9/14/2000 Reviews

September 14 Nissan Pavilion, Bristow, VA
Scarlet Begonias > (Bruce)
Stir It Up (w/ Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers; without Alphonso)
Fire on the Mountain (Mickey)
Playin in the Band >
Ramble On Rose > (Bruce)
Jam >
It's All Over Now, Baby Blue (Bobby)
Me and My Uncle (Bobby and Mark acoustic, Bruce on accordian)
Deal (Bobby, Mark, and Alphonso acoustic, Bruce on accordian)
White-Wheeled Limousine
Uncle John's Band >
Jam >
Drumz/Jam >
Banyan Tree >
Playin Reprise >
Black Muddy River (Bruce; Bobby acoustic)
St. Stephen > (Bobby, Bruce, and Mark)
The Eleven > (Bobby)
Uncle John's Band
E: Touch of Grey (Bobby)
Lake Trout also opened
Thanks Jonathan Rabhan for the phone call

I just arrived home and can't believe the set list is already up! I'm compelled to add my thoughts on the show. This was my first time seeing the Other Ones, although I did catch Bobby's band twice this summer as well as one of Phil's gigs. The Show started really hot... the crowd was really into the Scarlet/Stir It Up/Fire bit. Mickey sang Fire, doing some kind of cool Mickey rap. It was totally fun. The middle of the set had some highlights, including a great acoustic Me and My Uncle & Deal. Also, Mickey and Bill the Drummer were really smokin' when their turn came around. The St. Stephen/Eleven/Uncle John's absolutely killed! Basically, it was a sick show... so good I almost cried. No kidding. One footnote... I wish they would put Touch Of Grey to bed. That song conjures up bad images... like the Dead on MTV!

--Rob Gold

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Just want to say, this was a special show... as good as it looks!

--Teri

* * *

Greetings y'all,
Listening to everyone bitch about how bad the OO's are, I didn't really expect much. Let me tell you - the magic is still there. A lot of Bruce fans locally so a lot of Bruce. Bob - well - I love his voice and I could listen to him (I do) sing every day. Thanks Bob! The drummers were a drummin. Steve Kimock - last time i saw him - he was sitting down on a stool and it sort of turned me off. Tonight I heard the potential that he has and I am excited to see him again. Mark Karan, on the other hand, really 'aged' in the past two years. he was sort of rocking back and forth sort of like the post-coma Jerry. Sorry to be 'superficial' on his looks but hey keep Kimock. Alphonso looked like he was having fun. Bob seemed to feel pretty comfortable around him. After all these years - Bill still has the same view. Anyways - you guys want to hear about the music.

Started with Scarlet - Bruce's voice and licks all night were hitting the right spot - and Steve let out a few bolts - then the Stir It Up and he stirred up and left- he sort of stood back the rest of the show and Karan sort of stepped 'up'. The two drummers were a drummin. Fire - it would have been better w/o the rap. Playing was sweet - Ramble On was great - no the song it was never gonna end.... Baby Blue (not one of my faves) - Me n My Uncle and Deal w/accordian. I didn't care much for the Deal - it didn't go places it could. - White-Wheel Limo was sort of haunting - Uncle John's (that song is sacrosant - drumzspace - (sorry - i have this habit of walking around during drums) - Banyan tree was solid (personnally - it doesn't do much) Strong Playin Reprise - Black Muddy River - well I thought the show was over cause all I had seen was that the River was an encore. So I started out to beat the traffic. Then I heard that riff - yeehaw - Steve/11 - then I did leave after I heard the first few notes of Touch. Five minutes can mean 45 minutes stuck in a lot trying to get out. Since I didn't have any expectations for the show (actually - low ones) i was trying to figure out by setlists what they were going to play. They were over due for an Other One and a China Rider. I'll 'settle' for the show tonight. You folks should get away from the 'puter and get out and go see The Other Ones. There were a lot of seats but there was still about 3/4 filled up. It was nice seeing 'people'.

--kavinor

* * *

I haven't seen it in the setlist, but I know I wasn't hearing things. The jam out of White-Wheeled Limousine went into and concluded with an unmistakable "Freebird" jam. It recalled what a great-rocking jam song this was before the song got overplayed into kitsch, and reminded me of the first time I heard it, in high-school, driving my old Saab 96. It was a very good show Thursday night. For me, Ramble on Rose and St. Stephen were the peaks. Scarlet started a little raggedy, but the band soon tightened up and roared all night. These guys are keeping it alive and it's great to have them out on tour.

