Grateful Dean

By the end of this review, some folks will undoubtedly be upset and cry me a river. I don’t give a shit, you can keep that in mind. Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden, Oteil, Jeff and Company threw a fuckin party that filled the place with everything we love most about life! Most of you know, I’m no pillow fluffer when it comes to the music. I’m not afraid to call a stinker if we get a stinker and sometimes we get a stinker. If the band laid a brown egg, there are a lot of fans that would sit around the egg and talk about how colorful it is. They get furious if anyone refuses to see how colorful their brown egg is. It’s not all “Epic” and at times can be sluggish. That being said, If you can’t appreciate the quality of the music that came through Dead & Company on the second night at MSG, I don’t know what the fuck is wrong with you…

I spent Tuesday night up close on Oteil’s side. The energy in and around The Garden got a significant boost since Sunday and you could sense the electricity in the air. The opening jam brought us Hell In A Bucket and Weir was in high gear from the open. That brother was animated all night and brought life to the experience that seemed free from any of the hurdles or aggravation a Princess like Bob may succumb to on a daily basis. Cold Rain and Snow was a blast and these guys rock it harder than it was ever rocked. Back in the day it was a decent opener but really never known for any stellar jams that took place. Dead & Company has found a way to turn that one into an all-out assault on the senses! Brown Eyed Women is always welcome as far as I’m concerned and the energy was building steadily. Tennessee Jed was tight and the jams had sharp edges allowing me to express masterful pop and lock skills. Each pass through the jams piled more energy into the fire that was clearly being formed. On opening night I mentioned that Cassidy seemed to be looking for that thing that songs like Cassidy contain. That moment when the music starts bending your thoughts and like a furious ocean takes you where it chooses with or without your consent. They weren’t able to find that thing in Cassidy the first night but they found it like a motherfucker on Bird Song Tuesday! That jam forced me into my own mind and peacefully demanded I take stock of the contents. Then the jam that confuses almost everybody because it’s either Women Are Smarter or Aiko but nobody really knows until somebody starts singing. The set closed with a powerful fury in Women Are Smarter and it was a night destined for greatness!

Oh wait… Did I forget Me and My Uncle? That’s Ok, so did Weir… Not only does Weir forget the words but he apparently forgets he has a teleprompter as well.

At intermission, I helped Dana(pronounced Dan Uh) take off her pants… That’s all I’m gonna say about that…

After Bob’s nap, the band returned for the second set. That’s when shit got some kind of crazy. The Help On The Way told us early that Paradise was waiting but sometimes the promise of paradise doesn’t match one’s expectations. The music that took flight from that point was some of the best live music I’ve heard to date. Throughout Slipknot, Mayer drove the sound into a continuous state of falling apart while being reconstructed at the same time. My brain was hit by wave after wave of musical magic designed by its founder, possibly by accident if there is such a thing, to peel away every layer of unnecessary dead skin that prevented my development. By the time it was reforming into its exit, my soul was exfoliated and jumped immediately into the massive boogey down of Franklin’s Tower! I was high stepping, perma grinning, rockin the robot. Shit, I might’ve even gone to an old school moonwalk at some point. The music was totally alive and suffering none of the ill effects of diminished tempo that Dead & Company music has been commonly hindered by. Once again, when John turns toward Bob, he gets directions. When John turns toward Oteil, he gets INSPIRATION! Oteil was pounding through the paces and adds more life and energy to the band than anybody on the stage. Jeff’s keys were properly placed in the mix and his mastery of the material as well as his ability to elevate it is second to absolutely none! If you ask me, Oteil and Jeff are the fuel in this spaceship. Without either one of them, this thing may never leave the atmosphere.

As the notes that quietly lead into China Doll were heard, they seem to draw back the curtain that we often hide behind in different areas of life. Those notes gently pull back any obstacles that the human psyche attempts to use to prevent me from seeing what must be seen in my own soul. For me, the China Doll pushes open a door that leads to a dark hallway and I choose how far down that hallway I’m willing to walk. As Oteil sang from the center of his being, I made the decision to go as far as the moment would allow. In my opinion, it was the deepest China Doll since his first one at Shoreline. Word by word and verse by verse, Oteil took us to the center of our experience if we were willing to go there. I’m grateful that through repetition, the trip down that hallway isn’t littered by the skeletons of the past any longer but illuminated by the confidence and clarity of the present. While no being is without dark places that require observation, there are more fruits born from the seeds of love than ever before along my path. John’s solos in China Doll were an expression of his internal contents and his soul was on display through the experience. A picture or two still exists down that hall that I’m sometimes hesitant to look at or observe but as we stand stripped of any masks or protection from our conscious mind, there’s still this amazing grace that hits me when we take up the China Doll and acknowledge it as only fractured… Jusssssst a little nervous from the fall. Every time I experience that, I come through the other side a more loving and compassionate human… Thanks for that experience Oteil & Company, it’s been a while since anyone has been able to genuinely take me to that place.

