8/29/2000 Reviews

August 29 Fiddler's Green, Englewood, CO
Dark Star > (Bobby and Bruce)
Shakedown Street > (Bobby)
Loser (Bruce)
Down the Road > (Dark Star hint >)
Big Boss Man > (Bruce; one verse)
Good Morning Little Schoolgirl (one verse)
Sugaree
Me and My Uncle (Bobby and Mark acoustic, Bruce on accordian)
Ripple (Bobby, Mark, and Alphonso acoustic, Bruce on accordian)
Uncle John's Band > (w/ Mr. Potato Head tease)
Long Tall Cool One >
The Other One >
Drumz/Jam >
Dark Star >
Terrapin Station (Bobby)
Corrina (Bruce on accordian)

Hi, all -
Still picking up pieces. Steve was ON FIRE tonight, and really stepped out for several extended passages. Lots of jamming, and I thought that as an ensemble they worked very well together. It wasn't as dense as the previous incarnation and when it was heavy it worked pretty well. These folks definitely listen to each other and there were several times that I felt a strong collective. All IMO, of course, but I was very pleased with the jamming. The setlist Dave posted is close to correct, but is missing a great Uncle John's Band with a Kimock/Hornsby Potato Head tease and a long solo by Steve that was one of the highlights of the evening. I was definitely transported on several occasions, including that one. The Big Boss Man/Schoolgirl segment seemed like it was spontaneous (but had a solid and funky groove driven by Alphonso), and Bob only sang a little bit of it. Ripple was harmonized very nicely. During the post-drums jam leading into the second verse of Dark Star, Steve and Bruce launched into a duet on some jazz classic that I couldn't place, accompanied only by the drums. I don't think they planned on ending the show the way they did - they were given the "5 minutes" signal as Terrapin wound down and when they were done with Corinna, Bob gave a little shrug to the rest of the band as they ended things. I thought that this was an excellent show, and I'm certain that the tapes will reflect that. No shortage of Kimock tonight - in fact he was playing as intensely as I've seen him play. The Cripe was the guitar most played, and the Explorer and the Strat each saw a little action. Steve's Supro work on Down The Road was beautiful. I don't seem to remember them finishing The Other One....

--Alan Stecher

* * *

Fiddling at Fiddler's was a good time, despite the rain and strange venue. Ziggy really was a treat, first time I've heard him live and he really left an impact on my head. However, Fiddler's Green's parking lots and unnatural surroundings leave plenty to be desired.

The Other Ones are playing some intricate, delicate sounds that will leave anyone in awe who can open up to their style. The major downer of the night was an abrupt and rude ending to the show during a Corrina that was just beginning to cook. Other than that I'd say this show was all I could have hoped for. Thanks guys. I wish I could see another show to really take in what they are doing with the tunes. The songs interlaced so intelligently in and out of each other. It was a Dark Star night indeed. If you have the chance, definitely go and enjoy, and add to this positive force.

Everyone go out, enjoy the show and take it a bit furthur.
Bruuuuuuuuuuce.

--Jable

* * *

The bus come by Denver last night, lurching into Fiddler's Green Amphitheatre. What a waste, with Red Rocks just a few short miles away, but c'est la vie. An Other Ones show certainly makes the place more bearable. Good news for folks holding tickets to shows furthur down the road - this band cooks. Actually, I think this incarnation is better than the one of two years ago. Phil's absence bothers me greatly because of the reasons behind it. But musically, I think the chemistry here is just right. Alphonso gives a different flavor to the stew, and with P&F doing their own thing pretty regularly now, I'd just say we're fortunate to have two very different yet vibrant interpretations of the Grateful Dead repertoire.

The band had great exploratory highlights - the jam into Dark Star, the Other One theme woven throughout several jams and then a single verse before the drums, Uncle John's, a huge DSv2->Terrapin. Steve Kimock has the vibe, for sure. That is not to discount Mark Karan's very tasteful additions and of course Bobby's rock-solid rhythms. Hornsby is the perfect person to take on some of the Jerry vocals because he has the ability to capture Jerry's spirit while using his own very personal phrasing. Loser and Sugaree were true standouts. The band also took a few risks that fell flat - something I look for in GD interpretations. It's like skiing - if you don't fall occasionally, you're not really challenging yourself. The DS jam -> Big Boss Schoolgirl, for instance, was kind of cool in theory, but in practice it didn't quite find the mark. The transition into the ending of Shakedown was also flubbed, although the Shakedown rocked the house overall. I also felt that the acoustic reading of Me and My Uncle left a little to be desired - it missed the frenetic pace that lends so much to the story. On the other hand, the bare-bones Ripple worked beautifully. I thoroughly enjoyed the arrangement of Down the Road Again and got a serious case of the tingles during the Garcia verse. Corrina got a bad rap as the closer, in my opinion. I can understand why some people don't dig this tune, especially following such a monumental Terrapin, but I thought it had quite a groove last night. I'd been hoping for a Sugar Magnolia or Watchtower to close, I must confess. And an encore would have been nice, but I place the blame solely on that lame venue for that one.

