I hope whoever had the idea at Nugs to give everybody a free stream has the best year of their life. I hope they’re blessed coming in and blessed on the way out! Thanks a million Nugs! We Love You Forever!

Take a few days off and my pal, Marty becomes a star. He’s sleeping in a park outside of Pittsburgh as we speak. Dude got hooked by the experience and left everything to search for the sound. We’ve all been there… I ever tell ya about the car I left in Philly after the California Earthquake show in 89? The night before, 10-19-89 was among the best shows I’ve seen. The second set was almost like both nights at Hampton merged. Great show! Anyway, I was having problems with this ’78 Lime Green VW. It crapped out on my way out of the parking lot that night. I had to get to Charlotte for the next shows and just grabbed my bag, tapes and anything I might need and left the car in the lot at The Spectrum, never to be seen again. That’s about the shape Marty is in right now…

I don’t know if the brothers have air conditioned clothing or some kinda shit rich people might have but how did none of them sweat last night? Atlanta was a steam bath and those dudes came walking off the stage like they just signed an endorsement deal with an antiperspirant manufacturer. There were people that had sweat pooling in the folds of their neck and somehow 6 dudes that just got done jammin for 3 hours looked like they just stepped out of a limo…

I don’t have a lot of time because whenever Dead & Company is on tour, I completely abandon everything else in my life to chase the musical dragon. I’m gonna have to attempt to impose time limits on my own contributions. Wish me luck… West Coast swing had me wore out for a couple of weeks and I’m thankfully getting to sleep at reasonable hours for the duration of this tour. Here’s how it went down…

My phone started buzzing like an electric razor during soundcheck. Something about one of my favorite musicians singing one of my favorite songs. I began to get nervous and stayed that way until after Knockin’ when I realized it was only some practice. There’s some hesitation on letting that one out of the bag. That’s all I’m gonna say about that…

Scarlet was a dangerous way to kick off the first set. A bunch of old ass folks in the crowd goin from zero to full blown boogie is liable to get somebody hurt. No time for stretching or warming up there. Most likely injuries galore during that tune. Shit was fun and tight even with John and those atrocious Donna Harmonies… The DeadHead brain is wired to receive Fire following Scarlet but got Shakedown instead. It was great but it took a little while for the mind to accept the sonic algorithm. As Shakedown started my body innately moved according to Fire. It took a while to shake it off but Shakedown rocked and displayed moments of creative excellence from everybody. I could talk about it all song by song but jambands or relics can give you a set list.

The next moment that really hit me was during They Love Each Other. It’s a fine example of how Grateful Dead music can find a completely rocking place to set up camp in the middle of a tune that’s kinda mellow. I loved the early TLEOs from 73 and I think this band would really sound great returning to that form. In Atlanta, the segments between verses found power and massive energy to move around within the framework of a typically slow-moving number. It showed how having Jeff on keys makes a good song a great song and a great song even better yet! Inspired music was the order of the evening and continued with my favorite first set Weir tune, Black Throated Wind. Weir sounded great and I was so happy his pants were the proper length. I won’t allow a dude in Capris to melt my mind. That’s just me tho… Half Step closed out a first set that was full of life and the band is getting tighter and starting to reach levels of play that make every night a good night to see Dead & Company.

I thought Here Comes Sunshine died a painful death after its last appearance at Shoreline but it was resurrected like Jesus in Atlanta. Shit sounded great and the jams went to unique places with the hive mind in full gear. Playin continued the party with the contents of confusion that allow the mind to be challenged by the music. Uncle John’s contained a Supplication Jam that only could’ve been better if Lazy Lightning was attached to it. It reminded me of that Supplication Jam at Cal Expo in 91 that came out of Estimated and lead into Uncle John’s. I had a dream they busted out Lazy Lightning the night before and became a taper that morning. I bought a DAT machine as soon as I woke up and a ton of tape and spent the next 2 years in the taper’s section. Those were the days…

