9/20/2000 Reviews

September 20 Hampton Coliseum, Hampton, VA
St. Stephen >
The Eleven >
Aiko Aiko >
Rainbow's Cadillac >
All Along the Watchtower >
Sugaree
Odessa (Bobby and Mark acoustic)
Me and My Uncle (Bobby, Mark, and Alphonso acoustic; Bruce accordian)
Black Muddy River (Bruce; Bobby, Mark, and Alphonso acoustic)
Weather Report Suite > (Bobby acoustic)
Let It Grow >
Drumz/Jam >
Aiko Aiko* > (Bobby singing over Steve and Bruce's jam)
Estimated Prophet >
Wharf Rat >
Valley Road >
Aiko Aiko
E: Turn On Your Lovelight (w/ a crew member joining Bruce on keys briefly)

>Absolutely ridiculously smokin show!  Rock star Bobby was back and energized the band all night.  There was plenty going on outside, but a weird vibe from the get-go.  Security inside was lax but strange, forcing everyone on the floor to sit down till the show starts.  Ziggy played to an energized group, he and Stephen leading the way through a great set.  After the break, TOO came out and kicked off with a smoking St. Stephen/The Eleven.  The crowd--including plenty of drunks--was already going nuts, and continued when the band broke into a nice Aiko followed by a hot Rainbow's, with a lengthy badass solo by Alphonso.  The first Watchtower of the tour--smokin--followed, then a great Sugaree.   Alphonso, Mark, Bruce, and Bobby remained onstage to play acoustic, but Bobby suggested a change to Mark, and Mark responded with a shrug and "sure," and Al and Bruce left the stage for Bobby and Mark to play RatDog's Odessa, a nice acoustic version.  A fun Me n My Uncle followed, then a beautiful Black Muddy River, with Bruce pretty much playing/singing solo.  WRS (!) followed, then a grrrrrreat Drumz.   Bruce and Kimock then came out and did a jam, and Bobby began singing what sounded like a new song over their jam, but soon fell into Aiko.  Maybe it was just me, but it seemed like he didn't remember the words to the song and began singing Aiko instead.   Anyway, it fell into a HOT HOT HOT Estimated with Bobby back in perfect form, despite a serious stuttering problem during Estimated :)  Verrrry nice Wharf Rat/Valley Road followed, then a straight n nice Aiko.  Then a Rock Star Bobby Lovelight that blew the doors off... complete with a "One time... two times... three times...." rap and windmill close.  Bobby was sweating buckets by the end and grinning from ear to ear.  Pure energy, maybe not for the best.

Coming outside we found out that a pregnant (?) girl had OD'd on heroin, and soon saw a girl beating on some guy while crying about the girl that had died.  Lots of bad energy in there.  We walked back to the hotel to put away the camera then were going to come back, but on the way back were passed by 10 flying cop cars.  We got down there and people were hauling ass out.  We came to find out there was a riot, complete with mace, batons, and thrown bottles after an undercover cop was revealed, pulled a gun, and was beaten.  We walked back to the Red Roof Inn right down the street and a guy came up asking if we had a hacksaw, because his friend had been handcuffed by police, had his jaw broken, and escaped and needed the cuffs off.  Of course I didn't have a hacksaw on me and prolly wouldn't have done anything anyway, and we eventually went up to the hotel room when the police were on loudspeakers announcing to folks to "Go into your hotel rooms" over and over.  Well, we were all far from sober when we heard the cops banging on door after door.  We hid what needed to be hidden when they got next door, then the flashlight hit on the door.   I was volunteered to answer the door, and a cop was outside (surprise...).  He said they were looking for someone who needed to go to the hospital and wanted permission to enter.  I told him I'd rather he not come in cuz we were tired.   He asked if I was refusing and I asked if he really needed to come in.  He turned to three others coming toward our room and said "He's not buying."  One of the three told me that there was a guy that beat a cop to the point he was in the hospital, and the suspect was bloody and needed to go to the hospital, and that they weren't searching for ANYTHING ELSE besides a bloody human being.  I told them to come on in and they looked in the bathroom and everything was blood-free.  I suppose they went into hundreds of rooms that they could have busted but looked the other way.  Anyway, I don't think they ever found him, and once the police left, the first tie-dye was spotted and we knew it was safe to go outside, where people were congregating again and things got back to normal. 

Strange night, and too bad the scene was as negative as the show was positive.  But the music was great, and despite some people ruining the fun, and it was an incredible experience in Hampton.  This stuff is ON!

--Dave

* * *

It was great to be back home and see em at Hampton again. It was honestly the best Sugaree I have ever heard it was so powerful. And when Bruce started that Black Muddy River it was all on him he played it with so much emotion and everyone in the crowd was singing back to them. Then Lovelight as the closer kicked off. "Just a little bit higher"

--RuGr8ful82

* * *

What a phenominal show! With the exception of LLR, I heard every Bobby song I could have hoped for, and more. I was particularly uplifted by the Lovelight. It was just what I needed. I would have to say Hampton was the best show (musically) this tour. "Only the strange remain." A new meaning has developed from this phrase. What is up with all of the rubberheads? When people get freaky on eachother during a show it is one thing, but on themselves? Go back to your rave! As for the police officer who almost caused a riot in shakedown-if you're going to pull out your gun, next time you better use it. That one single action caused such havoc...THINK! It's not that hard.

--Stanley Weschler

* * *

Hampton has always been a great venue to see any show. Being my first show since Ratdog on 8/16/95 I was excited to see this one. The scene was cool except for the idiot that had to spill beer all down my back.

Ziggy was hot a lot of energy. TOO were on fire for most of the show. A few miscues but nothing real bad. Bruce seemed happy to be back near home. His boys watched him from the stage. Sound was good on the left. Sugaree, Black Muddy River, and Wharf Rat were highs for me. Nice to see Drumz again. I had a great time and would love to see more like this.

