Just shakin out the cobwebs from last night looking forward to music along the river. Anyone know when the lots open i can't seem to find it anywhere on their website. Thanks looking forward to some Levon love tonite.

Hi folks,

Anyone have an educated guess on what time Phil's band might start?

Thanks,
J

I expect we'll get some cross pollination this evening. Larry & Teresa joining Levon's band. Agreed?

>>>Larry & Teresa joining Levon's band. Agreed?

Yes, Larry and Teresa are in Levon's band. Molo will also sit in at spots so Levon can play his mando. The real question is, when is Phil gonna sit in with Levon or vise versa?

Oh!!!! That explains things a bit. Thanks

Heard some of the soundcheck -
Lazy River Road with Teresa Williams on vocals, and TN Jed.

ok it's group hug/huddle time right now!

sittin on top of the world.

theresa a on for....

Tennesee jed!

Lc on vocals

Mexican girl

birdsong pl on vocal

by the way iPhones suck for texting!!!!

Into little jam

Into...

TW onstage...lc on citern

Fenario!

But We Are ALL Ever So Grateful 2U SUNRA!!!!!
- 2night & Last

- I'M @ HOME - WORKIN' ALL NIGHT - Boo-Hoo

~ ~ ~ SO, THANXXXXXX A BUNCH SUNRA! ~ ~ ~

tw still on

Lc on pedal steel

For....

Love you more when you're walkin' away ?

Cumberland

What song is that between Peggy-o and Cumberland?

FENARIO....LOVE YOU MORE WHEN YR WALKIN' AWAY!!!!

AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! Now IMA really Boo-Hooin' !!! LoL


My, Oh My - Lucky Little Doggies

end set1

What song is that between Peggy-o and Cumberland?

-a Sweet Jackie tune

Guess we must be on a set break.

second set

Ujb!

into a bit of feedback

Almost to a stop...

Tw onstage now...

Lazy river road.

greg osby onstage a tw and the Boyd for...


Scarlet begonias

very cool...

Thanks for the play by play.

Into fire!!!

i don't understand some folks issue with osby... would love an eyes with him...

st. Stephen

Not Fade Away

into NFA !!

Thank you, kind PA folks. We just had some MA folks over for a nostalgic dinner. We are loving tonight's setlist with real anticipation for tomorrow nights show.

When's the last time Phil played "Lazy River Road"?

Man, That 1st set Rocks My World! -MHP
(grt second set....just Really dig 1st set song selection start-finish)

YAHOO! HAPPY FRIDAY EVERYONE!!!!!

Bac into ss

Jam into

The 11

W SM on vocals.

Last Phil Lazy River Road was at 10,000 Lakes in 2006.

Phil Lesh & Friends
Penn's Landing, Philadelphia, PA
Friday, June 20, 2008

Set 1
Sittin' On Top of the World
Tennesee Jed * (w/Teresa Williams)
Mexican Girl
BirdSong
Peggy-O * (w/Teresa Williams)
? (Jackie song)
Cumberland Blues

Set 2
Uncle John's Band
Lazy River Road * (w/Teresa Williams)
Scarlet Begonias > * ^ (w/Teresa & Greg Osby)
Fire on the Mountain
St. Stephen >
Not Fade Away >
St. Stephen >
The Eleven

Special thanks to SunRa again!

Phil Lesh & Friends
Penn's Landing, Philadelphia, PA
Friday, June 20, 2008

Set 1
Sittin' On Top of the World
Tennesee Jed * (w/Teresa Williams)
Mexican Girl
BirdSong
Peggy-O * (w/Teresa Williams)
When You're Walking Away
Cumberland Blues

Set 2
Uncle John's Band
Lazy River Road * (w/Teresa Williams)
Scarlet Begonias > * ^ (w/Teresa & Greg Osby)
Fire on the Mountain
St. Stephen >
Not Fade Away >
St. Stephen >
The Eleven

Special thanks to SunRa again!

into a near stop

Lc onto citern

Rosemary with TW on vocals

Phil Lesh & Friends
Penn's Landing, Philadelphia, PA
Friday, June 20, 2008

Set 1
Sittin' On Top of the World
Tennesee Jed * (w/Teresa Williams)
Mexican Girl
BirdSong
Peggy-O * (w/Teresa Williams)
? (Jackie song)
Cumberland Blues

Set 2
Uncle John's Band
Lazy River Road * (w/Teresa Williams)
Scarlet Begonias > * ^ (w/Teresa & Greg Osby)
Fire on the Mountain
St. Stephen >
Not Fade Away >
St. Stephen >
The Eleven
Rosemary * (w/Teresa Williams)

Special thanks to SunRa again!

What's a citern?

GOOD GOLLY MISS MOLLY!!!!!!!!!
I LUV ROSEMARY - - - SWIMMIN' UNDERWATER

into

Morning Dew
TW on vocals

Phil Lesh & Friends
Penn's Landing, Philadelphia, PA
Friday, June 20, 2008

Set 1
Sittin' On Top of the World
Tennesee Jed * (w/Teresa Williams)
Mexican Girl
BirdSong
Peggy-O * (w/Teresa Williams)
? (Jackie song)
Cumberland Blues

Set 2
Uncle John's Band
Lazy River Road * (w/Teresa Williams)
Scarlet Begonias > * ^ (w/Teresa & Greg Osby)
Fire on the Mountain
St. Stephen >
Not Fade Away >
St. Stephen >
The Eleven
Rosemary > * (w/Teresa Williams)
Morning Dew * (w/Teresa Williams)

Special thanks to SunRa again!

