A new day dawning

What time are they coming on stage on Sunday's?

Tickets say doors open at 5:00 will they come on at 6:ish?

about 6:20

I've got an extra for tonight. I live in NJ (Millburn), and do to a family commitment rescheduled from yesterday, I can't make it tonight. A chance I can get the ticket to NYC right about show time.

It's 2:30 pm on 11/16 now. Call me at 973-258-0814 if you want the ticket.

'need a miracle' tonight?

3:26 PM [taperrob] Nokia Theatre, NYC 11/16/08 Set 1: Jam> Golden Road

hey hey..

Golden Road

3:33 PM [taperrob] Nokia Theatre, NYC 11/16/08 Set 1: Jam> Golden Road, Gone Wanderin'

3:36 PM [taperrob] Nokia Theatre, NYC 11/16/08 Set 1: Jam> Golden Road, Gone Wanderin', Duprees Diamond Blues

Duprees

3:43 PM [taperrob] Nokia Theatre, NYC 11/16/08 Set 1: Jam> Golden Road, Gone Wanderin', Duprees Diamond Blues, Easy Wind

ahhhh... they sound checked easy wind last night to test it out for tonight...... nice!

i just saw larry campbell playing mandolin in a willie nelson video...news to me

3:53 PM [taperrob] Nokia Theatre, NYC 11/16/08 Set 1: Jam> Golden Road, Gone Wanderin', Duprees Diamond Blues, Easy Wind> Jam> Bird Song

4:07 PM [taperrob] Nokia Theatre, NYC 11/16/08 Set 1: Jam> Golden Road, Gone Wanderin', Duprees Diamond Blues, Easy Wind> Jam> Bird Song> Jam> Built To Last

4:13 PM [taperrob] Nokia Theatre, NYC 11/16/08 Set 1: Jam> Golden Road, Gone Wanderin', Duprees Diamond Blues, Easy Wind> Jam> Bird Song> Jam> Built To Last, Dancin' In The Streets

Dancin' In The Streets

Wonder why Jackie's been sitting down so much lately...he's too young to be tired!

I think there will be a Morning Dew in the second set...

>>>>Wonder why Jackie's been sitting down so much lately

whos he think he is? Steve Kimock?

Nokia Theatre, NYC 11/16/08

Set 1:
Jam>
Golden Road
Gone Wanderin'
Duprees Diamond Blues
Easy Wind> Jam>
Bird Song> Jam>
Built To Last
Dancin' In The Streets

Didn't know Phil was playing Duprees without Warren yet. Did Jackie sing?

golden road opener!! love it. rest of the set looks so/so. not sure how this group of friends will handle bird song but interested to hear it. second set bring the heat phil!

yep, jackie sang duprees and played acoustic guitar

I'm feeling a Ollin Arageed>My Brother Esau in set 2.

Does anybody know if tomorrows show is sold out?

listen to set 1 here> http://www.live365.com/stations/2012_live

There is no show tomorrow and Tuesday's show is sold out unless they are holding some tickets to release.

5:02 PM [taperrob] Set 2: Samson & Delilah

5:12 PM [taperrob] Set 2: Samson & Delilah, The Music Never stopped

mmmm sunday church day . . . wonder if it'll rival last sundays . WOW . . that one was sumthin special

Jam> Althea
Loser> Jam>
Don't Let Me Down> Jam>
Cryptical Envelopment> Jam>
Dark Star(v1)> Jam>
The Other One> Jam>
Mountains Of The Moon>
Dark Star(v2)>
Cryptical>
The Music Never Stopped

.
.
.

"I'm feeling a Ollin Arageed>My Brother Esau in set 2. "


esau will be the final song of the nokia run

confirmed

The Music Never Stopped

Yeah okay....I believe you!

Confirmed

Cumberland - throwin - st stephen

5:20 PM [taperrob] Set 2: Samson & Delilah, The Music Never stopped, Cumberland Blues

esau station > dark esau > unbroken esau

dude, go on phantasy tour, the esau bit is old
you're cluttering here

esau? confirmed? if this happens, mark my words that i'll strip naked and do two laps around the block in celebration.

afterward, i will then proceed to give myself 20 lashings for missing it.

not sure if this give phil incentive to play the tune - or to ban it forever.

5:30 PM [taperrob] Set 2: Samson & Delilah, The Music Never stopped, Cumberland Blues, Throwing Stones

2nd set starting out on fire. sampson, music, cumberland. bring that fire phil, bring it!

