Erik Deutsch (keyboards) and Jonathan Goldberger (guitar), are from Russo's first band called Fat Mama. Dave Harrington (bass) is from the duo DARKSIDE
This brings me back to something amazing thanks to Keri Kennedy. Jazz is Dead with Derek Trucks and Vassar Clements
Check out the full show here ----> http://www.panicstream.net/vault/jazz-is-dead-4141999-boulder-co/
By the way, this post is just to remind everyone that Warren Haynes is STILL the hardest working man in rock and roll or whatever you want to call music.
The day after the Barr Brothers play a show in their adopted hometown of Montreal they will get right back at it the following night with Marc Friedman and perform an all-too-rare show as the Slip with their offshoot project Surprise Me Mr Davis opening up the night's festivities. On Saturday July 8th the Slip and Surprise Me Mr Davis you can see both excellent bands at the Corona Theater. Proceeds from the concert will be going to the National Police Defense Foundation. Come out and see one of America's premier avant-rock band while supporting a great cause.
Tickets are currently onsale at http://www.mitchmelnick.com/billy-bob-productions/
I was there too, not for the March 20th show but for the March 21st show. It was my very first Dead show. I managed to see several more before Jerry passed a few years later.
Bruce Hornsby was definitely part of the proceedings that weekend in Hamilton.
Yeah, says the guy who was at the show yet agreed with the take that Hornsby wasn't in Hamilton. Pretty sure we know what you have done to your brain in the intervening years:
03-20-1992
When I noticed today’s date I knew it was time I finally returned to these reviews. It has been twenty five years since we saw this absolutely wonderful show. An awful lot has happened to each and every one of us since then and boy, have things ever changed. It’s now funny for me to reflect upon because back then the cagey veterans of the Dead scene sure felt that the innocence of the world had disappeared so I can only help but I wonder what they would say now.
Back then if we wanted to know upcoming Grateful Dead concert dates we would have to use our rotary phone and dial 1-900-RUN DEAD. I think it worked out to a buck a minute which was no small price. You always wanted the speaker to talk faster. Needless to say, we would have try from time to time and hope for the best. You could also call it to get current setlists and the like but I wasn’t making that kind of money even though I felt very rich in youthfulness and spirit.
One night, about three months before the show, we hit the jackpot. The Good Ole Grateful Dead would be returning to Hamilton’s Copp Coliseum where I happened to see my first show 2 years prior. 03-22-1990 is fairly legendary amongst many of my friends because it was performed with sparkling energy and contained one of the best Scarlet-Fires of all-time. The band also allowed video cameras in for that one so there are a few great sources out there. Check this out and strap in for the segue because this shit is lit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vC6sWMUvbE
We knew we were going back and we were finally going to see what Vince Welnick and Bruce Hornsby were adding to a room filled with dancing freaks. We didn’t own vehicles but we knew we would get there. Not long afterwards we procured tickets to both shows, a bus and a hotel room via a company that may or may not have been called Great Canadian Tours. Actually, you could have chosen to either see both Dead shows or hit Dire Straits in Toronto and then catch the Dead in Hamilton the next night. I was a MASSIVE (still am) Dire Straits fan and actually debated this for 30 seconds. “I can catch up with DaveyBoy for the second show”. It’s a darn good thing I didn’t because I would have missed one of my favourite Dead shows.
Over the coming weeks and months we spoke ad nauseam with excitement about what we had hoped to hear. At this point in my life I had given up on the idea that there was a God but for some reason as I would lay down to sleep every night and pray that I would hear the one song that has always meant everything to me.
With a couple of weeks to go we made some purchases that were planned as the items we would need to carry us through two nights of impending magic. At this point in my life it was unfathomable to me to see the Grateful Dead without the enhancements certain pieces of paper offered me. Speaking of which, are those pieces of paper a gift from God? I suppose that is a debate for another day.
After seemingly forever the morning board on our Greyhound bus was upon us. I certainly wouldn’t have slept too much the night before and I am positive DaveyBoy and I partied our nuts off. Nights before these big shows used to feel like Christmas Eve to me and anyone who has ever spent one of those nights at my parent’s house knows how we used to treat them. Too much of everything is just enough. We loaded up our gear and away we went, brimming with an engaged excitement that only the bravest of folk are willing to embark upon.
