Tuneful jam band works hard for fans



Monday, August 29, 2005


By Mark Bialczak

Staff writer

When Bob Weir ambles onto the outdoor stage in his trademark shortish shorts and bare feet, it's without a doubt still summer in Syracuse.

The famous Californian led his latest band, RatDog, through a jam-happy set Sunday night at the state fair Grandstand. And to the crowd of 4,206, it was obvious that the outside party was a great chance to relive the greatness of Weir's original band, the legendary Grateful Dead.

From the first meandering strains of the opening song, fans seemed to breathe in a big gulp at once. Diehard Dead fans probably knew what the song was from the start. But as Weir and his guitar and his considerably talented band mates built slowly but surely to one of the Dead's most popular and recognizable tunes, the air got let out in a big cheer.

"Truckin' " it was, and truck the band and fans did for the rest of the night.

"What a long, strange trip it's been," they sang along on the opening cut.

From there on it was a dance fest, even through the less mainstream songs.

Fans broke off in small packs to dance in the spaces left open on the floor on both sides of the stage. The impromptu dance floors were right underneath the two big screens. Better for the dancers to keep track of the show as well as the beat.

Others stood at their seats and swayed. Hardly anybody sat except to take a load off every now and again.

The band worked hard the whole time. With Mark Karan on guitar, Jeff Chimenti on keyboards, Kenny Brooks on saxophone, Robin Sylvester on bass and Jay Lane on drums, Weir's RatDog is a tuneful jam band.

Weir and his golden vocals undoubtedly led the way, but all appeared ready to make the time-tested break-ins and breakouts from song to song.

RatDog has more than a hundred songs on its concert-ready playlist, so fans like to be surprised.

Weir pulled out some cool ones, including the folk-country "Brown-Eyed Women" and spirited "Lucky Enough."

The coolest vibe, though, might have come with "Black-Throated Wind." Before the song, Weir suggested that everybody say a prayer for the opening band, The Neville Brothers, who were facing a return to their hometown of New Orleans, in danger from Hurricane Katrina.

Before the several generations of Central New Yorkers returned home into the pleasant summer night, the range of fans from kids to college students to 40-somethings to grandparents sang together on the classic "Not Fade Away." Weir won't do that, for sure.

The Neville Brothers never mentioned the threat of the hurricane to their beloved hometown.

Instead, singer Aaron, keyboardist Charles, saxophonist Arthur and drummer Cyril and their four band mates put out a lusty R&B set that paid tribute to the funky New Orleans sound they've helped make famous.

Jazzy and soulful, too, as they wove their songs like "Yellow Moon" with classics like "Love the One You're With" and "Thank U for Lettin' Me Be Myself," the brothers let the set crescendo with a robust, rolling "When You Go to New Orleans."
And here is a review from GT:
gt - 07:47am Aug 30, 2005 PDT (#56 of 60)
It's too dark to put the keys in my ignition........

Okay since I only get one show a year it seems here is my review......First of all bein with gemmie and wolfie and boots made this night extra special to begin with......Starts out with nice little jam into Truckin....a full mid tempo fat jammin truckin ..as if it were mid 2nd set.....everyone singin along dancin away next to my friends and grinin ear to ear.....indeed what along strange trip it has been I begin to think. Brown eyed women had mark rippin up the solos and rockin back and forth, I aways loved this tune and the dog did it justice. At this point I realized this show was gonna smoke. Lucky enough was good I am not a huge fan of it but it kept me on my feet and smilin. One of the highlights for me was this Silvio tequilla jam....By this point boots and were dancin fools and I absolutely could not stop smilin ..my face hurt...I was absolutely blown away...rockin back and forth singing along and getting to share it with s friends....words cannot do justice for the feelings and good vibes i was experiencing..That left me tired but wanting more....Althea was rocked out to the extreme with a middle jam that just built and built to exploding jam....I am left speecless at this point..Again dancin away with boots by my side and more room in our row cause wolfie and gemmie made there way to the side for more dancin rroom...Bt wind started acoustic for about three minutes and rocked out electric and I loved it. Schoolgirl followed with a nice bluesy rockin feel to it and flowed nicely..Ashes and glass is atune I always dig and the dogg was abslutely on fire and so tight I am just blown away at this point......NFA..I felt like I was at a dead show....Boots and I boppin back and forth and singing along.....I felt it ...I felt the love and the vibes flowin...I turned around to take in all the people in the grandstand dancin thier asses offf and singing along....I have goose bumps as I type this right now.......and it was that much more special being able to hang with boots who i met for the first time......what aspecial night!!!!!!! singing along you know our love will not fade away!!!!!!!! as the chant continued I felt so fulfilled yet wanting more....and they delivered..as the drummer started playing I was trying to guess the next tune and tboots looked at me with that beautiful smile and goes SAMSON! and she was right on...and they did it justice and abslolutely rocked!!!!!!!!! No words really can do justice to the evenig but I had to try.....And not to sound repetitive but (((Wolfie Gemmie and boots))))) thank you for makin it extra special..I hadn'tseen gemmie in over 6 years...and I just took in the moment and cherished it....hope to see you all soon.......The doggie is on fire and anyone who calls it cheese needs to have their head examined.....I love you guys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Glad to have met you Chez although too brief!!!
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Woof!

