Dead & Co took the stage in Colorado and didn’t waste any time getting all kinds of wonderful. As long as you could ignore Mayer’s falsetto, Dancin In The Streets was an ideal way to kick off the world’s greatest dance party. Out of all the shit people choose to take issue with me about, Mayer’s falsetto isn’t one of them. I’ve yet to have somebody comment, “Fuck you man! I Love John’s falsetto bro!” Now that I said it, some folks will be forced to reply that way… Wait for it…
The jams in Dancin got everybody doing just that. It was funky and 70s styled. I felt like I was in a white jumpsuit at a Psychedelic Disco. That’s about as fun of a way to start a show as I can imagine and a welcome addition to the repertoire! Cold Rain and Snow seems like one of John’s favorites and he wasted no time getting to it. Hell In A Bucket kept things moving in the right direction and didn’t suffer from ill tempo at all. Weir showed how falsetto should be delivered on that one and that’s all I’m gonna say about that… Big River is always a blast and commonly heard in states with Big Rivers. Always got that one at Riverbend. Funny how that shit works…
I’m gonna have to give Althea its own paragraph. For the first time that I noticed, John was able to detach himself vocally from the timing and tasks required to play it. He sang smoother throughout the song and didn’t have to start and finish verses according to where the notes he was playing started and stopped. Garcia did that so naturally and it’s pretty hard to find guitarists that sing pull that off. I might not make sense to you, but I make a lot of sense to me. The jams throughout Althea caused the band and everyone in attendance to have multiple neurological orgasms and have them all at once. Jeff’s solo took the whole thing to the next level. When the cameras caught the faces of the guys in the band, it looked they were all watching the birth of a magical unicorn. The images of our favorite musicians, not named Garcia, on the screens looked like a highlight reel of climax faces in a Dead & Company porno. John was doing the funky chicken! Bill was making those Bill faces! Mickey was deep in the moment with that mad scientist type of look! Weir was throwing chords over the mountains! Oteil was pounding the song something fierce! Jeff’s hair caused women to wonder what kind of products he uses and… Hold on, let’s not get too frickin carried away… Reel it in Dean, pump the brakes on that shit… It was definitely one of those moments when everybody was getting off in the same way at the same time. That was the kind of music that reminded me why I abandoned jobs, possessions, people and all kinds of shit in order to experience it in the past!
New Speedway rolled along and gave way to the Music Never Stopped which was more than enough at that point. They could’ve just done the whole, “We’ll be back in just a little bit” and disappeared for what always seems like much more than a little bit. Instead, everybody throws on an acoustic, including Oteil with that big ass acoustic lookin bass and close the set with Ripple. I was damn near worried that folks wouldn’t be able to properly process Ripple that early in the proceedings. I imagine if you were a little too high, you might just go home at that point and think you saw a great show! You wouldn’t be all wrong really…
Intermission was all about folks smokin tons of legal weed and huggin each other. That went on for a lot longer than the little bit that Bob has been talking about for 50 years and the tension started building again. By the time the band took the stage again, people’s eyeballs were sweating from looking at the purple lights that frame the stage.
The first notes of St Stephen send the initial shock wave through my spinal cord every time. John has the Gibson SG strapped on and before long, it looks like somebody dosed Angus Young. Mayer was going full AC DC headbanging his way through that one until he flubbed his vocal and laid down a brick that everyone in the band momentarily tripped on. The best thing about the mishap was that everyone in the band just laughed and got back to business. Mistakes are a lot more fun when you laugh it off and get back to layin down some serious shit immediately. It finished strong and Estimated was the next tune to run with the baton.
One thing I appreciate on the HD Streams is that you can really hear what Mickey is doing. If you’re way up front you can hear him as well but on the recordings and the webcasts he’s exstreamly clear. He adds too much to the party to be so muffled. I bust Mickey’s chops a lot but as a young dude that played the drums, I wanted to play like Mickey. It’s easier now, I can just pick up a pair of my wife’s shoes and jam along! If you only knew.. Brother cracks me up! Love You Forever Mickey!
