sunday...

Summer begins June 20, 8:57 P.M. EDT (6:57 MDT)

just about the time Hunter will be hitting the stage

Happy Summer Solstice

Crypt> Other One tonight and Passenger

It's about time

Other One played on Wednesday night... they were supposed to do Crypt that night also, but they didnt.. (it was on the official list)

id like to know what they think there going to play, cause we all know, even the best plans change..............

i'm predicting, in no particular order

easy wind
saint of circumstance
help>slip>franklins
lazy lightning,
llrain
morning dew
dark star
peggy-o
truckin'

open w/ truckin'

Come on guys!
gimme a
Born Crossed Eyed!

Bertha to open and a huge West LA Fadaway in the first set.

The setlists look awesome...can't till east coast tour....sorry don't travel like i used to...but
based on my assumtion....by the time they make to SPAC for jerry's birthday....WE should have a
cream puff war > darkstar > mission in the rain >
brothers and sisters...then follow that up with a MONSTER version of DONT LET GO...In fact they could just do a whole night of jerry tunes for jerry's birthday...make me happy....
looks like fun so far....
keep truckin'...see ya at SPAC!!!!!

The coffee is kickin' in!!!

Red Rocks so far.....

76 total songs, no repeat performances (not including Drums, Space, and Jams)

A Piece Of You
After Midnight
Alabama Getaway
All Along The Watchtower
All That We Are
Alligator
Baba Jingo
Black-Throated Wind
Blackbird
Broken Arrow
Cassidy
China Cat Sunflower
Cold Rain & Snow
Comes A Time
Cortez The Killer
Cosmic Charlie
Cumberland Blues
Days Between
Death Don't Have No Mercy
Duprees Diamond Blues
Eight Miles High
El Paso
Estimated Prophet
Eyes Of The World
Feel Like A Stranger
Fire On The Mountain
Friend Of The Devil
Goin' Down The Road Feeling Bad
Golden Road
Hell In A Bucket
Here Comes Sunshine
Hey Pockey Way
I Know You Rider
Into The Mystic
Just A Little Light
Lazy River Road
Liberty
Lucy In The Sky
Midnight Hour
Milestones
Minglewood Blues
Mississippi Half-Step
Music Never Stopped
New Potato Caboose
Night Of A 1000 Stars
No More Do I
Not Fade Away
Operator
Playing In The Band
Playin' Jam
Pride Of Cucamonga
Queen Jane Approximately
Ramble On Rose
Reuben & Cherise
Ripple
Scarlet Begonias
Self Defense
Shakedown St.
She Said She Said
Strange World
Sugar Magnolia
Sugaree
Terrapin Station
The Other One
The Wheel
Throwing Stones
Tomorrow Never Knows
Tons Of Steel
Touch Of Grey
U.S. Blues
Unbroken Chain
Uncle John's Band
Uncle John's Band Reprise
We Bid You Goodnight
Weather Report Suite
West LA Fadeaway

Out of 81 possible songs they could play and not repeat out of the last 5 gigs, my picks include:
Aiko Aiko
WRS
Loser
Lazy > Supp
Deal
Bertha
Let the Good Times Roll
Truckin
Samson
Passenger
*Wharf Rat* .. (maybe im dreaming this one)

Oh well, let's see how accurate I am.

Brown eye women..."daddy made whiskey and he made it well..."....make sure you pass it around...

BIODTL

D

My mind has just been blown by a cosmic wind, it told me...

Promised Land opener tonight!

taperrob is theere anyway that you would buy an extra red rocks poster the limited edition one and I would pay you 20 $ for your troubles... I stupidly left my poster on the plane

P.s. those pics are awesome how do you keep getting them up? they have internet connection there?

Mission In The Rain

Serafina Magalina

Broke encore about all I can guess for sure.

Robert Hunter, Red Rocks, 6/20/04

Setlist:
Loser
Tiger Rose
Mission In The Rain
Mr. Charlie>
Easy Wind
Serafina Magalina
Yellow Moon
Deal
Mountains Of The Moon>
Ripple
Boys In The Barroom

T minus, what? 45 and counting till showtime?

