/taping from the loge ledge all 3 nights - he HAS to REALLY be all over the "official" section tapes if he's all over the ledge tapes. The REAL whistler is a chunky (actually kinda looks like Bucky - ha!) construction-worker type with greased back gray hair, late '40's, very much a north-jersey barfly - off track betting parlor type, classic flannel shirt w/no sleeves to reveal anchor tattoos on huge bicepts - flirts w/all the chicks around him - and people actually MAKE FRIENDS with this asswipe - are you SO clueless as to be willing to put up w/this? Oh, I forgot, you are all too busy singing along & clapping out of tune to notice . . .

Got to witness for ourselves what a TWEAKER their soundman, THE WIZ is. No wonder they are so taper-unfriendly nowadays (with the section location and the unwillingness to let tapers tape from the balcony). I thought I knew some extreme tweaker tech types in my experience but this guy takes the cake. After the show, we were helping a guy find his car keys (we being tapers had flashlights) under the seats right in front of the board. He FREAKS OUT "SECURITY - SECURITY - SECURITY - THEY'RE FUCKING UP MY EQUIPMENT - KICK THEM ALL OUT!!!" This is AFTER we had asked security if we could look, and we were NOWHERE NEAR the board - just looking under the seats in front. I WILL give him mucho credit for GREAT sound at all the shows so far - and with a vastly scaled-down speaker array. A vast improvement over last fall's Other Ones debacle.

Speaking of tapes, as they said at Woodstock "Don't Eat the Brown Acid", and at Woodstock '94 "Don't Smoke the Brown Pot", I have to say "Don't Listen To the Official Taper's Section Tape" of ANY of these theatre shows (or, "I wouldn't let my DOG listen to those tapes!"). The sound is A MILLION times better upstairs. And security hassles were much less. On Sun, the 18 year old security geek actually asked me to help him police the aisles while he went around confiscating bowls (all his pockets were full by the end of the show - LOL!). I pretty much had to oblige to protect the mic's I was patched out of which were on the ledge at the aisle. It was rough pulling the semi-stealth ledge taping off every night - a lot of needless stress but well worth the effort considering the superior sonic results. I'll vine them out if no one else does once tour is over and things settle down.

I just wonder when the F the band and manangement is gonna realize that the front 3 rows of the Loge/Mezzanine should be the tapers section, as ALL the other jambands have done at theatres (Mule, Panic, SCI, etc). Most party animal types wanna be downstairs anyway - only the sonic/ audio freaks that wanna sit and listen want to be up there anyway, and they are mostly tapers or taper-friendly. Many of the folks in the further-back rows of the Loge ask the peeps in front of them to sit down. If tapers had the 1st rows, they'd generally be sitting, and there'd be no need for intrusive micstands, as all the mic's could be on the ledge. It would help the theatre management too, as they'd not have to worry about drunken idiots dropping their beers over the ledge (especially since the soundboard is right below at all 3 venues - THE WIZ ARE YOU CLUED IN?!?!?!? - IF YOU WANT SOMETHING TO TWEAK ABOUT YOU SHOULDA SEEN THE DRUNKS DOIN' THE STAGGER LEE HOLDING THEIR DRINKS RIGHT OVER YOUR HEAD ON SAT). As I mentioned before, we tapers police ourselves very well!

Oh, the music - Didn't anyone else notice the HEAVY Caution jam on Friday after Alligator? I was 75% certain they were actually gonna sing it at several points. I did need the Tons though, as I had to take a wicked piss by that time.

Also, didn't anyone else notice the HEAVY Blues for Allah jamming/space during the 11/29 Slipknot before Goin' Down the Road? I was about 25% sure they were actually gonna do that, too. They are sure playing at the level where it's now an actual possibility at the Beacon. I ask why the F not? Are they really just gonna repeat all the same stuff they just did in Boston and Phila? They have been playing AWESOMELY but they GOTTA bust out something they haven't played in these parts. Speaking of bust-out's, on Sun I thought Cumberland was Sittin' On Top Of the World at first - that would be an east coast first for either band (I really don't count the WEAK version I saw as an encore in Pittsburgh 7/8/02) - or do that HAVE to have Michael Kang there to do it?

>>>>>As in Boston, they managed to get Again & Again out of the way in a non-obnoxious way (ie, NOT in the Phat part of the 2nd set in the middle of something EPIC such as the Star or Terrapin). Let's hope it's a Three-Peat @ the Beacon. I actually really don't mind this song either as an encore or early/midway thru the 1st set. As with I Will Take You Home, it's the PLACEMENT that got my gall more than anything.