Working hard on Rex schwag bag goodies...200 goodies made and wrapped-only about 300 to go!
I'm a one woman sweat shop! The clay things are much easier/fun to make than the sachets (which took weeks&weeks)..I'm very pleased with how they are turning out....I used to sell my stuff at craft fairs but it was an enormous hassle-to find childcare and then have to schlep everything (tables, merch,chairs) to unknown venues..Not to mention to try and make it profitable...Donating time and goods is much more meaningful for me. Five hundred clay surprises are a fun challenge and I'm always happiest when my hands are busy.
Have a Hippy Weekend!

Bobby writes a Preface

Katrinka posted the following on Deadnet- pretty cool!

Introduction to The Haight-Ashbury: A History by Charles Perry
Reprinted 2005

PREFACE
by Bob Weir

We haven’t seen the end of what happened in the Haight. Actually, we’re seeing a backlash from it now, forty years later, which confirms how powerful it really was. The dark minions who can’t abide natural buoyance or the notion of self-generated enlightenment never tire of trying to stamp out the fire we got started there, but that won’t happen.

What happened wasn’t an accident. When that huge balloon of baby boomers got to the age of being out and about in the world, it was inevitable that certain kinds of them would find places to gather.

The kind of people who look for order and authority in their lives – a great many of them ended up in Vietnam, following orders being handed down from a different generation. The ones who were looking to follow their own instincts, and perhaps find a new Order, congregated in a number of places like New York, L.A., and San Francisco. San Francisco’s collection of baby boomers was particularly happening, in the term of the day. There were a few special ingredients that made for that particular stew. One was the artsy heritage of San Francisco; one was the laissez-faire, left-leaning political and cultural climate of San Francisco, and one was the music.

Then there were the drugs, of course, but I’m not sure that they had as much to do with it as legend would hold; the aforementioned cultural factors were more pivotal to it all. We weren’t all stoned all the time. But we were all artists, musicians, and freaks all the time. I wasn’t stoned for all that much of it – and I was very much a part of the scene. The drugs were there, and they were visible, like the frosting on a cake. On a cake, all you can see outwardly is the frosting, but the cake has a shape and mass, the great bulk of which is not the frosting.

The bulk of what was happening in the summer of love was the exchange of ideas and attitudes and feelings. It wasn’t drugs that made me decide I wasn’t going to let the powers that be send me to war. It was the reality of war and the wrongness of war in particular.
Let’s back up a bit. I grew up in a nice, normal suburb of San Francisco. I didn’t see myself as a revolutionary, although it was something I could have aspired to if I’d seen the opportunity arise. But I never stopped long enough to see that the opportunity had in fact arisen, or to see that I was, with my brothers and friends, in fact doing revolutionary work. Like the rest of everyone in the Haight at that time, I instinctively was always my own person – I followed my nose. Hair, for instance. In 1963, even pre-Beatles, I let it grow because that’s what it did, and because I had a feeling, among other things, that the girls would like it. By the look of things, most of the guys who had settled in the Haight by early ’66 had followed their noses to the same conclusion.

By the time I was fifteen, music and song had become the focus of my life. In 1964 I by chance met Jerry Garcia and we found ourselves jamming together. We had more fun that night than we could just walk away from, so we decided to make a go of it. That chance meeting turned into a folk group – a jug band called Mother McCree’s Uptown Jug Champions, which eventually evolved into a rock and roll band called the Warlocks and then the Grateful Dead.
The first time I saw a large group of freaks, I was on the glide coming down from an acid trip I’d taken with Jerry and the other members of our shiny new band. We ended up at Longshoreman’s Hall for one of the earliest Family Dog Dances, walked in, and saw a hippie costume party/carnival/circus/jolly dream. It was like coming home.

At that time, things were bubbling along for our gang, and our previous engagement at the In Room, a roadhouse on the Peninsula, would occasionally see its Saturday night audiences erupt with a visit from Merry Pranksters’ Acid Test precursor parties. So at Longshoreman’s, the audience wasn’t all new to us, but it was startling to see that many people in altered states. It was a much larger version of the earliest acid tests, although softer, not so spiky and crazy.

On the other hand, we were a pretty spiky bunch, and shortly after the Longshoreman shows, in December 1965 and January 1966, we left the conventional music business and took part in the chronospatial synclastic vortex called the Acid Test. They hit a nerve, grew like crazy, and peaked in size once again at Longshoreman’s Hall at the Trips Festival in late January 1966, at which point we (the Dead and the Acid Test, along with our new sound man/backer, Owsley “Bear” Stanley), hit the road for Los Angeles. When the Acid Test continued on south to Mexico, The Dead holed up in Watts, to woodshed new material – and go for the big time, LA style. How, we had no idea. But since we were there . . .
The Big Time eluded us, so when we returned to the SF area in June, we took up residence at Olompali, a wonderful old ranch house in Marin County, and later at a former summer camp in Lagunitas, also out in the country of West Marin. Finally, in September 1966 we moved in to our co-manager Danny Rifkin’s rooming house at 710 Ashbury Street. It was becoming clear by then that the Haight-Ashbury was more than just a special place at a special time, and now we were an integral part of it. We had been drawn into its coalescence.

The Haight-Ashbury was everything and more, most all of the time – and a lot of it happened at 710 Ashbury. It was a regular stop for all the folks: the Diggers, the Oracle people, the Thelins from the Psychedelic Shop, the bands, the Hell’s Angels, the street people. They’d come by to network, in today’s parlance, to kick up a fuss, or just to hang. My roommate there was Neal Cassady, space-cow-boy transdimensional-buckaroo-hero of the Kerouac books. Pigpen lived in the back room, Jerry across the hall. I never knew who or what I would wake up to find had moved into my room with me, let alone in the parlor or kitchen. We never knew how we were going to handle the rent. That was my little corner of The Haight; everyone had their own.