Warren Haynes, Red Rocks Trading Post, Mule Van, 6/20/04

Setlist:
The Real Thing
Kings Highway
Before You Came

before the Dead take the stage




this is the hardest working man in show
business

Truckin'





Smokestack Lightning

Some rather blurry (sorry we were having too much fun) PICTURES from last night's (6.19.04) show.

That's hot.

Truckin>
Smokestack Lightning

rob, would that be brian farmer in the photo

yep, the rodie is the unsung hero

>>would that be brian farmer in the photo

YUP

Passenger

i met brian farmer at a mule show,one good guy.

Down The Road

Man yer gettin Damn good with that camera Trob. Beautiful pics as always!

The Dead, Red Rocks, 6/20/04

Set 1:
Love Supreme Jam>
Truckin'>
Smokestack Lightning>
Truckin'> Jam>
Direwolf
Passenger> Jam>
Birdsong>
Loose Lucy
@Down The Road
Even So>
October Queen> Jam>
Till The Morning Comes> Jam>
Built To Last
Foolish Heart

@=Bobby acoustic

wow

Looks like a damn good set from here. I just read that on one of the nights at Red Rocks, either the first or second night, Jeff's legs on his piano gave out and fell during a ripping solo he was playing. The article also said he got down and finished playing. Anyone know if this really happened or is it just some kind of bullshit?

That's one hell of a first set.

I was there in the first row. Big ass crash! Keyboard landed on his foot. He looked at it for about 5 seconds then bent over and finished the entire jam until the techs came out and got the keyboard on a stand; even during that time, Jeff was still playing... He had his shoe off for a few songs after that as the crash apparently hurt his foot a little.

Many eyewitness reports on the other thread of the night in question confirm this piano stuntman maneuver. First set tonight looks monster on paper.

man this id th digggssssss yooo.....

this is fabulous man....man o man......now thats gotten it toghetha...

What a loooong 1st set. Probably the only time I wouldn't mind Even So>October Queen. What a Monster set.

Foolish Heart

WOW!!!!

I cant't wait for San Diego..

Thanks Taperrob for the inspiration.

Even so>Oct. Queen is starting to grow on me a bit. It's an interesting pairing and with all those other songs, it would certainly be cool. I think it could kill a shorter set though.

Candyman

wow, what a set!

i really hope you're doing the rest of the tour taperrob

these shots are stellar!

Come Together






Strawberry Fields

are they not stopping?

China Doll

This show looks amazing, the first set alone looks great.
must be like an hour and a half or so.

i might give some money to monkeymix for this show

The Dead, Red Rocks, 6/20/04

Set 1:
Love Supreme Jam>
Truckin'>
Smokestack Lightning>
Truckin'> Jam>
Direwolf
Passenger> Jam>
Birdsong>
Loose Lucy
@Down The Road
Even So>
October Queen> Jam>
Till The Morning Comes> Jam>
Built To Last
Foolish Heart

Set 2:
@Me & My Uncle
@Candyman
Jam> Come Together>
Strawberry Fields> Jam>
Viola Lee Blues(v1&2)> Jam>
Samson & Delilah>
Drumz/Space>
China Doll> Jam>
Birdsong> Jam>
China Cat Sunflower>
I Know You Rider
Donor Rap/Headcount Rap
enc: Brokedown Palace

@=Bobby acoustic

Wow, they split up the Birdsong across the 2 sets. Where did it come back in at -- "Don't Cry Now..."?

Rob thanks for all the kind updates from every night at the rocks. Hope the rest of the tour is a good

very coherent show.
Lots of threads weaving the sets.

this is some quality field-reporting - nicely done!

i'm weeks away from my alpine valley show and already i'm looking forward to it.

my first official show in 85 started with truckin>smokestack with matt kelly on harp and that new york audience went ballistic - nice to see that old pairing return to the opening slot.

thanks to all, esp. rob, for the images and impressions.

the party's over

Great show Sunday, both sets equally solid in my view. Unreal first set, 12 songs plus jams. Second set highlights for me were "Me & My Uncle" (just cuz I like it), "Drumz" & "China/Rider" (just before the "cool Colorado rain" on the drive home).
Nice "Brokedown" to close too.

