Phil at the end of soundcheck

i think i see an extra mic stand

Lets try again:

Can you update as the sets proceed?

He always does

how did you get in early?

He's a Secret Agent Man

This show must have started by now, anyone in NY? Help!

11-1-08 NOKIA NYC
....SOUND CHECK - HE'S GONE
OPENER....
HERE COMES SUNSHINE

Here it Comes!

Here Comes Sunshine

Thanx Guys!!!!

Yes, thanks!

Till The Morning Comes

live up dates in chat

Did Phil just apologize for being late?

This Wheel's On Fire

live up dates in chat

Larry Rocks! I dig this song
Hot Mama's.... is lookin' Hot

Nice pix Taperrob - Keep 'em comin'

This is the shit!!!!!

are they only letting upgrades in the balcony?

He's Gone

Cassidy

is that neal casal?

It is Neal Casal

Nokia Theatre, NYC 11/1/08

Set 1:
Here Comes Sunshine> Jam>
Till the Morning Comes
I'm So Gone
[Phil apologizes for being late]
Me & My Uncle
This Wheel's On Fire
Greatest Story Ever Told
Cosmic Charlie

Is Ryan in the house?

who is neal casal?

guitar player for the cardinals

Neal is awesome...

Nokia Theatre, NYC 11/1/08

Set 1:
Here Comes Sunshine> Jam>
Till the Morning Comes
I'm So Gone
[Phil apologizes for being late]
Me & My Uncle
This Wheel's On Fire
Greatest Story Ever Told
Cosmic Charlie

Set 2:
*Jam>
*He's Gone> *Jam>
*Cassidy
*New Speedway Boogie>
West LA Fadeaway
Bird Song> *Jam>
*Magnolia Mountain
Born Crossed-Eyed>
Lady With A Fan>
Terrapin Station> Jam>
*Sugaree

Donor Rap/Intros

enc:
[encore false start]
*Ship Of Fools (Neal vocal)

*w/Neal Casal

good call on it being Neal...he is soo good, the Cardinals are incredibal....If Ryan and Neal come out, the sound is going to sick. Hope the practiced some cardinal tunes besides Peaceful Valley.....anyone else have review? Love it.

GREAT show.

Excellent jm between Hre Comes Sunshine and Till The Morning Comes got it started.

Rest of Set 1 just okay but Greatest Story was a huge treat.

Set II was spectacular. West LA Fade Away a major highlight.

Born Cross Eyed was short and sweet.

Weird that Ryan didn't show but all around good playing. Neal Casal added a lot. Nice Jackie and Teresa lead vocals on Cassidy.

Fun well played show. Not a single clunker.

Long time since I saw Ship Of Fools so thst was pretty special. Nicely done.

Got to agree w/above . . . not a single clunker!

People around me were saying it was Ryan Adams w/o his glasses out there. Said I don't think so . . .

Solid, solid show!

show was real nice, no doubt. here comes sunshine -> jam -> till the morning comes ... what an amazing performance to get the show started. they were the highlights for me. these guys never fail to amaze me.

really good show!

the show is streaming on www.live365.com/stations/2012_live

Great sound first of all. Phil and company continue to pull out new tricks. Adding Barry Sless - very positive. Adding Bobby tunes, like Me and My Uncle, Greatest Story and especially, Cassidy - done really well.

The overall arc of this show was country-western-rock Americana. Here Comes Sunshine set a very cool mood into a huge highlight - Till The Morning Comes - sharply played. Interesting song placements - He's Gone to start the 2nd set; Terrapin, Sugaree to close; Ship of Fools as an encore.

Great use of lights to highlight the crowd in Here Comes Sunshine! All in all, a great atmosphere and tight, cool, slinky music.

The overall arc of this show was country-western-rock Americana. <<
I may be reaching a bit on this, but I think the "theme" has something to do with the upcoming election. I posted this in the thread on the show in other stuff in the middle of the night.
Now that it's not the middle of the night, I'm second-guessing myself, but it does still seem to me that the arc of the show has a lot to do with hope, the mess we're in and where do we go from here.
Particularly because of there being several songs that are particularly pointed regarding that sort of thing.
Here Come Sunshine, This Wheel's On Fire, Me and My Uncle, New Speedway Boogie, Terrapin Station, Ship of Fools.
Bad dudes and hope is how I'm thinking of it.
If I'm right about this, I'll be interested in seeing what Phil comes up with Monday night before the election. Well, I'm interested even if I'm not right.
Whatever the theme, it looks like a great selection of stuff. I'm looking forward to hearing it.

