Hey, hey, hey, come right away, come and join the party everyday!

 

I hail from a long line of people who have perfected the art of "hurry up and wait." So getting in the elevator and pressing "CASINO" to arrive twenty minutes before the show felt like being given the luxury of winding a clock backwards.

Last night's FURTHUR show at The Joint in Las Vegas was broadcast Live on Sirius XM23 radio. I made a small bet with myself that the band would take the easy route and play the safe songs, the popular or "poppy" songs, including Touch of Grey, the Grateful Dead's Billboard Top 100 Hit -- reaching #9 in September 1987.

Good thing my wager was small since I could not have been more WRONG!! FURTHUR pulled out all the stops last night -- delivering a level of audio showmanship guaranteed to make satellite-listening fans envious of the approximately 4,000 fans in real-time attendance.

This was my first visit to The Joint, a refurbished venue with amazing acoustics. Eddie, who manages one of the clothing boutiques in the hotel, told me, "the locals are disappointed by the renovation, since the small, intimate club formerly seating 900 is now too big and impersonal." Well, I thought "small and intimate" was a good thing, especially after being at Red Rocks. The Joint seemed like a very big cocktail party with live music. My friend Caren and I ditched our balcony seats right away and stood against the rail for the entire show. We had a perfect tree house view of the stage and the General Admission revelers below.

The show opener, China Cat Sunflower, played without its pair, gave the early indication it was going to be "one of those nights." JUST NON-STOP Blues-Rock n' Roll joy! From China, they marched into the not-surprising, New (new) Minglewood Blues, "I was born in the desert, Raised in a Lion's Den." Bobby's altering of the lyrics to include, "Here in Vegas, everyone knows what to do." "The women in San Francisco sure know how to have a ball." "I'm going to San Francisco, even if I have to crawl," made the place cheer with delight, especially us Bay Area gals.

With barely a transition, they rolled right into the Bob Dylan favorite, Maggie's Farm. Another Bob Dylan jewel, Like A Rolling Stone, is just a crowd pleaser and a party extender, no matter who's singing it. A, new-to-me Phil song, Welcome to the Dance, was lovely and I look forward to hearing it again when the show is uploaded. Thank you tapers!

The second set blazed off with Golden Road (to Unlimited Devotion), Viola Lee Blues and then the extraordinary Wilson Pickett tune, In the Midnight Hour, making me wish I had my "honey" standing next to me. It was near perfection on this one -- just beautiful!

For me, Stella Blue was the standout song of the evening. I don't want to take anything away from John Kadlecik's own stellar guitar and vocal talents, but when I closed my eyes for a moment, I thought I could see Jerry on the stage again. I know you know what I mean when I say, sometimes John is just freaky in that way. Maybe it was the years of "pretending" in DSO. But, on a night like last night, it's just heart warming and unsettling at the same time. That song, sung in that way, I think can melt the toughest, heartiest of fans. Just lovely!

After a feet-moving, lyrics-shouting rendition of Scarlett, Bobby handed the lead vocals torch to John who lit up the house with Fire on the Mountain, completing the Scarlett/Fire duo in one of the most heart-pumping, raucous versions I've heard in a while. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say, I think the evening belonged to John. He just quietly delivered his no-fuss brand of guitar/vocal genius from his corner of the stage. Did I already use the adjective, STELLAR?!!

Phil began his "Donor Rap" by asking the crowd, "I'll bet you come from all over." " How many of you are from out-of-state?" The Joint erupted in cheers! Then he asked, "how many of you are from here?" I thought the ceiling tiles would fall from the sky. Wow -- the desert fans put out quite an impressive showing or they have much stronger vocal chords than the rest of us

I conducted a quick unofficial demographic study last night and it was nice seeing many, many of the fans were of the more experienced variety. Very nice indeed!!

I'd be remiss if I didn't give a quick mention to the pure dichotemy of seeing Deadheads in full-pagentry wandering around a casino where pole dancers were doing their "thing" and a legion of convention goers in button-down shirts had just been released from a very corporate-y event. I wouldn't have minded tagging along with a social anthropoligist observing all of this last night!