They really are taking advantage of having rehearsed ~160 songs (so I heard; the setlists so far sure back it up),
& they've only repeated "China/Rider" & "Self Defense" (oh, that singing drummer).

Thanks to TaperRob for the setlists that helped me figure that out, by the way. I am not worthy!

RE: Bird Song - It was everywere al night.

I watched this band progress form slopy and unenspired to tight in one week. After no repeats so far all week, its sunday night after midinght on the show that started the earlyiest of the week and had by far the shortes intermision and bam they break into a smokin china /rider the utery exemplified the progres made durring the week. These guys should be insanley good by the end of summer.

also it worth pointing out the fact that weir sounds very sharp were last summer he was really strugliing ta redrocks.


great show ! ! ! !

to add to call conlly's highligths i would have to include the passanger and til the morning comes.

the show is now streaming on the Zone Radio

www/live365.com/stations/2012_live

Loud and Clear

Thanks for the Beatles!!!

Please save some for Deer Creek!!

It looks like Hunter lost some weight since last year. His set sounded really good. Thanks Taper Rob.

How was the Samson-did Warren and Jimmy rip it up?

Just wondering....always thought that Warren could really rip that one up...

what a difference two days make!

like a totally different band.

bobby bashers must be hating this. some really high quality cheeze, and sounding phat on the guitar (maybe when he shit the bed at the end of foolish heart, the bobby bashers were happy for a minute)

marathon show, monster set list and played extremely well. still pretty early in the tour, this should get better.

and red rocks is just the perfect place to see a show.


and a big thx to chuck and the rest of the crew working the south gate, it was a hoot, even with the rain and wind.

what a show !!!! after flood fest on friday night
I almost got another flight back to chi-town. after that show last night I'm sooo glad I stayed.
simply put, "their back". it's only gonna get better.












a

China rider again??!?!? No dark star, st stephen eleven during five nights of the rocks?? Prediction: LA will get a smokin show!!

I was a bit surprised to not see a HelpSlipFranklins as well Zang.

come on now, this was a grate show ! as much as I like darkstar and help>slip>frank I wouldn't have wanted any other way for these shows. b'sides
denver has gotten dark stared to death, if that's possible. a note on the birdsong phil was singing "all I know HE sang a little while and then flew off", bone chillin'.

"a note on the birdsong phil was singing "all I know HE sang a little while and then flew off", bone chillin'."


He did the same thing at Alpine Valley in 2002. Bone chilling as well.

I was very surprised at the China-Rider repeat, and a bit disappointed considering how much material they have at their disposal. I was really hoping for a St Stephen-Eleven for the last night. Still a great week at Red Rocks. Enjoy the rest of the summer tour, this band is gonna be cookin'!

Went to the first show at RR and the last and what a difference a week makes. As someone said earlier, it was all summed up in China/Rider. Not a bad version on Tuesday but absolutely smoking last night. Monster first set as well. As for the repeat, I say so what.

Finally, once again it was proved last night that it is "All About Phil!"

i'd agree with it is "All About Phil and Friends!"

while i love the dead, molo is such a rhythm monster, he keeps the jams flowing, where mickey and billy are keeping time.

well well well

i too was completely underwhelmed and disappointed tuesday, and skipped wednesday and sold my saturdays and half my fridays. still had a couple of friday tix, so, despite that crappy weather, went friday, and thought it was much better than tuesday night, especially the first set (second set lost a little steam, i thought).

but last night, sunday, WAS stellar. would have preferred althea (thought we were gonna get it; sure woulda fit that show) to the even so>oct queen, but jimmy and warren kept that interesting.

and yes, to answer someone, they did rip on samson.

i suspect they'll be many more nights like this by tour's end. ya'll have fun.

>>>Finally, once again it was proved last night that it is "All About Phil!"

And the drummers. Its hard to belive these guys are in their 60's.

>>and yes, to answer someone, they did rip on samson.


thank you...