I would have to agree with that 100%.....

In fact, I went to the 'potty', started to come back, heard Ramble On Rose, went & grabbed a soda instead with the extra time to kill......

>>>>>I did need the Tons though, as I had to take a wicked piss by that time.

Great minds think alike.......

on Monday, December 01, 2003 - 08:33 pm: Edit Post
so i'm just back from philly ...tired as shit...i was gonna give a detailed description of all three shows but the sunday rendered the first two reviews basically irrevelant(and they wouldn't be too favorable anyhow...but i will give a synopsis anyway)***and jeesh people I amexpressing my own opinion sokeep your shirts on***

basically i felt like the plq that i came to see didn't really show up the first 2 nights. sure there was some damn good stuff:the first night first set had some killer songs but unfortunately-with the exception of new potato caboose-were played rather poorly. jimmy was kicking but warrren was barely in the house. just not very tight. and shit i've been wating to hear them play dancin and alligator for a long time...they need to drop tons of steel.. the 2nd set was considerably better with a kick ass jam into blue sky wich was awesome....ujb was superfast and tight as hell...terrapin was nice with the full treatment except no jam out at the end...sugare and rider were passable...1,ooo stars and no more do i need to be dropped

the 2nd night was in hindsight not much better tahn the first. the first set didn't really even get cooking until the comes a time on which warren was devestating and the tommorow never knows>masons was big time...but the rest was very run of the mill. again and again needs to be dropped. the second set started out with great promise as the philly shakedown showed up, natch. nice work there but the overplayed wheel just didn't cut the mustard...cold rain was much fresher but was quickly forgotten with the doldrums of midnite train-this song should be dropped. help slip the old warhorse was tired this evening-one too many times out of the gate recently and the predictable encore of slip>frank sent us packing.

again let me say that these 2 shows were in no way bad but i was beginning to think that the 2nd sickest band of all time was on the wane-or the ebb shall we say, which all great bands are bound to do and experience. jimmy had played weel but warren just wasn't doing much. still hot shows but NOT the plq that i rememberd from before.

now this brings us to night 3. before we left the hotel i said to my lady "you know tonight will either be more of the same average stuff or they will rip the doors off". thankfully the latter prevailed.

from the beginning jam into scarlet>fire they were on, er...fire! after those beginning killer tunes i turned to the heads around me with whom we'd danced all three nights and said "tell me that that's the best shit they've played so far?!" the consensus was : sickest shit. i've been waiting to hear warf rat for awhile and the cyber-warren-brainsaw jam in the middle was anihilating only to be followed by viola in all her three verse cosmic shimmer. wheww....and the real thing-this song needs to be dropped( this is the only downer of the night. now irealize that they want to play new songs and it is important to write new material as a band to keep things fresh but unfortunately-do i even need to say in my opinion-none of these songs are very good.) lovelight was a rocking sendup that showed the band's infinite power to breathe new life into an american classic all said in done the best so far hands down and let's keep it going for the second set!

stephen starts out with no jam whatsoever-nice. from the start the boys are on fire. no momentum lost! stephen makes it's way into cryptical and by the time the eleven rolls around it's brutally apparent that we are in the middle of a psychedelic masterpiece! low spark balances things perfectly for the emerggence of the dark star:deep, drippy, thick with layers and layers of magma-molten energy-black hole...quark....the brilliance of warren haynes and his mastery of his craft explodes again with the she said...a relic of lennon's lost weekend...eclipsing back into the dark star and then finally, naturally slithering into the big daddy bus-ridin'-motherlode-of-sickness:otherone...puhleeze-yuck-this is sickening in its brillance...!!!!......watchtower is at light speed and a hurricane of flying colored chunks of air...and then...stella-what can you say except that jerry would be proud(not just of this song but of this band)..they slowed it down even more than garcia and showed it such complete reverence...mesmerizing.....and they ended it on that: genious. superb. cosmic

and unbeleiveably, returned to the stage to complete the psychedelic cowboy with a ripping cumberland. ripping doesn't even do this song justice but my adjectives are running thin.

all in all the very best show i've seen this band play. definitely the best second set. the music really played me and i have't felt that way in a long time. plq is the best hands down,it's THAT clear. best show of the tour no doubt.

OK, here we go......

First, the venue.
Nice.

Someone referred to it as "a shabbier version of the Beacon."

Huh?
What theatre were they in?

