Eve of this show and since the old conversation was blown away I thought it might be time to start a new one.

Unlike old times if you don't have a ticket come to this show. Plenty of available tickets means lots of elbow room in a nice venue and the weather is expected to be clear and cool which is perfect for dancing.

Will be a good time for the lucky few planning to attended.

well, it'd seem to me it's time for a set list update; is the ever punctual and studious taperob in the house??

big oops im a stoner shows manana

Leaving to two hours... If it's half the show of last night it'll be rockin'

Bring on my Stephen>Eleven!!!!!!

Weather Report Suite!!!!

HC Sunshine opener.

Stranger opener
What else do you think they will play tonight?

Dark Star?

I am in the 10th row tonight I can't wait.
Hope to see some of the zoners there. You can't miss me Long red hair and I will be in a green Brent shirt.

im leavin for the lot in about 1/2 hour. anyone want to meet up?

taperrob emotw


peace
_B

nevermind on the email taperrob, i dont have your addy, i was gonna offer to call in the list. let me know in the next 30-45 min if you can, if you want me to do that.


Im hopin for that SS>WT>11>DS>OO tonight. mebee HCSS opener. well just guessin.

im stoked!!!!

Thus far on this leg, not one song has been repeated yet. If that holds true this evening...what possibilities! I too am hoping for the SS>WT>11>DS>OO (but have that inner dread it will be done in Boston, as those are 2 of only 3 I'll be missing through Jones Beach).

BTW I have 1 extra front row center ticket. I will hold off getting rid of it until warren goes on. Try and find me in the lot, and it's yours. I'll be in a tye dye with a big yellow smiley face in front. I'd rather it go to a zoner. Ask for Travi-5.

Seeeeeeya there.
Enjoy the show all!

P. S. I won't get to the lot until about 4:30, and it's more of a sun than a smiley face.

The Dead, Blossom Music Center, OH, 7/28/04

Set 1:
Greatest Story Ever Told
Duprees Diamond Blues
Strawberry Fields
Crazy Fingers
New Speedway Boogie
Here Comes Sunshine
Baba Jingo
Direwolf
Passenger

thanks to GT for the list

hey Auggie-----back in the real 'old times' you could actually camp out the night before a show. A ticket was around $10.00 and you could walk in the day of the show. At Alpine.

The Dead, Blossom Music Center, OH, 7/28/04

Set 1:
Greatest Story Ever Told
Duprees Diamond Blues
Strawberry Fields
Crazy Fingers
New Speedway Boogie
Here Comes Sunshine
Baba Jingo
Direwolf
Passenger
Headcount Rap

Set 2:
Brown-Eyed Women
Madman Across The Water
Tennessee Jed
Feel Like A Stranger>
Drumz/Space>
China Doll>
Playin' Reprise>
Sugaree
Touch Of Grey
Donor Rap
enc:
Tom Thumb's Blues
Brokedown Palace

thanks to GT for the list

damn damn damn i missed crazy fingers, dire wolf, and china doll!!!!

sweet sweet sweet

didnt bust out Dark Star yet and No St Stephen either!
how was the playing? any groggy reviews?
heading out for beantown in 6 hours!

BTW how full was the venue?

I think this is the first time the have played Greatest Story this tour, am I right?

tom thumb enc sweet

2 first sets, glad I didn't risk getting newtered. or iz it nuetered.

sleeper show eh?

It was indeed the first Greatest Story of the tour, as was the Tom Thumb's if I'm not mistaken. The venue was beautiful (my first time there), and maybe the best Shakedown I've wandered through. No hassles like Michigan. Everybody having fun.
The place seemed to be rather packed, but I was first row and thus had my back to everybody, so what do I know?. It may also make me a bit biased, but I thought the show was phenominal!!! The boys seemed to be having a blast and the energy was high. By the end they were all smiles up there. I thought the song selection and placement was outstanding. The Playin' reprise was not only excellent, but also pretty damn funny. I wonder what people who weren't aware of last night's Michigan show thought of it.
They've still yet to repeat a song on this leg (unless you count Playin' or the Leno TOG), and even what I would normally consider the weakest song (baba jingo) was totally smoking this evening.

I think you folks out in Mass are in store for some magic! I'm soooo pissed I can't make it to those, but I'll catch you all back again at SPAC...my hometown, where I have an 8 hour drive to get to tomorrow, so I bid you goodnight.

travis,
what did you do with your extra front row ticket?

Traded it for a t-shirt and a beer. I'm pretty sure I made the person's day, and I was perfectly happy with the deal too.

