Furthur Rolls In To Hammerstein Ballroom

The Furthur Tour with Bob Weir and Phil Lesh of the Grateful Dead got off to a great start at New York's Hammerstein Ballroom December 8th and 9th, a venue the Grateful Dead played back in 1971 when it was known as the Manhattan Center. It's been a long strange trip since then; coming full circle and back again, on a tour which will bring them to a number of classic venues the Grateful Dead played, including Barton Hall, Cornell University in Ithica, NY and Radio City Music Hall in February. The energy at these Furthur shows at the Hammerstein Ballroom was incredible, evident by the smiles on Phil Lesh's face and the intensity of the whole band. Very strong opening of a tour by a band which only played three shows together, prior to these, back in September. Weir and Lesh are joined by Jeff Chimenti of Ratdog on Keyboards, Jay Lane of Ratdog on Percussion, Joe Russo on Drums, and John Kadlecik of Dark Star Orchestra on Guitar.

Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, and John Kadlecik

I was right up front for both Hammerstein shows so I was able to get a few good shots. The playing was great with John Kadlecik of Dark Star Orchestra on Guitar and Jerry. Kadlecik brings a sound to Furthur that resembles Jerry Garcia enough to make this the closest thing to the Grateful Dead since Garcia's Death. John Kadlecik plays guitar with a similar sensitivity and his voice hits that same register as Jerry's. It's fun to close your eyes and try to imagine.....nehhh! Actually I caught Phil a few times with a smile on his face and closed eyes. Wonder what he was thinking? The old boys were definitely having fun. They seemed to be simultaneously recalling the past magic and brewing up some new spells of their own.

Lesh and Weir

Here are the setlists from the two Hammerstein Ballroom Furthur shows:

12/8/09
1st Set
Jam> Truckin'> Dire Wolf, Doin' That Rag, Ramble On Rose, Reuben & Cerise> Looks Like Rain, Cosmic Charlie

2nd Set
Drums> King Solomon's Marbles> He's Gone> New Potato Caboose> The Other One, Days Between> Scarlet Begonias> Fire On The Mountain, Cold Rain & Snow, Phil's Donor Rap, E: Touch of Grey

12/9/09
1st Set
Jam > Feel Like A Stranger > Deal, Crazy Fingers > Memphis Blues, Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo > Bird Song, Good Lovin'

2nd Set
Jack Straw, The Wheel > Welcome To The Dance* > Uncle John's Band, Unbroken Chain, Satisfaction, Let It Grow, Sugar Magnolia, Phil's Donor Rap, E: Johnny B. Goode
*New Phil Song

For me the high points of these two Hammerstein shows was the second set of 12/8/09, especially the Scarlet> Fire featuring Kadlecik on the vocals and guitar. This was a very emotional part for me. Really sweet stuff. I also really loved the Ruben and Cherise in the first set. This was a surprise song also featuring Kadlecik. Ruben and Cherise is one of those songs that was always a high point to see the Grateful Dead do with Jerry and also a favorite to see the Jerry Garcia Band perform. Kadlicik's interpretation was just sparkling with memories of Garcia. Just close your eyes and float to another place and time... Wow! In general I loved both of these shows, and as usual, I wish I could have gone to more. I can't wait for Radio City Music Hall in February.

Download all of the Furthur shows HERE

I'll be posting more photos to my flickr profile soon. Check back here for the link. I'll also be posting about the rest of the tour as it rolls on.

Strangers stopping strangers just to shake their hands. Everybody's playing in the Heart of Gold Band, Heart of Gold Band
Hunter/Garcia

Furthur Announces Major Winter Tour

Furthur featuring The Grateful Dead's Phil Lesh and Bob Weir with Ratdogs' Jeff Chimenti and Jay Lane, and Dark Star Orchestra Guitarist John Kadlecik along with Joe Russo on drums announced a major twenty-eight show US Winter tour.



Furthur Tour Info Here

After listening to downloads of the three Furthur shows from the Fox Theatre in Oakland, CA on September 18th, 19th, and 20th I'm really excited about the upcoming Furthur Winter Tour! Considering these were the first three shows of this newly formed Grateful Dead-ish configuration I think good things are to come on this Furthur Tour. I also just really love the fact that they brought back the "Furthur" name, initally used for the "Furthur Festivals" over the first two summers following Jerry Garcia's death. The Furthur name references Ken Kesey's bus driven by the legendary Neil Cassady , the man Jack Kerouac based his Dean Moriarty character on in On the Road.



Ken Kesey's Bus Fine Art Print from San Francisco State College on 31 Oct 66: 11x14 C-Print Signed

I guess Bob Weir and Phil Lesh decided to play with a "Jerry impersonator" type. John Kadlecik, of Dark Star Orchestra, has made a career as a Garcia tribute guitarist in a Grateful Dead tribute band of sorts. DSO's main theme is to recreate Grateful Dead shows from the past and thus has to be defined as a Grateful Dead copy or tribute band. This said, John Kadlecik sounds very good in this lineup, as well as with DSO. His voice sounds eerily like Jerry's croaky voice at times. Bob Weir was quoted as saying that if you close your eyes and listen to Kadlecik, you might forget that it's not Jerry. I think that's pushing it a bit, but Kadlecik does sound good when they let him sing. They finally got a guy that sounds allot like Jerry vocally, and they don't have him sing all of Jerry's songs. I think it would work well if Bobby sings his songs, Phil sings his songs, and John Kadlecik sings Jerry Garcia's songs. It would sound the most like the Grateful Dead this way and not like Ratdog or The Other Ones or Phil and Friends.

As an interesting side note; Jeff Mattson of the Zen Tricksters, one of my favorite local bands, is replacing John Kadlecik in DSO while he's playing with Furthur. I've also heard rumors that Kadlecik has quit DSO and Mattson will replace him permanently. In any case this reunites Mattson with ex Zen Tricksters' keyboardist Rob Baracco of Phil and Friends fame. I happen to think that if you would have just taken Jeff Mattson and plugged him in to the Jerry spot with Weir, Lesh, Hart, and Kreutzman and Baracco on keyboards, you would have something real close to the Grateful Dead. But Bobby and Phil chose Kadlecik instead (years ago Phil said that Jeff Mattson sounded too much like Jerry for him to play in Phil and Friends). Furthur got off to a good start and they'll surely get better the more they play with each other on this tour. Stay tuned for Futhur information.