My money is on a Mountains Of The Moon encore.

Its a cistern - a big urn for holding water.

encore:


One more sat. Night

Ah, cistern, that makes sense. Thanks!

Phil Lesh & Friends
Penn's Landing, Philadelphia, PA
Friday, June 20, 2008

Set 1
Sittin' On Top of the World
Tennesee Jed * (w/Teresa Williams)
Mexican Girl
BirdSong
Peggy-O * (w/Teresa Williams)
When You're Walking Away
Cumberland Blues

Set 2
Uncle John's Band
Lazy River Road * (w/Teresa Williams)
Scarlet Begonias > * ^ (w/Teresa & Greg Osby)
Fire on the Mountain ^ (w/Greg Osby)
St. Stephen >
Not Fade Away >
St. Stephen >
The Eleven
Rosemary > * (w/Teresa Williams)
Morning Dew * (w/Teresa Williams)

Special thanks to SunRa again!

Phil Lesh & Friends
Penn's Landing, Philadelphia, PA
Friday, June 20, 2008

Set 1
Sittin' On Top of the World
Tennesee Jed * (w/Teresa Williams)
Mexican Girl
BirdSong
Peggy-O * (w/Teresa Williams)
When You're Walking Away
Cumberland Blues

Set 2
Uncle John's Band
Lazy River Road * (w/Teresa Williams)
Scarlet Begonias > * ^ (w/Teresa & Greg Osby)
Fire on the Mountain ^ (w/Greg Osby)
St. Stephen >
Not Fade Away >
St. Stephen >
The Eleven
Rosemary > * (w/Teresa Williams)
Morning Dew * (w/Teresa Williams)

E: Donor Rap
One More Saturday Night

Special thanks to SunRa again!

Because the PHANS want to know!

Morning Dew..... OMG, Nice.
BET THAT WAS KILLER-DILLER!!!!

Man, Them boys better save some goods for me on the 4th!

Thanx Again Sunra, YOOOU ROCK - Safe Travels All

from larry's site:

CITTERN: The cittern is also a member of the mandolin family and is often confused with the bouzouki even among musicians who play these instruments. There seems to be a lack of standardization in distinguishing the two instruments. It is usually considered to be a 10 string instrument of the mandolin family. (Cittern also seems to have been a loose family name during the Renaissance for smallish, double- or triple-course, wire-strung fretted instruments.) The modern cittern was introduced by Stefan Sobell in the early 1970s when he built an instrument inspired by an old arch-top guitar and a Portuguese guitarra. He didn't have a name for it and realized it was a cittern only when looking through a book of medieval instruments.

Thank you Rob and Sunra!

Nice Essephreek...

Thanx Again Sunra & ROB (hee-haw, my bad Rob ) - YOOOU BOTH ROCKED - BOTH NIGHTS!!!

Hope FUN was Had By All

just got back...VENUES matter because this one sucks!!!!!!!!! so much garbage etc...really dirty....i will take 3 showers tonight to get the scum off...

but once again phil brought the magic....sweet sets, but it never was loud enough....jackie so at ease, great piano in 1st set, better energy 2nd when it was dark and i couldnt see the garbage...the scarlet>fire was ok, but short IMO...but i had a bad vibe from the start so dont listen to me...

but i gotta say ill never go back, jsut the worst place to have shows...it was like night and day from last night...i was actually scared walking to my car...thank god penns peak is still fresh in my mind...

4REAL?
What'z the 411 on this venue? For my personal know...

hell...seriously.

Has Phil and Friends ever performed "Tennessee Jed?" Looks like a break out to me, but I'm often wrong....

Same goes for "Lazy River Road." Always liked this one, some great classic Hunter musin's.

Looks like a good show from here....

phil has performed jed many, many times

Really fun show. Everyone played great (although I agree it could've been a tad louder).
Venue did not suck. It's actually a beautiful place. The venue didn't bring the garbage, we did. Security was very cool. Beautiful night. Couldn't ask for anything more.

RE: but it never was loud enough....

I felt the same way at both the latest Denver show and the Chicago show last week. Last fall in Chicago, at the hellhole known as The Riviera, it was so loud that I almost considered putting in my earplugs (nice dilemma to have if you ask me). It's a real problem because Phil's fans are some of the chattiest there are. talk gab talk, throughout the entire show. I really wish they'd pack a little extra gear and turn it all up to "11" for us.

What'z the 411 on this venue? For my personal know...

Thanx, for heads up Scarletfire & Spacerangler - frm chicago and go 2 as many shows as I can.... like 2 have a heads up

Chicago had a nice breeze goin' on all night.... being outdoors... wind/breeze really mess (muffles) sound.

loved the setlist, but was f'd by the venue, god damn thump thump music screwed my tapes, don't even want to listen to them.
Can't remember the last time i felt this disgusted after a show, NOT WITH PHIL, BUT WITH PHILADELPIA, and the scum clubs

I agree with what "the was" says,
before i go to the grocery store for work, I'll have to bathe many times to get the scum of filthydelphia off of me.