A few more random thoughts: The scene was mellow and friendly - hearkening back to the old days. The sound quality improved dramatically the closer to the stage you got (Fiddler's Green has all kind of noise ordinances that screw with sound). Great to see, hear and *feel* Billy and Mickey in tandem again. Their blend is definitely one of those "don't know what you had until it's gone" things. My takeaway from the show is that the band is dynamic, savvy with the material and willing to take a leap of faith or two. The Dead's body of work continues to assert its timelessness and its emotion. Jerry's gone, and there's nothing that can be done about that. But I think he would have cracked one of those famous smiles at some of the moments that went down last night.

--Tom Ferrell

* * *

Well, I wasn't going to go to this one, particularly due to the price and that fact that Fiddler's Green may be the WORST venue to see a show. Why build an amphitheater that only has views of an office park, when you are in one of the most beautiful states in the union. $35 for a lawn seat! The show started out with a mellow Dark Star jam into the first verse. Then in to Shakedown. We had just been talking about that, but besides Bobby's little licks, and the drummers, there was definitely something missing. I wanted to have an open mind about this, but, if Phil's bass was in there, it would have been sweet. Still, the show was pretty good when Bruce went into Loser, one of my all time favorite Dead tunes. It was beautiful, until Bruce fucked up the lyrics.........twice!!!! This is where things really went downhill. Nobody seemed to want to step up and take over. Kimock, who definitely had his moments, and Karan, never seemed to know when to go and when to sit back. Then they do the Mickey song, which was good, but the jam after, Bruce plays some Loser again, some Dark Star, and then somehow starts singing Big Boss Man. That would be great, but, he sings one verse, and then Bobby sings a verse of Schoolgirl, that's right, when you read the setlist, remember, each song had one verse sung and that was it. This was probably the lowest point of the show, if you decide to go in to a tune, and start singing it, especially blues riffs like those, play the whole damn thing!! This was not exploratory jamming, this was just screwing up royally. I have seen 8 Phil shows, and there is a huge difference. Even with his rotating line up, P&F sounds way, way tighter than these guys. Sugaree was good, Kimock finally stepped up over all of the indecision and hit a solos that was great, and the Bobby acoustical thing was good to, "honest as a DENVER man can be"! Another slight fuck up in UJB and then a decent Other One, first verse only! Come on, play the damn thing. Even Phil, with all of his long jams, finishes. I have seen Phil due Cryptical>Other One>Smokestack>Other One>Cryptical, these guys couldn't finish Other One?!!? DRUMZ WAS THE BEST PART OF THE SHOW.......PERIOD!! Seeing Billy and Mickwy wailing was the high point for me, flashback city! Terrapin was Ok, but Bobby was noticably reading note cards, and they chose to jam out the part before Inspiration, too long, I almost fell asleep. And then to top of this postively less than average show, they end with CORRINA! What a horrible way to end, and then, no encore to boot. I love the Dead, saw them over 40 times, and love Phil shows, and love WIDESPREAD PANIC, better than anyone. I was truly disappointed in this show, I can't believe after months of rehearsal time, the band could sound so un-tight. If I could do it again, I wouldn't go. Like my buddy said, we paid $35 to see a rehearsal!! Phil blows these guys away! I hope anyone that reads this will take it to heart, but go for yourselves, I can only hope for your sake that this was an off night, not indicative of the way this whole tour is going to be. And the kids that have never seen the Dead, you still won't have any idea what it REALLY used to be like!!! Peace out, go see Widespread Panic if you really want to throw down!!!