>>>>Weird that Ryan didn't show but all around good playing

I heard that he was having voice problems - probably resting it up for his upcoming tour.

But how cool is it to have Neil Casal sit in. He could be a real good friend....

yes, his voice has been troubling him...the cardinals played the apollo 10/31 and ryan, neal, and brad fly to the UK tonight, followed by the rest of the band a bit later...so last night would have been tough...he's got a standing invitation to play with phil and after last night, I think neal does, as well...phil was grinning ear-to-ear the entire night!

Theresa Williams = Yoko Ono!

RA:

“what? Neal played with Phil Lesh last night??? It’s Neal’s BIRTHDAY TODAY?????

well damnit HAPPY BIRTHDAY NEAL

and a Cardinal Shout Out to the Mystic Jedi of the Wild West and Super-Static Kindness Generator Phil and his wondeful Fam ( Hey ROBBBIE (other Robbie…….) ( Phil’s Robbie just laugh’s it off too……)

Big Up MCNC on his special day!

speaking of voices, I thought Phil's sounded strong and carried well.
Good Morning New Yok City!

Thank you Taper Rob for the live stream link. The show sound sweet again!

I haven't liked recent P&F versions of Cosmic Charly but last night's was nice and fluid and sounded good. Also Bird Song which has been disappointing to me in recent shows was well placed in the second set and had nice jams. There were at least five very nice jams in the second set and all of them went somewhere and the one between Here Comes Sunshine and Till The Morning Comes was a monster.

Very few lost, tentative moments if any surprising given there was a special guest guitarist for most of the second set.

I have to admit I didn't miss Dark Star, Help>Slip, Eyes, Scarlet>Fire or any of the classic Grateful Dead biggies. I think China>Rider would have fit in nicely but other than that it was a wholly satisfying show even though the "big" jam songs weren't there.

I like this style of show. Reminded me of when Bob Dylan sat in with "The Dead" in 2003 (?). Those were my favorite moments of those shows because the players were listening to each other instead of just jamming away.

"Reminded me of when Bob Dylan sat in with "The Dead" in 2003"

hmmm, I missed that...more details? I'm surprised I don't know about this...

I might not have the year right but Bob Dylan toured with The Dead (The Other Ones?) for a half dozen or so shows. Dylan did his own set to open and then had planned and announced sit ins with The Dead for two or three songs a night. I saw two of them and I thought "The Dead" was bombastic and a bit heavy handed at times. But when BD sat in it was fun jangly loose rock and roll like last night's show.

Dylan opened for the Dead for the second leg of the 03' Dead tour and sat in for a few tunes with the boys during that tour. That was a great tour. Last night was excellent from my point of view and I thought Neil added a lot of tasteful playing to the mix. He even sang a verse during Sugaree and sang lead on ship of fools. Looking forward to tonight. Barry!!!!!

thanks!

I saw the show at Deer Creek in 03 and if my memory serves me well, they played Schoolgirl, Oh Boy, and Ballad of A Thin Man. This was the highlight of the show for me, it was loose jangly rock n roll just like whitman mentioned. Phil and the Mickster also sat with Dylan for Rainy Day Women and Joan sat in on Tears of Rage, the Dead's set was a little slow after Dylan left but still good.

Here's an updated setlist with times and Teresa Williams notations:


Nokia Theatre, NYC 11/1/08


start: 8:45 PM
Set 1:
Here Comes Sunshine %(sung by Teresa)> Jam>
Till the Morning Comes % (sung by TW/LC/JG/PL)
I'm So Gone (Jackie song)
[Phil apologizes for being late]
Me & My Uncle (sung by Jackie)
This Wheel's On Fire (sung by Larry)
Greatest Story Ever Told (sung by Jackie)
Cosmic Charlie (barbershop quartet style ending)
end: 9:51