One more observation from me...I thought both Warren and Jimmy were on top of their games last night.
Time for me to hit the road. I hope there's some more input about the show by the time I get home.
You all make it safely to Boston, and share the fun with us less fotunates.
Seeeeeya at SPAC

Traded it for a t-shirt and a beer. I'm pretty sure I made the person's day, and I was perfectly happy with the deal too.

One more observation from me...I thought both Warren and Jimmy were on top of their games last night.
Time for me to hit the road. I hope there's some more input about the show by the time I get home.
You all make it safely to Boston, and share the fun with us less fotunates.
Seeeeeya at SPAC

Whooooops...sorry 'bout the double entry...don't know how to delete one.

That is it..??..One review..??..

If anyone knows Drew Carey..Please call him and have him come in here and write about the show..

the last dead show i seen was columbus last year and that was a big letdown so i didnt go into this with really any expectations. the lot opened around 1 o clock and everything was very very chill. there was a police presence but they werent hasslin us at all. they asked people to cup there beer (thats right asked nicely) and they said to only vend in one area. i dont think any of the venders moved though. after a long walk to the venue i was greeted with courteus staff and after an empty of my pockets i was inside. i sat on the lawn right next to the tapers. im not into warren so i dont know what he played. it wasnt to long though which was nice. after a short break the dead played.

Set 1
Greatest Story (BW)
Duprees (BW/WH)
Strawberry Fields (WH)
Crazy Fingers (BW)
New Speedway (BW)
Here Comes Sunshine (BW/WH)
Baba Jingo (MH)
Dire Wolf (WH)
Passenger (WH)

highlights were Greatest Story, New Speedway, Baba Jingo and Passenger (these were all smoooookin) Duprees needed some work and bobby didnt sound good on Crazy Fingers the other stuff was decent.

Set 2
Brown Eyed Women (BW/PL)
Madman Across Water (WH)
Tennesse Jed (BW/WH)
Feel Like A Stranger (BW)
Drumz/Space
China Doll (WH)
Playin In The Band reprise (BW)
Sugaree (WH)
Touch Of Grey (BW)

highlights were Brown Eyed Women (phil doing the old man parts). Playin was great. It had a great buildup. Made ya wanna jump out your skin. Sugaree and Touch were good to. Drumz were alright but space was a lil boring and china doll out of space is fittin but it keeps asses in there seats. Strangerwas ok but i love the stangers with the huge thumps from the 80's

Encore
Tom Thumbs Blues (PL)
Brokedown Palace (BW)

if they would have just did tom thumbs for the encore it would have been kinda disappointing but they pulled out Brokedown and it was nice. really good show. it had me dancin almost the whole night. cant wait for the disc. btw the lot raged after the show to. they started to give us the boot around 1 AM.

Hey, I just got up. It was a long drive home.

The scene in the lot was great. People partying everywhere and everyone having a great time.

First set was really well played, but there was nothing too outstanding. The Crazy Fingers was cool though, and the Passenger smoked. They really played the hell out of it. The Strawberry Fields was a nice suprize, and the Baba Jingo, like Travis said, was well played (and short!!)

BEWomen got people dancin quickly, but then Madman sort of settled things down a bit again. I'm personally not a big fan of this song, but maybe it'll grow on me.

Ten. Jed... BORING. I went to the bathroom and made it back just in time for Stranger. Here is where the magic started.

Stranger was well played and jammd out quite nicely. It rocked. The crowd was back in it now.

Drums was spectacular, and for the second night in a row, maybe the hightlight of the show. I've never felt that drums were the highlight before, but Mickey and Billy are just on fire lately.

Mickey moved to the beam and Bobby came out. The two of them jammed for a bit and it was really weird. Some of the people around us were really freaked out by it. I loved it.

Space kept up the weirdness factor for a little bit, but it was shorter than I would have liked.

Warren singing China Doll. Last year I saw Joan do it and it sucked the life out of the set. This time, Warren brought out the gravity of the song and it was beautiful.

Playin' Rep. I forgot I was expecting this to happen, and the jam that led to the vocal reprise was long and rockin'. Like Travis said, those not in Detroit must have thought it a bit odd.

Sugaree was super long and they really nailed it. Bobby's kids came out and they were really cute, standing around for the remainder of the show. It was getting late so I figured it was the last song. They stayed with it for a while and really worked it out well.

Touch was a suprize since I figured Sugaree was gonna be it. It was well played and much better than on Leno. It really made most people's day, or so it seemed. It was fun and they really seemed to be enjoying themselves up there.