I always had a tough time with the ideologues, like the communists who came around, or Emmett and the Diggers. They were trying to impost their rules and order on a totally, and necessarily, fluid and amorphous situation. I didn’t see the point – nor the future – in that. Not much of the ideology survived, but the music, the art, and the feeling behind it flourished.

710 was great. Our visitors ranged from George Harrison and Paul Simon to the people you’d only know if you live there, like Willy the Doorman, who always came in through my window. The street was always a scene. I recall when the National Guard marched down Haight Street, bayonets fixed, I made a tunic out of a North Vietnamese flag and went down to the street to wear it. They didn’t see the humor in it, but at least this time I didn’t land in jail
On October 6, 1966, when acid was declared illegal, we figured that made us all outlaws. That called for a party, and that evening we all slid down to the Panhandle for some music. At some point – I forget who was playing – I climbed a tree to look around and found a guy up there, a black guy, kind of good-looking and well dressed. We exchanged pleasantries, observations, and yucks, and when I had to leave to go play, I said “Hi, I’m Bobby,” and he said his name was Stokely. I figure there could only have been one of them.

As much as I loved the Haight, first things come first: I was a musician. San Francisco was made for music at that time. AM radio then offered anything you could want to hear. Rock, pop, blues, R&B, jazz, and classical – and what we called Businessman’s Bounce – big band and such. Growing up a musician in the Bay Area, what we would do was set the buttons on our car radios to five or six favorite stations and just keep the variety coming. When FM came on out of the bag, KMPX presented that diversity all in one station, and it became insanely popular with all us musicians and the general public, too. You could never tell what you were going to hear on the radio, but it was probably going to be great. That freedom didn’t last long, but it lasted long enough to set fire to the musical tinderbox S.F. had already become. And that fire burned for years; it still burns.

Our working homes were the Fillmore and Avalon, but the great thing was that there were so many places to play and hear music. We were working a lot, so we usually knew where we were going to be on a given night, but it must have been tough for the average hippie to figure out where to go, who to catch.
A lot of great stuff that happened in the Haight Ashbury seemed like a dream to me – the parties in the Panhandle, the human Be-In, the scene on the street. I think it was that way for most folks. Specific events or occurrences paled in comparison to the overall dance. We were living just a half tick in some grand time continuum from that impending moment we all could feel coming, when the gate would swing open and the town would transcend for good.

The Be-In and Monterey Pop were the full flower of what was growing there – dream-like, buoyant, and utterly blissful. That flower was so vibrant and delicious that the mainstream could no longer discount or overlook it, and that, as you will read, was the end of it.

There will always be more. The dream beneath it all is still there.

Charles Perry’s work honors that dream, and I salute it.

Like the RatDog song (“Two Djinn”) goes:


A short while back,
The door flung wide.
We all saw good luck
on the other side
The door blew shut
But here’s the deal:
Dreams are lies, it’s the
dreaming that’s real
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chez - 04:33am Aug 25, 2005 PDT (#33 of 36)
Ratdog Summer Tour 2005 - Bobby Without The Bullshit

soundcheck: Picasso Moon noodling, West LA noodling...

'Bobby: It's Ratdog alumni night'.--- most of set with Matt Kelly on harmonica

Set 1: jam > Here Comes Sunshine >Walkin Blues >Youngblood > Picasso Moon > This Time Forever > Shade of Grey > Odessa > Lost Sailor > St. of Circumstance

Set 2: Bombs Away@ > Masterpiece@; Next Time You See Me > Wrong Way Feelin > Tennessee Jed > I Need A Miracle > Uncle John's Band > Stuff > Wharf Rat > China Cat > I Know You Rider