I was referring to it as "Nicer than the Beacon, but the Beacon's OUR theatre."

The Tower's bigger, wider, better kept up, cleaner.......
Nicer.

As you can guess, they played everything I wanted to hear & thensome.
The things I didn't like, I didn't care about & didn't bother me & they were all placed where they caused the least damage, like the end of the 2nd set....

OK, I'll try to do this from memory, no lists, notes, phone records......

First show......

Overall solid show, no match for the next 2 nights, but very good in it's own right.

A fast paced jam that quickly hinted at & went into Dancin.
Dancin' was fast paced, as was most of what was played all weekend. The jam was a bit short, although in all fairness, I had listened to 2-18-01 on the way down.....

New Potato was good, but no 'reprise' like in Summer 2002, then a big, strong jam that blew into BEW. It was so good, I woulda been happy with Dire Wolf after it.....
BEW was really pretty average.

Alligator was more of a hybrid between P&F's 'Eyes' tempo & The Dead's tradional arrangement & I liked it better that way.
A Short but intense interplay between Jimmy & Warren, less than a minute I'd say, & they were heading out & after a few minutes were into a Caution jam that rocked for 3-4 minutes. I don't know why it's not on the Philzone setlist, because it was on Phil's official list that a kid showed me on the way out......

Tons of Steel, bathroon time.
Cosmic Charley, nice to hear, but an average version.

Good set.

2nd set......

Opening jam went right into some fast paced Mountain Jam quotes for a few minutes before rolling into another great Blue Sky.

1000 Stars was much better than any I've seen sinc 4-30-01 & didn't end but they jammed out of it & worked into a jam & found their way to UJB. It had a bigger build-up at the end than any I've seen sice 1999 & was totally satisfying.

No More Do I, afterwards, a short Dark Star tease, then Terrapin.....

I bet you think I was disappointed.

Not the 'new' Bucky.....
I take it all in stride.
It really isn't worth stressing over - enjoy what you get, that's all you're going to get....

Besides, this isn't your Grateful Dead's Terrapin.....

It's P&F's. And that means intensity & jamming.

We got both.
Not as good as the epic 4-30-01 Roseland version, but alot better than the flat 7-6-02 GOTV version.

I was totally pleased with this version.

Sugaree.....
one of the good signs I noticed was The Q did an instrumental after each verse. In late 2001-2002 (the down period for The Q), they's sing 3 verse before 1 instrumental.
Warren took one of his few solos on the final instrumental, playing some nice slide, but Rob, who's playing was exceptional all night, kinda overdid it on the keys & drowned him out a bit.

Instead of the show ending, we got a pretty standard but still rockin' IKYR tacked on the end. I can live with that.

The encore.....

The Bobby rumors.
Well, right song, wrong singer.
I joked that Sugar Mag was sung for the first time in 15 years - as opposed to screamed.....

I was so surprised I didn't even recognize it until Grahame started singing.

He did a good job.
The instrumental started, I got ready....
And it was over like that.
Oh well.
Then they started SSDD & began the instrumental & I hoped they'd make up for it. They did in intensity if not length. BIG build-up, which I'll take over length any day. Honestly, it blew away the Sugar Mag I heard 'The Dead' do at Saratoga this summer - remember, I'm judging it based not from beginning to end, but on the payoff, the climax......

I enjoyed this show alot & would give it about an '8'.....
The next two?
TEN.

More to come......

Sat..........

Barely made it in on time after being at the Tower at 6PM.
But that's another story for another time.

First set.

They Started off with a SERIOUS Playin Jam that was basically a full Playin' In The Band from the point the lyrics end. It was VERY intense & quite frankly, there was too much going on right off the bat to take it all in, especially coming off the debacle I'd been involved in getting lost.......

The Playin' went on for about 7-8 minutes or so & was very good, mind blowing stuff. Best Playin' I've heard in a long time. China Cat was pretty short, then a more standard, less crazy Playin' jam before things setttled in for a cozy period with Again & Again/Ramble On Rose. I used that to relieve myself & grab a soda before the madness returned.......

Comes A Time was like listening to a tape from 1977.
What more can I say?
Throw on 5-9-77.
If Warren was feeling bad on Friday, & I think he was & let Jimmy carry the load, he was back tonight.......
TKN, always good.
Love Supreme, I think that's a bit much listing it.......
Mason's Children, the highlight of the set along with Playin. They tore it up. None of the spacing out that hurt the song in 2002 & even 2001, just POWER. Awesome.