Still loved phil tonight though, he turns bad things good

Yikes- Good 2 know.

Show as tight as it looked on paper?
1st set would have Rocked My Little World!!!!

2nd set - Lazy River Road, Rosemary - MORNING DEW!!!! good golly! HOW WAS MORNING DEW!?!?!?

Show played well?

so who mwas the kid that jumped on stage, thought it might be his girl > loved the dew high light for me . Place really sux, but peral jam had camden Guess there 60$ a tic was better than phils<and> thank you phil who was oniy 15 feeet away from me. The only other high lite of the show

>>>> It's actually a beautiful place.

um, it's a parking lot

"oved the setlist, but was f'd by the venue,..."

No kidding, I would never go back to this place. They wouldn't let you stand outside your car in the first parking lot next to the venue, literally. I was told "You paid to park your car, not tailgate". Couldn't sit in a chair next to my car and play guitar, had to stay IN THE CAR!!!! This is what I paid $20 for? They didn't open the party lot next door until 4:30, didn't even bother going over at that point. Once inside you're standing on your feet for 6 hours. First set was wonderful, many highlights especially Bird Song and Cumberland but it was all very strong from the get go. Second set started great with a strong UJB but Lazy River never got on track though, definite energy drop at that point, and Scarlet->Fire had it's moments but Osby actually seemed to gum things up a bit at times, folks didn't seem to know when to take off, etc. Still good though. Then it turned into drunk night on the pier. High energy but somehow lacking Stephen->NFA (not enough bass out front), seemed perfunctory, and Rosmary was great but the crowd could not have cared less, unbelievable amount of chattering during it. And Dew just didn't hit the spot but I have to admit that by that time my lower back was killing me so I'm sure that changed my outlook. Jackie took too many leads in the second set and while it is true that he fits in better then last fall he still never plays a riff that turns your head around. And even half way between the board and the stage Phil's bass never had a good deep end, no big full notes hitting you in the chest like you should get at an outdoor show. I have to say that unfortunately this was the most uninspiring Philly show I've ever seen Phil play. The first set showed great promise but I just didn't think the second set closed the deal. Good time, glad I went, but I wasn't in awe when I left the show.

Levon was great as always, mostly a repeat of the Electric Factory show in January but still wonderful.

I should add that the Eleven was well done musically but the vocals seemed oddly dispassionate.

Everyone I talked to said Penns Peak was much better. Next time I go to the mountain.

Sound check included Dew, Lazy River Road, Tennessee Jed, Bertha (played VERY slow).

Peggy-O was fantastic, great cistern work by Larry and he and Theresa split the vocals. Cumberland is the most consistent song that this lineup plays; every version I've heard either live or recorded just rips. Very strong set closer, and the mid set Bird Song had some very out there moments, the best pure psychedelic music of the night.

missed this as i've been playing over in camden the past two nights ...but, am I in the minority about keeping morning dew in the closet since jerry can't participate?...

no , not played well.... yes, the dew was just ok, play it musically with no vocals i say...and osby was drunk i think, way out of key etc, but i hate to be so harsh, but the vibe really sucked... but today i feel peggy-0 and birdsong were the highlights,as said above, the bird was the only true jam song...a good 5 min jam, it was sweet...

>>>> It's actually a beautiful place. = glad u could see it that way spacerangler, even though i completely disagree, but maybe u saw something i didnt, please tell me...and yes we, WE heads brought the trash, but i didnt see any at penns peak...i think people saw the lame lot its in and thought to themselves, oh its one big trash can so i can jsut throw my shit on the ground...i stepped in so much shit i was freaking out, it made me have a bad trip...and im usually thick skinned...

At one point I saw a few folks trying to pick up trash off the ground and couldn't help but think "Nice thought but that's a losing battle in this place."

Place: It's a pier. As you would expect, it's an uncovered slab of concrete sticking out into the Delaware River. Nice when the weather is nice, as it was yesterday. It was a general admission show which meant there were no seats. Fortunately, gravity and me are old friends so I just sat my ass down on the concrete in between sets and took a rest. Many folks brought blankets. Also, there was a mat that extended about 50' from the stage. I was on the concrete before Phil started and on the mat between Phil's sets.

I saw nothing particulary unsanitary. Only cigarette buts and beer bottles on the ground. Unlike Penns Peak, it would have been very difficult for people in the middle of the crowd to get over to the side to throw out their garbage so they just put down their beer bottles where they were when finished. And of course smokers are smokers.

There were a couple rudimentary concession booths around the perimeter. I didn't look too closely at the booths, but the beer girls who came through the audience carried only a poor selection of domestic beers (Bud Light or Miller Light only??). Maybe that was all they had left by the time they got to me each time.

There was also a big tent on the far side of the venue. I assume it was a bar but I didn't go in. Nobody has commented on it yet, but the biggest drag of the night for me was that between sets the most annoying, horrendously loud bass throbbing kept on emenating from the tent. I couldn't hear anything except the bass from where I was but it practically made me ill and was borderline painful to my ears. The only thing that bothered me more than the noise was the idea that there were people who were closer to it than me.

Sound: Too quiet. That was why I moved up between sets. It sounded fine up there. Maybe if they made it louder futher back it would have been too loud up there. Not sure why the sound crapped out further back but it did and this would have definitely been a drag for music lovers in the back.