Set 2: start: 10:18
%*Jam>
%*He's Gone> *Jam>
%*Cassidy (sung by Jackie)
*New Speedway Boogie (sung by Jackie)>
West LA Fadeaway (sung by Jackie)
Bird Song %> *Jam>
*Magnolia Mountain
Born Crossed-Eyed (sung by Jackie)>
Lady With A Fan>
Terrapin Station %(TW came on at "since the end is never told) > Jam>
* % Sugaree
end set2: 11:53

Donor Rap/Intros
enc:
[encore false start]
*Ship Of Fools (Neal vocal)
show end: 12:04


*w/Neal Casal
%w/Teresa Williams

other notes:
On Cassidy, Larry played mandolin
On Bird Song, Larry played slide on a National steel body guitar, and Barry played guitar

I can't wait to get a copy of this show, looks really nice. Phil really is keeping this music evolving. I'm pretty jealous of these New Yawkes, Phil has not played here (Indianapolis) once since Summer 06, much less 14 times! I hope Phil will consider Chicago for a residency in the future, as I know we're out of the question

the highlights of last night:

Here Comes Sunshine: Teresa Williams sang this wonderfully - and the lighting was superb - on the here comes sunshine phrase, bright white/yellowish lights swept out from the stage across the crowd - it was a great effect (why didnt the dead have better light shows?)

Til The Morning Comes - this was an intense version, both vocally and then at the end really strong climatic guitar buildup and release - driven primarily by Jackie - it made this song incredibly powerful.

In fact, I think that the first two songs of the show were probably the best of the entire evening - and I find it odd that I say that. Anyone who came late missed the best music of the night.

The MAMU had an unusually strong country beat to it, very nice version, but the ending lacked the intensity that bob usually gives it.

Also good was Cosmic Charlie - tight, with a very solid four-part barbershop quartet style harmony ending to it. A great set closer this way.

Speedway Boogie was the highlight of the second set, for me.

Barry on pedal steel was superb - he made MAMU stand out - did Jerry ever play pedal steel on a MAMU version? perhaps on the europe 72 tour? I wonder. If not, he should have - ha ha.

I dug Neal Casals on stage, but his singing was not strong. Part of it was the volume, we couldnt hear him too well, but he also didnt seemed to grab the song by the balls, although ship of fools was pretty solid.

Neal seemed tentative on stage. I saw Jackie wave him on at one point, but he didnt come all the way out - Steve had to put his arm on Neal's shoulder and push him all the way out on stage. It was like Neal was waiting for Phil - and only Phil - to clearly invite him out there.

Lastly, Greatest Story seemed kind of weak to me. Have they ever played it before? If you told me it their first time, I would believe it.


In fact, Jackie sang a lot of "definition" Bob Weir songs: Cassidy, Me and My Uncle, West LA Fadeaway, Bye and Bye - I just hope jackie doesnt start doing Victom or the Sailor/Saint sequence.....


Anyways, a good show all around, but no real space or steamroller jams, more song oriented.

And whoever said Teresa = yoko doesn't have a clue. She nailed Sunshine.

Thank God she was there - otherwise Phil probably would have sung it....

>>>And whoever said Teresa = yoko doesn't have a clue.

sounds like a shit-stirrer, for sure...

Regarding Garcia on pedal steel on MAMU in Europe 72 - I saw them here in Newcastle, and have heard just about all the other shows from that tour and the answer is "No"!

Incidentally, me and my son are leaving here on Tuesday, to catch the Thursday Nokia show. Any advice on what time to start standing in line to get a good view of the show?

"Neal seemed tentative on stage. I saw Jackie wave him on at one point, but he didnt come all the way out - Steve had to put his arm on Neal's shoulder and push him all the way out on stage. It was like Neal was waiting for Phil - and only Phil - to clearly invite him out there."

actually, he couldn't get by Larry and didn't want to push him out of the way, that's from the horse's mouth...also note that a lot of what neal was asked to do was last minute, including cassady...originally he was going to play on two songs and the encore, but phil changed it all up last minute...also remember he was invited last minute to play with a highly coordinated and tight group of musicians who have been playing together for a long time now

I agree with the vocal volume on a few of the tunes, but knowing neal's singing voice and style, I could hear him adding a "soulful" touch to those songs...I think you may hear it better if a good recording surfaces...also thought his guitar playing, both lead and rhythm, was a nice addition...

regardless, I thought it was a really fun night!