Great set.

2nd set......

Shakedown started off a MONSTER set.

Very fast, & they stayed in the theme longer than many times.

The Wheel. Who doesn't love P&F's Wheel?
What wasn't to love about this version?
Phil shook the place with a BIG bomb during the 'traditional' instrumental.....

Cold Rain, Man, is this the same song The Grateful Dead used to play?
Only in words.....
One big instrumental after another, just great.
Then, they don't stop, they jam out slowly, noodling away & then, back into the Cold Rain theme again......

Midnight Train, one of my favorite new songs.
Uh, actually, I guess, my favorite new one.
Love that Steeley Dan feel, The Warren double-time.....

Then, I saw someone say Help was a surprise, but I could hear it coming a mile away.

Help's Help. Onto the main course, Slipknot.....

What a main course.

HUGE

About 4-5 minutes of chaotic, frenzied slipknotic jamming before they headed into a long & great space which both Buddy Greene & Sideshow Bob said was very much like the spacey part of Blues For Allah. I was so caught up in it, I didn't notice, but I believe 'em.....

Then, another long interlude, a blusey jam.....

I figured they were heading back to Slipknot, then we found ourselves at GDTRFB.

Like The Wheel, who doesn't love GDTRFB?
Warren with some new lyrics about being in jail, Phil singing the old "Feed me on cornbread & beans" ala Andy Griffith......
They also added in a 2nd instrumental.

They headed out, hit a sick jam that I thought was going back into Slipknot (again), began to hit 'critical mass' & ripped into Golden Road instead.

What can I say except this version rocked & was the best I ever saw by far.

The encore.....

A few minutes of the end of Slipknot followed by Franklin's Tower.
How sweet is that?

This set was just great; The best show I've seen since 7-21-01 with the possible exception of 7-5-02 & this show was better played but didn't have as good a setlist to work with.

In fact, this show was so good, it may surprise many of you to know that I'm not so sure Sunday was any better.
Well, maybe just a little bit better I guess.

If I was gonna rate the shows numerically:

Sun Boston: 9.3
Mon Boston: 8.3
Tues Boston: 9.6
Oakdale: 7.5
Fri Phila: 9.2
Sat Phila: 9.0
Sun Phila: 9.5

Of course I have not yet heard most on tape/cd, so my opinions may change as I have yet to remember EVERYTHING from a show. I do try to just let go and not be super-analytical when I just KNOW it's gonna generally be consistently good every show as it's been this tour (so far at least!). There's always that conscious/ unconscious effort to "stop the internal dialogue" in a Carlos-Castaneda-ish way.

As for some of the lukewarm-to-negative reviews (apparently there's been some outright panning on DNC and TOO boards), WHERE THE F WERE YOU PEOPLE IN SUMMER '02? DID YOU REALLY ENJOY THESE SHOWS WHICH I QUITE HONESTLY HAVE TO LAUGH AT AS BEING PRETTY DAMNED PATHETIC EFFORTS COMPARED TO THIS TOUR:

Vibes 7/6/02 (long show, good 1st set, but way inconsistent - NFA was on auto-pilot, Terrapin very flat, worst Golden Rd ever)
Toronto 7/9/02 (2nd worst PLQ show I've ever seen)
Darien Lk 7/10/02 (Warren was SO pissed off at this show & they made SO many mistakes I was gettin' really scared they were THROUGH as a band!)
Scranton 7/15/02 (well, it WAS a sauna!)
Hershey 7/18/02 (once they cut off Hard 2 Handle after 1 verse and folded into Bertha the rest of the show was total BARFSVILLE! short show too)
Merriweather 7/21/02 (Awful end of 1st set, Ag & Ag in the middle of Terrapin, lame 7', 1-1/2 verse Viola, or was it the 2nd half from Hershey? Cop out either way. Oh, and the 20 min's of waiting for the lame ass encore when they had a full pre-curfew 25 min's to do a double/triple enc to make up for the 2 lame, way short sets)
Aspen 8/30/02 (WORST SHOW EVER!!!)
Red Rocks 8/31 & 9/1/02 Better than the above-mentioned shows but not even nearly as good as the Oakdale show this tour. 1st night basically died after 2nd verse of Other One. Another Ag & Ag to kill the Terrapin, another lame Viola. Blues 4 Allah tease before Good Lovin - I was like "OH, PLEASE, SPARE ME ANY SHRED OF SUSPENSE THAT THERE'S EVEN A REMOTE POSSIBILITY!" Each show topping out at 155 min's.