Moving on, Playin got finished after Uncle John’s which I thought was great since the Finish usually has to wait until the end of Second set. Great to hear it all delivered like that. That would’ve been plenty but once again, we get an extra. Not just an extra, we get The National Anthem Of Grateful Dead Land! Terrapin says everything that needs to be said in way that only Garcia and Hunter could’ve crafted. Drums was Drummy and Space held my favorite segment of the night when Lakewood turned into the World’s Largest Jazz Club. Bustin out some Miles Davis was healing salve to my soul. The jazz elements that have long existed in Grateful Dead culture took full bloom when Milestones showed up unexpectedly. I’d suggest you go back and listen to Oteil all through that space. It’s a wonderful treat for the ears and mind! Chimenti signaled the Days Between that got lost in space at Boulder and found its way to Atlanta. While opinions on all performances vary, I don’t hate Weir on The Days Between. Sure, he butchers some lyrics at times, but he’s Bob Weir and I’m not. Being Bob Weir offers him an abundance of forgiveness as well as praise that at times isn’t even deserved.  I’m just glad to be hearing him play this music through massive sound projecting equipment. Sugar Mags closes the set! The story of a fine lady that “Bakes my chicken, when I sleep!”

I love Knockin and I think John does a great job letting that song play through him. Mayer had a gig with his pal Dave Chappelle so I think the sets may have been cut a little short so he could get there. Viola Lee got scratched from the first and The Wheel from the second. My buddy Matt said he felt like he bought an ounce and got shorted a quarter. I personally felt pretty fulfilled following Atlanta! I gotta close it down but the thing that really got me about Atlanta was how much fun the band and all of US are having. It was so evident from beginning to end that band and fans alike have worked out some of the wrinkles and are beginning to fire on all cylinders with great consistency. While there have been great moments or sets from the start, the hiccups and fuck ups are dramatically decreasing and the transformational ability of this music through these musicians is beginning to reach new heights. The last 3 shows have been an ideal combination of what appears to be great camaraderie within the band as well as among those of US that are on the journey with them. I’m totally outta time, Love You! TONS of great stuff yet to be revealed!

Photo Credit goes to Brande Jackson. What a great shot!

Marty Freeman here covering for Dean who’s on vacation. Folsom Field was the place to be Saturday night to see a new band named Oteil Burbridge And The Devil’s Lettuce take the stage. Burbridge, who hosted a Clam Bake for lunch, took his band to the mountaintop over the course of the weekend and played for a ton of overzealous fans. As a reporter new to musical events, I was perplexed by the age of the people he chose for his band and wondered how this group could have found each other. Burbridge, an extremely successful touring artist whose accomplishments are too numerous to count took the stage with some senior citizens and a child on lead guitar to the delight of nearly 50,000 fans.

Everyone seemed delighted when the performers kicked off the show with my mom’s favorite song, “Truckin”. A nice lady next to me offered me a sip of her beverage and sprayed me with some water to help me cool down. Shortly after that, I began to notice the ground getting a little spongy and wondered if it was my knees or if the University replaced the field with a trampoline. The oldest looking fella on the stage really sang in an animated fashion about Smokestacks and Spoonfuls and Smokestacks then Spoonfuls again. I wasn’t sure what was happening but I started seeing some wildlife in my peripheral vision that seemed to vanish when I tried to look directly at it. My new friend passed me a marijuana and told me they were playing a song called Bertha. I began to feel concerned for my well being as the music was starting to give me the impression that it had the ability to separate me from any sense of logical thought. At one point, the music started moving a little too fast and at the same time I was losing my grip on reality, the band lost their grip on the song. We both recovered quickly but I was starting to wonder if the band’s ability to play was directly connected to my own ability to keep my head together. All of a sudden I felt an enormous sense of responsibility for the outcome of this performance. The pressure was beginning to cause me a fair amount of concern…