5:44 PM [taperrob] Set 2: Samson & Delilah, The Music Never stopped, Cumberland Blues, Throwing Stones, St Stephen

Feels like an Other One, maybe a China Doll, tonight - so we got that going for us, which is nice....

ES

St Stephen

5:57 PM [taperrob] Set 2: Samson & Delilah, The Music Never stopped, Cumberland Blues, Throwing Stones, St Stephen> The Other One

Looks like another Sunday killer 2nd set!!

6:19 PM [taperrob] Set 2: Samson & Delilah, The Music Never stopped, Cumberland Blues, Throwing Stones, St Stephen> The Other One> China Doll, Hard Rain

85* in here and the dude has on a scarf, knit hat and sweater...wtf? Jackettes due any time. Over/under May 5th...he's gone.

ha, yea jackie seems like a weird dude. i think he sings a lot of the songs very well though. look at that 2nd set. cant wait to hear that stephen->other one.

he's probably playin' sick...

ohhh..i was waitin allll night last night for a Cumbie.....and i almost stayed for t~nites show too....damn !!!

He smoke cigarettes, maybe he has bad circulation

6:36 PM [taperrob] Set 2: Samson & Delilah, The Music Never stopped, Cumberland Blues, Throwing Stones, St Stephen> The Other One> China Doll, A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall, Donor Rap/Intros, enc: Lazy River Road

Nokia Theatre, NYC 11/16/08

Set 1:
Jam>
Golden Road
Gone Wanderin'
Duprees Diamond Blues
Easy Wind> Jam>
Bird Song> Jam>
Built To Last
Dancin' In The Streets

Set 2:
Samson & Delilah
The Music Never stopped
Cumberland Blues
Throwing Stones
St Stephen>
The Other One>
China Doll
A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall

Donor Rap/Intros

enc:
Lazy River Road

LAZY RIVER ROAD!!!???
FUCK!

Could somebody shed some light on why the early start/finish??

thanks for the semi real time setlist updates!!

sunday matinee...

Dacccchhhhhhhhaaaaa - they do this last Sunday too?

Thanks mandala!

thanks for all the updates Rob!

Kinda short show but had some great moments.

Highlights included the rarities Duprees Diamond Blues (a little messy much like the GD used to do) and Easy Wind (thank you for saving it for Sunday, Phil).

Nice jam out of Bird Song.

Cumberland Blues smoked as usual.

The last four songs of the second set were on fire including a blistering Other One and perfect China Doll.

Hard Rain was the right song and played like an anthem.

Lazy River Road was nice but thought they would come out with a China>Rider or other long encore since the second set ended at 9:30pm.

Bobby songs in second set were okay. Didn't really like the Jackie reading of Throwing Stones, the music was good but the vocal needed some punch.

No complaints, the show smoked at points.

Thanks for the four shows, Phil. I'll miss it.

lazy river road?????????

last one i recall is the 2000............. am i wrong???

crazy throwing stones. The jamming before Shifting Powers was completely nutso... Went totally out there. Great show

Great show -- understandably, they all seemed tired tonite -- especially Phil

lazy river road?????????

last one i recall is the 2000............. am i wrong???

they played it this summer in Philly June 20th but that was the first time in a while, i think

they played it in summer 06 - either at indy or chicago

Lazy River Road - Feh!!!
Could have played a better song for the encore.

last one i recall is the 2000............. am i wrong??? >>

I'm pretty sure they played it at 10KLF in 2006.

Did the Philathon picture after the show. Considerate dan is a gentleman with class. And jackie green is stuck up. Hopefully phil will dump his silly ass after this run and bring warren back. God bless you phil after all these years you are still grounded. love you

Well folks, i"ll say it was a great show. Getting out of the show at 9:30 is a bit odd. The bust-outs in the first set were very welcome. I did think the second set lost energy though; Throwin' and Hard Rain weren't astounding. however, China Doll was beautiful, and Samson>Music>Cumberland were killer as an opening for a second set. Molitz is always fun, Sless kicked ass most of the night, really tasteful stuff, Larry was a bit sketchy at a few of the faster moments but the man's a seasoned pro, Jackie, what with the hats dude?. You can't ever complain much about Molo, what with his being a tank and all, and Phil, i'll agree, seemed a bit tired, though he was a monster on the Other One! Easy Wind was really good, highlight of the night for me. I really like the new approaches they've taken to some of the tunes, like the slow verse in Cumberland and the swingy New Speedway on the 8th.