He's Gone - Neal vocal
Sugaree - Neal vocal
Ship of Fools - Neal vocal

Regarding Garcia on pedal steel on MAMU = the answer is "No"!


I thought that, I have most of the shows from the europe 72 tour and a lot of 1970 shows where jerry plays pedal steel on an occassional song.

But, man, Barry showed that pedal really fits well in MAMU - it was a treat.


You saw the dead at Newcastle - wow, I envy that experience. But not as much as I envy anyone who was at 2/13/70.

You're absolutely right - he did play pedal steel at most European shows - but mainly Looks Like Rain - including here in Newcastle - but never, as far as I'm aware on MAMU in Europe.

"also thought his guitar playing, both lead and rhythm, was a nice addition... "

yeah, neal's guitar was a really good touch - he obviously has a lot of taste - and its hard to fit something in with three other guitar instruments already out there - larry, jackie, and barry

but about half-way back in the seats, we couldn't hear neal's voice well enough - I hope it does turn up on a good recording.

As for the show having a "political theme"

that never crossed my mind, except for He's Gone, but that's because there was a guy sitting near me with a fantastically funny T-shirt - drawing of Bush with the line He's Gone above - and the line "nothings gonna bring him back" below it. It was nicely done.

But phil is not at all shy about politics. I think if he meant it to have a theme, he would have said something - at least about voting -

I do expect Monday's night show to have a political theme, tho

Looks like Phil choosing all these Bobby catalog tunes is pointing to re-union tour for Spring '08.

Peter Smith

Get online at around 5-630pm EST and you will get a good view MATE

Gitmo

Thanks - looking forward to a great night.

Looking back at some of the earlier posts I don't agree with those who say that Sless has brought the "psyche" ingredient, good though he is. I've been re-listening to some of the shows from earlier in the summer and some of the jams that Campbell and Greene created were very far out.

Regarding getting in line....

If you get in line by 6pm you should get in the first holding pen along side near the entrance to the venue. If you do you will have the pick of any spot in the house.

Bit of advice: If you can get on the rail of the second level, that is the best place for unobstructed sight line and and to be pretty close. The seats in back aren't bad but the sound is crisper on the floor so if you can get on the rail second level floor you will be happy. Bring a jacket or shirt to mark your spot on the railing. People will try to sleaze in there but if you hold your ground, you'll be fine.

the highlights of last night:

Here Comes Sunshine: Teresa Williams sang this wonderfully - and the lighting was superb - on the here comes sunshine phrase, bright white/yellowish lights swept out from the stage across the crowd - it was a great effect (why didnt the dead have better light shows?)

Til The Morning Comes - this was an intense version, both vocally and then at the end really strong climatic guitar buildup and release - driven primarily by Jackie - it made this song incredibly powerful.

In fact, I think that the first two songs of the show were probably the best of the entire evening - and I find it odd that I say that. Anyone who came late missed the best music of the night.

More photos

http://www.amsaddler.com/phil_lesh_11_01_08/

Some additional post show comments.

Phil's singing has really come a long way. He sounded great, especially on Terrapin, which was another highlight of the night for me.

I was disappointed that no one really took the opportunity to rip up some killer leads during Sugaree. That song was made for solos.

Cassidy also skipped the traditional peak, but I have to listen to the tape. (It still felt like it peaked a bit and resolved well).

Finally, I loved the up tempo Ship of Fools encore.

Does Phil's new bass have a name? That thing is awesome!!

Waiting for the show to start, me and the folks around me noticed there was an extra mic stand on stage. We started discussing the obvious possibilities: Trey, Warren, or Bobby. These guys are the repeat offenders. I suggested Grey Osby since he's been a Friend and a guest on numerous occasions as well. I didn't know any of their touring schedules in my head, so I wasn't about to make a guess. The guy in front of me said, "It's gonna be Bobby" in a very confident tone.

Well, the band took the stage with no guest in tow, except Teresa Williams. But I consider her part of the band at this point. My gut was a "Shakedown" opener, but I was wrong. Teresa and the boys opened the show in fantastic fashion: an uplifting, mellow yet-propulsive "Here Comes Sunshine." Teresa raised her arms during the chorus, leading the Deadhead flock like some gospel preacher. Sless' pedal steel came through loud and clear giving the song a welcome twang.

