Check out some great coverage from Dead.net for the 09′ tour here. They’ve got fan-submitted pics and videos from every show, setlists, venue historical info, and mini reviews.
This tour definitely had its ups and downs, but it also had that undeniable, unmatched, and undying energy, vibe, and love that is the Grateful Dead community. Aside from the confirmed appearance at Rothbury later this summer, this could be the end of the road for the band after 45 (!) years of touring. It will be interesting to see what develops over the next few years in the Dead world – I’m expecting a few more years of Ratdog touring strong and for Phil to wrap up his touring career in the next 1-2 years. I’ve heard rumors that Phil may be doing his Nokia run this fall, but also heard he had nothing planned for the rest of the year. One thing’s for sure, he won’t go out without a friend-filled, star-studded final run of shows that should be a blast. Let’s keep our fingers crossed for more good things to come, be patient, and remember – all good things in all good time.
In June of 73′, the Dead and the Allman Brothers teamed up at RFK Stadium in the nation’s capital for what is widely regarded as one of the top Dead shows ever. The Dead delivered a monster 3 set show, with the third set featuring Merl Saunders, Dickey Betts and Butch Trucks. This show is truly a blast from the past, a looking glass into a past time when the Dead, the Brothers, and 30,000 fans could get together on a Sunday and enjoy a sunshine daydream freakout like it was still 1968.
Dig it:
The Grateful Dead and The Allman Brothers Band
6/10/73 ~ RFK Stadium ~ Washington, DC
Set 1:
Morning Dew
Beat It On Down The Line
Ramble On Rose
Jack Straw
Wave That Flag
Looks Like Rain
Box Of Rain
They Love Each Other
The Race Is On
Row Jimmy
El Paso
Bird Song
Playing In The Band
Set 2:
Eyes Of The World ->
Stella Blue
Big River
Here Comes Sunshine
Around And Around
Dark Star ->
He’s Gone ->
Wharf Rat ->
Truckin’
Sugar Magnolia
Set 3:
It Takes A Lot To Laugh It Takes A Train To Cry
That’s All Right, Mama
The Promised Land
Not Fade Away ->
Goin’ Down The Road Feeling Bad ->
Drums ->
Not Fade Away
Johnny B. Goode
Back up a few years to 1970 – The Filmore East – where we find The Dead and the New Riders of the Purple Sage playing two shows (early and late show) with an intimate Dead Acoustic Set -> New Riders set -> Dead electric set format for both shows. This is A LOT of music. This is early, stripped-down, raw Dead, not to be messed with. Exhibit A: Phil’s bombing entrance into The Other followed by a break-neck rendition. Exhibit B: Bobby’s growls and yells in Minglewood – this is good shit:
The Grateful Dead and the New Riders of the Purple Sage
5/15/70 ~ The Filmore East ~ New York, NY
Early Show – Dead Acoustic Set
Don’t Ease Me In
I Know You Rider
The Rub
Friend Of The Devil
Long Black Limousine
Candyman/Equipment problems
Cumberland Blues
New Speedway Boogie
Cold Jordan
Early Show – New Riders of the Purple Sage
Bill Graham Introduction/Six Days On The Road
Whatcha Gonna Do?
I Don’t Know You
Henry
Portland Woman
Fair Chance To Know
Last Lonely Eagle
Early Show – The Grateful Dead (Electric)
Casey Jones
Easy Wind
Attics Of My Life
St. Stephen >
Cryptical Envelopment >
Drums >
The Other One >
Cryptical Reprise >
Cosmic Charlie
New Minglewood Blues
The Dead @ Filmore East 1970
Late Show – Dead Acoustic Set
Ballad Of Casey Jones
Silver Threads And Golden Needles
Black Peter
Friend Of The Devil
Uncle John’s Band
Candyman
She’s Mine
Katie Mae
I Hear A Voice Callin’
Late Show – New Riders of the Purple Sage
Bill Graham Introduction/Brown-Eyed Handsome Man
Louisiana Lady
Can’t Pay The Price
Truck Drivin’ Man
All I Ever Wanted
Workin’ Man Blues
Henry/Broken String
I Don’t Know You
Lodi
Last Lonely Eagle
Mama Tried
Sawmill
Me And My Uncle
Connection
Late Show – The Grateful Dead (Electric)
Here Comes The Sun/Stage Preparations
The Sun King/Stage Preparations/Marines’ Hymn
Bill Graham Introduction/China Cat Sunflower >
I Know You Rider
Cumberland Blues
Hard To Handle/Broken String
Beat It On Down The Line
Morning Dew
Good Lovin’
Dire Wolf
Next Time You See Me
Dark Star >
St Stephen >
Not Fade Away >
Turn On Your Lovelight
Cold Jordan
Let’s mix it up a bit with some recent news tidbits, some bootlegs, and some video. As they say, “variety is the spice of life”:
First, the All Good Festival announced their Daily Lineup which looks like a lot of fun, though admittedly a bit cheesy and poppy. For some reason, they seemed to have packed a lot of the best acts into Sunday’s lineup. Why they wouldn’t give DSO, BK3, or Tea Leaf Green main day or late night shows is beyond me. In any case, check it out, July 9-12 at Marvin’s Moutaintop in Masontown, West Virginia.