Crowd: Again, smokers are smokers. "Let's not just get our fix and put the damn noxious thing out, let's let it burn down so everyone else can appreciate the fragrance of our second hand smoke." Thanks for sharing boys and girls.

Yeah, the kids are chatty and the old folks can't muster enough energy to lift their feet off the ground when they dance. I didn't see any over the top drunkenness or security altercations. The FOB tapers were asked quite nicely to lower their stands to head height by a security guard during II. It wasn't random. You could tell he was sent at the request of the sound crew whose view of the stage was obscured.

Fun/Funny stuff: Somewhere before or after Rosemary a little girl (c.18ish y.o. but petite) rushed the stage. She went and stood next to Phil, behind his bass, and tried to give him a kiss. She never touched him but puckered up for a smooch. Phil was very, very funny. He just pulled his head and neck out of her reach; his body language saying "no, I will not let you give me a kiss," but with a big smile on his face. One of Phil's crew nicely escorted her away.

During NFA, Jackie went across the stage to stand next to Larry to trade lines with Molitz. Very cool.

Music: Theresa Williams was great and added much beauty to the songs on which she performed. Not sure why she missed the Birdsong, it seemed a natural for her. I think the only song she sang lead on was Rosemary. The rest was either together with the boys or alternating lines, like on Peggy-O or Dew.

Bird song had a great jam. Pegg-O and When you're walking away were sweet. Cumberland was a rockin' jamfest with great punctuation from Molo.

I seem to remember there was a pretty peppy jam after the end of UJB. Setlist will probably need to be amended. LR Road was nice to hear. A bit shakey though. Phil's voice in general seems to be getting more course and gravelly. Osby was cool. In places his sax added nice texture. However, when his playing wasn't up front it wasn't hurting anything either. Pretty innocuous. My gripe is that he didn't take more leads. When I see a guest I want to see what they've got a la Branford Marsalis. If you're going to come to play then blow that horn like you mean it.

Lots of good rock n' roll in the St. Stephen>NFA>St. Stephen>the 11, but inappropriately low crowd energy. Again, tired old folks. The same piece of music 20 years ago would have been taken to another level by audience participation. Rosemary slayed me. Dew was beautiful with Theresa sharing the vocals with Phil, but without the type of closing crescendo of a GD version it wasn't really up to the set closing position.

Especially following Penn's Peak, the show seemed to end very early. I think I had gotten my chease steak at Jim's on South Street and was on the road home by 11:30.

I thought the venue, energy and music at Penn's Peak was much better than at Penn's Landing. Though, like anything, all this is subjective and colored by my personal experiences at the shows. That's why tapes are so cool. They let you just listen to the music, which may be better or worse than how you perceived it at the show.

We are so lucky to be able to see Phil and then listen to the tapes. I'm already listening to Penn's Peak! THANKS TAPERS!!!

^^^Nice review WeWantPhil.

"Lots of good rock n' roll in the St. Stephen>NFA>St. Stephen>the 11, but inappropriately low crowd energy. Again, tired old folks."

Well, this is where I have to disagree just a bit. I'm usually of the opinion that it is the crowd that makes things happen but in this case I thought the band shares some of the responsibility. The low crowd energy was a reflection of the music, not vice versa, but that was just how I saw it. I'm an "old folk" but I was raring to go and thought that after the first set highlights (Bird Song and Cumberland) that the band never got back to that space except for the brief great jam out of UJB. The focus just seem to disappear. They got close again during the Scarlet jam but didn't quite get over the threshold and then they just went for the straight R&R energy but the sound system didn't have the umph. I was about 15 feet behind the folks with the mike stands so I should have been in the sweet spot but it just never filled out. And while I didn't see any ugly drunks, fights, etc., ,there were lots of folks just sitting down in a daze at the back of the matted area and back around the benches at the soundboard area.

>>there were lots of folks just sitting down in a daze at the back of the matted area and back around the benches at the soundboard area.>>

Sounds about right for a Grateful Dead/GD family show, no?

Here's my take......

venue - it is what it is

Sittin on Top of the World - Always nice to hear, good opener.
Tennesse Jed - a little rough around the edges, but definitely OK.
Mexican Girl - not one of my faves, but well played.
Birdsong - now we're talkin'!
Peggyo - nice but too slow
When You're Walking Away - set filler, throwaway tune.
Cumberland - Excellent!

Uncle John's Band - Good but petered out at the end. Great vocals
Lazy River Road - more rough around the edges than Tennessee Jed, but again nice to hear
Scarlet > Fire with Osby - NICE!
St. Stephen>NFA>Stephen>11 - The Stephen may have been a bit perfunctory as previously stated, but going directly into NFA was a welcome change. The jam into the 11 was a little lacking, but again the vocals on this tune are improving nicely.
Rosemary & The Dew - the jam from the 11 to Rosemary ended in an archtypeal trainwreck. The song itslef was well played. Always nice to hear the Dew. I enjoyed the trading off of lines between Phil & Theresa, but when the break of the song happened, the band coould not deliver a knockout punch. Larry's solo was particularly weak (a 6 out of 10 at best)and it ended rather tamely.
One More Saturday Night - OK, but why?

