Phil & Friends - 11/8/99 |
Baltimore Arena, Baltimore, MD |
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Here's what my list actually says... (Strange notes will be explained in the review) PnF 7:40 Tuning Jam -> 7:49 Dew -> 8:05 Watch out 4 the Pretzel Guy! 8:10 Blues Jam (Derek & W. Duel) -> 8:17 Wheel -> 8:25 Jam -> 8:29 Playin -> Jam 8:37 ->Slide Duel Jam (scarlet & China hints) 8:?? Just A Little Light -> 8:48 ->Playin -> Get Together -> 9:03 ->Cold Rain 9:11 Of course, due to excuses... We missed the encore. |
Phil Lesh's Website has this setlist: Jam -> Morning Dew -> Jam -> The Wheel -> Jam -> Playin' In The Band -> Jam -> Jam -> Just A Little Light -> Playin' Jam -> Get Together -> Cold Rain And Snow Phil Joined Bob Dylan For His Encores: Friend Of The Devil and Not Fade Away |
How It All WentDown
A Brief Review
(yeah, right!)
There's nothing like a birthday show. My fiance, Amy conveniently scheduled her birthday to coincide with Phil & Dylan's performance at the Baltimore Arena (the nearest gig to our Northern VA. home.) Despite the disappointment of Kimock's leaving the tour we still looked forward to attending the show with a number of friends and seeing Phil drop some bombs East-Coast style. The addition of Derek Trucks to the line-up which, in Baltimore, already included Warren Haynes (guitar & vocals), Rob Barraco (keyboards, vocals), and John Molo (drums), seemed like icing on the cake. Derek, whom this year joined Uncle Butch's little band called The Allman Brothers Band, plays a mean slide guitar that can shame many men twice his twenty years in age. The possiblities seemed endless, the jams wide-open, and the setlist unpredictable-- just the way I like it.
Amy and I both had to work that day (Can't miss a Monday!) but we both skipped out early and met at home to leave about twenty minutes after four. The plan, as always, had been to leave early enough to avoid rush-hour traffic but this, as always, did not work. I tried to relax and not let my anxiousness get the best of me as can happen in stopped traffic, 40 minutes from the venue. I told Amy of my predictions and wishes for the nights setlist which included Cryptical -> The Other One and Just a Little Light. The latter I had heard via Real Audio at PhilZone.Com performed during the Summer Sessions tour. Warren's voice, if not a dead ringer, is a fine complement to the raspy soul of the Late Brent Mydland.
During the drive/wait/drive/wait on the beltway we also heard a something that cracked me up so much that I have to mention it here. Don & Mike, on their nationally syndicated radio show, began talking about Garth Brooks and the Chris Gaines album from which they played the next single. I quickly spotted it as a horrible reworking of The Youngbloods' "Get Together"; the song Jesse Colin Young claims helped end the Vietnam War. We laughed it up and finally moved to a Widespread tape and, as traffic opened up I floored the accelerator and got us the heck up to Baltimore.
Parking was a cinch and he quickly hopped over to The Wharf Rat (a nearby brewpub) for a beer and to meet the gang. After a quick one at the pub (which was filled to capacity with deadheads and other folks) we packed it up and rounded the block to get inside before Phil's prompt start-time.
At 7:40, Phil and his Friends casually strolled out onto the stage. A roar went up from the crowd which clearly had a large Deadhead contingent and died down in anticipation. What we got seemed to suprise many and baffle others. Phil and Co. began fiddling with their instruments as if to tune up, an action which, those who saw any Dead shows will testify, seemed standard except that they never stopped. Tuning turned into quiet jamming with the players casually joining in and the audience not quite sure if the set had actually started. after a couple of minutes, though it was clearly a jam rather than a tune-up and the band heated the room, simmering over into Morning Dew.
Dew sounded real nice and definatly ranks as one of the suprises I'd been hoping to hear. Phil's vocals rang solidly and the band rose to the challenge of opening a show with a "mellow" tune. I'd like to add that I've never felt that Morning Dew is actually a mellow song and this band expertly captured the emotional strength with their solos and dynamics. Afterwards, they steered outward and into a jam that hinted at first at The Wheel and then took a strong left turn towards heavy electric blues.
Anybody familiar with the line-up had to see this coming. Warren Haynes & Derek began trading blues licks in a breif but powerful duel. The talent on-stage began oozing everywhere and it easily caught up the audience and carried us along. Meanwhile, Rob, on keys, hooked up with Phil who happened to be continuously weaving thunder with Molo and together they brought us all back to a tumbling, rolling version of The Wheel. However, this band didn't like keeping its feet on the ground. After a verse, they took off again into yet another jam, sounding like they had abandoned the song altogether until Phil and Rob drove us back into the "Round, Round, Robin run around..." refrain though the music hadn't quite caught up to the vocals until after the refrain.
These guys couldn't stay put. The Wheel gave way to another jam that soon took a familiar shape in that of Playin' In The Band. They gave this a nice workout to my dancing delight and, quite un-suprisingly (at this point), continued to jam outward after the song. This jam gave way to a real treat. Warren sliped on his slide and he and Derek laid into a beautiful slide guitar duel that had hints of Scarlet Begonias and utter genius.
After dueling, the band stopped for perhaps all of a 20 seconds, and the tore into Just A Little Light! Ecstatic from not only predicting it but recogonizing the first couple notes, I drew a few looks as I jumped up and down in front of my seat but, I knew what was going to go down. Warren stepped up and treated us to a fine rendition of a hot Brent song that I, for one, had never expected anyone to play live for me until this tour. They certainly did deliver and then carried us back to a Playin' Jam that maintained a rolling boil right into yet another big suprise.
As Phil began to sing the verse, "Love is a song we sing..." I at first laughed out loud, remembering the Garth Brooks joke from our drive into town and pointed it out to Amy, then I smiled, jumped up and down and began to revel in the beauty of the song.
"C'mon people now, Smile on your brother"
I smiled and wondered if Phil had been listening to the same radio program and decided that this song deserved better treatment.
"Everybody get together..."
Or perhaps it just happened as coincidence. One of those cosmic moments of perfect timing that keep you coming back to shows for here was the real thing: original, pure performances of songs we all knew and new music in the form of jams, carrying us to higher heights and on top of it all, Phil Lesh singing to us, asking of us to...
"...Try to love one another right now."
Who'da thunk it? Get Together by the Youngbloods! All smiles in the arena at that point and the rolling boil finally spilled over into Cold Rain and Snow, complete with Phil bombs and backing vocals by the Baltimore Arena Assemblage of Hopping Deadheads (read: the audience). The outside air certainly had a chill that night and Phil and Friends paid tribute to it by heating up the crowd and finally setting us on fire.
My only regret is that it had to end.
Oh, and Amy said to say that she had a great time on her birthday!
And, in case you were wondering, the Pretzel Guy kept walking through the audience, hassling folks about smoking cigarettes! I'm not sure how much authority he had (I noticed that the ushers never left their posts) but he certainly had me laughing... (I don't smoke)
©1999 jmh
About the Author jmh is a family man who is thankfull for beer, LPs, and extra guitar strings. Donations of any of these things or cash for their purchase will be happily accepted.