Yeah, length ain't everything, but this tour I have yet to see a show less than 3 hours of music total.

Sorry Bucky but I still think fall '01 had many highlights - maybe you haven't heard all the shows on cd - St Louis, Ohio, Buffalo, Bethlehem, Burlington, all 3 Bostons, most of the Beacons - for the most part at or beyond the level of this tour. Not to mention the New Year's shows.

>>>>>> ripped into Golden Road instead.

>>>>>> What can I say except this version rocked & was the best I ever saw by far.

I'd hafta agree that Sat's Golden Rd was far superior to any I've seen since Fall '01 (possibly St Louis, which was a mellow, jammy version). The BEST VERSION EVER still remains Holmdel 7/27/01, though. I was getting concerned, 'cause all the summer '02, fall '03 Warfield and Boston Golden Rd's ranged from downright awful to routine.

Now they need to pull out a knock-our-socks-off 4-verse Viola Lee with a FULL buildup at the end ala 11/24/01 (last full version they've done - well, TOO Roanoke 11/14/02 is a full version too).

>>>>>Of course I have not yet heard most on tape/cd, so my opinions may change as I have yet to remember EVERYTHING from a show. I do try to just let go and not be super-analytical

Yeah, me too.
I used to try to remember everything & that CAN get in the way as somebody once asked me......
"How do you remember everything & STILL enjoy it?"
Now, I try to just enjoy & shut down the thinking.
That's how I missed that BFA thing SAT. I was so caught up in what was going on, I was in it, not thinking.
I was reading this guy's reviews today.
Great reviews, but all based on notes taken DURING the music. EGADS!
You might as sit on chat while the band plays.....

And, I agree on the 'I haven't heard the shows on tape/CD yet' comment.
I told Mrs B, "I'm not so sure tonight (Sunday) was better than last night, but I haven't heard the tapes yet."

In retrospect, the highest level the band hit all weekend was the first 25 minutes of the 2nd set Sunday IMHO, so I guess that makes it the best......

Onto Sunday.

Sunday's first set began with another upbeat jam.
I heard a few Watchtower teases before they settled into Scarlet. It was pretty standard until about a minute or two out of the jam out, where they picked it up & hit the 'critical mass' level that they had been at from the git-go the night before.

Scarlet was quite good. A long space ensued that I thought touched on a tad of BFA again for a few seconds. They found their way back to the Scarlet 'coda' ala 'The Other Ones' in 2001 before heading into a rather standard Fire that went out into a jam instead of back to Scarlet.

Then, what sounded like a Dark Star tease, but doesn't the beginning of Wharf Rat always sound like Dark Star?

Wharf Rat was the standard P&F version with the big Warren wah-wah.....
The mid song instrumental was a bit short, then the post song instrumental was the best I've heard since 11-30-81 (hey, isn't that odd?) & started to remind me of the dizzying heights of 11-5-77 when that thought instantly vanished as the jam ended & moved on & we found our way into Viola....

VIOLA!

Time to end the set?

Well, I'd been hoping for a 1st set Viola because it cleared the 2nd for all the stuff they ended up playing in the 2nd set.....

Viola was just great. Ripping, spacey, more ripping......
I'd guess around 15 minutes.

Then, The Real Thing.
Another slow Warren tune......
I'd have gone to the bathroom if I had to.

Lovelight to end the set was a surprise & was really rocking along before they spaced out for a bit. It was alot different than Oakdale, where there was 2 seperate instrumentals & no spacing, which goes to show the spontaneous nature of 'The Q'......

2nd Set.......

St. Stephen out of the box without any noodling or jamming was a powerful treat.
The climactic jam at the end was one of the best I've ever seen live or heard on tape.
We were off to the races & the band was hitting on all cylinders.
The build-up at the end was just killer.
Right into Cryptical, no jamming in the Cryptical theme, they started rolling powerfully into The Other One before switching into a great version of The Eleven.
This 25 minute segment was the high point of the show, just bristling with energy......

The Eleven wound down, they went into Low Spark, a P&F first for me. Great playing, but I have to wonder why they only sing 2 verses one night & sing one verse another night. That makes no sense to me. Since this wasn't the one verse night, no biggie.

As they jammed out of Low Spark, I noticed they were jamming into Dark Star. Not teasing it, but playing it. I figured they'd slow down & start it proper, but they just kept going & started singing it. VERY short, only a couple minutes. A nice passage of Dark Star ensued afterwards, but not that long. I guess about 7-8 minutes total.