encore: blues instrumental > Ripple

On the road again-

On the road with Weir

Published: Wednesday, August 24, 2005

By Brent Hallenbeck
Free Press Staff Writer

Bob Weir keeps going and going and going ... .
The former Grateful Dead guitarist is on the road with his band, RatDog, which is playing a sold-out show tonight at Higher Ground in South Burlington. He's been touring with the Dead, RatDog and various other bands for the better part of 40 years. At 57, he's showing no signs of slowing down.
We posed 10 questions to the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer in a recent telephone interview from his home in Mill Valley, Calif., outside San Francisco in Marin County.
You've been in Vermont a lot with the Dead, The Other Ones, RatDog -- any particular Vermont memories you'd like to share?
The shows blend together. I like the look of the place.
Any idea how many shows you've played over the years with your various bands?
Between the Dead, The Other Ones, RatDog, my years with Kingfish and Bobby and the Midnites, it's got to be in excess of 5,000 shows, maybe six. It's what I've been doing for quite a while. What would be interesting would be to figure out how much time I've spent on stage. Figure 2 1/2 hours a show, multiply that by, let's say, 5,000 ... what you're going to get is 15,000 hours, so that would be -- (retrieves a calculator) 15,000 hours divided by 24, so that's 600 (days) -- that's a couple of years (reporter's note: It's actually 12,500 hours, or 520 days -- still a long time).
Higher Ground is a pretty small venue for you, 600 or so people. Is a RatDog show any different in a nightclub than the usual auditoriums or amphitheaters you play?
We're going to see when we get there and see what the room feels like and sounds like and go from there. You play the place for what it is, play the ball as it lies. I've never equated the size of the venue with the intimacy. I've played in stadiums when it felt intimate, and in small clubs where everything seems miles away.
I saw RatDog in 1998 in Albany, N.Y., with 16 Horsepower, an excellent country-gothic band but (based on the booing and back-and-forth insults) not necessarily what the RatDog crowd wanted to hear. What's the strangest double bill you've ever played?
I'm not sure that (16 Horsepower) was a marriage made in heaven. Our crowd is kind of known for -- they're sort of tunneled in on what they like and they know what they like. One of the most challenging bookings was closing the show after having Miles Davis open for us (the Dead). That was interesting. It was daunting. And then we opened one time for Otis Redding. That was great. I remember one time we played an inauguration in Washington, D.C., and the opening act was Bill Monroe.
Is there a musician you'd love to work with that you've never worked with before?
The answer is there are too many; I wouldn't know where to start. I always wanted to play with a top-shelf sitar player or Indian musician, and I recently played with a guy named Krishna Bhatt, an Indian drummer, and (bassist) Rob Wasserman. That was sublime.
Jerry Garcia died 10 years ago this month. What are your thoughts around the anniversary?
It's in the past now, but at the same time it's not as if Jerry is gone for me. He's very much a part of my everyday life. I don't think about it much. The initial shock is over. A certain part of me will always be in mourning, but not all that deeply, because I've got a lot to do. If I were him, I would certainly want it that way.
Where would the Dead be if Jerry were still alive?
After that summer, we would have almost definitely have had to take a break, because there was trouble at all our gigs. It was getting out of hand, the crowd situation. I probably would have gone off with RatDog, etc., etc. I think we were all looking at the certainty that we had to let things cool down.
Ben & Jerry's made Cherry Garcia ice cream right here in Vermont -- what's your relationship like with Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, and what do you think of Cherry Garcia?
Every now and again we're peripherally involved in some environmental project or charitable project. I've never been a big dessert guy. I've had their ice cream and it's real good. It's as good as ice cream gets.
The Dead essentially created the jam-rock scene. What do you think of the scene now, especially since Phish split after its show in Coventry a year ago?
This question is premature. I'm about to go out and play a bunch of festivals. Otherwise I pay no attention to that. If I'm going to listen to music on my own time it's going to be something that's pretty far from current popular music. On my iPod I'm listening to old jazz and new jazz and modern classical and I guess what you'd call world music, and country, old country, like George Jones.
Our talk was postponed 45 minutes because you were at the doctor's office. How is that whole getting-older thing going?
I was just at the optometrist. My eyes have never been perfect, but he put these new contacts in and I can see 20/10 with them, so that's getting better. There's not many people that can do that. My back's a little on the funky side. I've played a lot of contact sports all my life, and that's never good for your back. For years and years, I played a real heavy guitar. That was maybe not the smartest thing I ever did.
If you go
WHAT: Bob Weir and RatDog
WHEN: 8 tonight
WHERE: Higher Ground Ballroom, South Burlington
TICKETS: Sold out
INFORMATION: 652-0777 or www.highergroundmusic.com.
Contact Brent Hallenbeck at 660-1844 or bhallenb@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com

...........WOOF!



................Jerry Stamps..........
Read about it here

Sign the online petition

Blossoms Bloomin

Hola!
Something for Dylan & Latvala fans
Lucky folks looking forward to shows next week!
I'll be busy getting some stuff together for REX..and getting the kids settled into school..but I'm with you all in spirit..
If ya get the chance give that Bobby Weir a gentle hug from me..Go ahead tell him Irenie sent ya..Just don't squeeze him too hard.
lol..

MAZEL TOV on the grammy nomination to Dan Zanes-the kid's album nominated is House Party- which has Bobby in it...Ruh-Roh, I see theyre up against my very favorite kid's artist , The fabulous Ella Jenkins!
Maybe we can hope for a tie?

Didnt mean to cause concern wrt the sad news for Sash...
A terrible thing happened to one of her classmates(whole family murdered by the dad!). The family lived on the same street, a few houses down from one of Sash's best buddies. All the girlfriends were calling here on Friday to process thru the grisly details with Sash-who was still at camp.
We werent exactly sure how well Sash knew the girl or the family. I knew the face in the newspaper- the girl had often passed by the car while I was waiting to pick up Sash from school.Though Scott and I had planned to discuss it with Sash after we got her home- Noah blurted it all out the moment we got back to our hotel in Willits (town near Laytonville). All is okay. Thanks for the vibes and the emails.
Sash was fairly shocked something like that could happen to someone she knew and a bit freaked that a dad could do such a thing ...

...........
Winnarainbow was same as ever! Wavy was in NY for the weekend- emceeing something..But he had been around most of the session according to Sash.
Sash had a great time..For the big show she was part of a Improv group..and also prt of a 70's dancing thing...Almost anyone can do The Bump & The Hustle but my kid can do them on stilts now!
............
Home in time for anniversary celebrating...17 years of mostly great fun and it goes by really fast when it's good! We enjoyed a massive Indian dinner and curled up on the couch to watch the series finale of Six Feet Under...A show we loved..I could do a whole blog about how much we both identifyed with parts of ALL the charactors lives.. Sarah's "Artist Way" friends! Claire in Art School-LOL!.The charactor of Brenda's mother mightve been based on my mom- said Scott. In the end, Keith was one of my favorite charactors (after Brenda)..I hated seeing him shot up...
Fare thee well ((SFU))
On to "WEEDS" and "Rome" now, I guess...

Hippy Budday, Cousin!

Enjoy the shows!

GDTSTOO still has GA tickets for the Rex Benefit!!!

