ZONE OUT with the ROLLING RIDER
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The Dead
Camden, NJ - 6/27/03
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Like loose skeins of yarn, we blew into Camden. Scattered and disjointed, we traversed bridges, cradling close our hopes of sharing in some kind of weaving.

Our collective voices literally carrying the band, GOING DOWN THE ROAD FEELING BAD thundered out of the gates, with Willie Nelson beaming stage left. At once drifting and determined, RAMBLE ON ROSE coalesced, with Jimmy tipping his hat to Jerry’s signature jam, the infinite helix courtesy of the triumphant trumpet-midi.

Mickey’s unveiled SELF DEFENSE, a prelude to the fabled narrative STAGGER LEE, with Joan as a wailing Delia DeLyon. A tender reading of BROKEN ARROW followed, with Phil crooning: “I will meet you at the Witness Tree, leave the whole world behind”. Perhaps no other tune in set one found its mark like this one.

Bobby decided to forego the Stetson and a. 45 for a cowboy hat and his blistering acoustic in MEXICALI BLUES, which made its debut preceding the first-ever Comes a Time in 1971. Building to the fever pitch of CASSIDY before switching to electric, we took flight with the sea birds into the sunset framing the Philly skyline, the gap closing steadily on the dark years in between.

Set two began as an installment of Grateful Dead 101, the band appearing on stage like apparitions, immediately launching into an ecstatic jam that blossomed into the silk trombones of CHINA CAT SUNFLOWER. Phil’s chugging bass line our very heartbeat, we cascaded into nightfall with I KNOW YOU RIDER, the cool grass tickling our dancing feet.

COMES A TIME trickled out, filling us like breezes from winds inside our bodies: “From day to day just letting it ride/you get so far away from how it feels inside”. Bobby took the opportunity of the pindrop mood to reveal WEATHER REPORT SUITE, and again, we spread our wings. I had to pinch myself as we sang joyously: “We’ll see Summer come again, gonna happen every time!”

The ultimate pairing of LET IT GROW>BIRDSONG, which featured some risky, interstellar fingerwork by Jimmy, had every strand beginning to knot. We’d found that place that we’d knew existed, but cannot even be imagined: it must be explored firsthand. Billy and Mickey then morphed into fire-breathing dragons, spitting elliptic flames through DRUMS with Candace on the eye-Candy.

I’ve never been to Dead show with such an Upbeat post-drums, beginning with a locomotive-like NEW SPEEDWAY BOOGIE launching out of SPACE. Another nod to the City of Brotherly Love, the coveted SHAKEDOWN STREET delighted the crowd, crackling with energy. After a JAM, Bobby and Joan did their best Pigpen and Donna via TURN ON YOUR LOVELIGHT.

After Phil’s heartfelt words on becoming an Organ Donor, the time was right for DANCIN’ IN THE STREETS. I wasn’t sure if it was 1976 or 1776 as the electrifying harmony of “Philadelphia PA!” rang true. The band was Listening to each other intently, providing a very special, golden musical conversation that threaded though the night. I haven’t felt such inter-connectedness in the tunes, the band, and our community in quite a long time.

Let the words be Yours,
Rolling Rider

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Rolling Rider: 6.21.03 - Hunter in LA

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