--RMikkelsen

* * *

Sweet show - Scarlet killed then Bobby got smart!!!!! I was in Hampton many years ago when Jerry and Bob tried to sing "Stir It Up" only to fail miserably. Bringing out Ziggy, his backup singers, and his entire band was awesome. The rest of the show was upbeat and had some very nice moments. I was in the second row, and since this was my first OO show on this tour, the up close sight of Billy and Mickey feeding off of each other gave me goosebumps again!! The bottom line however is without Bruce, this band is nothing. I've always been a Bruce head-I catch as many of his shows as possible, and last night he did not dissapoint. Black Muddy was especially sweet. Taking the night off, (Fri), but I can't wait for Camden!!!

--Billy

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I'd like to open by thankin Calico and the gang @ GDTSToo for providing some fabulous seats for my birthday. Thanks you soooo much! 6th row center orchestra, right in front of Alphonso, with a view of everything... Woohoo!

Now I'll warn you, this may be longish...

Got up to the lots early (parked for an easy getaway, best departure from Nissan Pav. ever) and enjoyed a birthday barleywine, made it myself exactly 2 years ago this week and, well, its quite yummy...

We strolled up and did the usual, track down friends, etc and listened to Lake Trout soundcheck through the closed gates, then entered shortly after the gates opened and headed to the Side-stage. Saw Mark Karan and said "Hi" but i was on a mission.

Lake Trout played a good set, very out and heavy yesterday. A nice start to the evening... As their set wound down, Dave and Lisa spotted me and we introduced ourselves, good ta meecha! Dave had been chattin with MK and hopefully he'll tell us a bit about that...

Checked out the vending inside a bit, pretty standard, lots of the same folks you see at these things (at least round here) and I picked up the new SKB disc (listening to it now... I'll review it for ya another time.) I saw Alphonso at the Merch table and said hi, wished him a good show....

Ziggy Marley & the MM came on and laid down a nice, loud set (booming in the near empty ampitheater) of Roots blended with Dancehall and R&B. All in all very nice. My highlights were Free (like you want to be), Rainbow Country, and Could You Be Loved... Those of us in and listening were diggin on it.

Went back out during the break, got the SK shirt and spotted Andy D. with the Tangled Hangars shirt, Said Hi, good to meet you. Andy, Dave and Lisa we there too but we all missed Mike Deutsch (and surely some other folks taboot).

At 8:15 TOOs came onstage w/ Steve on the Vega, they kicked it of with a rousing Scarlet Begonias. MK took an excellent solo that led us down familiar territory at first and then took a turn into Stir It Up! Ziggy and Co. came out and Alphonso stepped offstage to make room for Ziggy's bass player. Steve switched up to the Cripe and finger-picked quietly laid back reggae while holding his pick in his grinnin mouth.

Ziggy & Co. moved off and SK took a solo that led us right on into Fire. I leaned over and asked Amy if she had thought we were coming to a rap concert just before Mickey got on the mic. Mickey sounded alright though, and the solos were plentiful. Each soloist took one; SK, then MK, then BH, then AJ. Then everybody brought it to a close @ 8:47. After AJ's solo, MK reaches over and touches him with one finger as if he's sizzling hot... His SOLO certainly was sizzling....

A quick pause and tension-building groove brought us into Playin in the Band. SK rocked on this. A nice Jam built around SK & BH trading licks and goading each other on (lotsa fun being had on that stage). The Playin theme came back and then dissolved into Ramble On Rose @ 8:59. Steve switched to the Strat. BH was all over this song. Simply on fire. MK took the first solo then SK and a whole lot more BH. SK & BH guided the Jam back to Playin territory (9:08) with some excellent Spanishy/Arabian themes and then BW steered us towards Baby Blue (9:12).

Baby Blue was quite nice. My favorite of the Dylan Dead Covers (next to Visions). :-) This was followed by a break for the Drummers, SK & AJ as BW & MK strapped on acoustics for Me & My Uncle (9:18). MK was excellent here. I really like his acoustic playing quite a bit. BH had the accordian out and kept it on as AJ brought out his upright for Deal (9:23).The drummers even came out and rocked out the ending of that one!

SK came out and everybody went electric again for a White Wheeled Limo (9:28). This song was groovy with nice jamming. I love to hear Bruce songs taken outward like this. SK took a great solo then MK stepped up and SK went for the steel. I think its a Supro but it was not the B&W it was brown.... Sounded sweet though backin the MK led jam that took us into Uncle John's Band (9:38). BW on Acoustic and SK reached back and come up with the Mustang. MK took the first solo then SK, BH, & MK dueled amongst one another!!! that was awesome.

Drums (9:50) came on strong with BK dancing around the drums and Mickey laying into the ones called HomePlate and Right Eye. There was also a cool Gyuto Monks sampled bit that came out... So good seeing Billy up there w/ Mickey. We were right in front of Billy and he was having the best time... (So were we! Thanks again GDTSToo!)