"Comes a Time" show at the Greek Theatre in
Berkeley on September 24:
I looks like we will be mainly able to accommodate
all the first postmark orders, and maybe a few more
for the $255.00 and $105.00 price range orders.

However, we cannot accept any more orders in
those price ranges.

We do have sufficient general admission tickets
available at $53.00 per ticket, so feel free to mail in
for those.
===============
Bob Weir and RatDog:
Mail order is closed for the shows in Burlington,
VT, Mansfield, MA, Oakdale (a.k.a. Chevrolet
Theatre), Wallingford, CT, The New York State
Fair, Syracuse, NY.

Our allotment for the Summerstage gig in New
York is sold out.

We do have some tickets left for Philadelphia,
Gilford, NH (at $41.00 Res. only.), Atlantic City, NJ
and the Albany NY. Check our web site for
information on these shows.

The Crew of GDTSTOO
8.19.2005

--
"Well the cool breeze came on Tuesday,
And the corn's a bumper crop
And the fields are full of dancin'
Full or singin' and romancin'
The Music never stopped."

Weir/Barlow

What is going on?

It's craziness...
A summer full of almost being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Instead of our usual Friday excusion to SF, Noah and I and Kemmie & her boys were in SF yesterday.
We were right on Kearney & Post -yes, exactly where some sort of explosion took place this morning.
Another very upsetting incident has had my attention most of today and so I'm just hearing of this explosion right now.
Please send a vibe our way as we have some sad news to tell Sash after we pick her up from camp.. I don't want to write any more about it here...
Thanks...
Have a peaceful and happy weekend.

I'll be home Sunday in time to celebrate my 17 year Wedding anniversary to Senor Scotto!
And "they" said it wouldnt last 2 weeks!

Lucky Lucky EastCoasters!

And for us Westies

more Summer please!

I know-I know, I need to finish my report on the JGBB- I'm slowly getting there- I am adding when I can to the blogs..
A few
Bits
and pieces
for your perusal..

And has anyone heard of this guy?
.............
Will I be able to get myself ready for another school year?
I don't know?
Both kids are starting new schools..and the big kid is likely moving out to Marin as he is getting placed in a bank over there very soon.
I start back to teaching in a few weeks...Still a Rainbow Bear & Sunflower teacher but this year I no longer will be working with Miss Bev..My new support teach is a very pretty young lady named Crissy. This might be her first year actually teaching-I don't know but I hope she won't mind listening to a lot of Bobby?
................
So nu? Letters from Winnarainbow..One reveals Ms. Sash already managed to injure herself..Something about walking into a branch (Stilts related I gather?) and something about a troup of African drummers performing for the campers. We already go to pick her up this weekend. She already starts school on Tuesday!
I liked it better when school didnt start til after Labor day...
................
I finally framed about 10 of my Chetfest posters...Now I just have to figure out how to safely hang them in the stairwell? I'll mix em in with some of the den posters so it won't feel too much like a Chet shrine...I only have one shrine and it's all Bobby.

THEATER REVIEW | 'SHAKEDOWN STREET'

It's Back to the 40's, Deadheads

By ROB KENDT

Published: August 15, 2005

More ambitious than your average jukebox musical, "Shakedown Street" turns a clutch of Grateful Dead tunes, including the title song, into a jazzy jump-blues score for a noir narrative set in the San Francisco Mission District in 1941, decades before patchouli and tie-dye. Sorry, Deadheads: there are no 20-minute guitar solos. There is not even a guitar in the brass-dominated band.
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Readers
Forum: Theater

The gambit works remarkably well, on a musical level. Though not quite show tunes, rootsy Dead classics like "Truckin' " and "Scarlet Begonias" settle relatively comfortably into this time warp, and so do ballads - "Stella Blue," "Mission in the Rain." As musical theater, though, "Shakedown Street," part of the New York International Fringe Festival, is all dressed up with no place to go. Some liabilities are technical: the six-piece band often overwhelms even the biggest belters among the large cast, and Joel E. Silver's lighting is rarely sufficient.

Still, most of the problem is with Michael Norman Mann's convoluted libretto, about a raggedy gumshoe (Michael Hunsaker) on a hunt for rare art with connections to California's Spanish missions, which mixes him up with a moll (Alyssa Rae), a corrupt judge (Michael Sheraton) and a laconic cop (Marshall York).

Lyrics by Robert Hunter (who wrote for the Dead) - mostly to Jerry Garcia's music, with additional material by other Dead members and new tunes by Greg Anton - strain to fit the storyline, let alone to be heard. Jeff Griffin's direction moves the action along, but while one is grateful for the music of "Shakedown Street," the show is D.O.A.

"Shakedown Street" runs Wednesday at 2 p.m.; Saturday at 4 p.m.; Sunday at 10 p.m.; and Aug. 25 at 9:30 p.m. at the Village Theater, 158 Bleecker Street, Greenwich Village;(212) 279-4488.

While poking around for news of whether or not Patti Smith is playing on 9/24 (I have a Patti Smith story but it's too long and sad for this place)
...I found this very sweet tribute page on her site...

Happy Bertha to JillyBean! "She always liked to sing along"

She's famous, y'know!
Hope this link works?

We interrupt this Blog to WISH A VERY HIPPY BERTHA TO DAVE !

Woof!

Saturday-JGBB-continously being edited and added to til this title gets changed

After Friday's show and late night/early morning activities, Glowy and I slept in a little bit longer than we expected. Getting into the campground went real quickly as most of the campers were already there.