In Dead news, Jambase put out this review of The Dead’s 5/02/09 final performance at the Philadelphia Spectrum. They’re got some nice pics, but I don’t think this review holds up to the one offered up here. Also, The Dead released a series of new videos from their 09′ tour. They picked some choice moments for the musical segments of these vids, definitely worth a watch. One of the 2 most recent videos feature Branford Marsalis offering up a fresh perspective on the Dead, their approach to the music, and the repetoire while the other has Bob Weir embarrassing himself with an attempt at human speech. The mindless dribble that comes out of his mouth these days is only second to his “rhythm guitar”. The dead kick off the closing west coast leg of their 09 tour today with a stop in Colorado. Rider, anyone?
Elsewhere this week, Phish’s Trey Anastasio was on Capitol Hill lobbying for drug courts… His choice of words was a bit cryptic: “I’m a recovering alcoholic and a proud graduate of the Washington drug court program”. Let me translate for you: I’m a recovering alcoholic who still loves oxy and blow! To read between the lines yet one layer further, I think what the frontman is really trying to say is ‘Don’t do drugs… Except of course on the upcoming sold out Phish tour!’
Moving on to something we really dig over here – let’s check out some bootlegs from the 70’s when, according to Branford, ‘Things were just easy’.
First, some Peter Tosh from the nation’s capital in 79:
Peter Tosh
Washington D.C.
3/13/79
1 400 Years/Steppin Razor
2 Pick Myself Up/African
3 Burial
4 Soon Come
5 I’m The Toughest/Bush Doctor
6 Don’t Look Back
7 Get Up Stand Up
8 Legalize It
Second, dig this show from Jerry and the late, great Merl Saunders in Palo Alto in 73′:
Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders
5/04/73
Homer’s Warehouse
Palo Alto, CA
Set 1:
That’s The Touch I Like
Expressway
instrumental>
AfterMidnight>
It’s No Use
That’s All Right Mama
Set 2:
It Takes A Lot To Laugh It Takes A Train To Cry
Honey Chile
Lonely Avenue
instrumental
Georgia On My Mind
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
How Sweet It Is
For a second encore, and one well worth it, check this Jerry and friends vid featuring Baba Olatunji, Carlos Santana, Hamza el-Din, Bobby Vega, Sikiru Adepoju, and others in California, 1987. Santana rips the shit out of this Fire and the rhythm secion is not to be messed with:
Set 1:
On More Saturday Night
Brown Eyed Women
Good Morning, Little Schoolgirl
Althea
He’s Gone>
Uncle John’s Band>
Mason’s Children
Set 2:
Good Lovin’
Cumberland Blues
Cryptical Envelopment>
The Other One>
Drums>
Space>
Morning Dew
St. Stephen
Revolution
Help On The Way
Slipknot!>
Franklin’s Tower
Some play-by-play and highlights from this magical evening:
The energy level in the Spectrum on Saturday night was poppin’ – not an empty seat in the house and not a seat in use when the lights went down. The band came out firing with One More Saturday Night giving their first nod to the symbolic closing of the Dead at the Spectrum tradition of 53+ sold out shows over the years. After a raucous, if not perfunctory sounding Saturday Night rendition, the Band kept things moving quickly with tightly executed versions of Brown Eyed Women and Good Morning Little School Gril. Weir started out Good Mornin’ solo and, after getting his sea legs, delivered a soulful and, at times, creepy take mixing in some original improvised lyrics for good measure.