After the donor rap, Bobby reprised the Voter rap and said "If you're gonna vote, vote this time" And Mickey followed suite with "While you still can." People often get uptight about them being political. But everything is political. Not speaking up just supports the status quo!!

TOM THUMB!!!
I've loved this song since the first time I say it many moons ago. I was shocked. Phil hadn't sang much so we figured it'd be him, but Box of Rain. The opening bassline and I freaked out. Though most people around us wondered what it was. Phil messed up the intro to the 3rd or 4th verse, but saved it quickly and really went off on it.

A second song!! Brokedown brought tears to my wife's eyes (not me, I'm too manly, boys don't cry). It was shocking and beautiful. The end to a great second set.

Bobby ruled the night. Everyone was watching him all the time. My wife bought a button in the lot with a recent picture of him on it which was pretty funny, but in the end, it was his show.

Although the first set was a bit lacking, the second (post Jed.) really made up for it. Overall, some good stuff, and some great stuff.

On the way out, a guy asked me what Dylan song Phil sang, and I was reminded of the first time I heard it and asked the guy next to me the same question. I ran out th enext day and bought Highway 61. I was happy to return the favor. Maybe he'll do the same thing and hear Dylan at his best.

We got lost trying to find the car, and then again trying to find the freeway. That place is beautiful during the day, but at night it might be haunted. Finally we got moving and made it home around 3:30. OUr last show of the summer, and I'm glad to have had my last show there. It was really fun.

Enjoyed the show, but I wish Bobby would give Warren and Jimmy more space to really get out there, really take the improvs someplace. Jimmy can do this if they'll let him. Maybe one more of the great old jam tunes would have made this a 5 out of 5. Sometimes it feels like the core 4 want this to be an all new thing, not to be compared to the original band.
Don't wanna complain too much, though, great evening of music. Chimenti is much better than I had known.
Speedway rumbled along, very massive. Jimmy soared on Crazy. A very cool group break on Sunshine, 4 simultaneous solos but not cluttered. TN Jed is always a fave, never heard a bad version. Sugaree was my favorite for the night. Love Warren's vocals on this and 3 killer soloes. Great stuff.

If I had my way I would tear this old building down...............I'm going to leave this old broken down palace........nice bookends to open and close the show. from the reviews I can't tell if they tore the building down or not but atleast it sounds like they did some damage. Have fun evryone on tour. Its getting to the point where the meat is close to the bone. I feel these northeeast shows will be for the ages.

Awesome show. For all you Warren haters out there (I am not one) the one thing that Warren definitely brings is improved vocals - lots of vocal harmonies last night that weren't dragged down by Phil's singing. Strawberry Fields and HC Sunshine especially. 1st set highlights were Speedway and Passenger.

2nd set gems included Brown Eyed, Stranger, and an amazing Sugaree but the highlight of the night was the buildup to Playin. Nice, long and loud - a couple of times I thought they were moving away from it but it just kept coming back. And then the encore - Wow!

My favorite sight of the night was a bumper sticker that said "Make Bobby Shave"

I guess more people then I thought took my advice and showed up. Pre sale was slow and the venue was a little disappionted, it being billed as the Dead and not the Other Ones, but the walk up was huge. Weather broke nicely in the early evening and all the locals decided to come out and see what the boys have been up to since the days at Richfield & Buckeye Lake. Also, since there are no shows scheduled for Pittsburgh or Cincy some of those heads made the trip up North.

Shakedown St. was reversed this year vs. past years at Blossom. Instead of having them up front near the gate they put them back in the grass lots which was a smart move. The fields next to this allowed for more elbow room (still very crowded) and places for the kids to play. They should do this again if they come back next year.

The show was well played vs. what I have heard on stream from the 1st leg. The only clunker in my book was DDN. The set list wasn't spectacular but the song placements were fresh and I will always give up a dream set list for a well played show and this was well played. The sound was the best I have heard from a Dead related project primarily because Phil was more out front then in the recent past. And as usual the lights were a great accent to the show.

In the 1st set Greatest, New Speedway, & HC Sunshine stood out. Baba was well played and the perfect Mickey song. Passenger rocked and Phil was really getting the groove down for this one.

2nd set pre drums seems to be a slow part of the show these days. We did not get an acoustic opener but we did get basically an extension of a 1st set. Fun songs, I am a big fan of Madman so was plenty happy when this tune came up, but no battle tested 2nd set tunes to rave up the crowd. D/S is what it is and the 2nd set really picked up after the China Doll. Sugaree with Bob's kids coming out was great and the Touch heads were in heaven when they finished with bands late generation hit.