I think Phil does the "HE" in Birdsong all the time...at least what I heard...(ex Jones Beach last summer)..it is kinda cool

....just listened to Till The Morning Comes and it is just so far beyond what last year's band did with that song...a good indication of where this outfit is taking the music.

thanks for all the reports from the 5 nights.

KK

I thought Weir took control more and more each night from Friday to Sunday...at times, "Ratdog" like directing the band. Warren also stepped up much more each night....he took all the solos on a couple of songs. He still has to read the lyrics to some songs which cuts down on the emotion he can sing with and playing the guitar while reading.

This band is not quite like Ratdog, or P&F or the Dead of last year. Take the best of each....with, at times, the intensity level of the Allmans last summer and that's kind of what it's like. They have their ups and downs but the highs are very high.

Couple other notes....I thought I heard a couple quick Blue Sky riffs from Warren at the end of Foolish Heart....I thought there was a quick Viola Lee reprise after the Bird Song after drums.

I, too, had hoped for a Bonnaroo like set list but have no complaints. The Beatles covers were incredible, the Viola Lee was great.

i had a great time last night, also. As far as group improvisation goes, thought the 2nd set was much better. Actually, the first set was more song oriented... no big improvisational highlights, which is ok since they turned it loose during the 2nd set. Bobby and phil seemed to sing more jerry songs than the other night... in that respect, the 1st set sounded more like a show from last year

Some notes.... Truckin' was VERY solid...they didn't screw up the bomb, and the transition from smokestack>truckin was tight also. Passenger was nice, with warren singing, as well as Dire Wolf. A lot of the songs were more obscure, which is fine with me, except that it seemed like, on most of the songs of the first set, the band was obviously using teleprompters. I don't know, maybe you won't notice on the cd's, but it seems like they were kind of struggling through them.

As for the foolish heart, i've seen TD 7 times in the last year, and have about 8 other recordings, and the foolish heart had the worst train wreck i've heard yet. Bobby went into the bridge while the rest of the band kept going with the main theme of the song. The problem was that it took like 3 seconds before anyone tried to save it... oh well, it was a first run through, and the rest of the song went really well... a great jam at the end...

warren and jimmy seemed a lot more timid last night than on saturday. I didn't really see warren step up and turn it loose until the 2nd set. Sort of like wednesday night, it took a little while for the band to coalesce. This really became apparent (for me) during birdsong in the first set. I actually enjoyed phil's singing on it, but the musical segment quickly turned into one of those dissonant jams that could have been any song... It didn't stick with the birdsong theme at all, and no one really stepped out and took a lead role the way jerry did. BUT, the 2nd set reprise (it was actually just a rehash of the first 2 verses, rather than the "doooon't cryyyyy now) was AWESOME... really spacey and beautiful... still different, but from the heart. A big improvement.

So, while the first set felt kind of weird, due to the relative obscurity of some of the songs and the lack of warren vocals on jerry songs, the 2nd set felt MUCH more familiar, open ended, and, from an improvisational standpoint, pretty stellar.

Highlights for me were the jam before Come Together (definite birdsong teases), birdsong reprise, space, China Doll (which was AWESOME... i'm not a big fan of this song, but jeff and jimmy were doing some crazy musical interweavings throughout the song, and it was just crystal clear and tight...probably the most twisted version i've heard), Samson, Viola Lee (which had another GREAT jam), and china rider. This was probably the best china>rider i've heard post garcia, even though jimmy got lost during the middle section... this version was SOLID, and sounded like a GD version.

overall, i'd give the first set a 4, and the 2nd set a 9.

wow...PLQ never did a strawberry fields at Red Rocks, and this one is spine tingling.

I for one, am happy about what they DIDN'T play last night. roll away the dew (both) shakedown, stephen and dark star in phoenix/san diego! lots of Warren surprises to come, too....like One and Madman Across the Water.

We got a "One" from warren solo acoutic. It was outstanding! I'm sure he'll bust out that Elton song, too.

wow these shows look GREAT. i've downloaded two from bittorrent and can't wait to get the last couple from these week. super thanks again to taperrob for these great sounding shows, the pix and all the updates. am really impressed that they're pulling out all the old gems like Dire Wolf. This tour looks to be sweeeeet.