Oh and yes the shows were great. Its been a good run. Saw some old friends, Met some new ones. And enjoyed time with My brothers especially Uncle eddie>>>And King Eddie......

i thought the throwing stones was one of the best i've ever seen, the dynamics in it were fantastic - they took it all the way down into silence through deconstruction, then brought it back

but the really momentous moments of the evening were the long, long drawn out intro into the other one - phil was in charge of the whole thing - and everyone had a chance to state a theme before phil triumphantly pronounced the intro phrase - it was just superb

also - this version of china doll was as good as it gets - perfect singing job by teresa - i actually think this song is much better when sung by a woman - even better than when jerry sang it - saw joan nail it three years ago in boston - now teresa set the bar even higher - it was really solid

not sure how anyone could see the hard rain as not powerful, but we all see things differently, dont we?

at any rate, this show was about as good as it gets, in my view

the only thing that kept if from hitting one of my top ten music moments was the lack of a killer encore - a 15 minute morning dew would have been so overwhelming

The real real time updates are in the Chat Room

So, to those who have seen 13 shows, based on what has been played so far, what is logical for the closing night? Seems like a Morning Dew is due, maybe Bid You Goodnight too, but what else?

"dude, go on phantasy tour, the esau bit is old
you're cluttering here"

not sure what ya mean =\ lots of us are hoping for an esau

and wow!! nice setlist!! thanks taper rob . . specially the all the streams! how freakin unbelievable!!

Wish I could have caught a few of the Pig Pen numbers like the Easy Wind or Operator that I missed. Would a good old Hard To Handle be too much to ask? Seems like Truckin' is also due up in the rotation, probably get another Eyes too; I've caught them both, but wouldn't complain about either being repeated. I didn't catch China Cat or Scarlet either, but these two seem too recently played to get repeated. Probably get a Good Lovin' or a Lovelight too.

Whole show now streaming > www.live365.com/stations/2012_live

Show started off really strong with Golden Road, the band and audience got winded during the jam in Easy Wind, which started off good.Bird Song was not as good as the other night.Built was good lyrically. Dancin was great Teresa really pumped everyone up. 1st was probably one of the shortest. Set II completely different story in a nut shell it was sick!!! The best I have seen out of four shows. The band was in the zone and thay had us grooving.Samson was better and hot, Music had Teresa again stepping up. Cumberland was very happening. To all my fellow dancers left of the sound board you all rocked! We had a blast but the T.Stones> St. Stephen> Other One> China Doll, Hard Rain, the groove on this one was heaven, was magnificent.The Other One was like a 1972 Other One way over the top!!! MVP goes to Steve from Particle he was so happening tonight!! Lazy River Road was a complete surprise but played very well, Phil was so into it, and once again the lovely Teresa sang a couple verses too which was nice. See you Tuesday.

amazing show to my ears .. loved the deep fall out in throwing stones

even when they're "tired" they still rock . .

taper rob . . i have no idea how you do it

but you do

and its so fucking great

(insert deity here) BLESS YOU . .

Thanks All Y'all for your reviews... and thanks Trob for takin' care of business every single night!

Hope to see you folks on Tuesday, I'd really like to be there. Will Phil hit the Blue LED switch??

Acoustic set?? Who can tell.

he's hit the LED switch every show i think

just look above . . st stephen =]

A couple of odds and ends...

Larry's fiddle was good in Dupree's allowing Barry to take some Jerry-esque runs.

Phil was noticeably less animated compared to the other shows I saw but he did throw down for The Other One. Molitz had some nice effects during the song and it worked.

Teresa was great throughout. She sang everything the way I wanted to hear it. She gave Dancin' In The Streets a true Motown vibe and Molitz filled in the horn riff (clearly audible last night). She even belted out the second verse of Lazy River Road which was a stark contrast to Phil's opening verse.

The band was clicking in the second set but it came and went, mostly came and the wents were still enjoyable.

Barry's steel guitar was prominent and provided many peaks in the second set.

Have fun Tuesday everybody!

no blue on 11.1, I believe.

This was another nice show. Gotta hand it to Phil. I dno't know how he is still standing. This is tiring for us phans, and he is up there rocking out each night.

See you all on Tuesday. What a great run this has been. Gotta hand it to NYC, too. What an amazing place.

> MVP goes to Steve from Particle he was so happening tonight!!