A special shout out to my new friends, Rob and Steve from Peoria and Jason from Utah. Rob, you might consider a second career taking pre-concert photos of fans. Nice pic taken with my iPhone. Thank you.

Matt from Denver who bought my Las Vegas 'extra' off Craigslist and then brought his adorable son with him when he picked up the ticket; it was fun running into you in the lobby before the show, and then again during the show. What a show -- huh?

To Mike and Mike, from the Denver airport. I kept an eye out for you guys, but couldn't spot you. Thanks for coming up to say "hi" in the airport and saying you recognized me from Twitter. Totally surreal!

To the front office team at the HRH, thanks for the multiple room switches in an attempt to find the exact spot with the fastest, most consistent WIFI connection. You'd think it was circa 1990 here. Painful!

And, to my friend, Caren, who flew in for last night's show and continues on the journey to LA with me today, "loved the overworked bartender on the third floor with the heavy hand -- sheesh!"

It's on to LA today. I'm exhausted, which seems odd, since all I've done for four out of the last five nights is listen to music, dance, chat with people and write. It wasn't like I was the one on stage with a 6-10 pound guitar slung over my shoulder or giving my wrists a wicked workout wielding drum sticks or banging on piano keys for three-plus hours. How do those magicians of the stage make it look so easy?? There's a forecast for rain at The Greek. No umbrellas allowed. Could be a soggy evening, but then again, I've personally seen the heavens part when FURTHUR comes to town. Keep a good thought!

Hard Rock Hotel - Las Vegas

FURTHUR'S Gonna Rock the Strip!

The View From The First Row!

 

I read a TWEET after Sunday night's show where someone described the show as, "EPIC." I agree!

I couldn't tell if my opinion was a bit slanted since I was sitting twenty feet away from the band. After the show, on the 'thousand-stair' decent, I heard others saying things like, "once in a life time," and "worth every effort I made to get here," and "they were in fine form tonight," and "shows like that remind me of the Jerry days!" And then I saw fans at the airport today who confirmed the same sentiments.

I'm an optomist! I can find a good tune and a decent set list on any night. But, then, there are some shows that can transport me to another dimension. It was one of those nights when everyone involved was speaking the same language, band and fans alike! Maybe the early start time infused everyone with a little extra energy. Being able to see the band, and I'm sure the fans, in the daylight does have its appeal. Plus, I could see the view the band had as the sunset illuminated the red rocks that frame the ampatheatre. Stunning. I get the feeling they LOVE this venue!

I promised myself I wouldn't get into the "set-list" business since there are many gifted bloggers and set-list historians who handle that. Well, here goes. I've replicated this list from @Furthurband, so it should be accurate.

• Samson and Delilah
• Reuben and Cerise
• I Need a Miracle
• Something
• Looks Like Rain
• Tennessee Jed
• Bird Song
• Turn on Your Love Light

• Jam
• Truckin'
• Smokestack Lightening
• New Potato Caboose
• Born Cross-eyed
• Wharf Rat
• Unbroken Chain
• Shakedown Street
• Standing on the Moon
• Help on the Way>
• SlipKnot>
• Franklin's Tower
• E: BROKEDOWN PALACE (!!)

Samson and Delilah started the show off by turning many of us into excited "10" year olds with a brand new bike on our birthday. It was hard to believe we could go FURTHUR up from there. I Need a Miracle, Looks Like Rain and Tennessee Jed just lit up those RED rocks. Bird Song was very touching at such close range. And, after a noticeable absence of Beatles songs, it was great hearing, Something. 

After a jam, opening the second set with Truckin' just made the crowd wild, as did the crashing start of Shakedown Street, which nearly made me consider giving disco another chance. The Help on the Way/Slipknot/Franklin's Tower suite was classic Grateful Dead at its best. And, of course, for me personally, I had a tear in my eye when I heard Bobby sing the first few words of Brokedown Palace, "Fare you well my honey..." What a night!!!!