Encores were actually the best part in my book. Tom Thumb was very well played and the Brokedown sent us off into the cool nigt the way that song did for many years.

Epic show? No
Waste of time and money? NO WAY

I'll be back for more.

Thanks for the reviews!!

>>..Epic show? No
Waste of time and money? NO WAY

Exactly the way I felt after the show I went to..

>> Back for more..

Doubt they'll come back to San Diego but a 2-3 show run at Frost, Kaiser..Greek will be fine with me..!!..

Don't have much time...

Great energy & vibe at this old CC barn.

This incarnation of the band is much tighter than any I've ever heard, at points almost "Stonsey", see Passenger, Sugaree.

The boys are an "outfit" now. Take no prisoners, rock'em & sock 'em, & Bobby is the QB, Phil is the Center. Football metaphor...west coast offense, natch. They don't go for the long bomb anymore, but they make alot of 1st downs & put the ball in the end zone.

Standouts:
The whole 1st set up through HCS. Crazy Fingers!!!

2nd set; Drums/Space (freaky horror movie REDRUM!)->Jam->China Doll (nice soothing chill out)->Playin Reprise(some of the best Playin jamming I've ever heard, grate build up them WHANG...back into the verse)->Sugaree(monstrous)

Phil's bass was clear and clean where we were sitting in the Pav (far left on the edge) and on the lawn as well. Phil really is a wonder.

I had a graet time, Damon, well done; thanks for driving (hows your car?)

aaahhh what a great night...AWESOME SHOW!

Lude showed up at my house around 3:30 and we hit the PA turnpike out of Pittsburgh. Destination Blossom. My wife was supposed to come but backed out because she wasn't feeling so well. So my buddy Matt from Cleveland had a lawn ticket and I gave him a ring and said get whatever you can for your lawn ticket and I'll give you our extra pavillion seat so you can sit with Lude and myself.

I stopped and grabbed a piece of pizza at a rest stop and Lude downed a beer and 25 minutes later we were in the lot. Based on past Blossom experience, I didn't think we could really hang in the lot. Guess I was wrong. So Lude and I poured our beers into our plastic cups and headed for the gate to meet my buddy Matt.

Found Matt and headed into the venue. I love Blossom. I've seen 3 shows there previously and always enjoyed the sound and the venue in general. We walked in and paid $6.50 for a Newcastle (I later learned that the 20 oz. Coors was a better deal despite the taste). Walked in as Warren was playing "Into The Mystic." Also got to hear Soulshine and one other tune, I think maybe I'll Be The One or In My Life. Sounded pretty good.

Grabbed another beer and headed for our seats. We were about 20 rows back on the very left (Jeff's side). Nice seats but our view of the drummers and Phil was a bit blocked. Still great seats though as it was very spread out on the sides and we had tons of dancing room.

The boys came right out rockin with Greatest Story Ever Told. Sounded very tight off the get go. I think there was a segue/jam into every song for the first four songs. Could be wrong though. Duprees sounded great too. Really nice Strawberry Fields. Then Phil picks up with the bass line of Crazy Fingers. Nice! New Speedway was great with the crowd singing along LOUD. The crowd was really into this show and I think the boys played off them. I think Phil thought the same thing as he expressed during the donor rap the circle that exists between the band and the fans. Here Comes Sunshine was good to hear but a little short, not really jammed out. Sounded great though.

Opening notes of Baba Jingo and I decided to hit the head and grab another Coors Orig. Back in time to catch the tail end of Dire Wolf, more great crowd interaction. Smokin Passenger to close the set. I'm trying to remember more details, but the only detail I can really remember is my smiling face and thinking how great the band sounded. New Speedway was probably my first set highlight but the whole set was great and very nicely played imho. I think Lude and myself were both thinking of how we can see more shows than just Darien. I would go on tour to see this band in a heart beat.

Headed up to the lawn at set break to meet two more friends and grab another beer. We chilled in the lawn for the first four songs of the second set. Nice to get a different view and check out the amazing light show and get down in the grass a little. Brown Eyed Women sounded great...defenitly a highlight for me. Its so damn good to hear Phil sing the "old man" part. Gave me chills every time he did it. First time hearing Madman. Great jam in this song...defenitly played out a bit if I remember correctly. I could have done without Tennesee Jed (as well as Touch of Grey) but still played very well. A smokin Feel Like A Stranger was up next. Fun to get down to this song. After this we headed back to our seats.

Got down to our seats and it was even more spacious than when we left end of first set. Lots of room to get down and we even moved in a bit so we could see the whole band. Drums was excellent. Mickey and Billy really working together. Defenitly one of the second set highlights.