I agree totally - I think he is the unsung hero in this band - he's in the background a lot, but what he adds is key to the sound many times

but last night he had several upfront moments with "sounds" as opposed to "solos" - he was adding some cool effects and swirls at a number of places, giving a nice space feel to some of the grooves - very tasty

sounds like a consensus that phil was tired. can we blame him? rest up for a day and close this run out with some thunder hopefully. i love that someone is giving molitz some love. he is often times in the background and i always wish he would be out front more but when he does get out front, look out!

I like molitz's vocals better than Barraco, and his playing is just as good, if not better. Sounds more like Brent at times.

whoever said Phil should dump Jackie Green and get Warren back is completely unrealistic. If you have seen an Allman Brothers concert lately you would realize that Warren is smitten with them and Gov. mule takes up extra time. It was my understanding that it was Warren not resigning with the Q that broke that band up. I know he has fun sitting in with Phil's band occasionally and I miss his rendition of Comes a Time but lets face it, the Allman tour has a ton of energy and percussion that only 'the dead' can compare to. I definately could see Warren doing a tour w/ the dead next spring but to think he will replaced Jackie Green in Phil's band is unrealistic. Besides, I am pretty sure Phil likes Jackies vocals on many lost grateful dead classics, and he has very creative energy that is a big part of this band's success.

jackie is terrible, the shows have been just OK...but people here love to say each show was amazing...

Go Jackie, wear hats if you want. That's about all the haters got on you. You rock.

Literally hopped off the plane and went into the show. I was a little off from traveling etc., but really...THANK YOU PHIL.

Built to Last, Hard Rain, and LRR...wow. still gathering marbles, and very thankful to be HERE!

{{{LRR}}}

This show had a few decent moments (mostly in the 1st set) but overall pretty weak. Too many stop/start's thruout the 2nd set, and I must be the ONLY ONE who thinks this band uniformly SUCKS at playing The Other One (especially when not in the Cryptical sandwich). This version was a boring bar band 3 chord wankfest that sadly highlighted just how un-psychedelic this band is w/o Barry on lead guitar. Why was he relegated to pedal steel for this? And wow was the old school hippy next to me (who literally smelled like mothballs) pissed off about the short setlist supposedly due to the VIP photo shoot scheduled for post-show. I thought I was a crabby pill . . .

phil on jackie: "the man who lights a fire under my ass!"..."the student who teaches the teacher."

phil's way of saying jackie is "terrible"?

Can you hear me, that when it rains and shines
(When it rains and shines)
It's just a state of mind?
(When it rains and shines)
Can you hear me, can you hear me?
Dude be here now and enjoy it.

>>>>>.This show had a few decent moments (mostly in the 1st set) but overall pretty weak. Too many stop/start's thruout the 2nd set, and I must be the ONLY ONE who thinks this band uniformly SUCKS at playing The Other One (especially when not in the Cryptical sandwich). This version was a boring bar band 3 chord wankfest that sadly highlighted just how un-psychedelic this band is w/o Barry on lead guitar. Why was he relegated to pedal steel for this? And wow was the old school hippy next to me (who literally smelled like mothballs) pissed off about the short setlist supposedly due to the VIP photo shoot scheduled for post-show. I thought I was a crabby pill . . .

SIDESHOW, YOU ARE THE MAN!!!!!!!!

ROTFLMAO.......

I'm not a huge fan of Baracco...but I'd take him any day of the week singing Doin' That Rag over Molitz. I think Molitz is a weak singer..but I just LOVE him on the keyboards.

0 Complaints.

Sideshow Bob's review is spot on! After the bliss of Saturday night's show, I was terribly let down by the sunday show.

I like molitz's vocals better than Barraco, and his playing is just as good, if not better. Sounds more like Brent at times.>>>>

wow, Barraco is WAY better...to bad he is gone, the energy level a lone would be sky rocketed not to mention the playing and singing...ratbob closing for Phil says it all...

Keith, you went back?????????????????

Up and down with this line up, never know what you'll get.

Phil tired??? Folks, there's only so much you can know about how a person feels from looking at them. We're not talking about Jerry resting his chin on his chest here. I was maybe 10 people away, right in front of Phil, like i've been for all 8 shows I've seen (this one was my last). Phil was completely engaged in the music and fully interacting with all the musicians. If there was less gesticulating maybe that's because he didn't need to have the sound man fix the mix so many times. If his facial expressions or body movements weren't as pronounced as they may have been at some of the other shows you've seen in this run it doesn't necessarily mean he's tired. Why would he be so tired anyway...too much walking around in the Metropolitan Museum of Art during the day (which could easily do it, BTW)...or perhaps the long ride to and from the hotel each night? Come on.