Just my $.02....overall I had a good time and it was nice to run into some of the best zoner's (JoJo, Louie Lardo, Kindmomma & JIA, and Tom Melvin)

Hey Keith! Forgot that we ran into each other. Good to see you.

Nice to read the reviews, and here are a few of my thoughts. We have been at VA and Penn's Peak.

The venue is not becoming to a beautiful city with such a rich cultural heritage and filled with brotherly love. This city needs a better outdoor venue for this type of show. Why we rely on Camden for that is beyond me. Sound is not great as it is not fortified with additional sets of speakers further back, and there is the wind issue on the river. Total lack of trash cans seemed a safety issue as far as trying to place throughout the 'floor'. Never heard of not being allowed to hang around your car. WTF?!
I am ebarrassed for the city, and I will let our mayor's people know.

Musically, I thought it was a good show. Unfortunately, I think Phil always tries to do too much in Philly. He plays too many crowd pleasers in an attempt to satisfy the high expectations for a one night stand. Too much pressure to get everything in leads to some loss of what little looseness there us.

Greg Osby is a great sax player, so why he never shows it is frustrating to me. Still, he did not ruin anything nor step on any toes.

Theresa Williams is WONDERFUL! Leads and supporting vocals add so, so much.

The boys just keep getting better. Playing like a band that enjoys playing together. Everyone has improved.

Phil looked a little tired, no surprise.

Highlights, Sittin', Birdsong, Peggy-O, Cumberland, Rosemary and Dew.

Looking forward to tonight and tomorrow, hoping Pjil has gotten enough rest. And Larry, too, as he is doing DOUBLE duty!!!!

I, personally, am a little tired.

its certainly not phils fault, its the citys, the mann music center is great, the show should have been there, or anywhere else...i love philly, i love the sports the history, old city, the art museum, fairmount park etc... alot of greatnesss to the city but as said, this part of town sucks...the real penns landing 2 blocks down) has an outdoor area where they have jam on teh river everyyear, why not there? i parked next to this sad poster of the girl who was killed right near this club on columbus ave right near the venue, that was the start of the bad vibes to me...

im going to remember the birdsong and peggy and cumberland, and stop being negative about last night (and put penns peak in my mind)

Why Phil doesn't play the Mann is beyond me. Apparently they just did a makeover there and it's supposed to be better then ever.

If you want to hear what Osby can bring then pull out a recording of 4/14/00, the first time he ever sat in with Phil, and listen to the Dark Star-> Mountains of the Moon-> Mr. Tamborine Man to close the first set. Magic!

i was there, wow what a show melvin!!!!!!!!!!!

that lineup doenst get enought credit....2nd best p&f dark star next to 12/31/01 IMO.

Good Show.

Worst. Venue. Ever.

Can't pay me enough to go back.

>>>We are so lucky to be able to see Phil and then listen to the tapes.

What's a tape?

>>>We are so lucky to be able to see Phil and then listen to the tapes.

What's a tape?

You know, the things that tapers make. I guess I could call them recordings but old habits die hard.

Here is my take on this show: Well we are on a river so naturally they would have to play on that theme and that is why we got Sitting on Top, Uncle Johns and Lazy River road...it is nice to give a nudge to the location, but this seemed all too forced...the opener was way too low in the mix...barely knew the show started...Uncle Johns had moments, but was all over the place and Lazy River Road...come on...just a mess...only Jerry could make that one happen on his best night. Phil had a solid band, but once you start inviting too many people in the mix it just doesn't flow....Theresa has a beautiful voice, but slows down the show...she sounded great during Peggy-O but the rest of the show was slowed due to her ques...my girlfriend kept asking me all night...why is everything sooooooooooo slow...just no energy....the slower the band played the more the people around me compensated by smoking to try to find a groove that was impossible to find...by the time we got to Morning Dew....I was embarassed for the band...it sounded like a hodge-podge of washed up musicians trying to pin down a classic......then to cap it off with Saturday night?....it is the first time I have ever left a show before the lights came on...sad, but I suppose everyone has a bad night...just a shame it was the one show I chose to attend. IMO....the band was spread way too thin by guests and could not communicate enough to get the job done....the sound was low...the show was slow and the vibe was lost. When you are trying to be spontaneous and creative it always doesn't go as planned, hopefully there will be a next time I see Phil and can leave with a smile.

Night and day from Penn's Peak, in every way. My only complaint about Penn's Peak (and I use that word hesitantly, because it was a near-perfect evening in every way) was that Phil was turned down a bit low in the mix. Penn's Landing, however, had the worst mix I've ever heard, other than Phil, who was waaaaaay up. Overall volume was way too low. We were about 30 feet FOB and during Rosemary we literally couldn't hear because of the thumping bass from the club next door. Venue was literally a parking lot on the river. Pretty to look at, but that's all.

In retrospect, it was a pretty good show with moments (though not enough Jackie imho).

And while we sat on the river, my take was more oriented to the 'summer solstice' taking place that evening with the river playing but a minor part.

It was an 'organic' show in this writer's view. SOTOTW being more 'keyed' into the northern latitudes close position with the sun this evening.

Tennessee was way too slow a tune to follow up that opener, which was nothing more than a spiffy tuneup. They do harmonize nicely on Jed though. Peggy O was sweet (though not as pretty as the one I saw done 11/11).

