ZONE
OUT with the ROLLING RIDER
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1 -
I n t r a t a - L U
N A
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6-30-01
Greek Theatre
Berkeley, CA
Walking into the Greek Theatre was like revisiting a recurring dream...
The devotees entered, wandering below majestic white pillars, seemingly in the mouth of a sun dial. With the first strum of the lyre, the correlation between the rich mythology of the Dead and the mythic legends conjured up by the theatre, became apparent. Truly, we were gods and goddesses. Mortals only in our earthly shells. Immortal in our ritual.
The opening JAM melted into a confident, thunderous version of UNBROKEN CHAIN to open the show. Phil went through a range of emotions along with the crowd: revelry, heartbreak, rebirth. 'Unbroken chain, sorrow and pearls'. After searching through the eternal musical universe, the friends found the familiar opening bars of THE WHEEL. Phil implored the crowd, "...couldn't you try just a little bit more?". The phaithful responded resoundingly, providing the heat for Haephestus to fire his forge.
The PASSENGER that followed seemed to come from a choir part-angel and part-rogue, at once glorious and urgent. The guardian angel, brother Warren Haynes, followed with a new song, with an admittedly apropos title, BEAUTIFULLY BROKEN. Warren's soulful lyrics seem to come from a well older than Zeus himself.
NOT FADE AWAY was brilliantly matter-of-fact, combining 1950s rock with 1960s psychedelia, this number generated a spiral galaxy of energy, where synchronicity and synesthesia were tantalizingly visible.
The orace was reached at the close of the set with a profound BIRDSONG. Like a strand of filament suspended in the nebula, this song connects the PLANETS.
Set Two: … we are in tune with the mystical moon …
The MOON is the earth's natural satellite, dreamily orbiting the earth. Seemingly with the moon and it's solar counterpart at their command, the friends welcomed the twillight with Lennon's LSD- inspired SHE SAID, SHE SAID, delivered by Warren Haynes. Brought to a fever pitch, the crowd began to take on mythic qualities, as Athena and ARTEMIS twirled blissfully, flanked by Poseidon and his undersea underlings.
If asked to pinpoint the moment where Phil and his friends sent the Vista Cruiser into hyperspace, it had to be a downright haunting and wonderful version of MOUNTAINS OF THE MOON. Spinning in music-box surreality, the muse descended, literally dancing on the keys of Rob Barracco. Hunter placed the wreath of laurel on Jerry's shaggy head, and Phil reminded us, "...More than laurel you may sow...". Phil punctuated his walk along the mountains of the moon with the interstellar pairing of INTRATA JAM and LUNA JAM. As Candace bathed the amphitheatre in luscious violets and purples, Phil and Friends chartered new territory invoking the Great Spirit and the odyssey of the planets.
...the journey begins with the rebirth of the MOON under this night of a thousand stars. our hero fated to tragedy must travel further...ENCHANTED by the HIGH PRIESTESS, he offers her SILVER and VIOLETS...under a CAPRICORN sky, he knows he has to die... she places the CROWN on his weary head, as JASMINE heals the souls of the dead...
The finial, the ornament on the pinnacle, had to be nightfall, and the indescribable sequence of CRYPTICAL ENVELOPMENT > OTHER ONE > NIGHT OF A THOUSAND STARS > CRYPTICAL > OTHER ONE. Surely one of the most well-constructed and complex of the new Friends tunes, NIGHT OF A THOUSAND STARS had all the elements of an epic musical suite, 'sweeping' the crowd into a veritable frenzy. Tonight one couldn't help but feel the power of this song, speaking deeply to the soul, causing déjà vu for the stars, the theme of the cosmos was strong. Warren comments, "...we always remember who we are...". Indeed.
As if this wasn't enough, the RIDER was treated to his title track, decorated with some fancy fingerwork by Jimmy Herring. I couldn't help but wish I was shining my light through the cool, Colorado rain, but all good things in all good time.
...tonight these interstellar tracks traveled fast across the night sky...leading our hero adorned in spanish roses to greet the OTHER...with a full moon rising...ruling this night of a thousand stars...
As an encore, Phil led us through a poignant BOX OF RAIN. Surely, this day, this place, was a dream we dreamed one afternoon long ago. And it provided the perfect backdrop for our mythopoeia.
"Night of a thousand stars, the sound of sweet guitars"
Respectfully,
Rolling Rider
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