AJ & SK came out first and the Drummers stayed out (10:02). SK on the Cripe (for the rest of the show), they built a nice solid (not especially spacey) Jam. BW & MK came next (10:04) and the jam continued w/ BW taking a little bit of a solo then SK leading as BH came out and Banyan Tree (10:07) kicked in. SK ruled this heady song which I happen to like. It was weird, though. Nice Love Supreme Jam hints from BH, AJ & SK and then a full blown Playin Reprise (10:15).

The reprise took us into another evening highlight: Black Muddy River (10:20). Bruce owns this song. Played and sung beautifully so you'd almost think he wrote it. This one touched us. BW had on the acoustic and Ibbelieve it was an SK solo (my eyes were closed and I didn't make note...).

Next up was St. Stephen (10:26) to a big audience response. In fact Black Muddy > the rest of the set were huge and fabulous. MK ruled Stephen as has been noted at previous shows, and when The Eleven (10:34) geared up SK took the helm. Damn! that was hot. I still can't get used to the way they sing it but, hell, at least they play it. SK led this right into the set closing UJB Rep. (10:38) and it wrapped up @ 10:42.

(10:44-10:51) Touch of Gray Encore was nice with some excellent 3-guitar interplay.

Everybody's giving and taking a little up there. I watched Bobby watch Steve from off-stage during the post-drums jams. He was digging on what hes saw and had to jump in. It was really good. Maybe not the best show I ever saw but excellent and I wish I were seeing more. A nice healthy dose of Toast playing some of my favorite tunes. Who could ask for anything more?

BTW, after re-reading this whole thing, I'm not sure if i managed to capture how good everything was. I'm also not sure that it'll hold up on tape to the experience I had (birthday show, I was naturally gonna have fun). The only downer was the two guys in our seats when the set started. They we so ceratin that they were in the right section and bigger than I. As there was not enough space to share I had to get a re-shirt to remove them. Any other night of the year I might not care but c'mon. I didn't like being "that guy who got security" but damnnit, that was my seat. Oh well...

Other than when I enlisted the one guy, Security seemed unobtrusive from where we sat. YMMV. We did see some of Prince William County's Finest hasseling and arresting some folks in the lot. Ugh. Hate to see that.

All in all. Great night! If you can, go see this tour while it lasts.

--jmh

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As usual, not many people saw Ziggy and Stephen putting on their feel good show...not to mention the 3 fabulous dancers out there. But anyways, by the time the Other Ones picked up their instruments, Bruce was leading with a familiar intro. Could it be, aha! Of course...and believe me, this Scarlet just kept going up. Everyone got their chance to shine on it. Song shifting into different tune...we see some Marley's gathering backstage...Stir It Up! Pretty standard, but what the hell because Fire ripped. Granted Mickey can take his rap back to the woods where he got it, technically speaking this was a hot ass song. Playin' expanded when Steve showed his stuff and Ramble On Rose was incredible. There was not a missed note and everybody was on top of their game. Bruce sounded great, the band was smiling and laughing, Steve was getting greatly animated...what intensity. The acoustic set was the only disappointment up to this point, but it was ok cause we needed a break. Bruce got quite tender on White-Wheeled (in a good way of course) and Steve was hitting some quite original notes, very interestingly melodic. Uncle John's Band had wonderful harmonies surprisingly?!?! The intensity level was running high at this point. What a time for Drunz and what a Drumz it was. Thank you Billy for coming back! Steve blew Banyan Tree up and Bruce sounded ever so nice on Black Muddy River. Thinking they had played too long at this point (10:25) I figured they would head off...but hell no! And I cannot explain how much energy was flowing when the first two notes of St. Stephen were hit! The Eleven had Steve pulling out all the shots and finally we get an Unlce John's Reprise that closed the entire night for me. Touch of Grey was nice and all but they had no reason to even come back out for an encore, the night had already been perfected. I thought Rutherford was a hot show...this one blew anything I have ever heard from the Other Ones out of the water. Best show ever! (in the tone of Comic Book Guy)

--Chris M.

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The show rocked!!!..... What else can I say....

--THE TURTLE

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The colors really blew my mind. Thank you for a real good time Other Ones.....

--SunFun

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You can call it the Other Ones if you like but the show I saw at Nissan Pavilion was a proper Dead show, hands down. After 35 years, (for them), and 17 years, (for me), my mind is still being blown. This show was stong from note one. The cosmic glue that holds it all together was there tonight. Throwing in the "Stir it Up" between the Scarlet/Fire with Ziggy and crew added seriously positive vibes to the procedings and it only got better from there. This was the best, most joyful "Ramble on Rose" I've heard in some time.(And I caught the Columbus and the Scranton shows)."Baby Blue" and "Black Muddy River" were as sweet and poignant as ever.