I don’t recall landing in Hamilton or checking in. I don’t recall the parking very much but I know we spent a little time in there to chug a couple of beers and eat the first bits of paper. I don’t remember handing in my ticket stub or finding our seats. I don’t remember if we ran into anyone we knew or who was on my left or right but I do remember the house lights going down and the roar. It was a thunderous applause usually reserved for a band who had just tore the roof off a joint and here we were collaborating in said joy without a single note having been played.
At this point in my fandom I was still very much a newbie and it`s hard for me to remember what I actually knew back then. One thing I did notice as we were starting to fly up to the ethers was that the sound seemed a little off during Hell In A Bucket. You cant hear it on this show as much as I experienced it live, which may have been enhanced due to the things we ate to enhance our perceptions but it`s certainly there and probably more so if I put this show on my big speakers and cranked the shit out of them. If memory serves me correctly it will be during the rest of the night. It`s a slight distortion that is predominate at the moment within Phil`s bass or perhaps the overall mix. I`m interested to hear if it continues because that will seem to indicate that this show was as hot as I thought it was should they have decided to release this show with things not being as clean as they could have been, especially considering they should have been able to find something audibly superior.
Althea was a real treat that night and one I was dying to hear. Garcia`s vocals come out much clearer here compared to my faded memories so this gives me hope things clean up real good although things are still a little distorted-ery. Hopefully things aren’t similar with the future releases and we may be getting a glimpse into why Dan Healy was eventually fired versus the ``trade you a patch for some blow`` rumours that circulated. None the less, Garcia is still very engaged by this point the band`s career even though many love to tell you differently even though they haven’t done their research. Well, at least that`s how I know. Those lame motherfuckers would serve themselves better if they knew who they were.
The Same Thing was a new one for us. None of us had ever heard it before by any band. At this point things were probably really weird and I am sure I was holding on for dear life. With the combination of the weird sounds I was hearing and Garcia playing a slide there is no doubt in my 48 year old mind that 23 year old Booche was losing his marbles. I was used to Brent Mydland`s sound/tone so Welnick`s synthy sounds were probably terrifying me during his solo. I was probably trying to catch my bearings as much as the band was trying to warm up. Brown-Eyed Woman followed and once again it was
struggle. I am still not a big fan of this song but at least when you are in a room filled with 18 thousand people getting off on it you can catch a wave. Bruce Hornsby has been getting more into this show but at this point it’s the weakest of the trips series unless you were with me and DaveyBoy because ours either slamming or soon to be.
Mexicali is always a song I would, and still do, embrace due to my country tune leanings but they went into Maggie’s Farm this night which I would have lost in a bet because it was the first time I had ever heard this Dylan song. Bob jumped right into it and Bruce was right there to follow as if Garcia were the one playing piano. I loved how Bob, Jerry, Bruce (with some spirited singing and playing that engaged the fuck out of Garcia), Vince and then my boy Phil each took a verse. I recall after the show going through the parking lot while some young filly from the US who was on tour but didn’t get in was absolutely crushed that she missed the song as the setlist was read back to her. I still feel bad for the poor thing because it’s a killer version. She knew without knowing and it’s as if they were all finally warmed up and prepping for the Bird Song to follow.
It was if it was finally time for the band to stretch some legs as they proceeded to lay down a cavalcading version that proved they could still absolutely destroy any venue they were playing in with sights and sounds that no one else could touch. Phil leads the way and Jerry finds the layer he left underneath which is precisely the wave you always hope the band can catch. Jerry brings out his funny flute while Bob, Bruce and Vince find spaces to fill. It’s an IV drip of everything you didn’t know you needed. Had I been a more experienced listener I would have had a solid guess as to what was coming but by this point I had completely forgot what I had prayed three months for.
The Promised Land flew out and you knew setbreak was about to be there so you might as well dance your ass of. I don’t recall the setbreak. I guarantee I was hanging on for dear life. My thinking would have been “Turn the lights off please. It’s too bright.” The next night feautured one the best best waves I have even been a part of. Tears down your face wave. We wouldn’t believe it wouldn’t stop.