The band played a song about a nice lady named Rose and it mentioned several characters I was familiar with from my youth like Wolfman Jack. The band sang interesting lyrics like, “Just like New York City, Just like Cherry Coke!’ When the guitar solo started, I was completely amazed at how many notes that young man could string together during his solo. When I thought the segment should come to an end it started all over again from nearly the beginning. It had the ability to stretch my mind like chewed gum. I was starting to realize that the beverage I had earlier might have contained some of the LSDs and wondered if I would be able to make it through this experience. Half of my mind screamed for the experience to stop while half of my mind insisted that it continued. Since I already realized that I was responsible for the band’s performance, I had to try to keep it together even though 50,000 people were watching my every move…

While I sat Indian style, the next 3 songs included deep thoughts about my parents and wondering how a piece of paper called a “Title” gave me the rights to a piece of property that clearly belongs to Mother Earth. As my thoughts seemed to merge together without commas or periods to provide proper spacing and organization I began to feel like my entire life was one enormous run-on sentence. While this concerned me, I got reminded through a thought flash that I was responsible for the band playing and reluctantly stood up so they could continue properly. That’s when I got hit by the Lovelight. My body started moving without my permission and I observed how each part of it was able to signal a note from a different member of the band. While I appeared to be the puppet, I was actually pulling all the strings. The more the elder of the tribe screamed, “A little bit higher!!!” the higher I was getting… This concerned me since I was already so high that I was questioning what High meant in the first place and what might happen to my house and my laundry if I was unable to come down from this trip. How could I ever go to the Post Office in this condition? There was a furnace within me that was producing steam and my body was like a radiator emitting it outwards. I was grateful for intermission since I was beginning to get a little too bent to be responsible for the band anymore.

Intermission lasted 2 and a half weeks and I thought about how full my mailbox must be. Whenever I made eye contact with somebody, it was obvious that THEY knew. They knew I was the guy. The guy responsible for keeping the band playing. The magnitude of that almost caused me to leave early but I was petrified to move from my seat. I was sure getting up would cause a disturbance in the force that I might never be able to handle. I tried to say something to the woman next to me but what came out had no connection to the English language. I wanted water so badly but the thought of moving was an issue. I wanted to use the restroom but that thought bothered me even more. I came to the conclusion that only the return of the band could correct any of this. For some reason, I felt like I understood Trigonometry instantly. Things were getting stranger and stranger.

When Oteil and his band came back to the stage, I realized my break was over and it was time to get back to work coordinating their music. That’s when I got the revelation. I’m not responsible for anything. I’m just a guy in a stadium… We’re all just people in a stadium. I’m not sure why, but that felt like the answer I’d been looking for since the beginning. The first chords of Help On The Way woke me up out of the confusion that I feared I might be stuck in forever. I attached the center of my being to the drummer that doesn’t play the slippers. I felt if I harnessed my trip to his sled, I could travel anywhere. That’s exactly what I did! The weight and heaviness of the perception I had of being responsible for everything completely vanished. It was replaced by feeling that I would now make the decision to be responsible for absolutely nothing at all. As a matter of fact, I’m gonna quit my job and go to all of these damn concerts! The Slipknot song that followed took all of my newfound clarity and threw it in a dumpster and set it on fire. When the guitar player started doing shit like Eddie Van Halen, I became just as confused as I was before I stopped being confused. When I looked at the drummer that plays the slippers, he was making a face like he was solely responsible for my confusion and had no plans on stopping anytime soon.

That’s when the Franklin’s started. I felt like the whole show until now, I was struggling to make it through the birth canal of the Universe. The first notes of Franklin’s were like finally being born after that tumultuous trip. I was totally free and as the music got happier, it caused the wind to blow through the stadium. That was some powerful shit! I had never been so happy in my life! It was like Christmas and Hannukah and New Year’s Eve and Halloween and my birthday all got together and wrote this magnificent song. I felt obligated to dance as hard as I could and honor all of the holidays whose joy gathered together in one place, all at the same time, to Roll Away The Dew! I didn’t even know what that meant but I know it made me unspeakably happy! I finally was able to take hold of the invisible and I knew the thoughts of those around me by merely looking at them. I was clearly making the world a much happier place by participating in this!