The song moved on into a jam that seemed to feature everything I love about Phil and Friends' instrumental segments: great call and response between all the string players, a melodic yet noodley feel, a propulsive rhythm I could dance too, and unison changes coordinated by Conductor Lesh to give it a great sense of tension and release.

The tension of the jam increased and it started to hint at Jackie's "I'm So Gone." I even wrote it as the next song in my notes. But I was wrong. The jam continued. Molitz started to throw in some space tones and the flavor drifted into new territory. It almost sounded like "Slipknot!" But then things got a big rhythmically uncertain about 6:45 into the jam (full disclosure, it's a Monday morning and I'm writing this with my notes open and the flacs. of the show on my hadphones) On the floor, dancing and hanging on each note, this moment of rhythmic uncertainty seemed like a big momentum killer. My feet didn't know what to do for about 10 seconds. It was a big (but only momentary) letdown. Now, listening back, the whole thing seemed to flow. I went back and listening to the section 3 times trying to hear this "big fuck up" that I perceived in the moment. Nope. It sounded pretty great all the way through on headphones.

The jam turned into another uplifting song, "Til the Morning Comes." I think this was my first time hearing it live since the days of the Q. Barry's pedal steel and Teresa's vocals were welcome additions. Larry and Teresa's vocals sounded good together. It was just too bad that they didn't seem to have much onstage chemistry. I mean, they're married right? It would've been cool to see them making eye contact and smiling to each other between the lines of the chorus. But oh, well, at least it sounded good. Larry is stoic on stage. That's just how it is, I guess.

The jam at the end "Til the Morning" was hot and twangy with Barry, Larry, and Jackie all swapping leads bringing it to quite a climax.

Then we got the "I'm So Gone" that I thought I heard coming on earlier. This is my favorite Jackie original over all. It's got a strong melody and has good jamming possibilities. This was a strong version (I've yet to hear a weak one.) Jackie seemed to have some reverb/echo on his vocals that I hadn't noticed on previous versions. It didn't sounded bad, but I think I prefer Jackie's voice unaltered. Molitz took an organ solo during this tune and, you could tell he was playing hard based on his motions and expressions, but he was really low in the mix.

After the song, Phil uncharacteristically apologized for being late. The band started about 8:45 about 30 minutes after they had on Friday. Phil said, "I personally got a little hung up"--- whatever that means. I thought this intro would lead to the introduction of a guest. But he wasn't to appear until the second set.

As "Me and My Uncle" started, I thought it was "Jack-a-Roe." The arrangement was different than the GD Bobby versions and I didn't recognize it until the vocals kicked in. I figured Jackie singing this song, eliminated the possibility of Bobby being the guest. I doubted he'd be in the building and allow for a cowboy tune to go on with out him. Jackie called for Molitz to take a solo and you could actually hear him this time. But it was Sless' pedal steel soloing that really made the song. There seemed to be tad of confusion about when the song should end, so the instrumental coda went on for a few more bars than they probably planned, but it worked well in a rough and ready sort of way.

The weakest song of the set to my ears was "This Wheels on Fire." It was just "ok." Larry seemed really stiff in his delivery. I wrote in my notes "didn't explode." It was a short version. No jam afterwards. It stopped cold.

The "Greatest Story" that came next took me by surprise. It was slower and funkier than most GD versions and highly and enjoyable, with Phil's bass really prominent. Molitz added some good textures on the keys. I think this was my first time catching this song live and it felt great singing with the whole crowd, "you can't close the door when the walls cave in!" Jackie seemed a bit rough on the vocals and his eyes seemed pretty glued to his lyric sheet. He kinda botched the final verse after the instrumental break, but it was still a good version. I think this'll get even stronger if they keep in regular rotation.

The set ending "Cosmic Charlie" was well-paced. It didn't suffer from the sluggishness that plague some versions ("everything is moving here but much too slowly.) Jackie and Phil's voices blended well. And Phil's solo vocals were clear, on key and passionate. And Sless' pedal steel work really made the song.