--Graham Shullman

* * *

Having read a wide variety of thoughts & reviews on the tour thus far, I went with a very open mind, and much to my liking they tore it up last night. The skies came a little unglued on us prior to the show, so it was a wet one for sure. Thanks to GDTS TOO we were about 10th row center...... ..daaaaaaammmmmnnnnnnn.... thanks GDTS TOO!! Steve was on last night, he stepped up several times, the whole band seemed to get smokin a number of times. Dark Star was nice, Alphonso led the way nicely. Shakedown was very nice, a couple small oops flubs, but very well played, several nice jams there. Bruce did Loser some justice, very confident he was. Down the Road was fun, especially the little speed ditty at the end. Then there was the kind of a Dark flavored Big Boss Man>couple of Schoolgirl verses>sort of Spoonful tease. Stop. Sugaree....now this was the highlight for me...towards the end Bobby clearly gave SK the big green light and he took center stage and started makin lots'o faces........tore it up fo sho. Bobby, Alphonso & MK did a very nice Me & My Uncle, then Ripple...but to my bewilderment no SK??? what happened to his mandala? oh well. Uncle John's was very well done, I missed a little, but caught most of a sick SK jam. Tall Cool One.....The Other One(no bombs).....very solid drumz by Billy & Mickey, sooooooooo good to see them together again. Billy is SOLID. Dark Star showed itself again, then an extremely well played Terrapin for it's debut this time 'round. Bobby sang every verse, and sang it well. The jam was tight, it was obvious they'd been practicing this......very fluid and no noticeable flaws. Then as Bobby was leading the way into Corrina some Fiddler's Fool came all the way out on stage and flashed his 5 fingers in everyone's face...so a somewhat abridged Corrina, and they were off, lights came on. It was evident they would have liked to play much longer.....Bobby looked up & shrugged and that was it. Very solid show over all, I was quite impressed.......I'm extremely envious of those who will see this band in a couple weeks in Hampton & Greensboro, such nice small indoor arenas. I saw a bit of the stage politics debated so far, but nothing that got my shorts in a bundle....they seemed to enjoy themselves tremendously. Got my fix for now.........

Everyone waiting your turn........enjoy!! I think they'll get better & better...

--Greg Schlenker

* * *

Last night I took my kids to see Futhur last night. They endured the pouring rain, missing Ziggy and eating "19 layer veggie burritos." They are troopers!

Okay, for those that haven't seen the set list, here it is:
Dark Star (verse 1)>Shakedown Street, Loser, Down the Road, Big Boss Man (Bruce)> Good Morning Little Schoolgirl, Sugaree, Me and My Uncle, Ripple, Uncle John's Band>Long Tall Cool One>The Other One (verse 1)>Drumz>Dark Star (verse 2)>Terrapin Station>Corrina

There was no encore. The amphitheatre is in the middle of an industrial park and they shut the show down at 10:30 on the mark. I'm not a big Corrina fan, so ending the show on that note was kind of a drag. Other than that, the show fuckin' ripped!

The Dark Star was very sudden, but I think most people "felt" that's what they would open with. I thought I heard it when they were tuning. Shakedown was unexpected, but very welcome. It got everyone jumping. By then, the rain had slowed, and my kids were coming alive! Loser was beautiful, unbelievable how much I love hearing that song. Down the Road was okay, someone correct me if I am wrong, but I think that is a Mickey Hart and Mystery Box song. To me it seemed out of place. Big Boss Man snuck up on us big time! The jam was very different than the traditional version we are used to hearing. Bruce also snuck a little Good Morning Little Schoolgirl. At this point my son is talking to all of the people around us and he is saying he wants to hear his favorite song, "Sugaree." He gets his wish! Again, Bruce's vocals were perfect. His sweet version of this song was a welcomed one.

The Me & My Uncle, Ripple and Uncle John was acoustic. The "Uncle" was one of the most gentle and beautiful one ever! The Ripple we saw coming from a mile away! Everyone sang and sang. Uncle John was recognizable by me about 1 minute into the slow jamming. I think most people were just grooving and not paying attention. I love to guess the set, so I wagered on UJB and there it was! Long Tall Cool One is not a song I am familiar with. It was a nice song, and Bruce was way into it. Half of the crowd leaves on this song to get food, bathroom, etc. Too bad for them, because they went right into the Other One. My son is yelling "coming, coming, coming around!!" This goes into Drumz. Both Mickey and Billy totally were enjoying them selves. It was cool to see those back together. When the rest of the band joined back in, they messed around with a "space" but it never really developed, so they jumped into Dark Star again (COOL!!) and then after a long jam, they kicked ass on Terrapin. That shocked me the most. Very, Very cool. At this point, the band had less than 5 minutes, so they threw out Corrina. Bobby really had fun singing this. Right after the band left the stage, the house lights came on.