Thanks Rob, Tapper that is, The man with the boogiewoogie connection and keyboard to boot. This first set was very, very good, No it was large, no it was out there man. Safe travels to PHX. Should be a wee bit a warmer. Loose Lucy smoked.

What was missing at Red Rocks? Nothing, yet a lot. No surprise we didn't get a Dark Star, St Stephen, Eleven, Help-Slip-Franklins, Jack Straw, Mr Charlie as these were played at Tennessee. A repeat China-Rider?!!

Missing: Easy Wind, Doin' That Rag, Born Cross Eyed, Lazy Lightning->Supplication, One (warrren solo), He's Gone, and some more that aren't coming to me just now. Should be a good tour. Enjoy

Warren played "One". I think it was on Weds night.
I, too, was surprised by the absence of Eleven> Dark Star at da rox.

"this is the hardest working man in show
business"

And you, Rob, are the hardest working Phan in the business. Here's to you and all you do....

<<<And you, Rob, are the hardest working Phan in the business. Here's to you and all you do....

AMEN to that. And a really sweet guy to boot!

Thank you very much TR>

Looking forward to seeing you again.




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The absolute most cool thing about this show was that Warren played acoustic at the Mule van on a soap box stage to maybe 50 people. It was the so unbelievable that this dude would do this. People were walking by clueless as to what was going on. I can't believe people didn't figure it out or maybe care. The 1st set was cooking up until they cut out of Birdsong into Loose Lucy then began the Ratdog cheese fest which ended with Come Toghether, then it got back on track. The Foolish Heart was ........ Billy threw his sticks in the air and it looked like Phil gave him a big scowl for the unprofessionalism. The Viola was thumping and Sampson sounded fresh. The China Doll was beautiful. I liked Tuesday the best of the 3 shows I saw.( Tues,Fri,Sun). They do need to get a bigger teleprompter for Bob or maybe he should be wearing some strong glasses. He has a hard time getting the lycrics right. Anyway they sounded really good over all, and one more time........ Warren at the van was freaking INSANE!

who sang ~~~Come Together~~~~~~~~?????

in the pic above it looks as if it was Bobby...sure hope it wasn't

anyway

MUTHUHHHH FUCKIN MOJO FILTER!!!!!


heard PLQ do this at the Beacon in 2000...one of the sickest most phunked out flashpoints in time there will ever be



right now


over meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Thanks Taper Rob.

Thanks Taper Rob

what about the X factor. was it fluid? did it flow? was there soul involved? i mean, folks seem to be nitpicking about a band gathering steam, but do they have IT? inmho, that's what readers want to know. can they do it? IT. that moment where everything floats, where there is a scary synchrony between band and audience, THAT'S what we want to know you reviewers. can it compare to red rocks '85? and, if not, or, if yes, how did it gel?/not gel? know what i mean?

after a month of rehearsing and now 6 shows under thier belt, seems like "its" out there.

they havent been together long, tackling old material that has not been played in a long time.

lyrically they could improve, a lot of reading going on up there.

musically, jmho. bobby is ripping, jimmy is holding back (shocker), warren is feeling out his place, phil is phil (the best), jeff is doing a good job, and the billy and mickey are still rockin.

if the lineup stays the same, and they get more comfortable with the material, these guys could be just smokin, down the road. the question is how soon? from what i saw friday, sat and sun, the evolution may be occuring rather quick.

while slightly dissapointed with no p floyd and that dark star set, sundays set list was awesome. first set was surreal, some rough spots, but dire wolf, passenger, till the morning comes, and foolish heart, COME ON!!!

thought it was pretty freaking funny when billy got pissed at the end of foolish heart. that bobby moment was nothing when compared to TS on friday. im gettin the friday cd just so i can hear that TS, lol.

sunday was one for the ages!

Here's Warren at the van

i just gotta join the chorus--thanx so much for everything, taperrob & the band. ya'll are truly the greatest!

Random observations of Red Rocks en masse from someone who comes to the zone a lot, but doesn't write much:


* Seems as if this lineup has more potential than last year's, but I think it will be a while before it's realized. We got a little taste of how good it can be on Sunday night.