Then She said.
Not my favorite song, but it was alot better than past versions I've heard. In fact, it was actually good, pretty energetic. Everyone else seemed to be loving it. The joint was rockin'.....

They finished it, came to a definite stop with She Said & instantly started a raggae-ish jam that was definitly not Dark Star but went on a few minutes & Dark Star began to be weaved back into it. The 2nd verse of Dark Star fell, & as opposed to most times where it's just a couple minutes, Jimmy embelished it for a few extra sweet minutes as if to say "Yeah, the first verse was too short".......

They sang the 2nd verse, no 'Ba Boom Ba Boom', picked up the pace into a different jam but still Dark Star IMHO that then fell into THe Other One after about 5 minutes, so all told, we probably got 15 minutes of Dark Star.

THe Other One was good but pretty short, about 5 minutes. They ripped it up, a little short of great, but I was happy.

They did the ending that goes back into Cryptical, did it a 2nd time, which I thought odd, & no Cryptical reprise. Instead, they worked it into the start to Watchtower.

This Watchtower, of course, smoked. Warren had switched guitars & both he & Jimmy tore it up & they didn't rush like in Oakdale. True greatness.

Then Stella.
Who cares.
I must admit the instrumental at the end was really good though.

Cumberland for the encore?
Now THAT'S an encore.
I felt like the energy level & playing was back to where it was from St. Stephen through The Eleven. The sweat was pouring down my face again.

So, was it the best of the 3?
I guess so, but I gotta tell y'all, I enjoyed all 3 immensely.

And regardless of what they do at the Beacon, I can't imagine that for ME - and those of you who know me - I'd have been better off going to all 4 Beacon shows or any other run P&F has done this year.

>And regardless of what they do at the Beacon, I can't imagine that for ME - and those of you who know me - I'd have been better off going to all 4 Beacon shows or any other run P&F has done this year.

Glad to hear of your wise choice and memorable weekend. Some things happen for a reason.

Ruminations...gotta love those beer ladies wandering around downstairs during the most intense stuff, at least they don't holler 'Getcha Beeyah heyah' like at the ballgame. Speaking of beer, Sat nite I was enjoying how nice and relaxed and uncrowded my aisle seat in the L/C under the lip of the balcony was when about a half dozen drunk oafs stumbled in about 20 min into the 1st set-yakyakyak as in 'wow these seats are great hey whattid they play last night which bar are we gonna hit afterwards' etc. (Large white lads in early 20s with Phillies caps, army fatigue jackets, brews in hand etc) I suggested that they either talk out in the lobby or during the break, and the biggest (dumbest?) one asked where I was 'sitting'. I pointed to my seat with my coat on the back and he claimed it was his, shoved me into the aisle, and continued his conversation... I grabbed an usher, pointed this out, and watched the whole scene dissolve into chaos at which point I bailed. I walked by at the end of the break to find they'd all headed to the 'loo- but they were back a little later and apparently soaked my jacket in Coors Lite. I suppose its a case of hearing that some band's show is a 'good party', but I'm not keen on this kinda action (I know- bitchmoanwhine etc )Not to issue a blanket harshing on the scene however- just these guys 'stuck in my craw'.Front of balcony for tapers only? No Way! Only topless dancing babes should be allowed there!! I was scanning a mob of dancing wimminz during 'Mason's Children- it was babealicious!!! Well I gotta chow now- see you fellow fools at th' Beacon Thurs/Fri!

How great are those "Phillesh" Phillies-logo style shirts they were selling outside? Can't wait to wear mine to a Phillies game next spring!

Oh yeah, Sunday night was up there with 11/17/01 and 6/1/02 in my top GD-related experiences (My GD-show-attending career spanned 1982-1987, not a great time period for the band, IMHO... I am glad I got to see Jerry so much in those years tho...)

Sunday night was up there with 11/12/01 for me. It may have topped it.

Bucky, glad to hear you enjoyed these shows. Thats very promising

I think I saw you in the hall Sunday night right outside the door to enter where the seats are. I was going to say hello but I was a bit out of my mind at that point and didn't want to interupt that wonderful second set. Glad you enjoyed it!

>>>> think I saw you in the hall Sunday night right outside the door to enter where the seats are.

I was in the Loge sunday....

The 3rd row tickets I had magically had 'Loge' appear on them Thursday when I looked at them.
Good thing - by then, all I wanted was to sit down & relax instead of standing another 4 hours....