Before reporting to Chez for rail service, I made my rounds through the Shakedown..Spent most of my time at the one & only stained glass booth. Bought dangly glass trinkets for Sash (a dragonfly) & Jase (a star) there, then found a dancing bear pendant & ring for Noah. And a few other things for a few friends. Prices were good and the venders were pleasant. I shouldve gotten that "If found, Please return to the Drum Circle" tee shirt though! I didnt forget Scott- Mike had stopped at a gas station on our way through Pennsylvania that was next to a little roadside farm food booth...Nothing (well, almost) makes Scott happier than trying out homemade preserves- so I bought him a few jars of the kind of jams he loves...Scott is very happy with his jam these mornings.


Once I got my water, I headed back to the blankets..on my way was my buddy Topher! Wasnt sure he would make it but I'm glad he did! Scott and I met Topher long ago at a Ratdog show in New Orleans...It was good to catch up.
Back at the rail, already it seemed more intense than the day before..lots more folks settling in early. The only times I got away from there were to go say hi to a friend and a little later to buy a wristband for the ocrs.
But it was fun..not far from us were several friends...every so often someone would come around for a quick visit. It was also cool to see Dick-another Bay Area face...I think he did the entire first leg, too?
The weather was somewhat warmer and less ominous than the day before...for a little while the humidity seemed to lift and all that remained was the direct heat- felt very California like for a bit. Interesting, while I get fussy about humidity-which doesnt seem bother the East Coasters so much, I noticed the penetrating Cali-like sun seemed to bug the East Coasters more than the humidity..
There was music all day which for me ranged from okay to alright....It was nice to see DNB there..Robin Syl joined them for a song..

I totally enjoyed Jimmy
Herring with the Code talkers - sort of a little like the BareNakedLadies in that they had all kinds of little tricks and flash for us.

Bobby watched part of their set from the back

...This day we were stationed in front of MK...and sure enough a guy with a big camcorder set up his tripod right in front of my spot...
The rail and first several rows were tight with folks. Predictably, most folks arrived with The Codetalkers...It was pretty squeezy. When I was ready to make a break away to go dance on the hill (During Odessa) I had a young friend take my spot and moved toward the slope or tried to. I couldnt break through the wall of folks! Last time I was on such a tight rail was at the Sweetwater for Crusader Rabbit Stealth thing..There was no choice (I was getting the most evil looks trying to fit in somewhere) back to my rail spot...Just in time for Corrina...I wasnt paying much attention to who was next to me until a girl with dready hair pounced next to me..soon enough her boyfriend showed up and he and her got into a squabble that involved some namecalling and swatting..The guy left and all returned to good. The second set was my fave set of the Bash. I'll be back with my impressions of the setlist. I did so miss my Scott through SOTM..
Again once the show ended it was a moment before enough folks moved so I could run up to the Ocr line...Once disks were in hand, I headed back to the rail where Glowy was waiting with all our stuff. It was nice, Jay and Robin Syl were around. Spoke with Jay for a little bit- he's always very sweet to me- no doubt it's likely I remind him of some old auntie. I let him know how wonderful those Mid Atlantic/East Coaster fans had been to me.
Glowy and I hadnt eaten since way earlier and so headed toward the food boothes. Found Cuz Bud on the way and the three of us went on to munch out on pizza & gyros. The only thing I'd want to add to the SSDD campgrounds would be some picnic tables or something near the food concessions...There was no where to just sit and eat/drink. Ever try eating a greek salad while schlepping a pack and sipping a beverage...It's not easily done. We found a flat surface to balance our plates on inside the barn and munched while grooving to G-13.
After the music ended we wandered out and around the campground- really a sweet place- we found a second "shakie Shakedown" somewhere by the big bonfire. It was lovely to be outdoors and among friends in such a place. Almost dreamlike.




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With GG & yet another cute guy named Dave...

mmm, gyros!

FriDog @ JGBB

We were up and out to the campground by 10 am.
The weather was weird..Warm but dark and cloudy and humid. I was happy it wasnt hot & humid like it was in DC or London...Some scary looking clouds...We were lugging a cooler and bags of stuff but didnt get far when a golf cart stopped to give us a lift. Glowy went in the front to navigate, I hopped on back ending up next to a guy calling himself 'Spirit" he seemed a bit spun and was kvetching that he couldnt find his hoop.
The cart let us out right in front of the cook tent at Camp Tooboard-aka-Hamhoarders..Naturally, we were greeted with hoots for our royal entrance.
After visiting a bit, and for me meeting a bunch of TOOBoard people, Glowy and I went to go take a look around.