Anyway, the music:

The Jam> Golden Road was tight and very well played. The sober, Sunday evening crowd's energy was disproportionate to the vibes and energy from the music this early in the show. Tough to go from 0 to 100 in 6 seconds I guess. Of course, anyone who's read my posts knows my feelings that this band deserves a more "energetic" audience. There's a difference between watching and listening to a band and participating in the creation of music with the band by dancing and whooping and hollering and egging the band on to take the energy to the next level. Of course one person't energy is another person's distraction so anyway...

Gone Wanderin' was great but too short.

So nice to hear Duprees Diamond Blues. Only one or two very minor vocal flubs by Jackie (he of the most honorable order of the the silly hat).

Easy Wind was a great choice. It was very interesting to see Phil peering at the music allll the way over on Jackie's music stand, following along. I really enjoyed hearing this song but feel it fell far short of it's potential. Some minor difficulties with the changes etc. In order for this one to be a real barn burner everyone really needs to nail the changes together.

It may be a little off topic, but this makes me think of something general about this band. My chief complaint is that Phil needs to (perhaps chooses to is closer to the truth) spend too much time conducting and queing the changes, etc, rather than just playing. I equate this with trying to sing and play an instrument at the same time. It's really hard to do both together. Also, it's a zero sum game to a certain extent; you can't necessarily do both at 100%. Because Phil has chosen to lead the band in this way I think it detracts from some of the danceability he would otherwise be laying down, expecially during the transitions between songs.

There is something really formulaic about the transitions that I despise. "OK, now we're going to change the tempo for 2 measures; now we're going to change the key for 2 measures; now we're going to change the rhythmn for 2 measures and now that we finally have all our ducks in a row we're going to play the intro to Brown Eyed Women." I miss the spontaneity of the Grateful Dead where, seemingly out of the blue, Jerry would start playing a song that popped into his head and within half a measure the rest of the band was headed for the song and within two measures they were playing the song with him. I think Phil has a worthwhile goal of creating segues between songs but the approach he as chosen leads to sub-optimal results. Just an observation, not a condemnation. Also, on the plus side, the transitions, formulaic as they are, have most certainly become smoother and less cumbersome over time.

I thought Bird Song was fantastic with beautiful interplay between the guitars and a great Larry Campbell lead jam (lead=sounds like the metal). It was very transportational for me live. I actually listened to the Bird Song>Spots of Time from 11/11 on the way home in the car (THANKS AGAIN TAPERS, ESPECIALLY _MULETAPER). I thought the one I saw was much better but will have to hear the recording of 11/16 to do a more objective analysis. I wasn't at the 11/11 show.

Built To Last was nice to hear again and I agree with the above comments about Dancin' being a lot of fun to end the set.

The start of Set 2 was high energy (no duh). Strong versions of all three of the first songs. Cumberland was much more concise than other versions I've heard from this band. Not a complaint, just an observation.

This brings me to 2 more general observations: 1. I LOVE THE BREAKOUTS AND THOROUGH EXPLORATION OF THE GD REPERTOIRE THIS BAND HAS BEEN THROWING DOWN!!! Built To Last, LR Road, Throwin' Stones, SOTM, Dupree's, as well as the real vintage stuff like Born Cross Eyed, Rosemary, etc! LET IT RIDE, Don't Let Me Down, etc. THANK'S PHIL. I guess it goes without saying but it's clear that Phil has always had a much greater appreciation of the value and potential of the GD repertoire than the GD had. He's always breaking out tunes and putting them in different places in different sets and attached to different songs to explore them in different ways. It also shows great sensetivity to playing to the strength of the individual band mambers by chosing "new" material for them to shine on. Kudos again Phil.

Now where's my Keep on Growing, Gimme Some Lovin,' Rolling Stones cover tunes, St. Stephen>Good Times Bad Times and a full Led Zeppelin Heartbreaker instead of just teases here and there? And BTW you Esau weirdo's, have you forgotten about Wave To The Wind? Let's make it this decade's Cosmic Charlie Campaign!!!! (does anybody know if there are there are any vomiting emoticons I could insert here?)

