8/31/2000 Reviews

August 31 Schottenstein Center, Columbus, OH
(Heaven Help the Fool Jam >)
Hell in a Bucket
Ramble On Rose (Bruce)
Scarlet Begonias > (Bruce)
Fire on the Mountain (Mickey)
GDTRFB (Bob, Bruce and Mark)
K.C. Moan (Bobby, Mark, Steve, and Alphonso acoustic, Bruce accordian)
Friend of the Devil (Bobby, Mark, Steve, and Alphonso acoustic, Bruce accordian)
The Way It Is >
Franklin's Tower > (Bruce)
Drumz/Jam >
China Cat Sunflower > (Bobby)
GDTRFB >
I Know You Rider (Bobby and Bruce)
Not Fade Away
E: The Weight (Bobby, Bruce and Mark)

My first show of this tour. WOW!!! Billy and Mickey (the eight-limbed drum machine!)...and Bobby's guitar anchoring the rhythm with them. For 23 years I hadn't realized...it's all about Billy, Mickey and Bobby locking up to keep the band chugging along. Not to slight the others-it took the whole band to make last night the best Dead show I've seen since Saturday night at the Spectrum, Spring '95. Bruce has always fit like a glove...Mark & Steve playing some sick, sick shit on their side of the stage...and Alphonso filling some VERY big shoes VERY admirably. No, TOO isn't the Dead, but who cares? It's REAL. It FELT right. It evened looked right with the familiar percussion equipment up there. And that "Hell In A Bucket" sounded more like the Dead than any RatDog or '98 TOO version I've heard. Go. You cheat yourself if you don't.

--Jack Barton

* * *

Well here's my take on the show in Columbus.:
Let me first say that Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers were an awesome and fun pairing to go along with the Other Ones. A very lively set, that made me wish that they would have filled in for Rusted Root all of the times that they were on the Further Fest or opened for the Dead.

As for the Other Ones, the show had high points and low points but definitely swayed to a great ending. Everything started off great with a "Hell in a Bucket" and a "Ramble" that had my hopes high. If you get a chance to hear this show, check out Alphonso's solo during Ramble on Rose. . . .phenomenal!!! And then Scarlet>Fire came and it got a little bit out of control. Scarlet was pretty good and solid, but Fire was one of the poorer versions I've ever seen and I'm one of the ones that like Mickey's rap. No one knew when Mickey was going to come in with a verse and as a result they were off when it came to singing the chorus as well. After this they went into a GDTRFB which I thought was going to have to be stopped. Some of the band members didn't know what key it was in and Bobby couldn't hardly join in due to all of the chaos. After a rough start, it did pick up.

Next the acoustic part began with a surprising K.C. Moan and Friend of the Devil. Bruce then played the Way It Is and I've seen better. I remember hearing Bruce say one time that the Other Ones used telestrators to show the words, but apparently they weren't because he mixed up the words in the 2nd or 3rd verse. The Franklin's that followed was pretty solid as well.

The Rhythm Devils were back and were just awesome. I was and am a fan of Molo, but I've been hoping to see Billy and Mickey together for a long time and they didn't disappoint.

The band returned for a China>GDTRFB>Rider that was reminiscent of the China Rider from Polaris that appeared on the Other Ones CD. I hope that the GDTRFB was inserted to make up for the botched up version that came eariler in the set. Finally came an awesome Not Fade Away that featured an extremely energetic guitar duel between Karan and Kimock.

Waiting for the encore I imagined a Sugar Mag or Touch of Grey but I was blown away with the Weight . . .totally unexpected!

Overall, I think the Other Ones aren't the same as they were two years ago and it's not Phil. It seems to me they have too many songs in their playlist and need to possibly tighten up a few of them. Billy was really great throughout the whole show. Karan and Kimock are really tight too, with Karan taking on a lot more vocals by himself (the Weight, GDTRFB). Mickey, Bruce and Bob were ok, but I think overall the band lacked a leader. . .someone to guide them through the transitions. I have no doubt that they will strengthen as a group as the tour goes along. Just listen to the Atlanta show from 98 versus the Shoreline ones.

--Nathan Moore

* * *

I saw Phil Lesh and Friends in Nov. 1999 and The MHB in May 2000. After reading some of the negative reviews about The Other Ones tour, I didn't have very big expectations. Man, was I pleasantly surprised! They sounded sweeter than ever. Kick yourself right now if you don't catch this tour.

