ZONE OUT with the ROLLING RIDER
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The Dead
Camden, NJ - 6/28/03
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Catharsis. Aristotle saw it as a purification of emotions through art.

When the Dead stepped onstage Saturday in Camden, after almost 8 years of brushing up against the mere fringes, it felt like we’d finally found the heart of unity.

“We used to say that every place we play is church”, Phil explained. On this night, the congregation included Willie Nelson, whose crimson-white-and indigo guitar strap matched Phil’s signature wristband. The opening JAM became ALABAMA GETAWAY, and we toppled pews to dance in the aisles. “Twenty-third Psalm Majordomo, reserve me a table for three/in the Valley of the Shadow just you, Alabama and me”.

The consummate psychedelic cowboy, Bobby grabbed the reins on Merle Haggard’s MAMA TRIED, then ventured into a bluesy rendering of Willie Dixon’s LITTLE RED ROOSTER before treating us to a true rarity: THE RACE IS ON. After 1980 Radio City, they only played it a scant 7 times, so if you we’re blessed enough to catch one, be very Grateful.

You can pretty much count the Weir-Hunter collaborations on one hand, so even the raunchy and rollicking TRUCKIN’ takes on a venerable quality. “I guess they can’t revoke your soul for trying/get out of the door – light out and look all around”. While years rolled past like cloudscapes in the sky, Joan tried on a pair of size-16 wide-fits called BUILT TO LAST, but let it be known: she, as Blair Jackson assured, ‘definitely has the pipes’.

ONE MORE SATURDAY NIGHT has always been a roaring set closer, and on this particular occasion, Bobby Ace summoned the thunder and the lightning. As a humorous note, In A Long Strange Trip, Dennis McNally wrote, "[Weir and Hunter] clashed again over ‘One More Saturday Night’. Having gotten Hunter's lyrics, Weir rewrote them--badly in Hunter's opinion--and then asked to call the resulting song "U.S.Blues," which Hunter refused to permit.” [p393]

But we’re talking here about the advent of some kind of true healing, where all statements are made melodically. Jerry explained, “I don’t mind doing it in the music, because that’s where I divest my ego. It’s egoless, something I trust. If the band has something to protect, it’s the integrity of the experience, which remains shapeless and formless. As long as it stays that way, everything’s okay”.

As a testimony to the ever-morphing quality of the Dead, DRUMS opened up set
two, channeling the pinnacle crowd energy into this primal exercise led by the Rhythm Devils. Bobby gave us some breathing room, steering the Vista Cruiser into hyperspace with PLAYIN’ IN THE BAND,

On stage stepped the inventive alto saxophonist Greg Osby, and the phaithful
knew instantly they were in for a treat. A celestial JAM became EYES OF THE WORLD, and Phil reveled in the blistering, jazzy conversation: “There comes a redeemer and he slowly too fades away”. The gifted Osby took off on Eyes like it was his own, deftly traversing the measures as if on the crest of a wave.

MASON’S CHILDREN, resurrected by Phil after a 30-year hiatus, whittles our
experience down to its essence: “Taught us all we ever knew/we never knew so much before/we may never know so much again”. With the Philadelphia skyline glittering beside us like tinsel against the black night, Joan’s voice mingled with the wind on CHINA DOLL.

The proverbial table set, the crowd in communion, the first bars of UNBROKEN CHAIN rolled over us as if the ocean on the shore: “Listening for the secret, searching for the sound/But I could only hear the preacher, and the baying of his hounds”. Ripping his trademark dissonant licks, Bobby took the helm on SAINT STEPHEN, and whipped the devoted crowd into a frenzy, rogues and angels alike.

“Whether it was that snatch of lullaby or primal rock-n-roll chorus, sailor’s tale or phantasmic exploration, the invitation was always to be present…to participate…to create”, a friend commented. Saint Stephen encompassed all of these elements, down to the cryptic WILLIAM TELL BRIDGE: “Underfoot the ground is patched with climbing arms of ivy wrapped around the manzanita, stark and shiny in the breeze”.

After an ELEVEN TEASE, Greg Osby added vitality to a LOVE SUPREME JAM. Garcia cited Coltrane as an influence, in that “he’ll change the subject, then play along with the other personality coming out, which really impresses me. It’s like other personalities stepping out, or his personality is changing, or his attitude’s changing”. Sounds Jerry to me.

What can you say about RIPPLE>SUGAR MAGNOLIA. Grateful Dead 101, and it sure
felt good. The band must have felt it too, because they weren’t ready to leave after AIKO AIKO, making our final hymn AND WE BID YOU GOODNIGHT, washing over us, clean.

If you’re cup is full may it be again~
Rolling Rider

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Rolling Rider: Dead, Camden, 6.27.03

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