Warren took over and changed things up on Althea – his vocals and guitar rang true and he definitely delivered an improved rendition from the 3/30/09 Roseland show. The first set closing sequence of He’s Gone>UJB>Mason’s Children really took off aside from a botched UJB ending sing along. The band did a great job channeling their frustration out of UJB into a smoking version of Mason’s straight out of 1968. Seemingly minutes after the set began – the band left the stage at 8:45 for setbreak – the crowd stunned with the whirlwind that had just engulfed the arena.
The band really played with the dynamics in Cumerbland swinging from Chimenti’s organ swells to Warren’s lighting speed blues riffing gymnastics to tasteful drum fills – the band doing what they do best – the music playing the band. Dipping into the ether for a more typical set 2 offering – Phil and Boby led the band through a full on ‘That’s if for the Other One’ rendition alla Anthem of the Sun. This was a lot of fun if not for Bobby’s restrained and, at times, unpredictable vocal delievery on The Other One.
The band boarded the Drum/Space ship and, as they landed, the opening Dew progression emerged. What followed was a beautiful rendition – evoking the intense power of the deep and haunting post-apocalyptic anit-war song. Turning on a dime, the band jumped into St.Stephen:
Stephen was very well played if not, again, perfunctory in nature. The following Revolution was a nice treat and was really played true to spec:
All in all, Revolution was a lot of fun. Seemingly unwilling to stop, the band busted into the famous Blues for Allah medley of Help/Slip/Franklins to close out the set. This definitely had its ups and downs including a botched Franklin’s transition, but the Franklin’s sing along was worth it and a great way to close things out:
Phil emerged for his donor rap and acknowledged the un-matched energy that only the Spectrum can conjure up. The band closed things out with a ritualistic Samson and Delilah – chanting the ‘If I had my way, I would tear this old building down’ refrain – bidding farewell to years of history and a historic building always to be remembered in Deal lore’.
The band really broke out of the mold for this weekend’s spectrum run – leaving behind the restrained and safe playing of the last few weeks and taking things up and notch in terms of creativity and adventurousness (and tempo for that matter). The few bumps along the road were well worth it – let’s hope this train keeps building steam and Truckin’ down the road – one more time.
And if I had my way
I would tear this old building down…
This bootleg is what it’s all about: great sound, great playing, great musicians, great venue – perfect. Clapton is really on point, both in his guitar playing and singing during this performance. While his ‘no snow, no show’ days were definitely over by 87′, he certainly gets his crazy fingers moving and keeps things very upbeat. Unlike so many of his peers, Clapton has survived the ups and down and has aged well – seemingly improving with age while maintaining a fresh sound. To see for yourself, enjoy this tasty 87′ bootleg and then check out his summer tour with Steve Winwood.
Eric Clapton
Madison Square Garden
April 27, 1987
1. Crossroads
2. White Room
3. I Shot the Sheriff
4. Hung Up On Your Love
5. Wonderful Tonight
6. Miss You
7. Same Old Blues
8. Tearing Us Apart
9. Holy Mother
10. Badge
11. Let it Rain
12. Cocaine
13. Layla
14. Further On Up the Road
15. Sunshine of Your Love
Special Guests: Robert Cray (Guitar, Vocals) on “Further on up the road”
As a sacrifice to the gods in hopes of a good showing from the boys at the garden tonight, let’s enjoy this Warren solo show and pray that he can take the band higher. Watching this tour unfold, it is hard to understand why Bobby is taking on so much of the singing duties while clearly incapable, all the time with the soulful, energetic, and reliable Haynes to his left. At the same time, Warren continues to play a back-seat role and seems unwilling to step up and assert himself, vocally or musically. It seems clear that he is doing this out of respect, both to Jerry and Bobby, but the musician in him should recognize that he needs to stand up and lead this band, NOW, before the tour ends and it’s too late.
Warren, it’s your time to let your soul shine.
Warren Haynes
9/01/07
Mishawaka Amphitheatre
Bellevue, CO
Warren solo acoustic
Indian Sunset
Patchwork Quilt
Beautifully Broken
Glory Road
Fallen Down
I’ll Be the One
Ballad of Hollis Brown
Many Rivers to Cross
It Hurts Me Too
The Real Thing
One
Lay of the Sunflower
Into the Mystic
In 1971, The Band took to the Academy of Music for their New Years Run. Many years later, a set of ‘outtakes’ from that run emerged in pristine, master-reel sound, though it was never officially released or circulated. This gem features cuts mostly from rehearsals and soundchecks and the like – this is a true up-close-and-personal intimate view of the Band’s 1971 sound. These outtakes are a must-have for any Band fan or classic rock collector, enjoy!