Space was probably the best Space I've seen live. At least one of my favorites. Mickey moved over to the beam and was taking his time with it. Bob came out and just him and Mickey worked some pretty crazy magic. Bob added some nice background to the beam.

The the rest of the band found themselves back on stage and worked a little spacey jam which I thought might be headed to Foolish Heart. We were also thinking Dark Star or St. Stephen in the second set but figured we weren't getting in post drums. China Doll sounded great. I saw Joan do it twice last year and this version smashed those two. Warren is excellent for this song. The band handled this song quite delicately.

China Doll moved into a nice jam and quickly started to hint at Playin In The Band. Like others said above, they really worked this for a long time. Going in and out of the Playin theme, until finally they sing the reprise. Lude commented to me that this was one of the best Playin jams he ever heard and I agree. I was thinking we might get a Sugaree and sure enough the opening roar came right out of the Playin Jam. I loved Joan's Sugaree last year but I might say that this one beat it out for me. Warren did an excellent job on the vocals and the band really worked the jam. Great to see Bobby's kids on stage too. I thought this would be it for the set but the opening notes of Touch soon rang. I would have liked something else but the band still rocked this one out very tightly. This was a very very tight show compared to last year. No deep spacey jams that I like, but everything was played very well and it was an overall consistently and well played show. Second set highlights for me would be Brown Eyed Women, Drums/Space, Playin Reprise, and Sugaree.

The crowd gave a huge applause and Phil came back out and did the donor thing. Very nice words about the crowd. I leaned over to Lude and said I wouldn't be suprised if we got a Tom Thumbs Blues. Well, I about shit when the opening chords rang out. I know its not popular to say, but I absolutly love Phils vocals. Especially on this song. Nicely played but I kept thinking I bet we get a double encore. Tom Thumbs flowed right into Brokedown (it sounded like Masterpiece for a minute). Great way to send us back the 'burgh. I looked around and smiles were wide throughout the crowd. To be honest, I think the double encore was my highlight of the entire show.

Lude, Matt, and myself were extremely satisfied with the show and I would say that all three of us are pretty critical people. I thought it was excellent. I saw six shows last summer and I think I liked this show better than any of those. Lude and I hit Subway and filled up on gas and made the trek back to Pittsburgh. About 30 seconds before getting off our exit, I ran over a deer that had just been hit by a tractor trailer. I think it may have fucked up something and my car stinks like dead deer now. But it couldn't kill the smile I had on my face the entire ride home.

Don't miss these guys this summer. I would much rather see PLQ but this band did not dissapoint me in the least bit. What an amazing night of music. Off to see Railroad Earth tonight!

Great Review, Damon!

Yes Folks, Damon NAILED the call for Tom Thumb!

What a night...and the train keeps on rollin' tonite with RRE!

Whoooooo

And I forgot, Free Parking at Blossom. Nothing worse then pulling into some venue in the middle of nowhere and having to fork over $7.00 per car to park in the only lot available.

like everyone else is sayin....what till you hear the passenger and the buildup to the heart of playin is UNREAL!!! i didnt get back to pittsburgh till almost 4 am!!!

WOW! Have to say it was a really great time. I started off walkin around shakedown and I have to say...one of the best ive personally seen in a long time, just tons of people everywhere. I loved the crowd. I didnt see any bad shit go down anywhere! The cops were bein really chill about schwillin beers and the rest of the ensuing fiasco. And free parking of course is killer.

So got there with plenty of time to hang out and mingle. Met LessThan and his wife. Two very good people! Nice to meet you guys. ! Also saw about a dozen or so people i havent seen in year and years so that was great too.!

I got in and found a beer stand, most of the beers i saw were 8.50,(coors light and such) but i was prepared for that, though i cringe when i hand the money over.

Well, ill cut to the chase. After looking at all the pictures in the past weeks, hearing streams and boards, anticipation i guess....well when there finally right there standing on stage in front of you, something happens. I catch a whiff of sage on the breeze hear a few notes start up look around me, and then that 'body smile' kind of washes over me. im here!

with that said, ...they could've played like crap and i never would have known, i didnt care, nor was i feeling like the music critic that i can be at home...just havin fun.

so i wasnt looking to be blown away or nothin yet i was havin a great time. Then, Greatest Story starts up, I love this tune, and it sent me off on a great start.

the jam after this song was so killer and long (so it seemed) I actually listed it as >Jam>Duprees on my list i was writing down.

Duprees- Solid, Didnt knock my socks off but definately fun. Jimmy seemed to have some fun with it.