Near the end of set break, Neal Casal was on stage tuning up his guitar, but I thought he was a roadie for some one. I found out who he was later on and that he plays with Ryan Adams' band, the Cardinals. Some people around me even thought he WAS Ryan Adams. I've never caught Ryan live and only seen him in a few pictures so I wasn't sure either until a fan set me straight near the end of the set.

The opening jam grew out of the tuning into a Sugar Mag like rockin' jam that had a lot of sliding. I was surprised that despite having 4 guitarists on stage, the mix was still clear. It never descended into sonic sludge. Now as to picking out which guitarist played what. I was rarely sure, but it all sounded pretty good. The jam shifted into a more Dark Star-ish place before ending up in "He's Gone." Neal handled the lead vocals. His voice seemed a bit low in the mix, but he sang well. There wasn't too much of the vocal-led "ooh nothing's gonna bring him back" outro before an upbeat instrumental passage kicked in. Larry switched to mandolin, providing good textures.

And Larry stayed on the mandolin as Teresa William came back out and shared a mike with Jackie for "Cassidy." They both seemed a bit tentative on their delivery. But instrumentally the song was a winner and the visual element of Jackie and Teresa standing close sharing a mike somewhat made up for their vocal weakness.

"New Speedway Boogie" was next and Jackie always delivers on this one. Fiery guitars and vocals. This led unexpectedly into a good funky "West LA Fadeaway." I hadn't even THOUGHT about this song for many months so it was good to hear my favorite In the Dark tune. I was disappointed that Molitz didn't throw in the "laser beam" noise that comes at the end of the verses on the studio version. I always liked that effect and I know Molitz is equipped to make sounds just like it with his "space-porn-funk" set-up. He added some nice "sleazy" sounding keyboard textures, but he was again generally too low in the mix

"Bird Song" was good. The tempo seemed slightly faster than many other Phil versions I've heard. And it stayed rhythmically cohesive. It didn't space out into the ether or go into incongruous "non-Bird Song" territory during the instrumental middle. Phil's vocals were strong and clear. Larry on acoustic slide guitar added good textures.

"Magnolia Mountain" was well-played though I miss Joan on this one.
I didn't expect "Born X-Eyed" and it was fun to hear, though it sounded a bit tentative, but it's quite a weird song to begin with, so it's hard to master. And P&F have only played it a handful of times. The song itself was really short, only about 2 minutes before slipping into a rhythmic jam that even featured Molo briefly laying down some real dance beats.

The jam went smoothly into a beautiful, full, relatively compact version of Terrapin with Phil very strong on the vocals ,with some noticeable reverb added in. Phil's vocals seemed miles better than when I heard him over the summer! The myriad guitars swirled around during the instrumental breaks, giving the song a delicious density. During the second half of the song, Phil really belted it out, but still managed to annunciate most of his words. Bravo!

The climax at the end was intense and jam after the song soared for a few minutes before chugging back to earth for "Sugaree." Jackie and Neal alternated verses for Sugaree, both singing with passion to end the set.

The encore started with the band seemingly playing two different songs at once. In a rare move, Phil halted the song and apologized (his second apology tonight!) and the band restarted. There were still a few sour notes to begin with, but then the band coalesced into a strong surprisingly upbeat version of "Ship of Fools" with Neal on vocals. And his vocals were good and loud in the mix.

The setlist was close to perfect for my friend who went to the show with me. She'd found out earlier in the day that an old friend had died. There were a lot of songs tonight that I know help ME deal with loss and confusion and give me confidence that things will get better: "Here Comes Sunshine," "Cassidy," "Bird Song," and "Terrapin." And I think these songs had a similarly positive effect on my friend.

After I saw my friend off at the subway, I decided to wander in the never-sleeping city. I headed south, passing many bars and clubs and lots of jubilant "normal"-looking people.
With Daylight Savings "Fall Back," people had an extra hour to play. And so I "played" by myself, being introspective and observant, walking until 2 or 3AM (depending on how you set your watch) pleasantly surprised by how many places serve falafel in the middle of the night!

Magic, 100% PURE Magic!!!

http://www.archive.org/details/plf2008-11-01.95599 .sbeok.km184s.flac16

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Another stellar review Sebastian!

Bravo.