I had on a 'Team Phil' shirt, circa 2001 with blue lettering Sunday night.....

after the friday show some guy ran up to me and said , are you bucky? i said no. about a 30 seconds later he said , are you sure you're not bucky? i told him, yes i'm sure.

i figured it might have been the bucky mafia.

i went to wave at phil as he left the stage friday and just as i raised my hand he threw the wristband straight in my hand. i didn't even have to try to catch it.

the shows were great. each better than the other. phil was most active I've ever seen him on Friday, couldn't stop dancing Sat. and Sunday was a daydream of a show!

i met four or five 'zoners on Sat or Sun at the break in the main lobby, but I couldn't tell you who you were. i was able to tell you who i was, though.

anyhow great to meet you, and those shows were much appreciated. something about philly and phil???????

now everyone say, "Thank you 'Q"!

Great time in Philly and running into all the Zoners that showed up.

November 28, 2003
Tower Theater
Upper Darby (Phily), PA

Set 1:
Jam>
Dancin' In The Streets>
Jam>
New Potato Caboose>
Brown Eyed Women
Alligator>
Tons Of Steel
Cosmic Charlie

Set 2:
Mountain Jam>
Blue Sky>
Night Of A 1000 Stars>
Uncle John's Band>
No More Do I>
Jam>
Terrapin Station>
Sugaree>
I Know You Rider

E: *Sugar Magnolia

*with Grahame Lesh on lead vocals and guitar

A really fun show with lots of friends, but not one of the better shows I
caught. i'm there for the people and the party, i
spent as much time sitting in my seat as i did dancing. i'm in no hurry to
hear these shows again anytime soon as the music was only a small portion
of the totality that made this vacation as enjoyable as it was.

Similar to the opening night in Boston a paced show that seemed to be more
like part of a trilogy and not a stand alone performance. The band seemed
to be still be recovering from the flu and the show looks better on paper
than it was in person. The Blue Sky with Phil on vocal was my highlight,
Phil’s voice really works with this song and it reminded me that I couldn’t
remember cringing once at any of Phil’s vocals like on earlier tours, it
must be that mud he drinks before he starts singing.
I had heard the Sugar Mag being sound checked, but didn’t hear the vocal
part just the ending. When they kicked this out with Grahame on guitar and
vocal I was surprised at just how good a job he did and it rocked. I
remember thinking “good for Phil, he’s bred his own Bobby replacement”.


November 29, 2003
Tower Theater
Upper Darby (Phily), PA

Set 1:
Playin' In The Band Jam>
China Cat Sunflower>
Playin' Jam>
Again & Again
Ramble On Rose>
Jam>
Comes A Time>
Spacey Jam>
Tomorrow Never Knows>
Love Supreme Jam>
Mason's Children

Set 2:
Shakedown Street>
The Wheel>
Jazzy Jam>
Cold Rain & Snow>
Midnight Train>
Jam>
Help On The Way>
Slipknot!>
Jam>
Goin' Down The Road Feeling Bad>
Jam>
Golden Road

E: Slipknot>
Franklin's Tower

More energy than the night before and way more friends for this one, the
band was clearly feeling much better than any of the previous 5 shows and
it showed in the level of playing. Every time they started the Playing Jam
I looked for Grahame to come out with guitar in hand and join in, he
didn’t, but I remember when little Derek Trucks used to come out at the
early/mid 90’s ABB shows and now he’s a member ;) go Grahame go.

This is one of the tightest touring units on the road today and you can
just see how much fun they are having, too bad it’s over again so soon. I
hope they continue to make room in their schedules to get together and
play.


November 30, 2003
Tower Theater
Upper Darby (Phily), PA)

Set 1:
Jam>
Scarlet Begonias>
Fire On The Mountain>
Wharf Rat>
Jam>
Viola Lee Blues>
Jam>
The Real Thing>
Lovelight

Set 2:
St. Stephen>
Cryptical Envelopment>
Jam>
The Eleven>
Jam>
Low Spark Of High-Heeled Boys (v1 & v2)>
Dark Star (v1)>
She Said She Said>
Jam>
Dark Star (v2)>
The Other One>
All Along The Watchtower>
Stella Blue

E: Cumberland Blues

Final night for me and most of the others went home after Saturday’s shows.
This show kicked ass from the 1st note and didn’t stop until the lights
went on. Probably the best setlist out of the 7 shows I saw, 2nd best time
for me, the 3rd Boston show was just so huge and I’m convinced that the I
Am The Walrus is the best song this band plays.
Phil was having so much fun and very animated the entire show, lots of
joking with Rob and going deep in the pocket to be able to see and jam with
Molo. Warren was clearly the healthiest I have seen him this tour.
A great run, a great little tour and an awesome time getting to hang and
party with friends and put some more faces with the email addys.