The bus came by and I got on. That's when it all began - Grateful Dead


Further - Phil Lesh and Bob Weir Tickets Dec 12 2009 and More

Bob Weir and Ratdog Beacon Theatre 10-24-09

Bob Weir and Ratdog wrapped up a five night, two venue, New York City run at the Beacon Theatre Saturday, October 24th 2009. The third night at the Beacon, preceded by two nights at the intimate Grand Ballroom (a first for Ratdog), turned out to be a great show which I'm in the process of confirming now digitally. On a drizzly night in NYC I drove in and met up with friends for a sushi dinner in honor of Shelly's birthday, then headed over to the show.

Bob Weir And Ratdog 10-24-09 Beacon Theatre, NYC
I could only go to this one show, but most of my friends did all five and said that Ratdog was playing really well on this NYC run. This show definitely confirmed that for me. Very strong indeed! Even some of my Bobby bashing friends felt that the Dog was playing hot at these shows. It seemed there were no complaints from anyone this time around. Even my buddy Tommy, the toughest Weir critic, enjoyed. I just can't fathom why some of these people complain about Bobby for years, but still go see him five nights in a row? Well they were lucky they did this time, and I wish I could have been there for all of them. I am still grateful I made it to this one. It was a most enjoyable night with great company before and during the show. The often barefooted Bob Weir and Ratdog were in prime form.


I made my way in and grabbed a drink and found my perch in the first row of the Loge, right center, as the lights went out. Perfect spot. No one in front of me, perfect view, drink in hand, and room to dance. What more can you ask for? The set started off with a short Jam into a strong Casey Jones, which Ratdog does a smooth double increase in tempo at the end on. This really set the groove for the first set. High Energy Man! Then they went right into a great Jack Straw which Mark Karan really tore up on the guitar into Cassidy into the blues standard Little Red Rooster into an intense Dark Star Jam which led to Lazy River Road stopping briefly then playing the Ratdog original She Says into Jerry's Liberty into an apropos Bertha - "Ran in to a rain storm, ducked right in to a bar door. All night pourin', but not a drop om me" - to end the set on a high note.


The Persuasions Special Guests at Ratdog Beacon Theatre

The second set brought a sweet surprise! After the customary Ratdog acoustic segment at the beginning of the set, which consisted of Mexicalli Blues > Friend Of The Devil and Black Throated Wind, Bobby brought out The Persuasions, who sang It Must Have Been The Roses a capella. Ratdog stayed onstage, reduced to spectators like the audience, witnessing the beautiful harmonies that these five master singers brewed. The band was then joined by The Persuasions on He's Gone, singing the "Oooh, oooh, Nothing's gonna bring him back" part, and adding a great gospel dimension to the Grateful Dead classic. They were really appreciated by the Deadhead audience, which erupted into cheers which shook the Beacon. The Persuasions left the stage and Ratdog resumed with the remainder of a powerful second set; The Other One > Jam without Weir (Ratdog fans like to call this often Jazz inspired segment "Stuff") into a great Morning Dew > Dark Star > Cassidy Reprise > One More Saturday Night to end the set. The Persuasions then joined Ratdog for the first encore of Ripple which was very sweet, followed by U.S. Blues - during which Hippie Bill waved a Grateful Dead Flag and Yankees flag on stage while Weir seemed to be oblivious to him.

Bob Weir is a trip! Hanging out on stage in what looked like pajamas, barefooted or sandaled, on his Grateful Dead trademark Persian Rugs, he makes the stage his home. And why shouldn't he? The stage is where he spends so much of his time; constantly touring with his different bands. Whether it's with Ratdog, The Dead, the new Furthur configuration, or the revisited Scaring The Children trio with old friend Rob Wasserman and Ratdog drummer Jay Lane, Bob Weir is always busy. He's got to be one of the hardest working guys in Rock and Roll today. Right up there with Warren Haynes and Bob Dylan. And I think doing the other projects Weir is involved in keeps Ratdog fresh when they do play. This last night at the Beacon Theatre had electricity. The music fit the band like a glove. And, like I used to always think, Ratdog just gets better and better every time I see them. They're a great band in their own rite. I look forward to seeing them again next time Bob Weir brings them to New York to make more magic for us. I may be going to Hell In a Bucket, but at least I'm enjoyin' the ride!

Once again I'd like to thank Joe Beacon for taping these shows and uploading them to bt.etree.org. You are a modern day hero! Download the shows here.

Bob Weir Is Scaring The Children In Brooklyn

Last week I had the opportunity to go see Bob Weir's Scaring The Children in Brooklyn at the Brooklyn Bowl. Unfortunately I had to pass it up. But I did download the show at bt.etree.org and since today is Weir's birthday - Happy 62nd Bobby - I popped it in for a listen. Well, just like anytime I skip a show and listen to it later, I regret not going. After speaking to some friends that were there and reading a bit on Brooklyn Bowl's website I figured I'd write a bit on it.

Doors opened at 6PM and the show was supposed to start at 9. But since game 3 of the Yankee's Divisional Series was on, the show didn't start till after 10. This gave people plenty of time to Bowl, Eat, Drink, and be merry. And I heard that BB (owned by the previous owners of Wetlands where I saw many awesome shows) played lots of great old Grateful Dead while all this bowling etc took place. The alleys have screens above the pins for a good view of the stage from all lanes. It sounded like a cool scene to me so I visited BB's website and it turns out that they're the first totally "Green" Bowling alley ever! Very cool, and definitely carries on the tradition of Wetlands as New York Deadheads know. Seems like they like to put on some good music and I'll be checking them out sometime in the near future to see what's going on there.

Listening to the recording of this show makes me wish I went. Sounds nice to hear Bobby with his old buddy Rob Wasserman on Bass and Ratdog's Jay Lane on Drums. A nice trio of players who are very comfortable playing this stuff with each other. Bobby played mostly electric guitar, switching to acoustic on a few numbers. Wasserman playing his usual melodic Bass lines and Jay -no pin intended- Lane holding down the rhythm admirably, Scaring The Children has a nice intimate kind of sound that differs from the bigger band sound of Bob Weir and Ratdog, which sounds nice for a change.

Here's the setlist for you:
Scaring The Children 10/9/09 Brooklyn Bowl

Maggies Farm
Easy Answer
Loose Lucy
Black Bird*
Victim Or The Crime*
Desolation Row*
When I Paint My Masterpiece*
Even So
The Deep End
The Other One
Stuff W/ Joe Russo
Dear Prudence
Goin Down The Road Feeling Bad

*Bobby On Acoustic

Download The Show Here


Buy Bob Weir and Ratdog Tickets Here

Once again a Happy Birthday to Bob Weir! See ya at the Beacon for Ratdog.