2. Likewise, I like the experimentation with the arrangements. I like to hear long Cumberlands and short Cumberlands; stand alone vs. broken up Viola Lee Blues. I like to hear different arrangements of songs like a slow verse in a Cumberland or New Speedway (although I'm not so sure these different arrangements are always intentional as opposed to being responses to "mistakes" where the train runs off the tracks).

Indeed, this may have been what happened in Throwing Stones, another song where the changes need to be crisp. There was a point there where I thought they had abandoned the song and weren't going to finish it. Phil was looking at Molo and shrugging as if he couldn't figure out how to play along with what Larry was doing and fit it in to the structure of the song. But, this finally did get resolved and they finished the song in fine fashion. I interpret it as a good recovery from a "happy mistake." Like Bzl said above "crazy throwing stones. The jamming before Shifting Powers was completely nutso...Went totally out there." Again, can't wait to give it a listen.

The rest of the set was great. St. Stephen was tight. The The Other One was hot. Shorter than the one on the Dark Star night I think, but very well played nonetheless. Ummm. How about a first set Other One sometime???

China Doll was gorgeous. I think there was one vocal flub, but otherwise near perfect. Another nice Larry solo in a location I wasn't expecting.

A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall rocked. Very powerful as far as I'm concerned. Always seems better live to me than on tape. It just seems to have a certain undeniable, relentless momentum to it.

Lazy River Road was OK. Nice to hear Theresa & Jackie trade verses. Disappointing only because the show seemed to be short and end very early. A double or triple encore would have been nice...as would a complimentary post show foot massage I guess.

Anyway, I tend to be hypercrytical and picky but I was very, very happy with this show and the whole Nokia run in general. Thanks again Phil.

I saw 4. loved the 13th. last night was reasonable with some nice high spots. 6th and 8th didn't do much for me.

last year I thought Jackie was adding a nice spark, this year he seemed like he was worse, not better. JMO.

bottom line, if the band is back this time next year I don't think Jackie will be a part of it...

...only time will tell.

ES

I find this lineup uninspiring and have made zero effort to see this incarnation of Phil & Friends the last two times through the NYC area. Now, I did have a ticket for 11/16 but due to a weather-related scheduling conflict (soccer playoffs moved from Saturday to Sunday; we won the semi and final yesterday), I had to sell my ticket. (Thank you, Craigslist!)

So coming from a 45-year-old who pretty much adores/adored everything the Grateful Dead and its many offspring ever created (even Bobby & the Midnites back in 1982 at the Capitol Theater), my passing on these shows says something about this band.

(Before I get flamed for being an old fart, I still see plenty of music. Caught David Byrne on 11/3, will see Dylan on 11/21, and Hot Tuna on 12/2.)

My point? Had I really had a yen to see this band, I would have made the effort to arrive for the tail end of the first set last night. But as I've written here before, this band is bland. Call me jaded, call me a putz, call me whatever. I think it's time for Phil to mix it up and put together a killer lineup with more intense guitar, a keyboard player who can sing (Hornsby?), etc.

I know? How about the Dead tour? What a novel idea. Lesh, Weir, Hart, Kreutzmann, Hornsby, Haynes, etc. Or, better yet, the Dead do a tour with a lineup of special guests who do a Deadicated-type thing, a good idea since the band never truly saluted Garcia's passing.

I'm hearing rumors of just that...

...a Dead tour ;-)

ES

PS...I felt the same way after the Newark/Atlantic City/Hammerstein shows -- thought that was a better band than current but was disgusted with song selection.

Totally agree with WeWantPhil's comments about Phil spending to much time conducting and queing the band on the monitors.
I could understand it if these guys have not played together before but this band has been together for over 2 years now and you would think that the rest of the band has figured out by now how to play on their own without Phil's guidance. I find it very distracting when Phil speaks to the rest the band through the monitors and I think they would have more flow and be more spontaneous if he just allowed them to play.

Also agree with the "esau weirdos" comment. I hated that song!
Just my 2 cents.

does anyone here actually just have fun at these shows???

I do!! Believe me. This forum is ofcoarse all guys who have to analyze every moment, I do enjoy in that too, and for better or worse project there shit on the band.Phil is keeping the GD song book alive and I very much apreciate that and all the folks who do their part to make it as real as it can be, thank you.That includes you all too. If you want to grow up and let it fly, meet us dancers at the sound board and allow youself to be spontaneous and joyful and we can all make it a special night tomorrow.

Ted...very cool response.