Sweet William he is dead, and he died for a maid
And he's buried in the Louisiana country-O. From Tennessee to Lousiana with a quick tip of the hat to Jackie's brown skinned girl 'who falls so easy'

Love Mexican Girl. Just a nice melody that Jackie the songbird does that jived with the overall organic and sweet sweet melody theme of the evening.

Bird Song was it's usual jazzy epic. At once, like a lilting flying monarch to other moments where the band would veer where you'd swear Charley Mingus was leading a quartet cacophonicaly through an interesting improvisational glide.

And Cumberland continues to 'smoke' as good as it did in 1972. What a set closer

The summer solstice theme continues with the organic UJB; he's come to take his children home (I could care less as to the macadam underneath my feet). This laid back show then is complete as the last vestiges of sun is setting on the Delaware River and the beautiful harmonies evoked with LRR. It was done sweetly.

Then onto the R&R segment of the show and it definitely had it's moments (there were some nice jamming during S>F, though Osby didn't realize his turn to solo, really meant, 'get it going' because the pace of this medley is such that it escaped him as you got to jump on that train and go.....blow (too bad for us, because he could've, should've delivered a beautiful solo for us when the opportunity arose)....

Saint>Eleven worked for me.

NFA, OK, I'm dancin on 1.3 knees as I probably have a torn meniscus and will get my MRI done on Thursday. But hell, I'm doing the best I can after a long fucking night. Rosemary was sweet, with the crowd clueless (talking amongst each other, like women on "The View")....Theresa sang beautifuly on it. The Dew was nice (not as epic as the 11/11 version) and I was disappointed as to the choice of encore.

With all the comments about this being a shithole, Brokedown would've been appropriate, though I was hoping for MOTM.

Not Phils' best, but at his age, I'll take whatever it takes to seeing him, even if it means going into a shit part of town and a so so venue. Thanks Phil.

Cheers.

May as well add a few comments of my own to this collection since the reviews are all over the map already...

The venue itself was fine except for the "thump-thump" coming from, I guess, the tented area. I thought that was the bar for the pier but if so, why would they be playing "music" in there? I was standing on the rubber matted area that extended out a ways from the stage so maybe that helped although I doubt atanding on the concrete would have really bothered me. I enjoyed being right on the river. At one point during Levon's set a ship cruised by quite close to the shore. Crew men were checking out the show. Very cool. Nice breezes there too. Oh yeah, the parking was kinda bad. The lot right next to the pier was desginated "no tailgating" so, as someone mentioned above, they would not let you hang out there at all! Very weird. But they warned us as we started to pull in and told us the lot next door was wide open for partying/vending/whatever. Still, 20 bucks to park is a rip off...

I really enjoyed Levon Helm's set and could have listed to them all night. But we only got, I think, a one hour concert from them. Great to hear Amy Helm and Teresa Williams harmonizing. Great horn section. Always a treat to hear Levon's drumming and the fact that he can sing again is a miracle!

To my ears, Phil's first set was better than his second. The highlights for me were Bird Song and Cumberland Blues. I am surprised that there is not much gushing about the Cumberland. It absoutely RIPPED. The energy was high from the start of it and they just kept building it. Phil kept driving it higher and Larry was quite up to the task. Very impressive. As far as I'm concerned this was the high point of the show and it was never approached again.

The second set was a bit inconsistent. Uncle John's was done well. Lazy River Road was a bit shakey. I would agree with the above poster that it is not easy to pull this one off real well, but I have heard some very nice non-Jerry versions over the years. Scarlet/Fire had some nice momennts but overall was not the best version. I'm also not a huge Osby fan. The Saint Stephen was kinda weak but you gotta admit that the NFA rocked real hard and The Eleven was pretty darn good too (I'm a sucker for that one though). I agree that the chatter during Rosemary was ridiculos. I could not hear it well enough to comment but it seems like one that Teresa may have been able to do a nice job on. While I'm at it, yes, the chatter all night sucked. I won't say that everyone was chatting but it only takes a few in your area to really screw up your experience. And we had at least a few all night. As Steve said, STFU people! There's room around the edges if you want to catch up with old friends (like the ones you just drove to the concert with...).

Morning Dew - To be honest, I used to have trouble enjoying this one when the Grateful Dead performed it. Yes it has a beautiful melody and sometimes the solos would be "killer" but the lyric is just hard for me to get around. Anyway, the version that Phil & Friends played on Friday was pretty lame altogether. Larry (actually Phil, I guess) cut the ending very short and this was fine by me.

Saturday night on Friday night was a first. Nothing more to say about it.

So, we took in two shows at the front end of the East Coast sweep (Penn's Peak and Landing). We'll be at the Jones Beach show at the end of it. Wonder if the band will be tight by then or just tired.

I'm agreein with ya Mike, Cumberland was the highlight for me ( I danced so hard during it that i literally got bad leg cramps, good pain !!, but that did not stop me). Most of the night was tough, I am over 40 and I ran in to some real "smart ass" kids. They were making fun of me dancin, I just closed my eyes and pretended I was at a show in the 70's when we were all family, and had each others back. I am just about 5 ft tall so I get real claustrophobic like, when you can not see over heads, it really wears you down by the end of the show. All in all I really needed a show and am still glowin, even if just one song did it, I take what I can get these days. I did end up making some new friends...lynn

"But they warned us as we started to pull in and told us the lot next door was wide open for partying/vending/whatever. Still, 20 bucks to park is a rip off..."