The Dead MSG 4/25/09 Return To Garden

The Dead's Spring Tour carnival rolled in to New York City at The Garden on April 25th, the site of so many incredible Grateful Dead shows in the past, as well as so many other incredible events and home of the Knicks and Rangers. As I already said, Nassau Coliseum was a good show, but the Madison Square Garden show was a notch above Nassau. The energy inside The Garden was apparent even before the show started, as I was seated behind a group of college age kids from upstate New York who were obvious tripsters complete with court jester hats and tye-dyes. As we talked they told me they had never seen Jerry Garcia with the Grateful Dead and this was their first time seeing the Core Four of Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann, and Mickey Hart together. I thought this was cool - the fact that the scene is being kept alive by this kind of stuff, and that there are still young kids being turned on to it. And the MSG show was a big mix of kids like that with older hippie Deadheads and NYC Yuppie types and their spouses, all abuzz with anticipation of the new Dead to this classic venue in the city that never sleeps.

Photo By Dave The Dead at MSG

The Dead opened the show with Cosmic Charlie, a nice surprise that I really didn't expect. Phil sang the lead with Warren playing slide and making the song sound like The Grateful Dead meets The Allman Brothers Band, finishing up belting the harmony behind Phil on the "Come on home your mama's callin' you line. Next up was China Cat Sunflower. The band was right on for the China Cat, unlike earlier in the tour at the DCU Center in Worcester, MA, where they didn't quite mesh on the China > Rider. This time around it was very tight and they hit the nail on the head with Warren playing quick bursts of notes that were Jerry-like and sweet, going into a China > Rider like bridge, but they didn't go into I Know You Rider, as they did in Worcester. Instead they took a sharp right turn into the pulsing Shakedown Street, which got the Garden rockin' as it always did for the Grateful Dead in years past, only now Warren Haynes wailed the vocals with Phil and Bobby behind him. Warren and The Dead create their own jam with a uniquely new yet somehow familiar sound to it, going into the new twist "Shake it down, Shake it down, down" chorus of this Dead configuration (similar to Ratdog's arrangement and the past Dead tour arrangement of 2004). That was followed by a great jam which touched on a common Warren Haynes guitar theme remeniscent of Eleanor Rigby. The pace then slows down and the band slides into Ship Of Fools, sung by Warren, which has a very interesting almost calypso/reggae feel to it. This featured a sweet piano solo by Jeff Chimenti, and Weir on some nice twangy rythm guitar set against Haynes' lead riffs. At the end of Ship they stop briefly and yield to He's Gone (Bobby on lead vocals), an unneeded reminder of Jerry's absense, yet potent proof that this band can still play without him...."He's gone and nothin's gonna bring him back". The first set ends with strong versions of crowd pleasers Cassidy and Sugaree (sung by Warren) which has some nice playing on the jam in the middle. On the line "I'll meet you at the jubilee" Warren instead inserts "I'll meet you at MSG" and the crowd explodes with cheers. Great first set!

Photo By Dave The Dead at MSG

The second set starts with an unusually placed long Drums >Space > Jam segment which leads to Cryptical Envelopment > The Other One > Born Cross-Eyed > St. Stephen > The Eleven (all ala 1969 Grateful Dead). The opening Drums sequence ran the gamut from Rainforest sounds to Mickey Hart on "The Beam", to the African or Indian Chanting they've been using on this tour. It's almost remeniscent of Pink Floyd at times (as the Drums have been on alot of the spring tour). The Cryptical and the jam leading up to it were long and spacey, with Phil singing the lead with some eerie playing behind him. Cryptical bubbling and finally erupting into The Other One. Very unique. This whole portion of the show was a great piece of music which rivals anything else played on the whole spring tour and might have been the turning point of the tour, where the band really hits their stride. It's almost as if they're saying "Here we are! We have arrived! And we're gonna be a force to be reckoned with from here on in!" Just some real strong medicine; I know it was the potion for my pain. They briefly stop at the end of The Other One and then just go into Born Crossed Eyed, which was really tight, almost sounding like Anthem Of The Sun. This is followed by a hot St. Stephen > The Eleven combo. Great Stuff! The rest of the set they just don't let up - with a sweet Uncle John's Band to slow things down, followed by Phil's epic Unbroken Chain to bring the energy level right back up. Warren plays Unbroken Chain with an authority, due to his familiarity with it from his Phil Lesh and Friends days, when it was a regular in the rotation. That goes into a surprise rockin' Gimme Shelter sung by Warren, who plays Mick Jagger and Keith Richards on this one, and really smokes it up! Bobby throws in his One More Saturday Night; fitting for the occasion. And they wrap it up with Bobby barking on the encore Brokedown Palace, with Warren fixing it with his sweet vocals and guitar. All in all another great night at Madison Square Garden with The Dead, and hopefully these guys do this thing again real soon. It's been a long wait since the last time, but certainly worth it.

Here's the complete setlist from 4/25/09 The Dead at MSG

Set 1: Cosmic Charlie, China Cat Sunflower> Shakedown Street > Ship Of Fools > He's Gone, Cassidy, Sugaree

Set 2: Drums> Space> Cryptical Envelopment > Other One> Born Cross-Eyed > St. Stephen> The Eleven, Uncle John's Band, Unbroken Chain> Gimme Shelter > One More Saturday Night, E: Brokedown Palace

What did you think of this show? This Tour? Let me know with a comment!

Download The Dead shows Here

New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival Live Webcast

I wish I was at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival this weekend (not to mention last weekend). I went five years in a row between 1996 and 2000. It's the biggest music and food orgie in the country, held every year on the last weekend in April and the first weekend in May. Everyone who's anyone in music is there and all the great restaurants in New Orleans sell their food there for the tasting. What a party! If you wish you were there eating gumbo and fried green tomatoes, drinking a Hurricane and listening to Dr John and the Neville Brothers funky music then you can do the next best thing. Go to New Orleans Jazzfest Webcast, install the media player and fry up some not so ripe tomatoes (for the gumbo and Hurricanes you're on your own). They'll be Webcasting the sets this whole weekend. Todays features will be Sonny Landreth at 12:45 PM, BeauSoleil at 1:00 PM, Joe Cocker at 2:50 PM, and The Dave Matthews Band at 6:00 PM amongst others. Tomorrows features will be Allen Toussaint at 1:00 PM, Better Than Ezra at 2:30 PM, Irma Thomas (a personal favorite of mine) at 3:15 PM, Bonnie Raitt at 3:45 PM, James Taylor 4:00 PM, and The Neville Brothers at 5:40 PM. Obviously some of these sets will not be in their entirety, which you can tell from the times listed, but some will be complete sets, especially The Neville Brothers to close the festival on Sunday. So get the hot sauce ready and fire up the grill it's party time with The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival this weekend. Enjoy!