The Band – Academy of Outtakes New York, New York – December 28-31, 1971
1. The Rumor
2. Time to Kill
3. Strawberry Wine
4. Rockin’ Chair
5. This Wheel’s On Fire
6. Get Up Jake
7. Smoke Signal
8. I Shall Be Released
9. The Weight
10. Stage Fright
11. Life Is A Carnival
12. King Harvest
13. Caledonia Mission
14. WS Walcott Medicine Show
15. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
16. Across the Great Divide
Let’s take a world tour of Funk with no other than P-Funk, Sly and the Family Stone, and Stevie Wonder.
Check out this triple-decker download of straight F-U-N-K:
Sly & The Family Stone – Holland -10/09/70 Download Link
1. Thank you
2. M’Lady
3. Simple Song
4. Stand!
5. Dance To The Music
6. I want to Take You Higher
Stevie Wonder – Brighton, UK – 4/04/73: Download Link
1. Time of Confusion
2. Instrumental (Unknown)
3. Tease > Stevie Talking
4. Higher Ground
5. Superwoman
6. To Know You Is to Love You
7. Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours)
8. Visions Tease > Stevie Talking > Visions
9. Visions Reprise
10. Sunshine Intro
11. You Are the Sunshine of My Life
12. Superstition
13. Lot of My Dreams
And last but not least, P-FUNK from the famous Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, VA:
P-Funk – Hampton, VA – 06/03/78 Download link
1. Funkentelechy
2. MotherShip Connection
3. Cosmic Slop
4. Give Up The Funk
5. Maggot Brain
6. Bop Gun
7. Funk Gettin’ Ready To Roll
8. It Ain’t Illegal Yet
9. Flashlight
Make my funk the P-Funk
I want my funk uncut
Make my funk the P-Funk
I wants to get funked up
I want the bomb,
I want the P-Funk
I want my funk uncut
Make my funk the P-Funk
I wants to get funked up
Let’s be honest – in life, not all friends are created equal. The same is true of Phil Lesh’s revolving door ‘Phil and Friends’ project. While any true head will point to the original Quintet (Lesh, Haynes, Herring, Molo, Baracco) as the ultimate lineup for this band, this head will go so far as to say the lineup featured at the Mountain Jam 07′ show is a close 2nd. This festival-closing performance saw John Scofeild and Warren Haynes on guitar, John Molo on drums, Steve Molitz on keys, and of course Mr. Lesh himself on bass.
The Band
This was Phil and Friends only summer festival appearance and it was clear they came out practiced, hungry, and with more than a few aces up their sleeve:
Playin' in the Band - Set I
Phil Lesh and Friends
Mountain Jam @ Hunter Mountain
Hunter, New York
June 3, 2007
Set I
Shakedown Street ->
Friend of the Devil
Althea
Low Spark of High Heeled Boys
New Speedway Boogie
Mason’s Children
Candyman
Scarlet Begonias ->
Eyes of the World ->
Fire on the Mountain
Set II
Unbroken Chain
Dark Star ->
Mountains of the Moon ->
Dark Star ->
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
Turn on Your Lovelight
Encore
Not Fade Away
Playin' in the Band - Set II
The first set was probably the longest Phil n’ Friends set ever clocking in at OVER 2 HOURS! I’m sure I wasn’t the only one worried they were going to do a 1 set show, but more likely they were playing an extended set in appreciation of the crowd’s undying love and enthusiasm while it had rained all day and continued to rain all through the show.
Some first set highlights include the Low Spark and Mason’s bustouts, the Scarlet/Eyes/Fire segment (look out for Scofield’s solo on Eyes), and the smoking New Speedway. The 2nd set was pure Phil magic and honestly one of the best Phil n’ Friends sets i’ve ever seen. The Lucy in the Sky was a real treat and both NFA and Lovelight feature earth-shattering riffing from Sco and Warren – these are MUST HEARS.
Also, The Dead released 
Elsewhere this week, Phish’s Trey Anastasio 
Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders
Welcome To Now 