Let me tell you. There was no holding back. These guys were kicking butt. I had such a grate time. I am sore from dancing!
The show was awesome. Period.
Peace

--John Cloud

* * *

SOOOOOO tired of all the negativity about or between Phil and TOO, who sucks who's better, who JAMZ. Honest reviews are fine, but come off your horse. The reason the show sucked for some was because you were on the lawn in a lame Amphitheater. If you couldn't hear Kimock, it was because the sound sucked where you were sitting. The guy rocked. Had you been lower down in Pavilion you'd probably written an incredibly different review....

--Flip Uman

* * *

Ok here we go, These are my frank opinions with no regard for political correctness. Regardless of criticisms below, I did enjoy the show last night and I recommend all see this band once this summer. Like many other reviewers have said, I think they’ll get better as the tour goes on. Last night the Band shot their load with the first two songs, Dark Star and Shakedown Street, but the rest of the show was quite mediocre. This show may have been better than the last Other Ones show at Fiddlers but it did not compare to the Other Ones show I saw at SPAC last time around or any of the six Phil shows played in Denver.

DARK STAR: I liked the parts were Dark Star went into loud rocking psychedelic jams in both the opening, the second verse of Dark Star after drums, and toward the end of Uncle John’s Band. The trading of vocals (two lines Bob, two lines Bruce) worked very well. I heard a very familiar, very cool, jam mixed in with Dark Star after drumz that I just can’t place. I think Kimock may have been doing something from Jeff Beck off Wired, Blow by Blow, or There and Back.

SHAKEDOWN: Quite a different arrangement of this tune. Raw and bluesy at times and the band got into a few incredibly tight funky jams as the song progressed.

BRUCE: Bruce’s piano playing was very laid back all night. He never took charge. I didn’t care for his version of Loser or Sugaree (except the guitar jam at the end). Contrary to many of the opinions from other reviewers, I think Bruce’s vocals suck. He has a fairly good understanding of how to sing but he does not have a good voice. Phil’s low voice would have helped offset Bruce’s high pitched vocal on ripple. Bruce has done some great piano playing for the Dead & the Other Ones, and his own shows rock, but he was to laid back last night and I have never cared for his vocals.

KARAN AND KIMOCK: Karan really surprised me at times with some jamming that was more interesting than what I’ve herd from him. All in all, both failed to take a few opportunities to take charge. I think the guitar players and the drummers were at the core of the best jams, but they just did not go to the land of guitar jams as much as they should of.

ALPHONSO JOHNSON: Also, way too laid back. I’ve seen him do better, but he is just not Phil. He is not as good as Phil, and Phil’s style is key to reproducing the Grateful Dead magic. I don’t think he will be the final answer to replacing Phil. The bass player from The Mickey Hart Band is better than Alphonso. The people that say Phil is not missed are comparing to tapes or the sound you heard at Dead concerts from the upper deck of a stadium. Phil’s bass playing can only be fully appreciated at a live concert with good sound. The crunchyness and the interplay with the guitar and drums turns in to what known as “laying down bass bombs” when you hear it on tape. A good example is the song Corrina. This song has been panned by many Deadheads from day one, but I think the song was developing quite nicely in 1994 and 1995 mostly because of Phil. The funky meter read zero during Corrina last night.

BOBBY: Bob sounded fine.

MICKEY: Mickey was great but I though he had a little more intensity with MHB this summer. I like that song “Down the Road” and contrary to the opinion of other reviewers I don’t see anything wrong with Mickey’s vocals. I’ll take this opportunity to say I saw MHB at the Lodo Music Fest I Denver this summer, and was very impressed. MHB played very creative hybrid of rock music and the Planet Drum world music sound. Mickey, Vince, The female Cuban vocalist, and the second drumer were all singing. They were really out there working to put a out a very entertaining and diverse show. Unfortunately the only good sound in the Lodo parking lot was for the 25 or so people right in front of the speakers to either side of the stage were you couldn’t see the show. I hope Mickey brings that music into small theaters.

BILLY: As I read all the reviews earlier this week about how great is was to have Billy back I said to my self, “yeah yeah whatever. I think I will be missing Molo.“ However I must day it turned out to be really fantastic seeing and hearing Bill. No he doesn’t have the thunder that Molo has but he really creates a feeling of travel in the music and I almost forgot how great that is. Also, Drumz great. Very creative.