If you want to share your own memories of Jazzfest please leave a comment.

The Dead '09 Spring Tour - Enjoyed The Ride

This Deadhead's Spring Tour with The Dead is over now. Life goes on. But it was a fun ride that I enjoyed and my only regret is not mailordering for a few more shows. Oh well, The Dead '09 Spring Tour is but a sweet memory (and some more downloads) now. Looking back on the spring tour, which is still in progress, it exceeded my expectations both musically and socially. The scene on this tour had the feel of the old Grateful Dead scene of yesteryear, complete with drum circles and veggie egg rolls galore; and the music definitely has come together for the band, culminating for me in two great nights at New Jersey's IZOD Center April 28th and 29th, a venue I saw so many Grateful Dead shows at when it was called Brendan Byrne Arena. These two shows were augmented by the addition of long time friend Branford Marsalis on sax to the lineup, a true treat for The Dead as well as all Deadheads in attendance. Branford always has a way of lifting these guys up to higher peaks, and these shows were no exception. I enjoyed all four shows I saw (April 24th Nassau Coliseum, April 25th MSG, and the two IZOD shows) but the band got better with each show, as they seemed to on this spring tour as a whole.

Photo: MSG By Dave
Nassau Coliseum was a sweet show for me because I had my wife and eight year old daughter with me, something I rarely have a chance to experience together with them, but musically Nassau was just good, not spectacular. It was a nice start to The Dead Spring Tour for me. The next night at Madison Square Garden, on the other hand, was a great night of music, and as I said earlier each show for me got better and better, so you can imagine how good I thought the IZOD Center shows were.... In retrospect listening to the Soundboard recording of Nassau it actually was a strong show, but in light of the following three shows for me (I missed Hartford, Sunday 4/26/09 in between) it pales in comparison. I think I was also a little preoccupied with my family and friends I ran into. My seats were also not so good for Nassau. We were in the 300's on the side of the stage. Nassau featured a nice first set opener Jack Straw and Brown-Eyed Women, followed by Dylan's It's All Over Now Baby Blue (Bobby vocals). Then came the first set high point for me; both the Easy Wind, featuring Warren Haynes on Pigpen's vocal spot and Jerry's guitar spot, and the Death Don't Have No Mercy, with alternating vocals by Weir and Haynes and Warren's tasteful guitar lead. Don't Ease Me In with Weir singing, and Lost Sailor > Saint Of Circumstance, the Grateful Dead '80's combo was nice to hear (I don't think Ratdog does these as a combo, ironically Phil and Friends has recently done it though) but wasn't great. I don't think Warren Haynes has nailed this one down yet, but it was ok.

Photo: Nassau Coliseum By Dave

The second set started with a special acoustic treat of three songs; Dylan's Masterpiece, Peggy-O, and Looks Like Rain. This was only the second time on this tour The Dead played one of these little acoustic sets (the other time was the second show 04/14/09 at Verizon Center - Washington, DC) and was sweet, especially the Peggy-O which I love Phil Lesh's vocals on. The only problem with this added little set is that it breaks up the continuity of the second set due to added set up time after it. The remainder of the second set was electric, and nicely played; Alabama Getaway > Jam > Dark Star > Drums > Space > Knockin On Heavens Door, Goin Down The Road Feelin' Bad (Encore) Touch Of Grey All nice stuff. The Drums > Space segment was pretty intense with some really cool stuff in there resembling the Rhythm Devils Apocalypse Now sessions of long ago. This was about where my daughter fell asleep, it was a long day for her. Goin' Down The Road was really hot and the encore Touch was sweet, ending with the chorus of "We will survive, We will get by" - the old (and not so new) mantra of the Grateful Dead past and the post Jerry Garcia Dead present. To me and many Deadheads this line, like so many others, has taken on a new meaning since Garcia's death in 1995. A sweet ending to a nice concert, the first of my four spring tour shows for me; all in all a good start.

Photo: IZOD Center By Dave

I'll be back to continue my The Dead Spring Tour show reviews as well as other shows on the spring tour soon. Up next - MSG. Did you see any shows on this tour? Let us know about your experiences in the comments.

Download The Dead shows Here

The Dead Rise To Occasion On First Week Of 2009 Spring Tour

The first few days of The Dead 2009 Spring Tour shows took a little longer than normal to show up on Torrent download sites like bt.etree.org for some reason, but eventually they were there for the taking, and sharing. Each subsequent Dead show seems to take a few days to appear, hence I'm a little backed up with my listening to this point. It takes me a few days to listen to each show and have so far listened to the first three. Everyone seemed to rave about opening night Easter Sunday April 12th at Greensboro Coliseum, NC. The setlist can be found in my last post. I thought it was a good show with a great setlist. The show definitely had it's high-lights and the boys seem to make a statement that they came ready to play; but the second and third shows of The Dead's Spring Tour seem to build momentum, and if that energy continues to build they should be in peak form by the time the circus pulls in to town for me at Nassau!



Music Never Stopped was an apropos first song of the tour at Greensboro. The overall message was that the music never really did stop...Since the last incarnation of The Dead in 2004 Bob Weir and Ratdog, Phil Lesh and Friends, Mickey Hart and Billy Kreutzmann have all been busy with their own gigs...But The Dead, together again, have picked up where they left off with better Karma and a leaner lineup and sound which packs more punch this time around. I had said way back, after the first Barack Obama benefit, that I like this lineup with Warren Haynes on guitar and Jeff Chimenti on keyboards. It's a cleaner more streamlined sound than the last Dead lineup which also included Jimmy Herring on a third guitar, and Rob Barraco on keys as well as Chimenti, and Joan Osborne dragged around for more variation on vocals. It was too much of a mish-mosh of sound compared to the leaner cleaner sound of this current band, which can feature Warren Haynes more. Warren has and will continue to rise to the occasion throughout this tour as he always has in the past, given the opportunity. And the opportunity is there without Herring and Barraco as feature instrumentalists and Osborne as feature vocalist this time around.



