Levon Helm Band, Chicago 6/13/08 Set: Back To Memphis, Rain Down Tears,

Ophelia, Everything Gonna Be Alright, Scratch My Back


so far no rain so we will see what he does next....

Levon Helm Band
Chicago 6/13/08

Setlist:
Back To Memphis
Rain Down Tears
Ophelia
*Everything Gonna Be Alright
*Scratch My Back
Got Me A Woman
^??(1)
??(2)
Long Black Veil
^Rag Mama Rag
Shape I'm In
Chest Fever
The Weight

* w/Little Sammy Davis
^ w/John Molo (drums), Levon (mando)



?? 1 & 2 will get song titles later (2 is possible Girl I left Behind)

thanks Rob

Chicago 6/13/08

Partying on Lake Michigan

Viola Lee Blues

and the sun setting over Chicago

THANKS TROB!!! any *live* streams coming this tour??


are you doing the whole tour? If so, I'll buy you a beer in IOWA!

thanks!

is the family with you?

safe travels ALL~

Chicago 6/13/08

Set 1:
Golden Road
Jack Straw
Mexican Girl
Viola Lee Blues(v1)>
Big Boss Man>
Viola Lee Blues(v2)>
About Cell Block #9>
Viola Lee Blues(v3)

Wharf Rat

Thanks!

Awesome first set, i feel Levon in the Second Set

Chicago 6/13/08

Set 1:
Golden Road
Jack Straw
Mexican Girl
Viola Lee Blues(v1)>
Big Boss Man>
Viola Lee Blues(v2)>
About Cell Block #9>
Viola Lee Blues(v3)

Set 2:
Help On The Way>
Slipknot>
Wharf Rat>
Eyes Of The World>
China Cat Sunflower>
The Eleven>
I Know You Rider
Mason's Children>
Franklin's Tower

Donor Rap/Band Intros

Encore:
Brown-Eyed Women

Chicago 6/13/08

Set 1:
Golden Road
Jack Straw
Mexican Girl
Viola Lee Blues(v1)>
Big Boss Man>
Viola Lee Blues(v2)>
About Cell Block #9>
Viola Lee Blues(v3)

Set 2:
Help On The Way>
Slipknot>
Wharf Rat>
Eyes Of The World>
China Cat Sunflower>
The Eleven>
I Know You Rider
Mason's Children>
Franklin's Tower

Donor Rap/Band Intros

Encore:
Brown-Eyed Women
Ripple

Phil always says something about Jerry when he plays Chicago

Jerry's last show...Chicago....great set list..thanks for keeping us updated

That second set looks like a LOT of FUN.... Jealousy here in L.a.

that's such a good looking setlist.
huge nod to jerry with the b.e. woman and ripple
gotta love phil!

And it looks like the old man's gettin' on...

Bass great, Lesh philling

No doubt... This show is an absolute nod to Jerry. So true Edgar. Phil is a class act, and he never forgets. 13 years later, Phil is still giving the Fat Man props! Beautiful...

Looks like the stage is a bit more tidy too.

Good to see Mason's back in the rotation.

Any comments about the execution?

Dan, this band pulled out Mason's on 11/9/07, and it was a tease until now, I was hoping they didn't shelve it entirely and tonight's a hint that they haven't!

Great tune. Hell, the whole setlist looks sick. First set Viola sangwhiches are always indicative of a group that's looking for a big show.

Photos from Chicago

Photos from the Chicago Show last night.

I give up trying to post them, sorry.

Sorry all. I have some great photos to share, just can't get this thing to work. It is kind of primitive, you have to admit.

Show was listed as doors 4:00/show 5:00.. What time did Levon come on to play and for about how long? What time did Phil actually take the stage? Thanks...

Chicklets..resize your pics to less that 500 x 500 Pixels

Or..even better IMO..set up an album of your pics at Photobucket or one of those other free sites and post a link

Complete Levon Helm setlist:

Levon Helm Band
Chicago 6/13/08

Setlist:
Back To Memphis
Rain Down Tears
Ophelia
*Everything Gonna Be Alright
*Scratch My Back
Got Me A Woman
^Ashes Of Love
You Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone
Long Black Veil
^Rag Mama Rag
Shape I'm In
Chest Fever
The Weight

* w/Little Sammy Davis
^ w/John Molo (drums), Levon (mando)

Levon started at 5:15 and played until 6:35. Phil started about 7:15-7:20

Every show is a nod to Jerry.



Nice setlist though. Much better in my opinion then what we got in Ohio.


That Levon set looks kickass. Wish the rain wouldn't have fucked ours up.

>>>>> Any comments about the execution?

