The jam out of Playin’ had a more evil feel than the jam that led into it which kept things interesting. There were no generic jams on this night. Warren, who used the same guitar throughout the whole set, fueled the improvisation with an intense series of riffs that made Bobby smile. After a few minutes, Lesh interjected the intro to Good Lovin’ and the band followed along. There was no weak link on this night as each member made their presence felt at one point or another. These guys jelled from the opening jam and once they shake off the rust we’re in for some fantastic shows.
The Wheel followed Good Lovin’ and Bobby, Phil and Warren all traded verses – a trend we’ll see plenty of this month. Bobby toyed with the phrasing of the lyrics; sometimes it worked and other times it hurt my ears. Once again, the sextet gave Haynes ample room to work his magic both during the verses and in the brief jam. The hour set flew by and featured tons of improvisation, none of which was boring.
Everyone in the Gramercy seemed thrilled to be seeing their old friends and The Dead’s reading of Franklin’s Tower turned into a celebratory singalong. It was clear we were running out of time as the band tore through the verses and the solos. The Dead barely left the stage for the encore break and quickly started Touch of Grey. Now, there was something a little sad about their performance of the tune. Not sad as in pitiful, but sad as in the surviving members were clearly missing their leader – Jerry Garcia. The “I Will Survive” refrain rang hollow without Garcia, but I’ll take the option of these guys jamming together over the solo acts any day of the week.
The Dead kick off their spring tour in Greensboro on April 12. They’ve announced through their text messaging service that sax whiz Branford Marsalis will join them for two shows at the Izod Arena in East Rutherford, NJ on April 28 and 29. Seeing how good they sound and how good that sound made me feel, I’ve just penciled those concerts in on my calendar. I’ve gone from indifferent to excited about The Dead’s tour pretty quickly.
Setlists:
Angel Orensanz Center
Set: Direwolf, Bird Song, Cumberland Blues, Lazy River Road, Casey Jones
Encore: Ripple
Gramercy Theatre
Set: Playing In The Band > Good Lovin’ > The Wheel > Franklin’s Tower
Encore: Touch of Grey
Roseland
Set: Althea, Cassidy, Uncle John’s Band, Eyes of the World, St. Stephen > Dark Star > Sugar Magnolia
Encore: Not Fade Away
4 Responses
Great work Scotty. Wish I had a chance to see one of these shows, but it gives me something to look forward to.
No mention of Billy or Micky?
Sounds like you had fun Scotty. That’s great, man. I got shut out, and skipped the whole fiasco. I heard they let people in at Angel Orensanz.
so how did you hear that you won? i entered and never heard back… never heard from any of my friends either. roseland looks NICE!