Haynes shines on a number of songs in the first show, as well as more and more in the following two shows at the Verizon Center in Washington, DC and John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, VA. Most of the first set of Greensboro was good but nothing great. The second set opens with a nice but not earth shattering Shakedown Street into a surprise All Along The Watchtower sung by Warren rather than the usual Bobby. This was a change that was not as welcome with me as it might have been by most. I think the familiarity of Weir's voice on this would have made it sound more Grateful Dead-ish, but that decision was the bands and Warren did sound nice belting this Dylan classic ala Hendrix - I just would've rather heard Bobby on this one personally. The rest of the show from that point was hot shit!

> Caution (Do Not Stop On The Tracks) > drums > space > Cosmic Charlie >New Potato Caboose > Help On The Way> Slipknot> Franklin's Tower, E: Samson and Delilah

Warren was great on the Caution jam and layed the Pigpen rap on nice... "I went down to see a gypsy woman..." The Drums > Space segment is one of the points in these shows that sound most like The Grateful Dead...because it mostly is The Grateful Dead, and Mickey and Billy pull out all the old tricks. The group effort on Cosmic Charlie is sweet. Phil's New Potato Caboose in to Help > Slipknot > Franklin's is a high energy way of finishing up the set. Warren is very comfortable on all of this material from the end of the set since all of these songs were staples in the Phil Lesh and Friends - Q - lineup that he was part of. They wrap it up with Sampson, their Sunday bible song.

All and all a strong show to start the tour and I'm sure the energy must have been great for the Deadheads who were there, but the following two Dead shows were even better. I can't possibly cover those shows in the same post (it would take me forever and the tour would be over), so maybe what I'll do is come back soon and post the setlists as the tour continues and I'll comment on some "high"lights. In the meantime if you were at any of these shows and want to share your thoughts please do so in the Comments. Thanks...and I'll see you on tour.

Download The Dead shows Here

The Dead Kickoff Spring Tour - Greensboro Coliseum

The Dead kicked off their 2009 Spring Tour Easter Night, April 12th, at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, NC. So far I have not been able to find the show on bt.etree.org but I'm sure it will be up later on for download. At which time I'll be certain to grab it and give it a listen and offer my review for what it's worth. In the mean time here's the setlist:

Set 1:
The Music Never Stopped, Jack Straw, Estimated Prophet > He's Gone, Touch of Grey, I Need A Miracle > Truckin'

Set 2:
Shakedown Street > All Along The Watchtower > Caution (Do Not Stop On The Tracks) > drums > space > Cosmic Charlie >New Potato Caboose > Help On The Way> Slipknot> Franklin's Tower, E: Samson and Delilah

The Dead: Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Warren Haynes, Jeff Chimenti

Pretty nice looking setlist for the opener of The Dead Spring tour. Looks like the Deadheads down South had a very nice Easter show. The only surprise for me was that Phil Lesh didn't do Tom Thumbs Blues, his usual Easter Sunday song with The Grateful Dead. I fully expected that to be on the setlist.

Here's some practice session stuff taken from Dead.net


Video directed by Justin Kreutzmann produced by Jay Blakesberg

If any of you kiddies out there were at this show please leave a comment about your experience. I'd love to hear what you thought. Thanks...Check back throughout the tour for my musings on The Dead 2009 Spring Tour.

Free The Dead Roseland Ballroom

Photo By Dave
Okay - I know I said in my last post that I didn't win tickets to The Dead at one of the three free shows, billed as "Free The Dead", they played at three different venues (Angel Orensanz Center, Gramercy Theatre, and Roseland Ballroom) throughout NYC on 3/30/09 - but when I got up Monday and read my email I got my confirmation from GDTSTOO early that morning. I won a pair of tix for the 11:00 PM Roseland Ballroom show, the last of four performances (if you count Lesh, Weir, and Warren Haynes' appearance on ABC's The View that morning) by members of the Grateful Dead in one day. These shows were like an extension of the old free Haight Ashbury shows the Grateful Dead put together in the Sixties, fourty some-odd years later, and it was my first time seeing The Dead for free; a wonderful gift from The Boys! I'm Grateful to have won these tix and can't wait to see The Dead on the upcoming Spring Tour after seeing this powerful set of music. Warren Haynes jumped out of the Allman Brothers Band frying pan into the Grateful Dead fire after his fifteen night stint at The Beacon Theatre with the ABB, seeming to switch styles seemlessly, and giving us a glimpse of things to come this Spring Tour.

Tom, Dave (me), Jeanette

I got there on time to pick up my free tickets and meet my friends for a few drinks at the Russian piano bar accross 52nd street. The cherry infused vodka got me in the right frame of mind and I headed in for the show. The Dead started off strong with Garcia's Althea - "this place is gettin' hot" - and really never let up through an hour and fifty minute set ending with Not Fade Away - "You know our love will Not Fade Away"! The full set looked like this:

Althea, Cassidy, Uncle Johns Band> Eyes Of The World> St. Stephen> Dark Star> Sugar Magnolia (E)Not Fade Away

Mickey, Billy, Phil, Bobby, Warren

Most of the Jerry songs were sung by the "singer by commitee" method - that is they swiched off on the lead vocals between Warren, Bobby, and Phil - much the same way they did at the Deadheads For Obama shows. They sounded like they're ready to play on this tour and after some rehearsals back in California they'll kick off strong on April 12th in Greensboro, NC. It's just such a big sound with the rhythm section of Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzman, and Phil Lesh. I've missed that! With the core four and Haynes and Jeff Chimenti it really sounds nice. These are guys who know this music and can play and improvise on it. They should make some magic happen on The Dead Spring Tour. It was great to see The Dead in such a small venue and the sponteneity of this gift show from the band made it even sweeter and remeniscent of my Grateful Dead past. How many times did I do one or two Grateful Dead shows and get the itch to do some more? Here are the setlists from the earlier appearances The Dead made that day:

ABC's The View
Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Warren Haynes Acoustic

Friend Of The Devil

Angel Orensanz Center for the Arts
Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Warren Haynes Acoustic

Dire Wolf, Bird Song, Cumberland Blues, Pride Of Cucumunga, Lazy River Road, Casey Jones, Ripple

Blender Theatre @ Gramercy

Playin' In The Band -> Good Lovin' -> The Wheel -> Franklin's Tower -> encore Touch Of Grey

After listening to Downloads of all of these sets I feel that the Roseland Ballroom set was the best sounding of the three. What do you think? Let me know by commenting.

