February 15, 2012 in 10, 12, 17, 2, 28, 3, 31, 50, 9, a, AAA, acoustic, after, age, all, am, an, and, Are, around, as, at, away, Bad, ban, band, bands, beginning, blue, blues, book, Boys, Burn, but, by, ca, can, center, chris, close, Closer, Col., color, colorado, comes, Crowd, dancing, dave, Day, Day., denver, DJ Logic, does, en, end, Enjoy, Eve, fall, fee, fi, fire, First, FOR, friday, Friend, From, get, gin, Good, great, hampton, hd, hi, high, home, Hope, How, ice, in, into, is, IT, jam, jammin, jamming, Jams, Jimmy, Joy, King, know, Led, let, life, light, Like, LITTLE, live, live music, log, logic, long, love, MA, machine, Made, MI, Much, Music, My, Nat, nate, nc, New, News, night, Nine, NJ, no, NV, ny, of, on, one, op, out, PA, Part, party, Phish, photos, post, Pt, rad, rant, read, rift, River, Road, rock, row, rs, run, saturday, Say, SC, set, show, Shows, So, Something, song, SPAC, square, St, state, steve, tab, That, the, times, to, tour, us, va, Valley, van, venue, view, WA, war, Way, ways, we, Weekend, with, woods, words, years, You, Your |
Words & Images by: Brad Hodge
Widespread Panic :: 02.10.12-02.12.12 :: The Fillmore :: Denver, CO
Photo gallery for Friday and Sunday nights below review!
 Widespread Panic by Brad Hodge |
For most of us with normal wallets and desires to see other music Denvers stop along Widespread Panic coveted Wood Tour marked the end of the road. There were still three more Aspen shows left, but with only 450 tickets available and a hefty price tag of 350 bucks a night who really wanted to go that bad?
So, Friday night seemed by many to be the beginning of the end. There was a feeling of wonder as the night began. Friends gathered and celebrated the evening with hugs and general revelry. As things got under way the energy began to mellow, and night one fell into what seemed to be a somewhat lackluster show. Maybe it was the acoustic delivery, maybe the setlist choices, or perhaps, by general consensus, The Fillmore is one of Denvers least favorite venues. Whatever it was, it didnt tarnish the evening entirely. For many diehard fans its hard to admit when a show falls short, but the thing about being a part of a band and the extended family of followers is how it isnt always about the music. The years of following around the machine has lead to great friendships, experiences and families. As new children were ushered in to the fold, old faces seemed to drift away. But at shows like these, old and new seem to appear side by side, and the joy that comes with any family growing seemed to be the highlight of the night.
 DJ Logic & Friends by Brad Hodge |
The party continued Friday night with a huge post-show party hosted by the masterful DJ Logic. He and friends Wally Ingram, Pete Wall, Brian Jordan, Garrett Sayers, and Peanut Daniels kept the energy up and people dancing well into the morning. Widespread Panic booking agent Hunter Williams and tour manager Steve Lopez made guest appearances on percussion, yet somehow did not fill the void of the hopeful appearances of Col. Bruce (who was in town for the weekend but never showed up at any of the shows) and the rumored appearances of Jimmy Herring and Dave Schools. This is often the case at post WP shows. Rumors fly of members of the band making appearances, but unfortunately those days seem to be long since gone away. Honestly, they were not really missed. Logic and his crew killed it all night, and there was little that anyone could have added that could have possibly made the jams any better.
As a loyal fan of Panic and live music in general I live and die by the rule never miss a Sunday. So, when I woke up Saturday with full body aches, coughing, congestion and the feeling of being shadowed by the Angel of Death, I decided to sit out the Saturday show to guarantee I would be in the house on Sunday. Bad choice, I know, and one I have been ridiculed for enough already. So, I have no report from the evening other than I applaud the choice to cover Roger Millers Dang Me. Good choice, boys!