Strawberry Fields- FUCKIN BEAUTIIIFFUULL. Warren sounded kick ass, and the harmonizing was superb.
This was sooo unexpected by me. At least where it was placed, kinda strange, but more than welcome!!! Wonderfully done!!

Crazy Fingers- This was an odd one, cant place my finger on what it was exactly, just different. But it gave me a huge smile for sure. Jimmy sounded really good and I was noticing that Phil was turned up in the mix pretty good, you could hear everything he was doin really well, phat btw!

New Speedway- definately a highlight of the set, a hog leg for sure! They were all over it!

Baba Jingo- Mickey definately helped this one grown on me a bit. I have to say I dug it

Direwolf- Soooo dam happy to hear this one. They could have done no wrong. Jammed out, loud vox and bassy, just perfect!



B.E Women. - Fun, nothing noteable

Madman - First time on this one for me, but dayyyummm, warren kicked this song in the ass, really soulful and powerful. This song cought my full attention.!

Tenn Jed - eh, ok

Stranger- THis was just great to see bob jammin out to in this lineup, he got into it and the crowd did too.


oh, id like to note that the 'crowd waves' ARE there. Many times throughout the night the audience would just roar during a jam or whatnot at the right moment. That was nice too see!

Drums-Space

Drums was SOOO FUCKIN NICE!!! Rivaling any thing i would expect to see them do with GD. Mickey was great on the beam. He and Bob jammed out for quite a while and made all kinds of mayhem up there. It was really spacy but fun to see em goin at it and it seemed they were havin a blast as well.

China Doll- Another Warren shiner.! He makes this song tryly alive again. Him and the rest were vocally perfect on this. Phil came through real deep and all just made me say FUCK YEAH!

Playin- Nice, pretty rocked out, unexpected . Jimmy sounded really good as on china doll as well

Sugaree- Im so sick of this tune, but they played it so well i didnt care. I really enjoyed it actually. By the end of I was boogy'n hard

Touch- Didnt mind this too much, it was fun, nothin more nothin less

Tom thumb- Well I flipped out at this one. FUCK YEAh one again!! To see Phil play this again and sing it really too me back for a minute there. And to back it up everyone else played it on the nail. It was fuckin GOOD!!

Brokedown- Was a killer Bonus, played very sweet, melodic. A great ending as this song always is. Very well done


Shakdwn raged afterwards, then made it home eventually. I couldent believe all the gas in the lot after the show let out. maybe saw 15 different tanks vending within 50 sq yd of each other. Not sure what to make of that. I guess if they werent sell super chincy little ballons for 5$. I dont know, just seemed to be a bit too rampant..

Ill try to get some pics up later.

Peace
_B

the above review is great; people take note. us west coasters not seeing the east coast leg really dig on a song by song rundown like this as some of the songs are maturing thru the tour and its cool to see what other heads think, ie madmen thanx_B

>>I started off walkin around shakedown and I have to say...one of the best ive personally seen in a long time, just tons of people everywhere.

Yep. My wife even sold some necklaces. The first time in a long time.

The scene at Blossom was really really cool. I am so happy that it was that way. I'm talking full blown raging Shakedown St. like only I've seen at Deer Creek in the past. Many tour heads surely needed a good day after the way everyone was treated at Pine Knob the day before. I saw many peeps that I hadn't seen in a good while. The show rocked, I liked it more than Detroit. The band was sounding great and they do seem to be enjoying themselves immensely I think and that makes it even more enjoyable for me. I'm still kind of in shock over how cool the scene was at this show, it was unreal. No song by song here but The whole show was the highlights for me. The lights at both Detroit and Cleveland were fantastic too. I took many photos at Det. and a few at Blossom that I will post later this weekend. Peace

well, here goes some pics...

shakedown


lawn view


me and my love


more shakedown


more show


\image(6}

Go see this band.! period.!

sorry. my captions and images are off par somewhat...you get the idea!

peace
_B

this was supposed to be my first pic above 'shakedown'

yes....this guy was actually walking around with this sticker stuck to his chest!!! Too funny!!!

>>My favorite sight of the night was a bumper sticker that said "Make Bobby Shave"

They have that sticker on a piece of equipment in front of Warren and Jimmy. What I found funnier still is there's also one on a piece of equipment in front of Bobby that says, "Make Jimmy Shave". Perhaps there should be one saying, "Make Phil grow a beard".

This is going to sound much more bitter than I actually mean it to, but:

After Red Rocks, the Gorge, Alpine & Deer Creek
(not to mention Sacramento & Boise, from what I've heard),

OHIO gets TWO encores?????