Download Free The Dead shows Here

The Dead To Make Four Appearances In One Day

The Dead, in anticipation of their upcoming Spring Tour, will make four appearances tomorrow throughout the day including an early TV stop on ABC's The View with Whoopi, Barbara, Joy, Elisabeth, and Sherri. The other three shows are all free performances throughout the day that can only be attended by winning tickets from The Grateful Dead through their online lottery system, which I DID NOT win! Oh well I guess I'll have to wait till The Dead Spring Tour 2009 kicks off in April. Early in the day Warren Haynes, fresh off The Allman Brothers Band 15 night Beacon Theatre run, Bob Weir, and Phil Lesh will play an acoustic set at Angel Orensanz Center in Lower Manhattan. Later on they'll be joined by the rest of The Dead (Bill Kreutzman, Mickey Hart, and Jeff Chimenti) for sets at The Gramercy Theatre at 5 PM and Roseland Ballroom at 11 PM. This message appeared on Dead.net -

IMPORTANT NOTE: IF YOU ARE NOT A LUCKY WINNER WITH TICKETS DO NOT SHOW UP AT THE VENUE - YOU WILL NOT GET IN. NO TICKETS WILL BE AVAILABLE AT THE DOOR IN ANY FASHION. Unless you are one of the lucky winners, you are not getting in or anywhere near the venue. Please respect the wishes of everyone involved with this regard.

I guess I shouldn't try to get in to any of these shows. What do you think?

Bob Weir and Phil Lesh came to town a little early last week to sit in with Warren Haynes and The Allman Brothers Band at their annual Beacon Theatre Run Saturday night 3/28/09. The ABB played with as many special guests as they could on this run to honor founding member Duanne Allman for their 40 year anniversary shows. Weir and Lesh had shared a stage with Duanne a number of times on double bills of The Grateful Dead and ABB at Bill Graham's Fillmore East in the early 1970's as well as some other shared bills by the two bands later on (i.e. Watkins Glen '73). As with most of these Beacon Theatre shows there were multiple guests (besides Weir and Lesh). Here's the setlist from that night -

Little Martha
Done Somebody Wrong
Trouble No More
Rocking Horse (3rd Stone tease>Little Martha tease>Blue Sky tease)
Walk On Guilded Spinters
Who To Believe
Born Under A Bad Sign w/Floyd Miles
Stormy Monday w/ Floyd Miles & Chuck Levell
Come & Go Blues w/ Chuck Levell
Jessica w/ Chuck Levell & Paul Riddle

Set 2 (10:56 > 12:24)

Sugaree w/Bob Weir & Phil Lesh
I Know You Rider w/Bob Weir & Phil Lesh
Franklin's Tower w/Bob Weir & Phil Lesh & Chuck Levell
Black Hearted Woman>
Other One Jam>
Black Hearted Woman
Mountain Jam w/ Chuck Levell

Encore (12:28 > 12:38)

Statesboro Blues

I wasn't at this show (the two shows I were at smoked!) but I have heard mixed reviews of the Grateful Dead members section from friends that were there. So far I haven't been able to find it on Youtube yet to see for myself but I'm sure it still had to be a special moment for Deadhead Allman Fans. If you were there leave a comment and let me know what you thought of it. The Allman Brothers Band were particularly hot on this NYC run. The versatile Warren Haynes will trade in his ABB hat for his Grateful Dead hat as he plays the Jerry Garcia role in the current lineup of The Dead on the upcoming spring tour. See ya there Deadheads...

Allman Brothers Band Rock The Beacon Theatre 3/14/09

This past Saturday night, 3/14/09, I resumed my annual pilgrimage to the Beacon Theatre in NYC to partake in the Allman Brothers Band's yearly residency there. I've been there every year to see the ABB since they've been playing there annually, I think since 1995 or '96 (missing last year -'08 - due to Greg Allman's recovering from complications due to Hepatitis C, causing the band to cancel the run). The Allman Brothers Band never ceases to amaze me at these March Madness shows and this year is no exception! Saturday night left me longing for more and I'll probably find myself down there at least one more night of this run, risking the wrath of my wife. The whole band played with incredible energy driven by the appearance of some great special guests (Randy Brecker, Robert Randolph, Stanley Clarke, and Lenny White from Return To Forever). They also seem to be inspired by the fact that these are their 40 Year Anniversary shows that they've dedicated to their Late Founding Brother Duanne Allman.



In the weeks leading up to the Beacon shows The ABB made it clear that they would be bringing in more musical guests for these shows than ever before. They usually jam with everyone who's anyone in music; but these shows would be extra heavy on the special appearances in honor of Duanne Allman, and they'd like those guests to include as many performers who had played with Papa Duanne as possible. This immediately brought up rumors of lots of musicians most notably the banished Dickey Betts and Duanne's Derek and the Dominoes mate Eric Clapton. Clapton having the double connection to The Allman Brothers Band since he also had Derek Trucks join his band on a tour a few years ago. Clapton's appearance is pretty much set for two days, probably March 27th and 28th, and rumors continue to fly that Betts will play with his old band on March 23rd. The band continues to deny Dickey Betts being on the list of guests but the Allman's fans seem to be willing his appearance to happen. Only time will tell.


So far the guests have included Levon Helm of The Band, Larry Campbell and wife Theresa Williams of Helm's band and Phil Lesh and Friends, Bluesmen Johnny Winter, Taj Mahal and Buddy Guy, Phish members Trey Anastasio and Paige McConell, Boz Scaggs, Randy Brecker, Robert Randolph, Stanley Clarke, Lenny White, Bruce Willis on Harmonica, and members of Los Lobos. Phil Lesh and Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead are rumored to be sitting in later in the run as well as other assorted rumors.



The show I caught on March 14th was really hot! A trio of Warren Haynes, Derek Trucks, and Oteil Burbridge opened up with Duanne Allman's Little Martha to a backdrop of Duanne Allman images behind them. Sweet touch! Greg Allman and the rest of the band came out to join them on rousing renditions of Ain't Waistin' Time No More, Walk On Guilded Splinters, Rocking Horse, Gambler's Roll, Revival, and Woman Across The River. Then they were joined onstage for the set-closing Dreams by Jazz Session Man Randy Brecker on Trumpet and Return To Forever Drummer Lenny White. This was a great version of the Allman Brothers Classic with great jams by Brecker, Haynes, and Derek Trucks interspersed with Greg belting raspy vocals. Great stuff! The second set opened with the typical Melissa duo of Warren on Slide and Greg on Acoustic Guitar. Then they were joined by the next special guest - Robert Randolph - on Steele Pedal Guitar on Turn On Your Lovelight and One Way Out for a collaboration of world class slide guitar players in Randolph and Trucks that really rocked the Beacon Theatre. Adam Nussbaum, a Jazz Drummer who has played with Brecker, also joined in place of Jaimo on these two songs. Then came the high point in the show for me; Randolph and Nussbaum leave the stage and are replaced by Lenny White and Randy Brecker, again, for a great version of Miles Davis' Jazz Classic In A Silent Way and the Dickey Betts instrumental In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed, which led into it's usual Drum Jam with Lenny White still sitting in for Jaimo and really adding alot of energy to the Drums section of the show. This led into the Bass Solo which wound up being a Bass Duet with the one and only Stanley Clarke joining a gushing Oteil Burbridge onstage for a real thrill for all (especially Oteil). The rest of the band could be seen on the side of the stage watching in awe as the two Bass players jammed with one another. Unfortunately Clarke left the stage at this point rather than staying on and interacting with the rest of the band. This was followed up with the end of Elizabeth Reed to end the second set. The Encore of Mountain Jam followed with Warren inserting Led Zeppelin's Dazed and Confused in the middle. This was a great surprise at the end of a night filled with surprises. The only thing that's not surprising is that The Allman Brothers Band can still Rock and that I'll be Rolling back to the Beacon Theatre for more!