We were walking toward the big picture of Jerry Garcia when I ran into one of the usual suspects on his way to work..Went by grabbed a hug, made some quick introductions then left him to work his magic...within seconds I met Jilly! I know Jilly & Ben from Deadnet for years but have never met them in 3-d before! Jilly's lost (I dont think she'd mind me saying) a huge amount of weight and is truly an inspiration! Ben and I post in DNC's teacher discussion ..My friend Kemmie has met them both and told me good things. I loved getting to know them. In the midst of chatting away, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Cousin Bud!
I love the cousins, I met them on the UKRD tour and well, just love them! Glowy wanted to go check something out and so I went for a walk with Bud to find Sammy.
They were set up by the Dot orgers. I can't say it enough..I luv the Cousins! And it was great to see them- I caught them up on our mutual UK friends. I'm real happy and lucky to have seen so many of those 2003 tour buddies this Summer!
We put the walkie talkies to the test and located Glowy..We could see her but it was a moment (that included bystanders waving their arms in her direction) before she saw us and climbed up the slope toward us. We sat for a moment with Jilly, Ben and DNCr TMC. I know TMC from the Deadnet Discussion about kids with learning differences. While most folks think of message boards as gossipy type places, Deadnet has many very special support discussions and you make a particular connection to people who take a moment to listen or help you through a tough day..and Lord knows, Ive had some rough days.....Also, hanging in Jilly's place were Graceful & Russ- my West Coast Tour Buddies. Graceful stayed at my house for the Marin Ratdog thing in May and it was fun having her happy self there.
After visiting we wandered down to the stage to find that rail space was being claimed, Chez had claimed space for us and so Glowy and I sat down spread out our stuff and enjoyed the humidity with a group of folks. I met BEW & Lizardking & Jammin John & KC Jones & FLA Jen and dozens of online folks...On the ride back to Newark, I counted over 50 names from all over the net that we saw/ met! I liked everyone I met..it was just like the Eurotours in that way..You just sort of bond.
I saw a few others from the Euro/UK tours over the weekend ((Gronk,Warren,Keir,Ruth))..
The rail thing was easy going and friendly through the day. As usual, I found ways to entertain myself, taking a poll of who wanted which song, working on my crocheting, scribbling notes, taking a couple of pictures.
Some bands came and went..I was primed only for my Ratdog though and when Rail buddies came for their turns holding space, I took off in search of my homeboy. Before finding him, I did a quick stop at the gate for a hug from Robin Syl(Hey, it was a courier thing!) Snapped a photo of Jammin while I was there too.
At last found my buddy and we took a look around Shakedown and had a nice visit and then it was time for me to return to the rail.


So yes, back to the rail por moi.
Yay! Showtime!
The day before leaving (real last minute) I got an urge to make a banner...Either for the vacation house or the tent- so I could identify my "home" in case I got confused (I do get so easily confused) I had a few yards of red, white and blue sequiny-sparkly fabric which turned out to be just right for a sort of dogbone motif. It turned out okay and ended up hanging on the rail, which made finding my rail crew right easy. We turned it so that it faced (blinded?) the band. I left it with Chez, so now he can figure out what to do with it through the rest of tour.
The entire front of the rail was occuppied by online folks-which was pretty cool! In my immediate circle were great friends from TooBoard,Deadnet and new friends from DotOrg. It just rocked. Later during the show, when some guy wanted to cut into my spot, a paticular online God had my back. Thank You!
Anyhow, My spot was just exactly perfect. While I was wandering around a cam had been set up right in front of "my spot"on the rail. I have my preferred places to be when I do get a choice at the rail which almost always coincide with the photographers. So cool, the pretty woman with the mega cam was in front of me. A little between Jeff & Kenny. Love it- the band seemed to be a bit angled toward the big cam all night. Real or imagined, I felt every smile, scowl, nod, blink, wink,grimace & grin was being aimed right at me...Except for the Bobby scowls, it was too fun!

............................
Setlist-Fridog
Inspiration move me brightly...
Through the show bubbles poured down from somewhere above the stage.
Some guy with a clipboard was in the photo pit - everytime the ever watchful Dennis McNally looked at him, the guy would pretend to be writing notes (he just had scribbles n his paper the whole time)...when Dennis looked away the guy would be dancing...at some point the guy moved on. Gotta love the old clipboard scam!
Didnt expect a Blackbird opener- but it was a perfect opener.
Maggie was fun.
I'm getting more than my share of HCS- It seems to be coming up about every other show I go to. That's cool..
Easy Answers...
Baby Blue has the line "Highways for gamblers" which rang kinda true for the drive into Terra Alta.
Youngblood is always fun.
Didnt expect Crazy Fingers...Life may be sweeter for this..I don't know
Masterpiece- I never get tired of this one. I just set my London slideshow to it (takes forever). This song brings back so many excellent memories..It was one of my 2 hoped for songs for the weekend.
After was a real teaser of a jam..I thought it was gonna be about 3 different songs but was thrilled (it was Glowy's choice) that it turned into Miracle! I need a miracle everyday! Real groovy weird jammin in this song....gets spacy...and then
voila- It's a lovely Uncle John's band....My sons number one favorite GD song...and I thought of both of them all through this..
Then OH YES!!! It's in the jammmmmmin-/TOO up next! ! Another alltime Bobstar favorite..I'm smiling just thinkin about it! If I ever choose another screen name, I think it's gonna be "Spanish Lady"!
Big Cheers from everyone after that one.
Next up I think was Jay drumming on Robin's bass...I can't think where but I seem to recall I've seen Jay do this before? Maybe with ABC Soup? The Elbo Room thing? Where? Sounds like an ABC jam too..gets severely jazzy.
then slows out into (Sasha's favorite) Ladyw/fan/Terrapin!
I understand this one was for Topher -for his berthaday! Nice!
Spiral Light of Venus rising first and shining best!
Ends with a sweet little keys thing ((Jeff)) which turns the corner to a bouncy start to a soaring 2Djinn..Isnt this how all good tales begin? This is my favorite 2 Djinn that I've seen/heard live...was having one of those nites where the setlist (set2 esp.) made perfect sense to me...
For an encore we got a rousing US Blues! WOOHOO!
check my pulse!
Hippy Bill we missed you being there to wave that flag high and wide!