 Widespread Panic by Brad Hodge |
Sunday brought cold and snow as the crowd entered the venue. Once inside, it was easy to find warmth as the whole place seemed to be a constant embrace of friendship. The night began with a nice Hope in Hopeless World and from there kept moving with a rapid pace. The thing about these acoustic sets that seemed hardest to wrap your mind around was how fast they went. Without the exploration and jamming Panic fans are accustomed to the nine song first set fell well under an hour most nights. This night, I believe, it fell short of even making the 50-minute mark. That in no way means it was bad, just something new. After a lengthy set break that allowed for more of the visiting and appreciation of those around you, things got fired back up with the Colorado Panic anthem Surprise Valley. Nowhere on earth does the line kiss the mountain air we breathe mean more to fans than it does here in the Square State. We love our mountain air, and we love Widespread Panic!
The boys seemed to have worked very hard to rework the arrangements of some of the material for this acoustic tour. Nowhere did that hard work seem to be more relevant than with the masterfully reworked Contentment Blues. The new arrangement gave new life to one of the bands pillared songs. Who knew you could rework perfection? The night seemed to be unstoppable, as if we all knew the clock was ticking and we couldnt do anything to stop it. With each enjoyable song we were that much closer to the end of what has been a magnificent run. Sure, Panic is not leaving us forever, but for many who have relied on its existence like Christmas and birthdays, it will be a hard transition to have to sit and wait.
The night came to a close in grandiose fashion. Following a beautiful When You Coming Home and possibly the best-ever Many Rivers to Cross, the band delivered the most poignant of tunes. We all chase something and often seem to bitch when we dont get what we want. After twenty-five years of giving everything theyve got to serve it up just the way we like it, the message was loud and clear:
You cant always get what you want, but if you try sometimes you get what you need.
Amen, family, amen.
2/10/12 – 2/12/12 – Widespread Panic @ The Fillmore Auditorium (Denver, CO) View Photos
Widespread Panic Tour Dates :: Widespread Panic News
JamBase | Woodsy
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Tags: col., color, crowd, jams, let, logic, Music, night, rant, row, state, tour
January 6, 2012 in 09, 10, 12, 2, 3, 9, a, AAA, access, age, all, am, American, an, and, Are, around, as, at, ban, band, beach, Boys, Burn, but, by, ca, can, center, dead, Documentary, Edit, en, end, eq, Eve, FEAT, fee, fi, FOR, From, get, grateful, grateful-dead, hampton, hi, home, in, interview, is, IT, jam, John, Jr, leo, light, long, MA, MI, Music, nc, New, News, Nine, no, ny, of, on, op, out, PA, Phish, photos, pro, production, Pt, rare, recording, rock, roll, rs, SC, So, sound, SPAC, St, studio, tab, That, the, to, us, view, WA, with |
DOCUMENTARY TO BE BUILT AROUND
1987 INTERVIEW WITH GARCIA
Music documentary filmmaker Malcolm Leo has announced plans to produce and direct a feature length documentary on Jerry Garcia. Personal manager John Hartmann will co-produce the project. Since the documentary is being created with full authorization and support from the family of Jerry Garcia, the ninety minute piece will blend an unprecedented amount of never before scene performances, documentary footage and rare home movies.
Filmmaker Leo’s credits include “This Is Elvis”, “Heroes of Rock & Roll”, “The Beach Boys – An American Band” and “Crosby, Stills & Nash – Long Time Comin’”.
Deadline is reporting that the film will be constructed around a three-hour interview that Leo conducted with Garcia in 1987. The historic interview was shot on negative film with studio quality sound and lighting.
A biopic to be directed by Amir Bar-lev had previously been reported, but was soon aborted as Grateful Dead Productions announced they would not allow any Grateful Dead recordings to be used in the film, nor would they allow access to any members of the Garcia family.
Click here for more information about the documentary.