Well, they didn't warn me until I had been there for over an hour. I had even made small talk with one of the goons, he seemed like a nice guy, sang in a gospel group. He told me to be cool if I was going to drink beer. Then I'm sitting there playing my guitar after 80 minutes or so and this other guy comes up and tells me to pack it up, none of that allowed here. I was what the f?*k? He says the lot next door is for tailgating and opens at 4:00 (this was at 3:15, it didn't open until 4:30 for a show that was supposed to start at 5:30). So I sat in my car with the air conditioning on. That helped the environment. Their web site only mentioned no tailgating in the lot by Vine St, it said nothing about it for the other lots but when I mentioned this fact I was basically told tough.

The place BLEW, Phil should know better by this point and if he plays there again it will be obvious to me that he doesn't care a whit about the fans anymore.

>>>>The place BLEW = an understatement, it was hell!!

it hand in the lot and at the show there were..."rustlers, cutthroats, murders, bounty hunters, desperados, muggers, buggers, thugs, nitwits, half wits, dimwits, vipers, snipers, conmen...etc"

http://hotair.com/archives/2008/05/29/harvey-korma n-rip/

Bottom line, the show was a bit of a clunker in a shit venue. It happens. The 5:30 starting time made it more difficult because we all had to do without a real dinner. Without inspiring music to keep me going, standing for 6+ hours was real tough for me. Getting the bums rush in the lot afterwards while we were trying to finally, sit, eat and relax was total BS. Seems like the folks in Beantown were treated to the opposite experience. Boston has all these world championship teams and now the best Phil show of the run. Good for them.

Great show.....but poor venue I agree with.....;
PLEASE PHIL....PLAY THE MANN MUSIC CENTER....!!!!
BEING from philly area...THE MANN MUSIC CENTER is without a doubt the best place to see live music in the city.....NUFF said....

Note: to self...Return to Forever(Di Miola, White, Clarke, Corea) is going to be at the Mann on Sun Aug 6th....I will be there for that....best fusion Jazz on the planet....

But loved the setlist for phil....wish it was louder too...the mix did suck....BUT had a great time anyway....

my 2cents
Have a grateful day!!!

Just to add my perspective...
I actually enjoyed the venue in that it was GA and no self righteous MF's with flashlights or attitudes were gonna tell me where I could or couldnt stand.The next 2 nights were way different.The Boston venue is no different, just stuck out on a Wharf,but alot less cooler.Perhaps the GA has somethin to do with it.
The Freedom to be able to put your freak on where ever you find the groove is priceless!
Boston and NH lacked that.
I found the folks selling stuff to be friendly and attentive,at one point my drink was already poured and waiting for me before I asked for it.

No Poo-Poo for Philly from me.
I had a great time!
Thanks PHIL for the summer FUN!

From my notebook, 6/28/08, on a train to and from NJ for my Grandma's 91st birthday party. I wrote this without having heard the discs of the show:

It's been over a week now since the [Phil and Friends' Penns Landing] concert and I haven't written anything about it until now, save the notes made while the concert itself was going on.
At t his point, this review is a bit superfluous with the Philzone and torrent sites, anyone who wants has already read all about or heard the full show.

The show itself left me feeling a bit neutral. It wasn't great, but it wasn't a trainwreck either. It was a shoulder-shrug of a show. Out of 38 P&F shows attended, this was in the bottom 3rd.

There were few freeform jams and the overall energy seemed low. The vocals were sloppy and the momentum of high-energy songs got killed off by the slow overly-mellow songs that surrounded them. Also, the venue left much to be desired. It's a parking lot with portajohns, concession stands, lots of asphalt and apparently no garbage cans. People seemed to have no choice but to throw plastic bottle at their feet, which compromised dancing space and made for tripping hazards in the dark.

The first set never got off the ground until the "Cumberland" closer. With the exception of "Bird Song," the songs Phil picked had little opportunities for jams. In both style and song choice, the set was very reminiscent of GD 80s/90s 1st sets: short, self-contained songs. The songs were all played respectably but nothing groundbreaking. Jackie's "Mexican Girl" featured Molo doing some hot 16th note patterns on his ride cymbal. "Mex Girl" was well-performed, but I got disappointed when the guy next to me pointed out that it sounds a whole lot like Santana's "Black Magic Woman." It does.

Jackie's other tune for the set, "When You're Walking Away," doesn't really go anywhere for me in the context of P&F. It's an OK melancholy song, but it's short with no opportunities for jams or solos.

"Bird Song" was the big jammer for the set. Phil's vocals seemed kinda weak on this one and throughout the show. He mumbled a lot and often seemed to come in a tad late on each verse, with the first word getting cut off. Phil's voice got louder and clearer as most songs progressed, but there was none of the high-energy confident belting Phil has sometimes given in the past. We all know his voice ain't great, but when he's passionate and gives it his all, it can be really effective in conveying a song's emotion.

As Phil and Friends have often done in the past, the middle jam of "Bird Song" went completely out of the song's territory. Jackie, with head down and sunglasses on, looked cool and a bit distant as he started playing slide as a fast blues jam picked up . Molo started flexing his muscles on the toms. I felt the intro to "Golden Road" coming, but it never did. Things mellowed out and the band found itself back in "B.S." for the concluding verses.