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I would never have found this place on my own.
.Really grateful that Mari had been there before and after pulling up, getting checked for glass and receiving our bright green wristbands we were let in. Camp wasnt even a 1/4 filled yet and we had no trouble at all locating Chez and his fellow early birds. I lamely tried to help set up our tent- we didnt intend on sleeping there but Glowy felt it would be good to have somewhere to crash if we needed to. Good thinking there! We were located withing a large circle of TooBoarder's tents.
As soon as possible we went down to check out the shopping and food.
The pizza was good. But imagine my excitement to see the gyros booth! I have a real thing for anything in a pita...and there really isn't anything quite like having a big messy, dripping gyros/falafel/sharma/doner kabob after a Ratdog show. I have dripped hummas and tahini post Doggy show in Germany, Holland,The UK and now we can add W.Va. to the list.
Glowy & I hung out for awhile and then headed to take the truck back to the house. It was a little horrible in a funny way...because the truck was parked in a field with knee high weeds and potholey ground and it was dark and we were stumbling unable to see each other even and I hadnt slept on the plane and had been awake for over 30 hours straight...Just as I went tumbling down for about the 5th time, I grabbed the distinctive grill of the car.. and yelled "Hey Robin, I think the truck found me!".
Phew, It was the truck! We climbed in and used the 4wh drive to get out of there. Folks were driving in so we had to wait a few moments. The traffic guy gave us a hard time about coming and going which was a little upsetting but he chilled out after a moment and let us go..He was wise to do that too because if I didnt get into a shower or a bed real soon, I mightve gotten a little insane on him..luckily we were out of there and back at the house within moments.
We fought our way past a plethora of moths (some were the size of birds!) who were lazing on the screen door by the outside light.. The house was great! two stories, TVs, 2 bathrooms, 3 bedrooms,a back deck with a forest behind it..Of course, bear warnings (no one said there be bears!) Did some girltalk with Robin and crawled into bed about 2:30am

My strange heroes lead me on...again! Or in the words of Steve Miller "Go on, take the money and run!"

How did this start? Back in May or June? Glowy said she'd figure out the logistics and accomodations- All I'd have to do is just get to NJ....Timing is everything and in this case, Scotto was planning a party or something like that for his softball buddies around the time of the JGBB and so couldnt have been (as you can see by the photo) happier to send me across the country to a place where cell phones cease to work.
.......
I won't waste time describing how terrible US Airways was...always Virgin Air if possible from this day forth for me. My first flight was to Dulles- I had to RUN to catch it. Then it was a teeny plane to Newark. Newark is a bigass airport and I just hoped Glowy would find me- sure enough she did! We were on the road to Pennsylvania to regroup with Mike & Mari. Pennsylvania was cool to finally see. We drove through Bethleham ! It was nothing like I'd imagined- it and most of the towns we passed through reminded me of the California Gold Country.
Had a long (about 5 hours?) but great drive time driving along the Applachian mountains. They are low and rolling compared to our Sierras. I was trying to tell my ever so practiced and perfected cheese smuggling story when Mary yelped "BEAR!" ..Sure enough crossing the highway was a glossy black bear! We all just sat there open mouthed for a moment..lol, had a tough time talking about cheese after that!
..............
We managed to avoid Maryland, where "Operation J. G." was in progress, til the last hour or so of driving but soon were in Terra Alta and very soon found our way to the excellent vacation house that was our off campsite base. After unloading some of our stuff, it was back in the truck to head out to the Sunshine Daydream Campgrounds.

Holy Smokes!

Before even having a chance to process JGBB, we are already looking forward to the ComesatimeRatdogA the Greek adventure next month...
Whooooosh! And Somewhere in between Sunday and today, I took my Sash to Berkeley to catch a bus to camp. I hope she's having a great time as usual. It may be her last Summer as a kid - she starts High School later this month. Next year maybe teen camp?
Time stops for no one and while Jerry Garcia is present in dvds, cds, paintings, fashionable accessories and most importantly in his music...it has been ten years since we lost him in his mortal form. I think I heard the news really early in the morning when Lynnie phoned me. Lots of tears and lots of phone calls from Deadhead friends and unexpected sympathy and love offered up by non deadhead friends..Our parents were sensitive and respectful which meant a lot to me...Scott still had his mom & dad then...Jase was still a boy (and was mad at us for never getting around to taking him to a GD show) and Noah was a month shy of his first birthday.
On the day of the memorial My sister (she wasnt married yet) and Chris took Noah to Stinson beach for the day, while Jase went to his Dad's. Scott and I took Sasha who was just 3 years old with us to the Polo fields. We were all decked out in tie dye. When we first got there, Sasha gaped at all the people - a city of tie dye and exclaimed "Oh Mommy! This must be where all the rainbow people live!"
We managed to miss the speeches and parade but I don't think I wouldve been able to handle it anyways. It was emotional enough just to see the big shrine. There were little shrines and assorted drum circles everywhere. I dont remember how we passed the time there but by evening we ended up on Haight which was as crowded as it had been when I first remember going there with my parents in the mid 60's..It was pretty much impossible to drive around. There were simply too many people. I dont remember much else..except being happy to see so many people publicly come out to say good things about Jerry and his legacy..
Up til about then, I took it for granted that there would always be a Grateful Dead and that maybe someday some way I'd meet and be able to express my thanks to those guys. And though I loved Jerry , it's always been Bobby who takes the dark out of the night for me. It was/is very important to me that I'd get a chance to return some nice type of energy to him and his while we are both still around...
Damn,
I have to end this here - it's Scotto's day off and he and I have plans.
When I'm back online, I'll finally reflect on JGBB. I really did have an Epic time!