Molo, Jimmy and Rob were incredible the entire tour and Phil is clearly a
great interpreter of other music and his arrangements of the non Dead stuff
is excellent.
I ended up seeing 88 different songs over 7 shows for a nice chunk of the
repertoire.
I would almost rather see more cover tunes and less Dead just to hear them
playing things that don’t have the immediate GD comparison issue.
It may not be a band out promoting new material, they might all have
different bands they are committed to the rest of the year, but this is not
a cover band just playing the oldies for some added retirement funds.
Just like they say in the song this is “the Real Thing”.

OBIE

Ark - A Phil wristband as a souvenir, that's pretty cool.

Got to Philly on Saturday with only a Sunday ticket. Couldn't score one for Saturday, but had a good time anyway. Been a while since Ive been in Philly. The only thing I don't miss is Philly cops. They sure know how to kill a lot.
One of the best shows ive seen (just shy of 50). Show started strong- kept hearing Dark Star teases before the Scarlet Fire and Warf Rat. Scarlet Fire was a real nice start to the show. (Other Ones 11/30/02 is my favorite in recent years). Viola Lee was fantastic (what a great song), and Lovelight sent everyone into the lobby smilin' and singin'.
Second set blew my mind. Dark Star She Said Dark Star, Cryptical, Other One! I was disapointed to hear them go into Watchtower. (I have heard it played so many times by so many people- I don't need anymore). But, It was the best version I have ever heard. Warren exploded, and Jimmy was right along with him. It was like the serpent chasing its tail in figure eights. Stella was nice and smooth- reminded me of Warrens solo show at Bonnaroo. Saw alot of kids get hauled out during 2nd set for smoking in the theatre. Would have been a real bummer If I hadn't been so zoned into the stage. Keep on playing boys.

>>>>Ark - A Phil wristband as a souvenir, that's pretty cool.


Geewiz talked Grahame intro giving him & Key a VERY sweaty pair in Hartford in 2002.....

If you recall, it was HOT & HUMID that night.

hey bucky....lay off the WHISTLER!!!! unfortunately he was behind me on friday and i really didn't care for him, but so what, i wasn't going to let him bring me down. he obviously had a ticket and had just as much right to be there as you or i. everyone who goes to shows aren't going to be the best concert-goers, so just deal with it brother. i understand it is bothersome to tapers, but tapers don't dictate how people should behave, especially when they themselves didn't pay for other peoples tickets. and on that point, i was at a show once (tower theater a few years back) and a taper told me to quit clapping because it was screwing up his show (which i found out later he was putting them on cd and selling them for $25--WRONG)-i just laughed, his show, as if we all had to sit there and be quiet so he could get his show and make a buck! needless to say we got into it and it turned ugly. enjoy taping shows, we all love them, but just remember things aren't always what they seem. peace, phillylesh

>>>>hey bucky....lay off the WHISTLER!!!!

Did I mention the Whistler somewhere in MY posts?

BTW, The Whistler is a dick.

Shut up, don't smoke, don't talk, don't move in & out of the aisle during the music.........

LISTEN

Just act like you're at a tennis match.

Courtesy.....

A word nobody wants to hear at a concert.

Brandon - A person’s right or personal freedom ends at the next person’s ears. The Whistler does not have the right to whistle in the middle of the F*ing song. I did not pay to hear the bastard whistle. Nor for that matter did I pay to hear some tool in the audience talk to their neighbor, sing off key, or clap off beat for that matter. If they want to do any of these offences wait until the song is over.

Unfortunately, common courtesy is like common sense IT’S NOT AS COMMON as it should be.

just a quick thought, "they" spent BIG dollars doing a complete refurbish of the Tower within the last year or so, security did suck at the PLQ gigs, BUT they were as harsh about smoking in the venue at a Rufus Wainright gig the week before....
ans as a local i can assure you that the Tower is a much better place for a gig than the heel-hole called the E-factory. Here's hoping the PLQ comes back.......anywhere.......soon

Dave, I'll give you your whistling out-of-control point during a song. But come on now...no clapping or singing, or talking to friends. It's a concert man, it's not church or a library.
Brandon