Estimated followed and Weir was strong and completely in command of the moment. He looked clear and free from anything that hinders his expression. I pray that he’s able to keep the booze away from his life and his light won’t be diminished by anything that’s hell-bent on his destruction. When Bob isn’t in Bob’s way, we get to observe the kind of talent that comes through this life very rarely. I had to laugh when I watched his documentary. That movie made it look like Garcia just did dope and Weir was just busy doing some fuckin Yoga. Not even a mention of the potions that have presented his own problems. There’s always one guy in the group that all the fucked up people can point to and say, “At least I’m not as fucked up as him!” Garcia used to be that person. They make the others feel OK by comparison. Garcia is free from that now and I hope nobody in this band ever takes his place. I hope Bob’s demons leave him the hell alone so he can continue to share his gifts in an unobstructed way for many years to come. I’m sure we all do… Estimated was fantastic and Weir is in incredible form right now! It’s a blessing to watch him!

I decided to meditate a little bit during drums. It was an amazing segment that created a magical mood and as I breathed deeply, I totally got taken to another place. Before ya know it, in my mind’s eye I was 20 pounds lighter and in fantastic shape riding on the neck of an elephant through Kenya! That was pretty far out…

I Loved the Coltrane outta Space followed by a great Stella Blue. Then the St Stephen blew up the Garden with the power of dynamite and we were all back on the magical, musical treadmill of life. Mayer blazed through every segment with a growing confidence and clarity that took the procession to great heights. Bill and Mickey providing abundant thunder to the absolute hurricane of sound that was being channeled through the band. The jams were extended and no attempts were being made to control their duration. I don’t know if it’s just me but it seems like Weir has been trying to move the Stephen into The Eleven with little success. Maybe I’m hearing things but it sure did sound like he was trying to push the party in that direction. I hope he gets a little help from the rest of the band really soon! Not Fade Away was out of this world and played like the Love was once again Real after it was last seen limping through the benefit. Once again, John led the way and his work throughout was creative and inspired and unabridged. He got the support that was required for that to happen from everybody up there and all of us at the same time. By the way, as a bunch of DeadHeads, we still completely fuckin suck at The NFA chant. We bust Bob’s balls for forgetting words and shit but as a community, we totally forgot how to pull off a proper NFA chant at the end of that. Maybe the AV guys can give us a teleprompter so we can remember how it goes… “YA KNOW OUR LOVE WILL NOT FADE AWAY! Clap Clap Clap, Clap Clap… YA KNOW OUR LOVE WILL NOT FADE AWAY! Clap Clap Clap, Clap Clap…” Good Lord, we absolutely suck at the NFA nowadays… We used to ROCK that shit! US Blues was great and I dig Mayer and Weir sharing it!

To close this thing up, here’s my 5 dollars. It used to be 2 cents but consider this a CID Package. While I love a lot of the bands that are out there playing their take on Grateful Dead Music like Phil and The Family, JRAD and DSO, Tuesday night proved beyond the shadow of a doubt to me that Dead & Company is King. The quality of the music I experienced Tuesday night far exceeded most of what I saw from The Grateful Dead during 1994 and 1995. I know that will create all kinds of problems for some folks. People that started in 94 or 95 will probably be the most upset by that. I’m not trying to upset anybody and I definitely understand there will be plenty of folks that will take exception to that. Garcia’s vocals and styling will never be approached again in this lifetime and he was a once in a lifetime talent but as he declined in the later years, the music suffered terribly. The music that’s emerging through this band right now has more of the power and force and magic than I ever thought I’d be able to experience again since Garcia’s graduation. It’s not what it was but the something new that it has become is capable of the same type of power. Mayer is no Garcia but he’s an AMAZING Mayer! That’s all he really has to be. I’m so grateful to be taking it all in. If it’s not your thing, see ya somewhere else… Love You Forever!

Dead To The Core,
Dean Sottile (pronounced So Tilly)

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