--Maxwell Stone

* * *

Columbus was my first show of this tour. I've been attending GD shows since 1976. I am sick of reading the remarks written by people who think they know what GD music is "SUPPOSED TO SOUND LIKE." We are being blessed at this time with two bands sporting excellent musicians, playing their interpretations of many of our favorite songs. It sounds to me, many of you are attending these shows in an attempt to hear an over-rehearsed, flawless, and otherwise perfect performance of the way you think this music should be played. Unfortunately for you (and you know who you are), this is not what a Grateful Dead concert was ever about, nor is it what TOO or P&F are trying to accomplish. In review of last night's show, all I have to say is the music was great!!, the vibe was great!! Everyone I was with had a great time!!! Looking very forward to Buffalo and Cleveland. Those of you on the east coast are in for a real good time.

--SRG

* * *

I doubt that few will revisit the reviews from Columbus, but thought I'd add a little more perspective to the tour and this show in particular. I recently visited the official Furthur site and was reading the journal that Mickey is keeping during this tour. He mentioned something very interesting about the Columbus show, "...we had no grease tonight. Sort of bland and uninspired. I personally could not start my engine and the band was sending signals in a foreign tongue. It was like the Navajo Code Talkers, we all knew we were speaking to each other but couldn't tell what language it was."

Isn't that interesting?

I live in San Francisco now, but I grew up in central Ohio. I made the pilgrimage home because I was so inspired by the Shoreline show. I met up with some of my old tour buddies from many moons ago and we staggered over to the Varsity Club for some beers before the show. I thought the scene was reminiscent of Shoreline a few weeks prior, but smaller in comparison to the boy's hometown following. Anyway, it was a more song-oriented show and not so much a jam night, but there were some real highlights that Mickey failed to mention (i.e., Ramble on Rose, KC Moan > FOTD, NFA crowd chant > The Weight).

My least favorite part was listening to Mickey struggle through Fire on the Mountain. I don't like this version to begin with and he definitely was not having fun. It would figure that this song would haunt me at Shoreline, a few weeks before that at the Marin County Music Fest, and now in Columbus. I'm not knockin' you, Mickey. This song just doesn't toot my horn. The point of this rambling is that Mickey nailed it - this band is not about any one person, but the sum of the parts. Jerry used to complain about shows that collectors drool over today. You never know what you're going to get, Forrest, and there's always a little magic out there if you're looking in the right places, "Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right."

Keep an open mind and let yourself get a little nostalgic. You might even shed a tear of joy. I mentioned the Marin County Music Fest (SKB and Mickey with Vince) because I've decided to see these guys, in any incarnation, every time I have the chance from here on out. Another review from a different show mentioned something about having the rhythm in his soul - I hear that, man. I'm going to be there for these guys until the end. What a long, strange trip it's been.

--Josh

* * *

The energy was high for the whole night. It was a rockin' fun show. No real space outs and the first part of the show was kind of ragged, but everything after Drums smoked. To start with, I thought the "Heaven Help the Fool" tease that provided the lead in to "Hell in a Bucket" was a nice touch, one that they should explore and develop more fully. "Bucket" had a few miscues on the verse lead-ins, but the jams were hot. "Ramble on Rose" continued in the same vein. The "Scarlet" was merely ok and "Fire," well, it sucked. The next song provided the first major highlight of the evening for me. I don't remember GDTRFB nearly falling apart like Nathan mentions in his review; there may have been a few miscues early on, but the final jam was a BARNBURNER.

Next we got the acoustic tunes. It was a great treat to see, as I never got to see the Dead play acoustic; however the sound was not very good. The guitars were barely audible from where I was sitting. Acoustic instruments don't work very well in a basketball arena. Pretty good versions of the "The Way It Is" and "Franklin's Tower" finished off the predrums portion of the show.

Drums is where the show really started to get hot. After Drums instead of Space we got what was starting to sound like another Scarlet jam, but instead wound down into the opening notes of China Cat. The jam was heading towards Rider when Goin' Down the Road made a reprise appearance, it was seamless and magic. and then we got the Rider, also very hot, followed by an absolutely awesome "Not Fade Away." I can honestly say that in my 11 years of seeing the Dead, I never caught a Not Fade as hot as this one. It made me think of some 1977 tapes. The Weight provided the icing on the cake and sent us home happy.

--Jeff Wilson