(OK, Ohio can have two encores if they must, but spread the love around guys, eh?)

For those who have seen multiple shows (including Blossom), was there anything that you think tipped the balance?
("Hello Cleveland!", maybe?)

If anyone is interested I have compiled a spread sheet of the number of times each song has been played this summer tour (upto and including Blossum Center in OH). It has two sheets, 1) By Song Title, 2) By number of times played.

E-Mail me if you want a copy.
richardseng@sbcglobal.net

Don't forget St Louis! That was the best show so far this summer BY FAR

I would never judge a show or a venue by the number of encores?? That probably has nothing to do with the show they just played or the venue but more with the time they have left and how the Dead "feel" when it's time to do the encore.

Just my $0.02!

>>Perhaps there should be one saying, "Make Phil grow a beard".

There certainly should.

>>I would never judge a show or a venue by the number of encores?? That probably has nothing to do with the show they just played or the venue but more with the time they have left and how the Dead "feel" when it's time to do the encore.

I agree, but they certainly didn't have time left. It went way over the cutoff time. Maybe they did two to make up for the fact that it wasn't the greratest show.

Not sure why they did the double encore, but during Tom Thumbs, I was thinking they might go into something else. It just felt like it was coming.

Who knows why? I do know that the crowd was really into that show and the band fed off their energy. More so than any of the six shows I saw last year. I haven't heard a crowd roar like that in a long time. Maybe thats why.

Last year at Darien we got a Help>Slip>Franklins encore. I think thats because the band felt the 2nd set really slowed down and never got off.

They were past curfew at the end of the show. The break between the last song and the encores was longer then normal so we had a feeling either they were working up something new/special in the back or Bobby was dealing witht the kids.

Here is the local hack's review: http://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/entertainment/1091180184288693.xml

The run on sentence thing is a tad over the top and he is wrong in the attendance, it was closer to 14,000.

How does one know what the curfew is? Might it change by city, state, venue; maybe even the night of the week .. like Saturday nights curfew maybe later than a Tuesday night in the same city??

I know folks at Blossom and they have a 11:00 curfew. Nice stage hands so they sometimes look the other way, like on Wednesday, but seconds after the band walked off the crew was all over the stage breaking it down.

I think in the mid '90s the Grateful Dead played a show at Shoreline where they went over curfew and the Union wasn't so accomadating so they played no encore that evening.

I was at a P-Funk show when the house pulled the plug ala Vault 2 because of Union rules. Very wierd scene.

Other notes of interest: 1)Definite theme or at least a couple of small themes in the show; DDP, Strawberry Fields, Crazy Fingers all talk about sweet items; NSB followed by HCS is very interesting in "This Darkness Got to Give" goes into "Here Comes Sunshine" suggesting positive happenings are just a snap of a finger away from dark days (like the ones we are in now, election anyone?).
2) The venue/location definetly plays a role in song selection; Blossom very much is in a wooded area, hence Dire Wolf; Blossom has a very steep hilly area for lawn seats, hence NSB; GD last played there in 1985, possibly a reason for Stranger; General middle of nowhere feeling, definitely a good reason to play Brown Eyed Women & T-Jed, afterall doesn't the entire Midwest look like Tennessee to the West Coast folks.
My $.02: Nice they broke out Greatest Story, as this has been known to show up at Ohio shows in the past, at same time, nice they did not play UJB, which always seems to make its way to Buckeye state. Variety and unpredictability are very important factors to a good show. Overall, they like this venue and rewarded the crowd with a very good show.

I only got to see the Cleveland show and have only heard one other show from this tour. IMHO it was the best I have seen the rest of the band sound since 95. Dupree's was the only song that I didn't think the band played well. I might have liked it because the band seemed to play well together, no sign of egos and it sounded more like a PLQ show too me. Since I haven't heard the rest of the tour I am not sure if Phil has come out to thank the crowd before the encore. I know he always does his doner rap, but I have not heard him come out and thanks the fans for their love and support and tell them they are as important to the music as the band is. It was moving, and great to see Phil in such great spirits. Then he went into a very inspired Tom Thumbs. Maybe that is why they played 2 encores. The crowd had a great time and so did the band. I hope they come back to Blossom again, it was a great night and I never even made it to Shakedown, I looked near the front gate, but never thought to check any other lot. Hopefully Blossom will be that hospitable to the crowd if the Dead return.

Why are ppl concerned about why they played two encores
Maybe the band was haviing a good time and felt like playing two.

They played two at Deer creek

they played 2 encores to make up for last years OHio show suckin balls....there i said it.