Tags: beach, beach-boys, documentary, end, feat, fee, film, grateful, jam bands, Music, Phish, the-documentary
October 27, 2011 in 06, 09, 10, 11, 12, 2, 2011, 27, 3, 30, 31, 50, 9, a, AAA, after, Again, age, all, Also, am, an, and, Are, arena, around, as, at, ban, band, bands, Bass, big, blue, blues, book, boot, Burn, but, by, ca, california, can, center, City, close, Closer, comes, Commentary, cream, Crowd, cup, Day, dead, didn't, distract, Documentary, down, Drop, Dust, en, Encore, end, engineer, eq, Eve, excellent, fairgrounds, fall, Fall Tour, Famous, fee, festival, fi, final, First, FOR, four, frank, From, front, gain, George, get, gin, give, golden, Good, Gorge, grace, grateful, great, Groove, ground, grounds, Guitar, hampton, Heads, hi, high, home, How, ice, in, inspired, into, is, IT, IX, jam, jammin, jamming, John, King, know, late, Led, Lee, let, levels, Like, LITTLE, live, live music, log, logic, long, love, MA, Main, MI, mix, money, Much, Music, MVI, Nat, nate, nc, New, News, NH, night, no, ny, of, on, one, op, Open, out, PA, page, Part, party, Phish, play, Pop, Pot, pro, Pt, rain, read, relief, return, Road, rock, room, row, rs, run, Sand, saturday, Saw, SC, second, set, Shine, show, Shows, So, solo, song, sound, SPAC, St, stage, start, stone, stones, street, tab, Taste, That, the, Thunder, times, to, tone, tour, Tv, two, us, va, WA, Walk, war, Way, ways, we, Weekend, Ween, with, woods, words, years, You |
Words by: Garrin Benfield | Images from Furthur Facebook Page
Furthur :: 10.07.11-10.08.11 :: Monterey County Fairgrounds :: Monterey, CA
 Furthur in Monterey by Dylan Carney |
It was a no brainer for most California Deadheads to make the pilgrimage to Monterey County Fairgrounds for the final two shows of Furthur‘s West Coast Fall Tour. The Petee Arena, site of the fabled 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, is where the Grateful Dead famously either played horribly at their highest profile gig to date, or just had the misfortune of being sandwiched between Jimi Hendrix and The Who. Whatever the case, the band refused to license their performance for the highly influential documentary film about the festival by D.A. Pennebaker, and the set attained a kind of legendary status, not unlike the also-omitted performance from the Woodstock movie two years later. For those who know Pennebaker’s movie well, walking into that fairground-size performance area was a bit eerie – the place has not changed one bit, from the low-slung stage to the beveled roof of the stands that surround the main floor, which was covered in sawdust. Vending booths, concessions, and grassy sections surrounded the performance area. The whole place had a homespun, small town feel for a crowd that is used to impersonal arenas. Much credit is due to the band for searching out and continuing to play truly special spots like this, Cuthbert in Eugene, Red Rocks, and on and on.
 Furthur in Monterey by Dylan Carney |
Expectations were running unfairly high on the first night, but even so, the band came out of the gate a bit stiff and tired sounding. Bobby‘s night got off to an inauspicious start as he forgot the first few lines of “Promised Land”. The infrequently played “Easy Wind” was a great surprise but would’ve come off better when everyone, including the crowd, was warmed up. “Pride of Cucomonga” showed the first signs of promise as the blues groove in the middle opened up and hinted at some Anthem of the Sun era jamming. At this point, though, the inconsistent mix was becoming a big distraction to folks around me. We were right behind the main pit, in front of the board, where you’d expect a good representation of what the engineer was intending. Instead, we got wildly fluctuating levels and an all around lack of John Kadlecik‘s lead guitar. Unfortunately, “Mission in the Rain”, one of Jerry’s most beloved and beautifully melodic tunes, almost fell apart right from the get-go as Bobby struggled with his teleprompter. A certain amount of lyrical amnesia is always a charming element of any Dead-related show, but this moment really deflated the energy in the room and seemed to knock Bob’s confidence for a while. The “Two Djinn” that came next, while probably not on anyone’s wish list, refocused the band. Musically, this song sounds to me like Bob and Jerry sat down and wrote together, with Bobby’s typically dissonant, somewhat futuristic chordal structures giving way to a very “Scarlet”-like melodic hook. “Mason’s Children” contained a gnarly jam led by the finally audible JK that segued gracefully into the set closing “Mighty Quinn”.