--Bill Robinette

* * *

Hampton Coliseum... What can I say? I saw my first of many Dead shows 10-9-89. So I knew it was important for me not to have any expectations going into this performance. I was pretty happy with the 2 performances I had seen this week, but I didn't want to put too much emphasis on this being THE SHOW. While the show was definitely not THE SHOW, it was a good performance, from what I could discern from the giant wash of sound coming from stage. First I will say, what I'm sure a lot of people will say, is that the sound quality was horrendous. Absolutely the worst live sound I have ever heard, coming from a group of people who normally possess the best live sound. I don't want to complain but I just had to comment. In my opinion alot of different factors added to this. One factor being the lack of bodies in this quaint arena. Probably another reason, the tour has played to sheds mostly and arenas have a different set of complications to deal with. Enough of this though and on to the music.

St. Stephen -> Eleven opener... very appropriate for this place. Hard to be critical on these two tunes since this was only my second live hearing, I'll let someone with more experience comment here. Sugaree was nice to hear so soon again this week because you could really hear the differences between the two versions... just a wisp of the tritone run. My first Odessa unfortunately suffered from poor sound quality. I look forward to hearing RatDog play this though. Wow, my third Black Muddy River this week out of 3 shows. Interesting... Without a doubt the best version this week, they have perfected it.... I won't try to compare to Jerry versions though. Very nice to hear Weather Report Suite->Let It Grow... They did not reprise the ending so stay tuned. Bobby absolutely rocked Estimated Prophet with him really digging in on the outro, quintessential Bobby falsetto. Bruce did a great job with Wharf Rat; you could really tell this was a special moment for him. My first hearing of the Wharf Rat-infused Valley Road. Man, this song really sheds skins successfully. Kimock really shined throughout this part. As a matter of fact he always shines.... The encore included a special guest, I couldn't tell who it was (somebody will correctly post I'm sure) but Lovelight had a guest keyboardist who played Hornsby's keyboard while Hornsby played piano.Very power-filled version. Bobby is the best because of moments like these. Overall highlights for me were Let it Grow, Estimated -> Lovelight. The scene in the parking lot after the show was very intense, so a quick and obvious reminder to everyone who partakes in nitrous oxide. PLEASE SIT OR LIE DOWN WHEN INDULGING. People were falling out everywhere tonight. I hope noone was seriously injured tonight. In short, not the greatest show (a clear tape will most likely change my opinion) but very insightful stuff in the deepest reaches of Estimated ->Wharf Rat. Peace and stay safe out there my friends...

--Matthew Vakos

* * *

Again, I was sincerely wowed by the players, their committment to the music and one another. Alphonso and Bruce hooked up real nicely for a little Miles Davis thingie for a few bars somewhere in there... a real mind blower... clearly bobby loves "Odessa" and played his heart out on it. Let It Grow had the devils galloping madly like horses. Drums was fantastic (as it has been all tour), both of them truly invigorated... I was also taken by Valley Road (again weir singing much life into it behind bruce) and Lovelight was a scream...

All that being said, after the show I witnessed one of the most disgusting acts of physical violence I've ever seen...I   cannot believe that human beings could treat each other with such hatred and disrespect, especially considering the context of the event... I am a Deadhead in my love for the music only, and i am particularly struck by what i see as a very desperate, tense and somewhat pathetic band of hangers-on who are around for anything but the music. Leave your bathtub acid, your veggie burritos and your dirty hair at home people... This is about music, not some poor man's recreation of "Mad Max." Methinks if The Other Ones were in touch with this scene at all and what is has become, they would be ashamed... Those of you involved in the ass beating that took place in the parking lot at Hampton should be absolutely ashamed of yourselves.

--Dknows8

* * *

This was my first show of the tour and I will be catching Greensboro and Atlanta. The set list was hot! The boys were on fire, only the sound left something to be desired! On the floor it was hard to hear a lot of details to the music....all kinda of tinny sounding. But it definitely did not impair any of the vibe and dancin that was going on. I can't wait for what's to come!

The only bummer of course was the riot! I was on the out skirts of it with a friend selling tee shirts when we look up and see about 50-100 people all running towards us shouting "Go!!!! Run!!" And well of course we did! Since we were staying at the Red Roof the riot seemed like it just ended up there! (we had friends at a different hotels on the same street and they had nothing going on!) and like the other review... the police were at our door with the same story... lookin for the bloody guy....... however after it all quieted down we did see a few pools of blood up and down the stairs and balcony! The next night in Greensboro was totally cool and nothing like Hampton happened! Very glad to know that the riot vibe was not brought along!

--Skywasyellow

* * *

WOW! what a thinkpiece. sorry, i just saw Almost Famous and could not resist. what a beautiful show! bruce and steve going back and forth ripping up their solos, give me more you golden gods! enough said on the show. now let us turn our attention to the idiot undercover narc who failed to identify himself time and time again. all the anger, violence and bloodshed could have been avoided if he just would have identified himself! he grabbed the contraband and held onto it saying nothing! everybody involved assumed he was some nut and tried to get their stuff back. then someone pushed him really hard from behind and he panicked. he then pulled his gun out and started waving it. even after pulling his gun, he NEVER acknowledged who he was! the mass exodus ensued and all hell broke loose! glass bottles being thrown real hard and hamptons finest wanting payback at anybody within reach. the worst feeling imaginable. coming outside from such a powerful show with that natural high and then having it crushed to fine glass(sorry--no pun intended) with all the violence. GOD! that stupid piss ant could have shot me because he does not follow his training! just wait until all this comes out in court. he'll be lucky to guard rubber dogshit coming out of hong kong!

--joe matulonis