To watch these Allman Brothers Band at the Beacon Theatre 40th Anniversary Shows on streaming video live and archived through September 30th Go To www.moogis.com

Simon and Garfunkel Reunite at Beacon Theatre Reopening

Paul Simon brought Art Garfunkel out for the encore of the renovated Beacon Theatre reopening show on February 13, 2009 for a three song Simon and Garfunkel Reunion, for one of only a few times together in the last four years. They sang "The Sounds Of Silence", "The Boxer", and "Old Friends" to a surprised and ecstatic crowd of fans including such celebrities as Paul McCartney, Jon Bon Jovi, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Rosie O'Donnell, and The Jonas Brothers. This was a special moment that was shared by a lucky (and rich) group of people on Friday The 13th, and will probably start new talk of a Simon and Garfunkel reunion tour or at least a few shows for the masses to see (and hear). Hopefully that will happen! It certainly would be a wonderful thing to see. We can only keep our collective fingers crossed on this one and hope it happens. Please Guys, how about Central Park again? What a Scene that would be!

The Dead Add Three Shows To Spring Tour

The Dead added on three shows to their upcoming Spring Tour Monday, May 4, 2009, All State Arena in Chicago, IL, Thursday, May 14, 2009, Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mt. View, CA, and Sunday, May 16, 2009, The Gorge in Quincy, WA. The Gorge show will be with special guests The Allman Brothers Band and The Doobie Brothers. Pretty interesting. I wish I could go to that, but I'll just be doing the New York area shows: MSG, Nassau Coliseum, East Rutherford.

I mail ordered for those venues and shortly after received an email from The Dead (GDTSTOO) saying that they could only fill one third of the Madison Square Garden requests. I got very edgy about getting shut out of possibly the last time the remaining members of the Grateful Dead would play MSG, so when tickets went on sale through Ticketscum(master) I went on their website and ordered a ticket. The only catch was that I THOUGHT I bought the ticket from TM, but in actuallity I was seamlessly taken to another website, I think owned by TMaster, and bought a previously purchased ticket for a higher price ($200.00) from someone reselling it. In other words I bought a scalped ticket from Ticketmaster! Unbeknownst to me. They even charged me $12.95 for shipping which must have been a prechecked box on the form I rushed through online because if you don't hurry up you lose those tickets in the que. When I got a FedEx notice a few days later I figured out that I paid extra for shipping. When I picked it up guess what was inside? A photocopy of a ticket to the show and a notice to the affect of "Do Not photocopy this ticket and resell. Once this ticket is scanned at the venue this barcode can not be rescanned for admittance". What's with that? I mean why not tell people that they're buying a ticket higher than face value? Why not also send the actual ticket rather than a photocopy? Who would I contact to find out why this happened to me? Big Brother? I heard about the whole Bruce Springsteen thing too. I think bands should make sure their ticket sales are not misshandled like that. If I could pay $200.00 for a ticket why shouldn't that money go to the band, not to an individual reselling it and Live Nation and Ticketscum, who by the way are looking to merge. It's like the greedy merging with the more greedy!

So if I get my MSG ticket for The Dead maybe someone wants to rebuy this ticket from me. Maybe I'll open it up to bid right here. Check back to see what happens if you want a ticket for this show. Hey, ya never know.

Warren Haynes' Govt Mule Angel Orensanz Center, NYC 12/27/08

Warren Haynes brought his Govt Mule to the Angel Orensanz Center in New York's Greenwich Village, a beautifully ornate venue in a converted Temple dating back to the 1800's. This description of the center was taken from it's website www.orensanz.org:

The Center itself is a neo-gothic building which was designed as a synagogue in 1849 by Berlin architect Alexander Seltzer. He drew inspiration for his design from the cathedral of Cologne and the German romantic movement of Heinrich Heine and Beethoven.

This structure witnessed the birth of the Jewish reform movement in America, but the after the decay of the Yiddish Lower East Side after World War II, dozens of synagogues and other significant structures disappeared.

Angel Orensanz bought this venerable structure in 1986, first for his own studio, and then to make it again a beacon of education and culture in the city of New York. The Foundation produces every year several cultural events such the Heinrich Heine Festival, the West Belfast-New York City Festival, Berlin Transfer (a symposium of philosophers and scientists with the Senate of Berlin), the Installation Art Award and publishes Artscape, a quarterly of the arts.

I got a sense of the history of this building while standing accross the street before the show and gazing at the structure, which seems somewhat out of place in the Village.

This set the scene for a beautiful intimate appearance by a band that usually plays at venues seating ten times this place. Only 300 people were at each of these two shows (they also played 12/28/08). The only way you could aquire tickets to these shows was if you were a ticket holder for the Govt Mule New Year's Eve Hammerstein Ballroom shows. I was lucky enough, once again, to have great friends who were able to provide me with a ticket to this amazing show. Warren started out on sweet solo acoustic on Glory Road and Affair On 8th Avenue before he was joined by Drummer Matt Abts, new bassist Jorgen Carlsson, and Keyboardist Danny Louis in the middle of Broken Promised Land. The rest of the set was electric rockin' Govt Mule. The second set had a similar start with Haynes playing solo acoustic on Hallelujah. The band joined him for the remainder. Here's the complete setlist:

SET 1
Glory Road, Affair On 8th Avenue, Broken Promised Land, Get Behind The Mule, I'll Be The One w/ Blue Sky Jam, Afro Blue, Bus Stop, About A Girl