 Furthur in Monterey by Dylan Carney |
JK got the the second set going with a favorite new cover, George Harrison’s “Any Road” from Brainwashed, the excellent album Harrison was working on when he died. This tune is such a natural fit for Furthur I had some folks ask me when Hunter and Kadelecik had started writing together. Its infectious, bouncy feel and zen-like lyrical sentiment fits the “all who wander are not lost” crowd very well. After a brief pause, the band fell into a dark, snaky “Estimated Prophet”. You could almost hear the relief come over the room as people exhaled and prepared to sink into some “primal Dead”. This version, like many of Bob’s tunes of late, was slowed down, but the deliberate, muscular delivery served this song well. Phil‘s dub-like bass was cranked, Bob treated us to some genuine, echo-enhanced screams, and we were off, finally firing on all cylinders! On paper, the rest of the set looks amazing and certainly did contain some jaw-dropping playing, but overall didn’t quite muster the X-factor this band has shown it’s capable of on a nightly basis. The “Dark Star” jam did what it should, and that is to surprise and be forever new, but I would have appreciated a few minutes of theme-based melodic playing. “King Solomon’s Marbles” crackled, and “Dear Prudence” really gave singers Jeff Pearson and Sunshine Garcia Becker a chance to shine.
 Furthur in Monterey by Dylan Carney |
After a gorgeous, relaxing California day, the band returned on Saturday refreshed, recharged and ready to rock. The audience had also grown to past-capacity and the Saturday night energy was on. The one-two 80s combo of “Feel Like a Stranger” and “Althea” started the first set on a high note, with the whole band interlocking and pressing each other forward. “No More Do I”, the best original song to come out of the Phil Lesh Quintet and sometimes played by the Other Ones and the Dead, was a bold, well played choice. The back section of the first half was like being plunged deep into a second set. “Viola Lee Blues”, arguably the most revitalized of the resurrected songs in Furthur’s repertoire, came next, followed by a chilling duet on “Comes a Time” by Kadelecik and Becker, and a thunderous “Throwing Stones” closer, with Weir, confidence intact, changing the lyrics to “Money green, it’s the only waylike I said, you can buy the whole god damned government today”. A song that sometimes seemed strident and self-important in the eighties now seemed the perfect rallying cry for the Occupy movement gaining momentum while the show was going on.
 Furthur in Monterey by Dylan Carney |
Saturday’s second set was an example of when the music really was as good as it appears on paper. An amazing setlist and equally inspired playing brought the whole weekend home in an immensely satisfying way. Phil, in particular, was indulging his restless mind with such taste and groove that it was hard to pin down where he was going at any given time — you just knew you were going somewhere. It brought to mind Jerry’s comment about how if you isolated any four bars of Phil’s playing it wouldn’t really tell you anything because his ideas extended the whole length of the song. After the party of “Golden Road > Shakedown Street > Truckin’”, the triumvirate of “Let it Grow” , “All Along the Watchtower” and “Morning Dew” once again manifested a darker, reflective commentary on our culture’s reawakened sense of economic and ecological collapse. After that intensity, what better salve than the reassuring sentiments of “Help on the Way”? This was a beautiful, deliberately crafted journey of a setlist that emerged into the reassuring “Franklin’s Tower” closer and “One More Saturday Night” encore. The audience response was heart-warmingly genuine and appreciative — for this night, and for all the years we’ve gotten to do this together. The band lingered on stage longer than normal, hugging and waving, and we slowly wandered out of this special little place in Monterey.
Furthur Tour Dates :: Furthur News
JamBase | Furthur Along
Go See Live Music!