For those of us that have never seen a Grateful Dead show, this P and F's gathering sounds pretty damn good. Especially bringing out some of the older catalog. I have seen him 5 times this year including 11/7 and 11/9 at the Nokia and Phil has made an otherwise pretty crappy year pretty Grate. Wish I could be there on Tuesday!

And for those of us who have seen Grateful Dead shows the P&Fs and BW&R shows are a joy to experience and are a source of light in these dark times. Yes it is a "crappy" year (to add misery I was laid off in September).

there is nothin' like a grateful dead (-like) show!!!!

I go back to the late '70s and my buddies go back to the early-mid '70s. We see a lot of music, and we are digging this band and these shows.

We are having a great time at these shows, AND I PSUCHED TO SEE YOU ALL TOMORROW NIGHT!!!!! Especially YOU, Phil and Friends.

Oh, and by the way, Larrry Campbell is a pleasure to hear. We are fortunate to have seen him play and grow musically!!!!

>>>>>Also agree with the "esau weirdos" comment. I hated that song!
Just my 2 cents.

Yeah, me too......

I saw WAY too many in '83 - '84 ('82 also? I forget)

This guy (there couldn't possibly be more than one of them, lol) has been going on night after night after night about Esau....

Perhaps he's been banned from Ratdog.org?

interesting reviews,
Ted, Grubby, Sigmund bops, Wewantphil,
i guess we were all in the same groove at this show, thank you, thank you, thank you.
phil nokia shows are about as good as it gets and we got a good one last night.

"my passing on these shows says something about this band"....please, only to you. thanks...more room for us!

actually, scary as it might sound, there has been more than just me talking about esau.

we all don't agree on which tunes we like, yet we all make shout-outs for tunes we'd like to hear. too bad you don't like it.

Sorry that you feel that way
The only thing there is to say
Every silver lining's got a
Touch of grey

peace out, brother!!!!

Right on y'all!!! We are already creating that positive vibe for tomorrow. Bring it on!!!

Good time last night as well as the other 11 I attended, missed Sa 11/15. REALLY bummed out that I missed the Dupree's and Easy Wind tonight due to being cheap and holding out for street parking. Oh well, maybe I'll get Caution tomorrow.

Story from this show: Me, my wife and our 6 week-old baby, Jerome, went in for the picture afterwards. We were waiting in the bar area and did not realize it was time for the picture so we got in late. Wound up right in the front that way. So when the band came out Phil walked over when he saw the baby. He congratulated the guy standing next to us on being the father. Phil seemed to dig Jerome and did his phunky thing with him. First, Phil waved his hand up and down in front of Jerome's eyes to see if Jerome responded. Phil seemed a little concerned when Jerome didn't respond so he held out his hand for a high five, only his hand was like 3 feet from the baby so my wife assisted Jerome in giving him skin. Seemingly encouraged, Phil slowly touched first one of his own ears then the other to see if the baby would imitate him. When the baby didn't, Phil then held out his hand to the side and slowly moved his finger to his nose. When Jerome did not mimic him he said "I must be boring" and turned around for the picture. I laughed the whole way home

>>>>>actually, scary as it might sound, there has been more than just me talking about esau.

Why Esau?

Cuz it's a GREAT tune or just because it hasn't been played in years & you can put another notch in the gun?

Honestly......

jon (Bigbossman), I really wasn't sure whether your Esau hoots were a prank or not. If you really want it then put it out there man! Might have rubbed some folks the wrong way but I found it amusing. Personally, I took the opportunity to shout out requests for Bobby McGee a couple of times over these shows. Don't ask me why, just seemed like the right thing to do. That and a few "LET MOLO SING" shouts for humor(which no one really seemed to get).

Anyway, the Esau weirdo's comment was all in fun. Let your light shine brother!

Best shoutout ever at a show:

4-6-00, Oakdale:

The guy next to me yells "Bertha"

I say to him, "Nah, they should play Dark Star".......

....as soon as I shut up....

BA Boom Ba BOom
Ba Boom Ba Boom....

...They start Dark Star

The guy just looked at me & laughed.

BTW, who's this Phil Lesh guy who keeps following me around and asking for my organs?

haha, I am an organ donor!

"So coming from a 45-year-old who pretty much adores/adored everything the Grateful Dead and its many offspring ever created (even Bobby & the Midnites back in 1982 at the Capitol Theater), my passing on these shows says something about this band."