<<<<<what>>>>

I'll spare everyone a song by song review and just say that Sunday night ebbed and flowed in the manner I'm accumstomed to as longtime fan of the Grateful Dead's music regardless of which ensemble is playing it (Dead, P&F, Ratdog, etc.) I've always loved shows that weaved a particular musical theme, and on Sunday, that was Birdsong. However, I must say that I've become spoiled by the manner in which P&F and Ratdog are able to pull off transitions so fluently. For me, the reason for this is simple -- one drummer. In addition, I sometimes feel (and have always felt) that Mickey isn't "dialed in" -- he gets so caught up in just trying to add something that he doesn't listen well, particularly when someone is trying to queue a change. This makes it very hard for Billy (by far the more "flowing" drummer) to push the transition -- he gets caught in a void. This was very evident on Sunday during the many times Phil was trying to weave Birdsong in. And I also believe this is why the Dead has those many moments where they wash down to almost nothing before starting a new song. I think the reason GD was able to pull this sort of thing off better is because Jerry usually led the transitions -- much easier for Phil to do so in P&F. Bottom line? Jimmy, Warren and Bobby need to play more of a role in leading this ensemble. Regardless, I think it will take a while for this lineup to master transitions.

* On another note, although the setlists have been impressive, I am not a fan of the shear number of songs being played. Although I love nearly every song on the list, there are simply too many songs each night, and not enough improvistational exploration. Some of the tunes are almost coming off as pop songs with virtually no improv. I'm not saying I want them to take EVERY song and turn it into some 20 minute epic. Just saying I liked it better when there were 7-9 songs instead of 13. This might be a symptom of the early part of the tour -- we'll see.

<<<<it's>>>>>

I couldn't disagree more with this comment. Although I too lean towards P&F as the hottest thing going, the Dead is anything but all about Phil. And if it comes to that, than the Dead is a musical failure and they should just stop right now. If the shows are going to continue to improve, then EVERYONE needs to step up and take control occasionally. I frankly was disappointed that Warren was almost in the background the whole five-night run @ Red Rocks. Some of the best P&F shows I've seen were ones where Warren was at the forefront of almost every movement, every jam, every transition. Consequently, I also think this may be a symptom of Red Rocks being early in the tour. I expect by the time I see them at the Gorge on July 3, a lot of these types of things will have fallen into place.

* Make no mistake folks -- this is a better lineup than last year. I am no Joan-hater -- thought she was great. However one need only listen to Warren singing China Doll on Sunday night to know that his vocals come from the heart. Joan was a hired gun unfamiliar with the passion and emotion Jerry delivered. Warren feels every note, every word -- sings with conviction instead of Broadway pizazz. And as much as I love Rob Barraco, Chimenti is a STUD, and I hope the band lets him out front more often as the tour progresses. He is by far a more accomplished organ player than Rob, and his piano playing continues to grow on me. In my opinion, a much better fit for the Dead, and two keyboardists was too much.

Looking forward to hearing how this thing progresses -- I think we're in for some very, very special shows!

Peace to you all!

That was the most honest essesment I've read so far.

i agree. mickey and billy are sloppy sometimes whereas molo is tight. i was stunned on saturday when the first set contained almost no jamming. second set was a whole other matter, but i would rather 7-9 songs with jamming. UBC was sloppy and stiff because of the drums. drums was good, but really short i thought. molo, molo, where for art thou molo...

my 2 cents: only heard the shows on disk and from what i heard, this band can Free-form jam like nobodys business but...very sloppy at times, and bob seems to throw everyone off with his "delay" in singing the verses at times. If this is trying to make it fresh,well, it sounds sloppy and is the rest of the band even aware of this style? Mickey is making this very percussive sound on his kit that sounds like conga's on every tune. cool for setting up a groove, but every song? Warren has added alot this summer with vocals and slide but please get a couple of new effects, his are very limited in sound and scope. Jimmy is his usual self and sounds like he steps up when needed,he needs some new toys too. phil is playing great as usual, but the vocals?? with WH in the band, he needs to sing more. well enuff outta me, see ya at spac and darien

Was it just me or did Drums just about vibrate the place apart Sunday???