Hmmmmm, second show in a row for me, and hadn't seen anybody from the Dead since Other One's 2002 at the Garden, so this is still kind of new to me.
Something about tonight that struck me is all the songs I've seen them do over the years featured at this show. With the exception of the covers and Passenger, I'd seen the GD do these numerous times, and how frankly I tired of some of them, then liked them again, got tired again, etc. Missed Greatest Story and walked in to the start of Dupree's. Strawberry Fields was a surprise. I love that the Dead do so many covers, although some bands (Led Zeppelin for instance) don't seem like the stuff my recollection of GD, or the Dead drawing from. And frankly I think there is too much good music from GD's catalog to have to do so many covers. Maybe it's just bias on my part, but sometimes I think the Beatles songbook has been opened a bit too much by these guys. Just my opinion, although I could be wrong...
Crazy Fingers was nicely done, while not a fave of mine, I like Bobby's handling of the vocals. Hunter definately did not write for his voice, but something about Bobby singing this, he's ennunciating some of the lyrics better than Jer did. New Speedway could not have been a better pick. Something about some of the Dead songs, and how appropeau they are relative to current times. Please don't dominate the rap, George....
Here Come's Sunshine had me at the launching pad, where my headspace was in liftoff to the cosmos. Uh oh, early touchdown with Baba Jingo. I love, errrr rather, I know Micky loves to sing, but maybe you should save the voice for the occasional Iko, ok? That's right, doctors orders. Dire Wolf, what was that about current events? Yeah, black and muddy mire.
Passenger was great. Warren and Jimmy did a nice job trading leads on this, and it's not one of the uptempo songs that's been slowed down, if only just a touch not as fast. No accoustic to start the second set, but instead a heartfelt Brown Eyed, and fine vocal delivery by Phil. Back to covers, I think Elton John recorded many fine songs, but never much fancied this, and can't say I particularly like the Dead's version either. The Madman is on this side of the water, anyway. Tennessee Jed, which I was fortunate to see CT sing so many times, and to me this is one of the true signature songs in the book. Enjoyed Stranger, as always, but that day I'd listened to the barnburnin' version from Hampton '89 and that to me is best version ever. I'm truly amazed Billy and Micky and how over the years have just gotten better and better, and man what I've seen these two shows is some mind bending stuff from these guys. Looks like Micky got some upgrades done to the Beam...yowza. Chimenti and Jimmy really know what they're doing during space, and these still have a lot of potential.
The Playin reprise, from the night before got the crowd going, followed by an emotional Sugaree. Once again, I think Bobby does a nice job on what Jerry songs I've heard him do. He realizes not just the significance of doing a good job, but now also has to do readings of Jerry's songs and convey a certain respect for the fact that at one time nobody thought it would ever be right for someone else to sing these songs.
Just like Tom Thumb's blues.....remember seeing the debut of this, when everybody wanted Phil to sing, and have always thought this a great song for him and his vx. Plus it's a great song, and Dylan is the only non Dead songwriter I think whose songs they could just keep adding to the repetoire and would always fit right in, if only because there are so many semi obscure songs of his that many in the crowd may never have heard.
Brokedown Palace, all the times I've seen a show close with this, and my enthusiasm wanes with this. Sorry, I think this is one of those that should remain not played, or if so, as an instrumental and let the crowd sing it, like Lynyrd Skynyrd did with Free Bird. This has Jerry all over it. Once again, just my opinion, don't shoot me I'm just the messenger. The voices inside my head tell me to type this stuff.

thanks for all the great reviews, just wanted to add that during the beam segment of drums, Mickey was waving his hands back & forth across the beam, getting all these eerie, spooky sounds resonating and vibrating out of it. looked like he was casting a spell, really wild!

I had a ball at that show.

Madman Across the Water....well imagine a girl, about 12, sitting and playing that song over and over and over on her headphones in the mid-70's....then imagine that girl about 26 years later at Blossom running like a madman herself down front..that was me Warren did a great job with it.

Also loved Brokedown Palace (it was the song played at our wedding when we danced together 13 years ago), China Doll (I was with my friend China), Sugaree....all kinds of great tunes with special meaning for me.

I was a very happy camper.

I didn't read all these reviews, and I've never seen Jerry, but did anyone notice how sweet Crazy Fingers sounded? For not having Jerry in there i thought they blended extremely well with the reggaeish rhythm and Warren's subtle notes filling in the chorus parts. This song also strikes me as yet another expample of how Phil has taken over as band leader. I don't think these guys know how to quit and i hope they never do.

Accidently clicked on this sreview site.. I started reading thereviews again and now all I can say is What time does the '05 tour start