Tags: arena, bars, blue, cup, festival, heads, lee, live music, rain, relief, stranger
Furthur | Monterey | Review
October 27, 2011 in 06, 09, 10, 11, 12, 2, 2011, 27, 3, 30, 31, 50, 9, a, AAA, after, Again, age, all, Also, am, an, and, Are, arena, around, as, at, ban, band, bands, Bass, big, blue, blues, book, boot, Burn, but, by, ca, california, can, center, City, close, Closer, comes, Commentary, cream, Crowd, cup, Day, dead, didn't, distract, Documentary, down, Drop, Dust, en, Encore, end, engineer, eq, Eve, excellent, fairgrounds, fall, Fall Tour, Famous, fee, festival, fi, final, First, FOR, four, frank, From, front, gain, George, get, gin, give, golden, Good, Gorge, grace, grateful, great, Groove, ground, grounds, Guitar, hampton, Heads, hi, high, home, How, ice, in, inspired, into, is, IT, IX, jam, jammin, jamming, John, King, know, late, Led, Lee, let, levels, Like, LITTLE, live, live music, log, logic, long, love, MA, Main, MI, mix, money, Much, Music, MVI, Nat, nate, nc, New, News, NH, night, no, ny, of, on, one, op, Open, out, PA, page, Part, party, Phish, play, Pop, Pot, pro, Pt, rain, read, relief, return, Road, rock, room, row, rs, run, Sand, saturday, Saw, SC, second, set, Shine, show, Shows, So, solo, song, sound, SPAC, St, stage, start, stone, stones, street, tab, Taste, That, the, Thunder, times, to, tone, tour, Tv, two, us, va, WA, Walk, war, Way, ways, we, Weekend, Ween, with, woods, words, years, You | No comments
Words by: Garrin Benfield | Images from Furthur Facebook Page
Furthur :: 10.07.11-10.08.11 :: Monterey County Fairgrounds :: Monterey, CA
It was a no brainer for most California Deadheads to make the pilgrimage to Monterey County Fairgrounds for the final two shows of Furthur‘s West Coast Fall Tour. The Petee Arena, site of the fabled 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, is where the Grateful Dead famously either played horribly at their highest profile gig to date, or just had the misfortune of being sandwiched between Jimi Hendrix and The Who. Whatever the case, the band refused to license their performance for the highly influential documentary film about the festival by D.A. Pennebaker, and the set attained a kind of legendary status, not unlike the also-omitted performance from the Woodstock movie two years later. For those who know Pennebaker’s movie well, walking into that fairground-size performance area was a bit eerie – the place has not changed one bit, from the low-slung stage to the beveled roof of the stands that surround the main floor, which was covered in sawdust. Vending booths, concessions, and grassy sections surrounded the performance area. The whole place had a homespun, small town feel for a crowd that is used to impersonal arenas. Much credit is due to the band for searching out and continuing to play truly special spots like this, Cuthbert in Eugene, Red Rocks, and on and on.
Expectations were running unfairly high on the first night, but even so, the band came out of the gate a bit stiff and tired sounding. Bobby‘s night got off to an inauspicious start as he forgot the first few lines of “Promised Land”. The infrequently played “Easy Wind” was a great surprise but would’ve come off better when everyone, including the crowd, was warmed up. “Pride of Cucomonga” showed the first signs of promise as the blues groove in the middle opened up and hinted at some Anthem of the Sun era jamming. At this point, though, the inconsistent mix was becoming a big distraction to folks around me. We were right behind the main pit, in front of the board, where you’d expect a good representation of what the engineer was intending. Instead, we got wildly fluctuating levels and an all around lack of John Kadlecik‘s lead guitar. Unfortunately, “Mission in the Rain”, one of Jerry’s most beloved and beautifully melodic tunes, almost fell apart right from the get-go as Bobby struggled with his teleprompter. A certain amount of lyrical amnesia is always a charming element of any Dead-related show, but this moment really deflated the energy in the room and seemed to knock Bob’s confidence for a while. The “Two Djinn” that came next, while probably not on anyone’s wish list, refocused the band. Musically, this song sounds to me like Bob and Jerry sat down and wrote together, with Bobby’s typically dissonant, somewhat futuristic chordal structures giving way to a very “Scarlet”-like melodic hook. “Mason’s Children” contained a gnarly jam led by the finally audible JK that segued gracefully into the set closing “Mighty Quinn”.