Eyes always brings out the best in everyone and last night it showcased the immense talent that was gathered together to move the music we all love forward. Once again, Chimenti just tore it up as did John and Oteil. Eyes is a tune that I really focus a lot on what Oteil is up to. Not just on the solo but throughout the whole song. There were chops flying all over the damn place during Eyes and it didn’t end there. Oteil’s solo was filled with the emotion and connection that’s caused so many people to become emotionally connected to him. Let It Grow continued the scorched earth kind of attack that was going down. The jams got so confusing, I thought I might lose hold of em. Right at the point of them almost slipping away, they all started making sense again. Then the one soft and easy lick that brings your brain right back in alignment with it all. Yup, that one! Just like after The Music Never Stopped, that would’ve been enough but instead, we get Deal. It started a little sluggish like the thin air might be slowing down the bus but that sumbitch started heading downhill in a hurry as Mayer fired away to lead that jam to all the proper places.
Seemed like Mickey had some technical issues during drums but was persistent in achieving what he set out to accomplish. Bill kept it alive while things were being worked out and we got a great segment on the beam of life.
Space was filled with the Days Between but it never made it out of there. Lost in the cosmos until further notice. Space made a left turn at Albuquerque and took another direction when the vicous licks that set off The Other One came flying out of the O Zone. We were all in spin cycle when the Other One closed and the opening notes of The Dew signaled the start of life’s greatest finisher. While I’ve never been crazy about Bob singing The Dew, I’m always happy to hear it. Probably should slide that one over to Oteil’s side of the stage but that’s all I’m gonna say about that. The Dew was great and Mayer absolutely slayed the finish. It seems to me like John might still be working on that solo if the band didn’t call for an end to it. I remember the first one he did at MSG when the entire band just stopped playing behind him. Listen to that shit if you think I’m kidding. I’d like to see how far he’d take it if the rest of the band didn’t put the brakes on it. It was exceptional none the less. Jams like that finish will endear John to many DeadHeads in the present and in the future. I’d like to hear him explore the delicate beginning of that last solo. That for me was Garcia completely doing open heart surgery. The amount of unnecessary material Garcia removed from my heart during the delicate part of the solo at the end of Dews through the years is incredible. It still happens to this day when I get quiet in the listening room and roll my favorites. Anyway, The Dew was great! Raw, emotional and slamming an exclamation point down at the end of a stellar night!
Touch encore helps ya leave happy and after a show like last night, it was really easy to feel the chorus deeply. The music we love will survive long after any of us. The best part for me is that it’s not only surviving but thriving through the experience that Dead & Company is providing! I’m humored by people that complain about people that complain. DeadHeads have pretty much always come in two categories, Those that absolutely love everything, even if it’s terrible and those that criticize everything even if it’s wonderful. Some try to have a little balance in the middle somewhere but not many. I’ve always listened to the music very closely and have never been afraid to acknowledge its flaws. I’ve always loved the people that make the music but have never been afraid to recognize their humanity. The reason I’ve always kept coming back for more is that I’m able to experience my own flaws through the music in a deeply profound way. A way that doesn’t cause me to run from them or ignore them. The Grateful Dead experience has created within me qualities that allow me to put myself out there on the field of life without being emotionally attached to who likes it and who doesn’t. The experience has crafted within me the ability to brush off the bad and take hold of the good. I’ve slowly come to realize that being understood the way I hope I would means much less than having compassion and love for those that don’t seem to understand me at all. The Music Never Stops and neither does the abundance of life’s gifts that continue traveling through it. I’m forever grateful my mind was developed by the only musical society I know that contains vast treasures of vital information within the context of the experience they provide. Some catch it, some don’t, so what? For some, they just play some songs, for some they provide a lifeline in a world gone mad. Some go to dance and get high as possible with people that are fun to be around. Some go to celebrate the miracle of life itself and find the deeper things that somehow grafted their way into the center of the music for those that are able to take hold of it. Whether you’re laughing the past away or just trying to make it one more day, the choice is all yours… It’s every bit as alive right now as its ever been for me personally.
Love You Long Time! Catch ya later! Photo from Club Front by Bader Enterprises.
Dead To The Core,
Dean Sottile (pronounced So Tilly)
@gd50th on Twitter
Grateful Dean on Facebook