ONE LAST COMMENT: I disagree with all the comments I have read saying great music from Jerry and the Dead was over by the 1990's. 1990 & 1991 were great years. I think 1993-1995 was a slump just like other slumps the Dead had before. Every show I saw in this period has at least a few fantastic memorable moments. Just like other slumps there was the occasional great show like Chapel Hill in 1993, the Boston Shakedown show in 1994, the two Albany shows on the Dead’s last tour in the summer of in 1995, and the entire JGB tour in 1993. I was blessed with great seats for the two Albany shows in 1995 and I saw JGB 4 times in 1993. I had the time of my life at those shows and the tapes are great.

PS: Fiddler's Green is the worst. Fortunately I was up front, but only about 10% of the audience at a Fiddler's show has good enough sound to feel like they were really at the show.

--Michael Spinelli

* * *

Hey, guys, just a quick note of historical significance. Regarding the Terrapin/Corrina pairing, Corrina contains the line "...There's no fear that lovers born will ever fail to meet". That line is from the finale of the Terrapin Station suite, and may just be a step toward a performance of the entire song. So don't be too quick to denounce Corrina. I, too, cringed every time I heard the Dead do that song, but it is a new incarnation, and deserves some attention, if not credit.

--Jon and Kris Vermilyea

* * *

Hey Now! While driving to Fiddler's I could see a rain cloud about 10 miles long.......I was hoping it would head off either north or south, no such luck, headed due east! Wet show, good fun. Had to meet friends @ will call window at 5:30; I saw Mark Karan hanging out and talking to fans. Never in 12 years of east coast shows had I come this remotely close to members of "the band." Class act from Mr. Karan, I haven't gone to many RatDog shows because I felt they lacked a lead guitar, perhaps I was mistaken. I met my long time friend and brother Chris K. right on schedule. In classic form, he pulled up in a cab minutes before the show having just flow back from Shoreline. I sold my 3 TicketMaster tickets (wife and daughter bagged due to the threat of lightnin') so I could sit with Chris 10th row center! The show opened with Dark Star, with nice leads from Karan. Having seen Kimock rippin' during Dstar during last falls Phil show, I was suprised that he wasn't taking any leads. The answer came later in the show when Steve stepped up during Dstar verse 2. Bobby seemed to be having guitar problems early in the jam, but everything was worked out by the second song, Shakedown! (Missed it by a song, Captain VTO!) My first post-Dead Shakedown was not disappointing, with some great Bobby chords along with slinky guitar work from both K's! A nice Loser was next, Bruce did fuck up the words, but hey, that's par for the course with the Dead. Can't help but miss Jerry on this one, you can't hide behind an envelope filter here. Down the Road featured some nice slide work from Kimock, and Mickey's vocals were tolerable (thank god no Fire rap tonight!) The last poster was right about the next tandem.....looks great on paper, wasn't much at the show. The jam started as Dstar, but worked its way into what sounded like a Wang Dang Doodle, but then Bruce started signing the chorus of Big Boss Man. One verse, then Bobby into one verse of Schoolgirl. This was kinda cool for me since my daughter had just started pre-school. A hot Sugaree made up for the short comings that featured a smokin' lead from Kimock. He kinda flashed his guitar pick to the crowd (and the band) in a looke here' fashion, and tore into the lead like a dog on a slab of meat. Me & My Uncle acoustic followed, Bobby had to make at least one reference to Denver! Bruce followed up with "Long Tool One" which was a great chance to hit the head! (Boys, please play 2 sets for the sake of our bladders alone!). The Other One was a nice intro into Drumz, and it was great to see the rhythm devils back at work. Bill K can still pound the skins although he is starting to look a little like Charlie Watts. Keep Mickey focused on the drums where he belongs Billy! Dark Star out of space had Kimock jamming like we know he can. Mark K sat out most of the jam watching Kimock do his thing. The Terrapin that followed was well played, but hard to stack up against Phil's version from Red Rocks last summer.....venues do make a difference! I know most heads hate Corrina, but again it was my first post Dead version, so it sounded ok. Kimock might have added a nice slide touch here, but was lost most of the song (Alphonso had to whisper him the chords). Karan was rippin here, I guess we know who was playin' with Bobby and who was with Phil! All in all, I found the show most enjoyable......the east coast shows will rock as the tour picks up speed. As long as this bus is moving, I'll be on it....be it Phil or Bobby at the wheel!

--Kevin S.