The house lights came back down and the love in the room was magnified. Apparently I wasn’t the only one dreaming of this moment so the potential nightmare may go away. At this point of my career I had heard Shakedown Street but I didn’t know it. We had upped the ante during setbreak so everything was about to change again even though we hadn’t peaked yet on the last change. “Maybe you had too much too fast” became a calling card. Shakedown Street became another song I sought once I was back to the reality of collecting tapes. It added to sets. Little did I know this would be the only version I ever experienced while also being top-notch material.
As far as I am concerned, the dancing and energy comes through on this tape. Garcia sounds like he is dancing and I miss when “hoppy” referred to a Dead room full of bouncers rather than a way to explain a beer. Weir is so invested in this version he is throwing bones to Phil and Jerry. Garcia grabs a run that is unlike others and everyone follows. This may have been the live song/moment I realized that closing my eyes was better at a Dead show than leaving them open simply because the lights were amazing. I
can’t recommend this build enough. It’s a disco dance party and everyone is invited because the fluidity feels like it may never stop.
Man Smart Women Smarter proceeded to fall on the heels of a band who was locked and loaded. I can understand why some may complain this vamp showed up but at the time I fucking loved it thanks to being in love with the Aiko Aiko beats. I still love it. You will never hear me complain about this stuff, especially when Phil Lesh is pulsating. One has to figure if he isn’t getting board playing two notes then something must be working. At this point we have entered cat and mouse territory with him and Jerry. Bruce struts out an accordion and layers are laid. Jerry jumps into flute mode and the table is set.
This is unbelievably similar to the angle I experienced this in. The only difference is that we were so high and it was so loud we didn’t recognize it during the first rush of folks screaming even though I fucking prayed three months for this Dark Star. It was so crazy loud in there I completely missed the intro. For years we have laughed how we were the last people in the house to recognize which song it was and then things got weird because it is Dark Star and you are high as fuck.
It would be interesting if there were a video of what I was seeing along with the emotions I was feeling. Have they made that app yet? At the same time, if you think about it using this show as a barometer, it makes complete sense I became such a fan of Phil Lesh. That fucker is just pounding it all night, sound issues and all. He’s been giving launch pads to every musician in the band. Its stupid awesome what he is offering. Of course it is and then we get an instrumental second verse that just slays. It’s a short and sweet and a slamming Dark Star that has what Dark Star should be. It’s easy to look at the clock and determine there is a great one there due to how long it is much as it is to seeing a short timed one and assume the opposite.
It bleeds into Drums. Our best Brennan friend danced his ass off. He didn’t fucking care. He was loving everything. One of the only things I recall seeing from this show was him giving his all during this segment. No one meant nothing to him. He was gonna have a good time to the beats……until he realized everyone was sitting down. I now remember who was to my left. Buddy gave’r and then we ate more paper. “We gotta go up again for the end” so we did but little did we realize we were about to be taken to the Amazon jungle. Would we have decided differently had we known? I cant say but we definitely went on a trip.
I cant even put into words for you how things progressed. By this point we were all melting harder than we had ever before but it all made sense. If you are going to lose your marbles somewhere wouldn’t it be best at a Grateful Dead show with everything already prepared for you? All we had to do was get through Space and we would be fine. We kinda did but then the Other One happened. That’s never fair, especially after the Space we just endured. Psychedelic warrior status should bestowed upon these moments. I dare you to do it in the comfort of your living room. Best of luck. People listening to this stuff may define it as garbage. I dare those people to do it righteously. Coming into Standing On The Moon you know this is a band who has dove off the deep end together and are bringing everyone with them which is what made the Jerry Ballad spot so special.
Lovelight and US Blues brought us all back to reality again. Kinda. The reality of a Dead show but not the reality of the finality while having to deal with leaving. That’s another tale.
Booche reacted to Northern Wish in Zaphod's closing?
Booche got a reaction from PassedOutGuy in Grateful Dead releasing 80-disc Box set of previously unreleased live shows