JK got the the second set going with a favorite new cover, George Harrison’s “Any Road” from Brainwashed, the excellent album Harrison was working on when he died. This tune is such a natural fit for Furthur I had some folks ask me when Hunter and Kadelecik had started writing together. Its infectious, bouncy feel and zen-like lyrical sentiment fits the “all who wander are not lost” crowd very well. After a brief pause, the band fell into a dark, snaky “Estimated Prophet”. You could almost hear the relief come over the room as people exhaled and prepared to sink into some “primal Dead”. This version, like many of Bob’s tunes of late, was slowed down, but the deliberate, muscular delivery served this song well. Phil‘s dub-like bass was cranked, Bob treated us to some genuine, echo-enhanced screams, and we were off, finally firing on all cylinders! On paper, the rest of the set looks amazing and certainly did contain some jaw-dropping playing, but overall didn’t quite muster the X-factor this band has shown it’s capable of on a nightly basis. The “Dark Star” jam did what it should, and that is to surprise and be forever new, but I would have appreciated a few minutes of theme-based melodic playing. “King Solomon’s Marbles” crackled, and “Dear Prudence” really gave singers Jeff Pearson and Sunshine Garcia Becker a chance to shine.
After a gorgeous, relaxing California day, the band returned on Saturday refreshed, recharged and ready to rock. The audience had also grown to past-capacity and the Saturday night energy was on. The one-two 80s combo of “Feel Like a Stranger” and “Althea” started the first set on a high note, with the whole band interlocking and pressing each other forward. “No More Do I”, the best original song to come out of the Phil Lesh Quintet and sometimes played by the Other Ones and the Dead, was a bold, well played choice. The back section of the first half was like being plunged deep into a second set. “Viola Lee Blues”, arguably the most revitalized of the resurrected songs in Furthur’s repertoire, came next, followed by a chilling duet on “Comes a Time” by Kadelecik and Becker, and a thunderous “Throwing Stones” closer, with Weir, confidence intact, changing the lyrics to “Money green, it’s the only waylike I said, you can buy the whole god damned government today”. A song that sometimes seemed strident and self-important in the eighties now seemed the perfect rallying cry for the Occupy movement gaining momentum while the show was going on.
Saturday’s second set was an example of when the music really was as good as it appears on paper. An amazing setlist and equally inspired playing brought the whole weekend home in an immensely satisfying way. Phil, in particular, was indulging his restless mind with such taste and groove that it was hard to pin down where he was going at any given time — you just knew you were going somewhere. It brought to mind Jerry’s comment about how if you isolated any four bars of Phil’s playing it wouldn’t really tell you anything because his ideas extended the whole length of the song. After the party of “Golden Road > Shakedown Street > Truckin’”, the triumvirate of “Let it Grow” , “All Along the Watchtower” and “Morning Dew” once again manifested a darker, reflective commentary on our culture’s reawakened sense of economic and ecological collapse. After that intensity, what better salve than the reassuring sentiments of “Help on the Way”? This was a beautiful, deliberately crafted journey of a setlist that emerged into the reassuring “Franklin’s Tower” closer and “One More Saturday Night” encore. The audience response was heart-warmingly genuine and appreciative — for this night, and for all the years we’ve gotten to do this together. The band lingered on stage longer than normal, hugging and waving, and we slowly wandered out of this special little place in Monterey.
Furthur Tour Dates :: Furthur News
JamBase | Furthur Along
Go See Live Music!
Tags: arena, bars, blue, cup, festival, heads, lee, live music, rain, relief, stranger