Chimenti vs. Barraco

I need to weigh in with my thoughts. I lurk here, too, and saw the post above about Jeff rocking out on the organ more than Rob, and I have to disagree.

Anyone who saw the last Ratdog show on Long Island, when Rob came out for bunches of tunes, saw the truth -- Rob takes it to a level Jeff can't. This is okay, as Jeff's not a chump, but Rob really does have it over him.

39 days to Boston.

Hi folks. Ted and William make some excellent constructive critical comments that I have been thinking about myself. I will start out by saying that I'm a die-hard PLQ enthusiast: that's my bias. Phil is a natural musical director who is capable of making informed and quick decisions on the fly. He is also a bass player for the ages. He simultaneously plays the rhythm as well as melodic interpretations of the tunes...AND he has the SOUND, big time!

As far as the "generous" number of songs being played, I agree that with a finite amount of time for the show, the jams become marginalized and do not have a chance to open up. To jam seamlessly into the next tune requires time to open up, get a little lost, find your way back, then set up the next song. But after all these years, the core 4 knows that the basis for a solid jam band is a large and well-rehearsed play list. SONGS are the building blocks. Jamming song to song requires inside and out knowledge of the music. With this band they have taken on a huge task in trying to indoctrinate the new members both in learning a mountain of new songs and a Grateful Dead philosophy of putting a show together. This is not easy, and they have the added pressure of learning in front of eager, and lately, hyper-fussy paying customers. BUT, the fact is, they have to play as many songs as possible per show, at least in the beginning, to give them the necessary airtime in front of an audience. For the Dead, it's the only way....some things they can't do in rehearsal. If this band can't make the songs their own and feel natural, the jamming everyone wants will not follow. As well, if this band can't accomplish the above in a 7 or 8 week tour, then it means that they are not playing enough together. That's my greatest concern.

The other big question concerns the drummers. When the Other Ones re-grouped in fall of 2002 w/ Bill & Mickey back together, I was more than impressed with their performance, considering their age and their dismal performance with GD in their final years (not counting their drum duet spectacular.) Back then they seemed bored, and it showed in their playing. With that said, comparisons to PLQ with the solo drumming of John Molo are inevitable. Simply put, Molo is a drummer who makes things happen. GD in '71 & '72 were the most like PLQ and I believe the reason was due in great part to the solo, free-wheeling drumming of Billy K. He and Phil drove the band, with Jerry doing the bulk of the artwork and Weir tying a big bow around the whole thing. In the 2003-2004 edition of the Dead, you have the more heavy-handed duel drummer and percussionist, which unfortunately still suffers from its historical sloppy syncopation. (Weir once said, two drummers give more horsepower, but less maneuverability...yes Bobby, you did say that.) While Molo aggressively acts on what he hears from the other players, B & M seem to wait to see what the band wants to do next, making for some awkward transitions and silences, even after fluent jamming!

But time has always told for this band. The questions are, will we see more meaningful development of the jams? Can they learn enough about the music and each other in a single summer tour per year to make it interesting? Can they keep a consistent line-up together, so they don't have to go through this learning curve every year? We'll find out and I'm looking forward to the answers.

Ted, William, Chamtzoo... Very well put and you covered most of the angles... It will be interesting to see this unit grow (as they did last year) into another powerhouse!

See ya on the road!
Hlpslpfrnk

Hey all,

After reading these reviews, I wanted to throw my opinion into the mix about the drummers. As a drummer myself, I can attest to the fact that the more drummers you have, the harder it is to turn a band on a change. I think this is why you saw more flow in the early 70's Dead with only BK at the kit. I also agree with earlier comments about Mickey having trouble listening to where the band is going. I would be interested to see a version of this current band with only BK at the drums. With two drummers you are giving up a little bit in the tightness category, although it does open up some more rhythmical options. Anyway, just my perspective.