Then the mood changed a lot… Oteil sang about an Asian mannequin and I became deeply concerned about a multitude of things I didn’t even know about. While the bells of Heaven were ringing I felt like there was a battle for my soul taking place in a world I was close to but not fully able to access. His voice sounded as though notes that left his vocal cords were delivered directly to my ears by angels… My insides weren’t very comfortable as the song moved along. I started feeling brief but intense moments of emotions elicited by memories of things I thought had been forgotten. I was very scared but somehow comforted at the same time. The music took me where it wanted me to go without any regard for my levels of comfort or concerns. Not only was I never in charge of anything, It hit me that I have absolutely nothing. The song came to the part where the mannequin is fractured and while I still tried my best to control my stability, tears fell like rain from my eyes as I felt every painful moment in my life and everyone else’s, all at once. That’s when the most mysterious thing happened. The band sang “Laaaaaaaaaaaaa La La La Laaaaaaaaaaaa La Laaaaaa” and every painful moment of my life was completely forgiven and encapsulated by the deepest love I’ve ever felt. How the fuck could some men singing La La Laaa shit do that??? While I still had questions, I felt like I had been healed of some things I didn’t even know I had. That’s until Dark Star began. The song started and I closed my eyes to keep my now liquefied brain from seeping out. I clearly saw myself riding an asteroid through space. I literally saw the Trigonometry Equations I considered earlier flying by me and as they did, I innately understood them and knew all of the answers without having to figure anything out. I had a deep realization that all of my struggles trying to figure shit out could be replaced by totally letting go and allowing the answers of life to appear naturally. I realized that most of my struggles existed because I was in the way of my own progress. My earthly efforts to figure shit out actually interfered with all of the answers being able to just show up naturally and with little effort on my own part. The biggest effort I had to make was staying out of the way of my own progress. I tried to write it all down in hopes of remembering it in the future but for some reason, I had the abilities of a 3-year-old when it came to writing.

Drums scared me and apparently, the instrument did something to hurt one of the drummer’s feelings because he kicked the shit out of it. I knew he was looking a little scary all along but it seemed like he finally snapped. Then Oteil played those big ass bass drums that somebody hung on an invisible wall. The sound was so low-pitched I was afraid my insides were gonna end up on my outsides. It’s OK, I figured it all out…

Just when I had the keys to the kingdom, they sang a song about losing the keys to the kingdom. That presented a problem… Here I go again… More questions about issues I never previously was concerned about. I began to sink deep into sorrow again until I heard them start to play another one of the happiest sounds I ever imagined. Emotionally, I once again rolled from a hospital bed onto a magic carpet and began to take the ride of my life. From the deepest parts of the cosmos I was receiving the message that it’s ALL gonna be OK! It’s ALL gonna work out! All I have to do is let go of the poorly constructed expectations that were put on me by a society that doesn’t give a shit what happens to me as long as I stay within the parameters of their self-imposed limitations. At that moment, I totally let go! I released my mind and my soul to travel through this experiment called life without accepting any of the burdens or responsibilities that a mostly bogus society was trying to stick me with. I was free and filled with Love knowing deeply and with certainty that all the answers I had been looking for were right there in my consciousness just waiting for me to remove my own will long enough and give up the false sense of control that was somehow controlling me. I was certain I found a new way to live and think and exist and be more powerful than ever simply by realizing I was able to access all of the power and intelligence that created the planets, the species and all that exists… It was the most powerful experience of my life and it all happened because I went to a concert… Far Out…

Dean will be back next week. He Loves You Long Time!

Converted,

Marty Freeman(pronounced FREE munn)

Credit on the pic goes to Doug Clifton who covered the West Coast like smog this tour!