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Dead/Allman CHANGE ROCKS concert for Obama

Kanada Kev

By Kanada Kev
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tigger Newbie

tigger

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when the overhead lights came on ,Becky and I saw you shaking a leg down on the floor there Kev.Also talked to the lighting guy ,the whole crew was staying where we were,he said the overheads going on was a computer glitch.Funny though cause when all the overheads went out again the show received a big boost.

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bradm Newbie

bradm

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it's up on archive.org now. just ftp'd it.

If you mean

http://www.archive.org/details/plf2008-10-13.zman.fob.ccm4v.flac16

or

http://www.archive.org/details/dead2008-10-13.m20.jklabs.722.burke.flac24

you got lucky, as it looks like they've been made unavailable "due to issues with the item's content." (My guess is that it's because shows by "The Dead" haven't been approved for uploads to the LMA. The uploaders of the above recordings tried an end-run by uploading them as Phil & Friends shows, which they weren't.)

Aloha,

Brad

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Kanada Kev Newbie

Kanada Kev

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Article from the upcoming Rolling Stone:

Still Truckin': The Dead Reunite in Pennsylvania

Their tensions behind them, the Dead play their first show in four years

DAVID BROWNEPosted Nov 13, 2008 9:11 AM

23588684-23588687-slarge.jpg

The first call came into Penn State's Bryce Jordan Center in mid- summer: A concert promoter asked venue officials to hold some dates at the school's indoor arena in the fall. The promoter wouldn't identify the band — and didn't until he called back to ask if October 13th would be available for a Barack Obama benefit with Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann. "We went, 'Wow,' " says Bernie Punt, director of sales at the venue. "We knew right then this was going to be unique."

Within minutes of the announcement, Deadheads had snapped up all 15,000 tickets for the first show in four years by the surviving members of the Grateful Dead. On the night of the October 13th concert, which also included the Allman Brothers Band, fans from as far away as Stockholm whooped it up as the Dead launched into the trademark shuffle of "Truckin'." Joined by Allmans and Gov't Mule guitarist Warren Haynes and keyboardist Jeff Chimenti from Weir's band Ratdog, the reunited Dead resurrected standards like "Touch of Grey" and "U.S. Blues," as well as spaced-out jam classics "Dark Star" and "St. Stephen." "It was great fun," Weir says. "We speak a language no one else speaks, and we have intuitions about each other's approaches that no one else can have. It's there — it doesn't go away."

Yet the fact that so much time had passed between Dead shows is an indication of the rupture the band suffered with the death of Jerry Garcia in 1995. Weir, Hart, Lesh and Kreutzmann eventually reunited — first as the Other Ones and, in 2003 and 2004, for tours billed as the Dead. But despite pulling in almost $18 million, the 2004 Wave That Flag Tour was strained onstage and off, as the bandmates attempted to work out their post-Garcia roles.

"It spawned all kinds of petty disagreements," says Hart. "There was a lot of intertribal weirdness." Adds Kreutzmann, "When people are having a hard time with their personalities, it goes without saying that the music's gonna suffer also."

Tensions within the band only deepened the following year, when infighting broke out over concert bootlegs posted by fans on the archives.org Website. "They take advantage of you," says Kreutzmann. "They give your music away for free, and then they sell advertising." The band insisted the recordings be pulled, but Lesh disagreed and went public with his thoughts. The site was eventually allowed to stream free soundboard recordings, but by then the four men were barely on speaking terms.

The fence-mending began with business. In 2006, Grateful Dead Productions reached a licensing agreement with Rhino Entertainment to handle the group's entire musical legacy; with that, some of the friction over money was reduced. Then, in February 2008, Lesh, with the help of his son Brian, organized an Obama benefit at the Warfield theater in San Francisco. He invited the other members of the Dead, and Hart and Weir accepted (Kreutzmann had just returned home to Hawaii from a long trip). Together, the three played Dead classics like "Sugaree" and "Playing in the Band," and, tellingly, the Beatles' "Come Together." "It broke the ice," recalls Hart. "We were able to let some of these skeletons in our closet just fall away."

Around the same time, Weir was asked by a senior official in the Obama campaign if the band would be willing to re-form for a swing-state benefit closer to the election. "I said, 'Well, I'll try,' " says Weir. The calls went out, and in September, the Dead reunited at Weir's rehearsal space in San Rafael, California. The revived Dead spent two days dusting off songs they hadn't played in years. Everyone was careful not to push too hard — Hart says the group "tried to keep it as relaxed and open as possible. People were not stepping on each other. They were trying to cooperate."

As the band admits, the set was far from flawless. Weir forgot a few lyrics ("I had a senior moment — it's gonna happen"), and Lesh's "Unbroken Chain," from 1974's From the Mars Hotel, was so tricky that the group was still practicing it during soundcheck.

Yet the band reconnected over its shared musical heritage. "During 'Dark Star,' it went wild, and I forgot where we were," says Kreutzmann. "That's great. Mickey and I are getting along better now. The egos are out of the way." After the show, Lesh was overheard raving about Weir's singing — a sign itself of lessening friction — and the bandmates toasted each other backstage.

"We wanted to play uncomplicated, easy stuff, just have a nice time," says Hart. "Did we play our best? Nooo. Did we play our worst? Absolutely not. It was a healing ceremony." Further shows, including a possible spring tour, are now being discussed. "It felt good, and I'd be way the hell up for it," says Weir, echoing sentiments of his mates. But if more concerts do occur, the Dead face their biggest challenge: holding themselves together after the most tumultuous years in the group's existence. "This isn't an easy thing," says Hart. "To be honest, I thought the odds were not in our favor. The only way it would happen is if we came together and liked each other again. We're ongoing now, but I don't know where we're going."

[From Issue 1065 — November 13, 2008]

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MoMack Newbie

MoMack

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I never realized that Bill and Mickey were at odds...

It'd be nice to see someone convince teh four of them to "back them up". You know, Warren call in a favour to Phil, "hey, I need a bass for this tour, 10 shows, can you do it?" and then do the same to Bob etc. etc.

Sounds like all they really need is a conductor.

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