I'll have to admit that with this band I've been proceeding with caution, but as far as execution last night, "THEY NAILED IT!!!!!!"
this is the first time I've seen this incarnation
and they seem to be gelling real well right now.
Jackie sounds more comforatble with his role and
Larry's seems to be reaching a bit deeper, and I now officially have the hot's for Larry's wife.
that women is FULL of soul and ain't exactly hard on the eyes neither, she still comes 2nd to Shania.
Particle dude carries his load and we know what Molo and Phil can do. all in all it was a Grate setlist and very well played, I'm hyped up to see them again in Cheesetown 4th of July !!!! hopefully I won't have to look at notty again all night.
GRATE JOB PHIL and the rest of the crew !!!!!!
keep on keepin' on !!!!
and what a treat it was to see Levon !!!
he still has it bigtime !!!!

This was a really nice show, fun, laid back venue, perfect weather, fantastic sound. I had a blast dancing and meeting my neighbors and the smiles were everywhere at the end of the show.

So much for generalities. I really enjoyed Levon’s set, particularly Long Black Veil and Chest Fever, but the whole thing was nice. I’m really into the Dirt Farmer album, so I would have liked to hear more than one tune off it, but they did do a nice job with Got a Woman.

First set: Golden Road opener was fun and got the place up and dancing. They ended it on a major chord though instead of the dissonant, augmented thing I’ve heard Phil’s lineups do before. But Jack Straw is where the show really got rolling for me. Phil was really playing out and dancing around the lyrics, and Jackie did a great job with the vocals. Really tasty version here. Mexican Girl was also very well done and had a great guitar solo from Jackie. He’s really coming into his own with this band now and playing with a lot more confidence than he did in the Fall shows I saw. The first Viola verse and jam following was a huge highlight for me. They were really locked in and Steve was adding a lot of funky sounds to the jam. I thought they lost a little steam with Bossman though. It just wasn’t terribly exciting. The jam out of it built up some energy though, and I think I caught Larry doing an Easy Wind tease in there somewhere. A quick turn into the second verse of Viola, and then the jam out of it was not very Viola-like, a little less driving, and sort of petered out into Cell Block #9, which built up nicely back into the Viola theme. This transition was another highlight for me, and one they dropped it into Viola for good, they were really chugging along. That jam got derailed at one point though, and after the crash Phil pushed them into Feedback, which lasted a few minutes before they fell back into the theme and finished off the last verse. The set ended with another touch of Feedback too.

It was too bad to have the set end with a slight train wreck, but there were a lot of really fine moments as well, and I was hoping they wouldn’t be too tentative going into the second set. I wasn’t disappointed.

Second set will follow.

I agree Art...although I think we were lucky to get anything at all in Columbus...

During the set break we were all really enjoying the sunset behind the skyline. Maybe someone will post a picture. There was the Sears Tower in silhouette with some low puffy clouds outlined in electric pink. I’m sure this view was a treat for a lot of folks there.

The effects and the warmup tuning was screaming Help, but it was still a great release when they whiplashed us with those first four chord strokes. This was a solid version with a lot of drive, and it quickly moved into a really excellent Slipknot. The jam here featured Phil really playing out and toying with the main Slip theme even while they were still in the more free form part of the jam. This was an early highlight of the set and it transitioned cleanly into Wharf Rat. Jackie did a fantastic job on the vocals here I though, really putting a lot of feeling into them. Phil was driving the bus on the closing jam with a lot of energy, but it somehow got lost in the transition into Eyes, which started out just not really firing on all cylinders. The jam after the second verse was excellent though, with some great playing from Larry, and that seemed to pull everything together again. From this point on, the rest of the set was outstanding and extremely high energy. Out of China Cat there were dueling guitar solos between Larry and Jackie which really drove the band to exceptional high points. There were several times towards the end of this set when Jackie was way over on Larry’s side of the stage and the two of them were locked in, with Phil and Molo holding down the fort and looking on as proud as they could be of Jackie. Steve’s rig was way off to the left and it seemed like it was hard for him to find his place when the rest of them were grouped tightly. The Eleven was a blast with a seamless jump into the time change and a fine transition into Rider. This was a wonderful version, with the whole band working in unison. Another set of great solos were traded between Larry and Jackie during this. Mason’s Children is a favorite of mine and I thought it was well executed, but it was hard for it to follow the truly monumental Rider. Franklin’s, however, lived up to and surpassed that for the closer. In one of the late jams Phil steered the Franklin’s theme to the breaking point of recognition and then brought them all back home for a rousing final run through the chorus (or maybe before the last verse) to close out. Another exceptional version here and a great way to finish a high energy and rocking set.

Browed Eyed Women was upbeat and really nicely sung by Jackie, with Phil taking the “old man” lines by himself, as usual. Ripple was really a treat though. Phil, Jackie and Larry sang harmony during the verses and absolutely nailed every line. Jackie was on acoustic and Larry playing mandolin. This was a beautiful rendition and a fine send off to what was, for the most part, an extremely well played show.

Spirits were high walking out of the venue into the cool clear night and everyone was very thankful for a great performance from this band. They are really coming together now and I wish I was seeing more shows this summer.

Nice reviews Jamie.

Thanks!

Hey

How do I post pictures? I have some from 6-13-08

Click "formatting" on the left here, then scroll down to "Images, Attachments, and Clipart" tells ya' how.