The transition back to the song seemed awkward, as if Phil killed the spontaneous energy just to stick with the predetermined program. The jam picked up steam again after the song was over, but this too dissipated into space that led to "Peggy-O" with Teresa Williams as the star on vocals.

"Cumberland" was the definite highlight of the set for me. It was as good as any P&F "Cumberland"'s I've heard (7/6/02 and 11/30/03 come to mind as other stand out versions.) Molo was on fire for this set-ender. His mouth was open in a fierce expression for most of the song and he mouthed along off-mike to most of the words.

I got the sense that Molo wanted to play fast and aggressive for the whole set, but Phil as the leader just wasn't giving him enough material that lent itself to high velocity. So when the opportunity came at the end of the set, Molo threw himself into it.

Jackie too seemed to wake up for this last tune. He finally smiled and really interacted with Larry.

I hoped "Cumberland" was the harbinger of a killer 2nd set. And while set 2 had some great songs and good jams, it lacked the certain X factor that makes a truly great P&F set. The big surprise for set 2 was "Lazy River Road." It seems rare for P&F to do this one. In 38 Phil shows over the last 7 years, I think this was the first for me. And it's one of my favs from the final batch of GD originals.

Unfortunately, "LRR" wasn't a great version. Teresa added good, passionate leads, but Phil's vocals were sloppy and the band seemed a bit ragged. They don't do this song often and it showed.

P&F alum Osby came out and added some good textures with his sax on an enjoyable "Scarlet>Fire." This version followed the basic path of a GD version, though it lacked any truly blistering leads.

"St. Stephen" is always fun and I really enjoyed the "NFA" tucked in the middle. This was a surprisingly aggressive NFA. Molo gave it the floor-tom fury of a GD 70/71 rendition. During the intro, it was ALL rhythm with Molo pounding the skins and most of the rest of the band (and nearly all of the crowd) clapping out the trademark beat of the recently deceased Diddley.

During one of NFAs instrumental breaks, Jackie tested the limits of his guitar cord, going all the way to stage right to challenge Molitz to a duel, locking eyes and trading solos.

The "Eleven" that followed kept the often buried Molitz at the fore. He sang the verses (a bit tentatively) for his only lead vocal of the show. He also closed the song with some weird and funky keyboard sounds.

The jam came down to nearly a full-stop, segueing into "Rosemary" with Molo taking a breather while Teresa and Phil handled the vocals. The crowd was surprisingly loud during this mellow piece of melancholia. Two twenty-somethings near me (both wearing GD shirts) actually asked me what song it was. With all the noise around me, it was difficult to focus on the performance, but a song like this definitely took the energy down a notch. It would've been an effective breather if Phil had brought the energy back up to close the set, but that never quite happened.

"Morning Dew" closed out the set and didn't leave a strong impression. It wasn't the slow-burning Phil-bomb laden powerhouse that the best P&F Dews can be. It was "OK." It just lacked that special something to put it over the edge.

The most memorable moment of the song happened when a 20-something girl got on stage and approached Phil, trying to give him a kiss. Phil smiled playfully but turned his head up and away as if to say "Is anyone here? I don't see anyone!"
He made it clear with his body language that while he wasn't mad, he didn't want a kiss. The girl was gently and peacefully escorted off stage with no disturbance to the music's flow.

Funny enough, the one other time I saw someone jump on stage at a P&F show, it was also during "Morning Dew" (12/2/03 NYC.) And that incident also ended peacefully with no musical disruption either.

It was Friday at a Phil show, but as an encore we got Bobby's best Saturday Night rocker. Jackie handled the vocals effectively and we got a high energy compact end-cap to a good but certainly not great show.

Levon Helm and his band gave a very enjoyable opening set. He looked like a very old man, swimming in a blue shirt that seemed 3 sizes too big for him. He had a NOLA-style 5 piece horn section. Larry Campbell and his wife, Teresa, were both in the band. Molo guested on percussion for one song and played along with his sticks (on an un-miked pad?) in the wings during other songs. The set was a mix of songs that were unfamiliar to me (presumably from Levon's well-received most recently album) plus a few Band classics: "Long Black Veil," "Rag Mamma Rag" (with Levon's daughter handling the drums,) and "the Weight."

Before Phil came out and during set break, our ears were assaulted by penetrating bass from a DJ tent set up to the side of the crowd. Seconds after the onstage music would stop, the low-end electronic pulsations would begin-- out of character with the show--- and they didn't cease until the music onstage started again. Also towards the very end of the 2nd set, the DJ from the crappy river front club next door could be heard.

Listen to the recordings. They are a pleasant surprise as the sound is well balanced, and you don't have to be standing in that uncomfortable venue.

A better show, imho, than most of the reviews have stated. I saw VA, PAx2, MA, NH and Rochester from this tour, and the Philly show sufferred mostly from the poor venue and poor sound close to the stage. however, if you stood near the middle of the venue, you were surrounded by a sea of chatter and steaming garbage!!

Note: to self...Return to Forever(Di Miola, White, Clarke, Corea) is going to be at the Mann on Sun Aug 6th....I will be there for that....best fusion Jazz on the planet....

Cancel that note Wayne
It's Tues,Aug.5th
See ya there!
I can't wait!!!!!!