I'd say it only says something about your view of the band and potentially lack of vibe & excitement for this band's music, posse to hang with, x-factor, etc. Cuz, coming from this 43-yeard old, this current line-up provides me, my wife and our whole crew and amazing energy, frenzied dancing, smiles, laughter, enjoyment and transcendental feeling from this music that has not been felt since the GD and many of the Q's shows. Clearly, this band rocks and rolls and gels and has a BLAST playing, listening and feeding on stage every night. If this band's music doesn't get you off, that's certainly fine and understandable but it's the person, not the band.
The good thing is, there's lots of music to see and hear and hopefully everyone will find something that gets them off and leaves the other tickets for people who "need" them!
Peace!

Each show has its high points and low points of varying degrees. A less than stellar review of a show is not a condemnation of Phil or the band. Many reviewers have different levels of musical knowledge and education. To be truthful, IMO this year's run is simply not as good musically as last year, based on my experience from the shows I have attended and Audience recordings I've listened to. I blew off this weekend's shows due to the cost, and I am glad I did based on the reviews and conversations with attendees. I welcome every review and point of view about the shows, and I certainly will not condemn different viewpoints.

In my mind the shows are definately worth attending and I enjoy the shows and all the experiences and comradery that goes along with a show. Could the performances often be better musically? In my mind and experience most definately, due to several reasons including band personnel.

That said, I commend Phil on all his efforts to keep the music alive and fresh. I attend the shows because I love the music, the message and the scene.

I'm looking forward to tonight's show, hopefully it will be the best of the run musically.

I'm psyched for tonight, safe travels everyone!

bob from ct ~ hey now !! have a blast t~nite and shit~kick one fer me, and here's to an interesting "train ride" back !...had a blast last week with you guys .

Bob,

Couldn't have said it better- also I remember that in the 90's I bitched about inconsistency&some downright awful shows, never once thinking that there wouldn't be another show, another tour- Now,I enjoy what we have because, as we all know, we never know how long we'll have it for- Can't wait til tonight!

Sheila

I saw Phil w/Sless on lead guitar play a killer version of DS 12-13-05. It was flowing, out of a jam. Closed my eyes I thought I was in Winterland '74. Specifically 10-18-74. Maybe for a few moments at least. At that point I was still pretty bitter about the break up of the Q. After hearing Sless make his guitar sound like a flute the night before and in Chicago that same tour, I was pretty psyced to see Phil the last Show at the Fox...even if I was alone. (My friend that I visited couldn't make night 2). To be honest I thought Sless was awesome when DNB played Powerhouse Brewery the night before the 1999 Greek Phil shows. Comparing his guitar style to Kimock isn't as accurate as comparing him to Garcia, really. Anyway it renewed my interest after seeing 40 or so Quintet shows. Whatever. I can't be there tonight. I do know Barry wasn't there last Sunday when the DS was played. Actually focusing on Phil play during those moments is where it is at, I think. Well, the Fox theatre DS was awesome, both verses, nothing to break the song in half but a jam that kinda sounded like the Other one. I was also saw the Fillmore/Denver spring 02 DS and the Greek 02 Phil DS nights but the Atlanta one, at the very least, was as good as those versions. Maybe more psychadelic, hard to compare. Barry Sless is, I hope, a more permenate figure in Phils band..ala...Molo,Phil,Sless..like it was in 1999 when it was Molo,Phil,Kimock. The other players arent as important although I like this current line up very much. Actually this band, sans Sless, blew my mind last fall 07 in chicago Saturday night(DS was also played that night), so don't get me wrong. I am just saying for those who have only seen this incarnation of Phil's band or maybe are back on tour but missed the past five years because they are still bitter about the 'Q' break-up, you may be in for a very special evening which may include a Barry Sless drenched DS. I'm telling you that he plays notes and effects from his guitar hauntingly familiar to Jerrys and that is no disrespect to him either. I'd just go in with no expectations and let the mutual band/audience energy take over. Focus on Phil. Watch his hands. My favorite moments with this or any other of his 'friends' are when I am concentrating on Phil,amazed at what I am witnessing, and usually the rest of the band is doing the same. Almost circled watching/learning focused on the legendary Phil Lesh roll through note after note.

Glad I got a chance to see Phil and Friends this time around. As a 58-year-old long-time Deadhead, I'm very impressed by the energy Phil and the band are generating most nights. Gotta love it!

EZ:

I watched that whole thing with Phil and Jerome...he seems to be enchanted with babies and little kids these days.

Hoping for grandchildren probably :-)