Cole

so they should kick mickey out of the band ?
you've got to be kidding.

thanks merolli. good response. as far as the drumming thing is concerned, i doubt anyone would consider mickey leaving, though he does need to listen more. a friend once rumored to me that healy always turned mickey down a little until the "drums" segment. seems he was almost "too" enthusiastic, if you know what i mean. hard to know for sure. he's a percussionist more than a drummer. in the late '80s, early '90s, his work on the beam and electronic bird calls, shattering glass and other midi-sounds were gorgeous sonic tapestries. however, listening to '71-'74 is fun because the band can turn those corners so quickly! billy was always on, though sometimes for a drummer that means almost being invisible while still steering. he's the jazz man inmho.

"so they should kick mickey out of the band ?
you've got to be kidding."

They need to unplug his mic, at least. He's such a ham. While his vocals have a little less bark and bite now, he's still waving his arms around trying to be a real showman. And, he gives this real corny speech at the end of the show.

Maybe he should be a game show host or something.

thanks for the reviews

I think the sloppy and uninspired was getting acclimated to the altitude. Phil and Friends seemed a wee winded the first night at the philmore in 02, but, just like red rocks they delivered both nights. the china doll was a fave, but there were quite a few both weekend nights. i'm buying the cd run of both nights...at some point

Having attended the last three shows at Red Rocks this year, the show in Phoenix, all 5 nights at Red Rocks last year, and New Year's Eve, I have to say this was the worst show I have ever seen!! I am pretty sure I hate Warren. Bring Joan back, please! He sounds so cheesy and overly dramatic. I think he adds a hair band sound to the band that is really unnecessary and unfitting to the Grateful Dead legacy. As far as Mickey, I like Mickey; his vocals on all of five songs are neat.

"I am pretty sure I hate Warren."

Jerk.
Just thought I'd get it out of the way.

OK,
This show didn't suck. The opening jam rocked into truckin and from there bliss ensued. The weather was finally decent the vibe of the crowd was heightened and positive and the boys did their best. Viola Lee fickin rocked! That said, I miss Joan and wish they could do it without the moniters,

'His job is to shed light not to master...'

-Moforen

I do not enjoy warren.
he is very boring.
it works out in all
but he should just keep his mouth shut on 95%
of the material.
my2cents

"I hate Warren"
"Bring Joan Back"
"I like Mickey, his vocals are neat"

Soulshiner walks away, shaking head...

A few notes not previously mentioned (now that the show is a distant memory and the monkey mix cd's still a few weeks away from my mailbox):

1st set was over 100'long! Warren added some nice slide work to the 2 schwagdog songs in the 1st set (I'd still rather get these 2 tunes over 'Sailor/Saint or Looks Like Rain ANYDAY!). There was a mini-trainwreck midway thru 'Till the Morning Comes - thought it was Loose Lucy reprise for a sec. Built 2 Last was a little shaky too. The Foolish Heart trainwreck was by far the worst I've ever heard! At least it was a total band meltdown and not just Bobby. Billy was REALLY pissed - threw his drumsticks up in the air and stopped playing twice - Phil scolded him at the end. Come Together much better than last year's version. Viola Lee was good but short - seemed to me to only be 1 verse. Seemed they owed us a reprise but given the epic length of these shows I'm not complaining. Space included a really good full band jam that went way out and could have gone into something really rockin' - was suprised when they brought it back down - the China Doll was REALLY well paced and deliberate - best version I've heard live or on tape since possibly 5/19/77 - THAT freakin' good!!!! China - Rider was more jammed and energetic than Tuesday's. The sound was MUCH better at this show than any of the others - only the end of the Saturday show approached the sonic clarity of Sunday - and it was good from the beginning, too - had a lot to do with the air being still - rare for this venue - usually the winds pick up when the sun goes down - a product of geology and meteorology of this venue - warm air blows up the hills off the plains in the opposite direction of prevailing upper winds. Nice lightning show off to the south as a storm system moved down off the hills and across the plains - seemed it was pouring rain only a few miles away - best meteorological events coinciding with a show since the Sat Vegas show in '92.

>>> - best meteorological events coinciding with a show since the Sat Vegas show in '92

Well there was this deal with 6/30/95. And it was from the heaven's for sure.