SET 2
Hallelujah, The Shape Im In, I Believe To My Soul, Don't Let It Bring You Down, It Hurts Me Too, Drums, Child Of The Earth, Sugaree, Thorazine Shuffle
ENCORE:
Forevermore, Where Did You Sleep Last Night

High points for me (no pun intended) were I'll Be The One with a really sweet Blue Sky Jam which hopefully is a sign of things to come with the Allman Brothers Band poised to take the Beacon Theatre over for at least ten nights (on sale already), and promising to have more "special guests" than ever before in celebration of their 40th Anniversary; to some this is code for Dickey Betts - who knows...maybe. Coltrane's Jazz standard Afro Blue was hot. The Hollies Bus Stop was a nice surprise and well done. The second set was great with standouts of Neil Young's Don't Let It Bring You Down suiting Warren just fine, Ellmore James' Blues Classic It Hurts Me Too, an awesome Drum solo by Matt Abts, who's an animal, and a sweet Sugaree, also foreshadowing the upcoming Dead Spring Tour in which Haynes will be on board of course.


All this on top of the venue being one of the most beautiful places, architecturally, that I've ever seen. This was truly a wonderful show in a really incredible setting. Prime Govt Mule.

Download the show from bt.etree.org here.

Note: Photos were taken by me and you can view more pictures at my new Flickr Account Here. Please if you like them let me know.

Still Grateful After Thirty Years On The Bus

It was thirty years ago today that as a thirteen year old kid from Long Island your's truly went to his first Grateful Dead show at the Nassau Coliseum on Jan 10th 1979. That was the day I hopped on the bus and still haven't gotten off. That show and the thriving scene around it made a huge impression on me. The Grateful Dead seems to be an on going longterm obsession of mine and I can't see it going away any time soon. Hell, it's been a part of my everyday life ever since that first show. Sure I can't go off on tour anymore; I'm a family man and have more responsibilities than when I was younger, but I make it to as many hip scenes as I can. My way of living it is by going to a few shows and then downloading a whole bunch and living it through the live recordings. Thank God for the Tapers and the internet. They bring the music to me so that I can at least have some of the experience of the show.




That Grateful Dead concert thirty years ago turned out to be the first of many I would go to over the next sixteen and a half years until Jerry Garcia's death. This first show wound up being SOME show when looking at it in retrospect. First of all it was my only Dead show with Keith and Donna in the band. By the time I'd see them next (November), Brent Mydland would be the new guy on keyboards. But if you take a look at the setlist or listen to a recording of this show you'll see how lucky I was to catch it. I didn't realize it till I saw the setlist and listened to it on tape maybe eight to ten years later.

Here's the setlist compliments of Deadbase.com: 01-10-79 Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, N.Y. (Wed)
1: Promised, Dire Wolf, Mama Tried> Mexicali, Tennessee Jed, L. L. Rain, Stagger Lee, El Paso, Row Jimmy, Passenger, Loser, Music
2: Shakedown, Miracle> Bertha> Good Lovin, Dark Star> Drumz> Wharf Rat> St. Stephen> Around E: Johnny B. Goode

As you can see I caught such gems as Dark Star and St Stephen, both rare occurrences in the years to follow. The first set was average but solid featuring some classic tunes like Dire Wolf, Tenn Jed, and Loser and a good sampling of Weir cowboy songs in Mama Tried> Mexicali and El Paso. Passanger would also be a song that dissapears from the repertoire soon after this. The second set was when it got real heavy! Obviously I'm a Dark Star fan (see name of my blog). The opener Shakedown, Miracle> Bertha> Good Lovin is sweet. Then comes a pretty intense spacey Dark Star with a kind of Blues For Allah'ish jam in it...Drumz> Wharf Rat> St. Stephen> R&R E: Johnny B. Goode. Strong second half of the set with a St. Stephen for my FIRST Grateful Dead concert...Wow! And that would prove to be my only St Stephen, but I would catch quite a few more Dark Star's after they broke it back out in '89.

When I look back at this show and think that it was thirty years ago I just can't believe it. I was sold at that point, hook, line, and sinker and continued to go to shows through the end. And now I continue to see any Grateful Dead related activities like Phil Lesh and Friends, Ratdog, The Dead etc. I'll be heading out soon to see at least 4 of The Dead Spring '09 shows, and as I prepare to go to the Nassau Coliseum, once again, I can't help but notice how things have come full circle. What a long strange trip it's been. Hope to see ya there, for a real good time.

Grateful Dead To Tour Spring '09

Happy New Years Deadheads! It's official. The Grateful Dead will tour in the spring of 2009. The New Year brought confirmation of the rumors with an announcement on their website Dead.net of 19 shows this spring accross the US. Here's the list of dates below. These were taken from the Grateful Deads website and you can get more details by following the link above. Presale begins January 13th so scrounge up all your loose change and get ready for a real good time. The lineup will be the same as the Obama Benefit show at Penn State: the original four members Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzman, and Mickey Hart joined by the one and only Warren Haynes on guitar and vocals and Jeff Chimenti on keyboards and vocals. The Obama Bryce Center Benefit was a really tasteful sounding show (read about it here) and should be a great indicator of Grateful things to come. This Deadhead can't wait for spring to come.



Spring Tour (as of now Jan 1, 2009)

April 12 Greensboro NC Greensboro Coliseum
April 14 Washington DC Verizon Center
April 15 Charlottesville VA John Paul Jones Arena
April 17 Albany NY Times Union Center
April 18 Worcester MA DCU Center
April 19 Worcester MA DCU Center
April 21 Buffalo NY HSBC Arena
April 22 Wilkes-Barre PA Wachovia Arena @
Casey Plaza
April 24 Uniondale NY Nassau Coliseum
April 25 New York NY Madison Square Garden
April 26 Hartford CT XL Center
April 28 E. Rutherford NJ IZOD Center
April 29 E. Rutherford NJ IZOD Center
May 1 Philadelphia PA Wachovia Spectrum
May 2 Philadelphia PA Wachovia Spectrum
May 5 Chicago IL All State Arena
May 7 Denver CO Pepsi Center
May 9 Los Angeles CA The Forum
May 10 Mountain View CA Shoreline Amphitheater

ps: I'll be posting soon about the Govt Mule show on 12/27/08 at the Angel Orensanz Center in NYC. This was an incredible show by Warren Haynes and Govt Mule in the most beautiful venue I've seen in New York and serves as my New Years show thanks to my dear friends Jeanette and Terry. Thanks Guys! Please come back and read this post soon. Happy 2009...and stay in touch.