Jpeg only and 500 X 500 max.

I'm not usually a proponent of breaking up Viola, but I thought it worked out OK last night. Not quite a train wreck as described above in my opinion. The jam leading into the last verse was particularly intense, if not too Viola-like. At one point Phil was laying down a flurry of notes. Campbell came over and was trying to match him but he couldn't keep up. Several times he tried to copy the runs of Phil, but would give up and try again. Now, I'm not a player, just a listener, but this is how I saw it from my 4th row center seat. To me this wasn't a negative at all. Phil was into it and wasn't going to slow down for anyone.

I expected Help to start out as it was sound checked. (Sound checks from memory: Help, Wharf Rat, Mason's, The Eleven). This band and Slipknot! work as a well oiled machine. Everything is hit just like you want, and expect. I liked Wharf Rat next. Is Jackie singing more? Seems I recall Phil used to sing on some of the songs Jackie is now. I seem to catch China Cat and Rider a lot, so personally wasn't too excited for them, but the Rider, in particular, was amazing. Larry led it off with longish distorted guitar part that melded into the Rider theme. That was new to me and I liked it. The climax of Rider was so intense I was sure the show was over at that point. Like was said earlier, it was it a bit much to ask Mason's to follow, but I was happy to hear it nonetheless. Been wanting this song with this band for a while. I believe it was a break-out for this incarnation. The encores were fine.

Now an aside about my show experience: Concert was excellent. I was able to find a 4th row center ticket in the lot, so that was good. Ended up with a really tall guy in front of me though. Great guy however. He can't help being tall! :-) I had a hamburger before the Levon Helms set and started feeling sicker and sicker as the night progressed. It was hard to really enjoy the music as I thought I was going to hurl all night. Felt like a basketball in my stomach. I had a 6:20 AM flight home scheduled and my original post-show plan was to go to the Green Mill Jazz Club in the north burbs and chill there until 4:00 AM, but I wasn't sure where, or which way, the hamburger sickness was headed. I figured my safest bet was to just head to Midway and find a corner somewhere to crash for a few hours. Problem is (as I found out), the airport closes at midnight so I had to sleep on some really uncomfortable chairs until the ticket agent showed up at 4:30. Plane took off at 6:20 and I was back home at 9:30 AM this morning. I just woke up from a five hour nap. Feeling a lot better now.

Gary said it, that viola was fast as well as the first set. There wasnt a slow point in this show. The guitar work between Larry and Jackie was wonderful. As mentioned earlier there were moments that they were about a foot apart just dialed in and Phil standind behind them just loving it. A great show and this band is hot! Can't wait for the 4th of July. John Molo as always was brilliant.

I had a wonderful time at this show. Is there a better midwest venue to see Phil? I doubt it. Not sure what I enjoyed more, watching the old timers boogie down in front of us all night, or listening to the junior highers get sooo excited and discussing the show right behind us. Thank you Phil.

Thanks for the reviews. Setlist looks fun. I need to get the sbd of this show in liew of not making it to any of this tour.

to quote folks from Aurora, "party on."

I hope someone with professional camera equipment posts some pictures of this show and sky. It was a truly special evening.

I listened to most of the second set this evening. The Mason's break-out suffered from set position IMO. It was also the roughest song of the show by far, and will surely benefit from being played more. Hindsight is 20/20, but I think opening set 2 with it would have been better, especially as it didn't segue from anything. The "long" intro into Rider isn't quite as long as I remembered, but still interesting. I remembered Larry's guitar during this intro being more distorted too, and it has me wondering if the sound from the PA was a little different than right off his equipment. During the show I noticed often that the bulk of what I was hearing was straight from the stage. Overall though I think my memory of the show jives with the recording. Certainly a good concert, but I suspect shows down the line will have a little more to offer. Real glad I made the effort though. Good times.

edit, nevermind

The jam into 'Eyes' was hinting at 'feelin groovy' and I thought it might go into F.O.T.D..but I was happy to hear the Eyes. Once again, I like Jackie Green's soft voice and he handles the ballads(Wharf Rat) just fine. I actually didn't miss Warren much on this one. The China Cat>Eleven seemed old school and comparable to the 'Q' versions, and still better than 'The Dead' did it in '03, '04. The Mason's Children was hot. Nice transitions. You can tell this band is starting to gel. Really another awesome show. Nice double encore. I just wish Phil still sang the 'Help on the way'... like he did last fall and in 1999.

I do not understand how to post images. I did read the formatting pages, but didnt have much luck.

I have a few images and video of this concert on my Photo Bucket account....

Feel Free to snoop around!

Franklins Tower video... [URL=http://s231.photobucket.com/albums/ee21/RWNay/?act ion=view&current=FranklinsTowerPhilChicago6-13-08. flv][IMG]http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee21/RWNay/th_F ranklinsTowerPhilChicago6-13-08.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

yo thanks for that Rwnay

nice stuff. feels good.

grate reviews all, so glad you made it.