Every one shined this evening. Bruce, Steve, and Mark were certainly on fire and the rhythm section was in a deep groove and remained in the pocket for most of the evening. When they weren't it didn't matter because the music was running on the inertia created when they were. The whole show was focused, deliberate and intentional and adventurous at the same time. Speaking of the Rhythm section, Billy K was particularly on fire. I don't know what they were feeding him but it should remain a constant part of his diet. Kreutzman is definitely out of retirement. Drumz rocked hard tonight and while Mickey held the anchor, wailing away on the Beast, Billy was all over the place, highly energized, driving the whole shabang deeper into The Zone. Drumz effortlessly glided into a wonderful, spacey Banyan Tree which was made more enjoyable for me personally by watching the sign language girl sign it for the hearing impaired section. Saint Stephen > The Eleven was the well-placed, well-timed cherry on the cake and this version made these tunes seem as vital, if not more so, as when they were first brought into this world 30 some years ago. I wasn't on a single drug this evening, not caffeine, nicotine... nothing. The music got me high as shit though. If you haven't been to a show yet get on the bus quick. The only thing missing fom this tour is you...

--Fordham9

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"The Music Never Stopped"

The was my fist time seeing the Other Ones and it was well worth it. I have been to four Dead concerts since 1977 & and I saw Bob Marley & the Wailers once at the Apollo Theather in NYC. The Dead's music and Bob Marley's will always have a place in my heart, and work's been stressful so so I thought "One good thing about music when it hits, you feel no pain".

So we spent 2 hours sitting in traffic and only caught 1/2 of the Melody Makers set who were loud and groovy. The crowd was totally in a groove. My son Matt who is 13 years old and into like Creed and Jennifer Lopez ended up going with me by default (my other son was sick so my wife stayed home). Having Billy back with Mickey on Drums was special. Karan & Kimock are great guitarists and Alphonse is a top notch bass player. Hornsby is solid and Weir seemed really serious about kicking some musical ass. Even Matt was impressed; he raved at the Drums... he said that Drum Solo reminded him of a National Geograhic Special . He was also impressed that people in the audience dance to this music.

I could sense that band has found a groove not unlike the chemistry in the Grateful Dead. TOO's jams are expansive and rich. Tonight they use "Playing in the Band" as a central theme. The show had some stellar moments like Starting off with "Scarlet Begonias," "Me & My Uncle" Acoustic, Ziggy & MM with TOO on "Stir it Up," "St Stephen/The 11," "Black Muddy River." This group need to tighten up the vocals but this will get better with time. I believe they should lose the "Fire on the Mountain" rap; sorry Mickey but "If you get confused, listen to the music play." This band has the energy to not only keep the Dead's music alive but make it grow.
Fare thee well

--Ken Soleyn

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Absolutely awesome show--a great evening, all the way around! Get this tape. This band was on tonight--on a beautiful moonlit summer evening in Old Virginia. Ziggy Marley & the Melody Makers opening set started off the evening at a noticeably more tolerant than I can remember Nissan Pavilion. They seemed to be in a more dance-hall type mood than the Rootsier evening I saw 'em in Scranton, but it rocked nonetheless. Highlights for me included Rainbow Country, One Good Spliff, & Could You Be Loved.

The Other Ones came on & absofuckinglutely rocked. Our seats were in the 6th row center so the viewsound was great needless to say. Scarlet soared, and the fact that Bob Weir's daughter (aged 2 or so?) was standing between her father & Hornsby's piano wearing headphones & playing acoustic guitar blew my mind. Cute little thing strummed along for a couple minutes until she dropped the guitar to the ground seemingly dazed (reminded me of her father's antics at Eugene '93!). Mom proceeded to usher her off pretty quick after that. Cool. The transition from Scarlet into Stir It Up w/ Ziggy & the Melody Makers was excellent, and Stir It Up itself was splendid--they can jam with Ziggy anytime as far as this reggae freak is concerned! Fire also jammed, even the Mickey vocals didn't bum me out too much! The whole evening was REALLY well played throughout, with few if any mistakes. The highlights are almost too numerous to mention: the complete UJB/Playing w/ reprises, Black Muddy River, the AWESOME AWESOME guyoto-monk choir rhythm devils into Banyan Tree, which might, save for the Stir It Up, be the best part of the show--get the tape.

Only complaints so far about the 2000 version of TOO: Where are the freakin' Robert Hunter tunes Mickey promised? Huh? It's pissing me off something fierce! Also, I'm among the members of the TURN BOBBY UP camp--what's the deal? I was in the 6th row watching him play what looked like cool licks, but can't say as I heard more than a few notes from what I knew was his guitar the whole evening. What's the deal? Besides these bitchings, I want these guys to play all the time! Spring tour/New Year's? Let's go! Damn, I wish I could go to Hampton...........

--John Chapman

* * *

This show deserves a B++. Sound was good. TOO opened the show in fierce fashion! And they ended the show as if they lost the lead, and came back with a vengeance. Happy Trails

--the leshmeister