As they say in the movies, "at the same time, but in a different location," my husband was hearing some of the same songs, Truckin', Help on the Way/Slipknot/Franklin's Tower performed by Dark Star Orchestra at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in San Francisco. The set was originally performed in Lindley Meadows in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, September 28, 1975.

A really nice group of "locals" from my neck-of-the-woods had the seats next to mine. They danced and cheered and had a contagiously great time. A shout out to my new friend, Wayne, the security guard protecting the stage. He gave every person who walked or wheeled by a fist-bump and let me "cross the line" more than once to take a few photos.

I couldn't have asked for a better way to conclude my first Red Rocks trio of shows! Now, how am I going to get away with coming back next year?

 

Opening with the encore...

Which is the show to end all shows? What makes one show incredible to me and medicore to another? Isn't that part of the fun of this passion, this hobby of touring and show attending? We all have our favorite songs, and sometimes an entire show can be made or broken if one of them is or isn't played. I used to love drums and space, but I'm a spacey drummy kind a gal. Others tune into the guitar chords and insist on perfection with each riff. My husband prefers to hear guitars, guitars and more guitars! I've heard some people grumble when lyrics are forgotten or messed up. I'm a pretty forgiving fan and always think, "let's see, they're playing about twenty songs tonight, last night and tomorrow night, that's sixty-ish songs, let's give a little room for human error." Okay, people?

In the past year, nearly everytime I've seen FURTHUR on a Saturday night, they've closed with One More Saturday Night. Appropriately so! However, last night, they opened with it, which made me wonder what would be the closing song? It was, Uncle John's Band, where the moniker for this site hails from, "...It's a Buck Dancer's Choice, my friend, better take my advice. You know all the rules by now and the FIRE FROM THE ICE..." I've never met anyone who doesn't love this song, which apparently was first performed in December 1969 at the Fillmore West in San Francisco.

The first set started off with a winding assortment of tunes. One authored nearly eighty years ago, Sitting on Top of the World, by Walter Vinson and Lonnie Chatmon of the Mississippi Sheiks. The standout tunes for me were Mexicali Blues and Next Time You See Me.

Last night's second set opened with an amazing jam that flowed into Eclipse. The sound was so inspiring that the cacophony of air guitars being played around me was nearly deafening. The St. Stephen, Dark Star, The Eleven trio was as good as it gets and truly classic Grateful Dead. But, the true jewel in last night's crown was Morning Dew. As Judy from Boulder told me this morning, "I just stood there with tears in my eyes." My husband sent me a mid-song text saying, "that song makes me cry like a baby."

You can view the full set list HERE.

Conspicuously absent from the set list for the past two nights were any Beatles tunes, which always provide delight and sing-along familiarity.

One great aspect of traveling solo is not having to keep to anyone's schedule but my own. I left for Red Rocks a little late, fearing I'd miss the opening. On my way up the mountain, I stopped at the "Tickets" area to see if anyone wanted to buy my 'extra.' Two women, Jen and Tracy, were in a perplexing situation without a ride up the hill. They rode up with me. We took our chances and backed into a ditch to park on the side of someone's driveway; crossing my fingers that my rental car would still be there at the end of the show. As we began the arduous hike to the ampetheatre, a yellow cab (yes, a yellow cab!!!) drove by and asked us if we wanted a ride up the hill for $5.00? Seriously??!! As we made our way up the hill, there was suddenly an armata of yellow cabs ferrying fans from one altitude to the other. Genius, I tell you! Genius! The 'cabbie' said they make more on those show nights than in a regular day.

I met some really nice people last night, including Dennis, a builder from Denver. He had the seat next to mine and collectively we held our ground when some young newbies tried to stake a claim to the space directly in front of us! Last night's crowd was rowdy and well fueled by Colorado's apparent elixir of choice, beer. I saw two too many ambulances. And, oddly enough, two racoons just hanging out on the asphalt in a parking lot. They behaved like tamed house cats.

Today, my family is on a musical voyage of their own at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. My kids, along with friends' kids are holding a lemonade stand for parched concert goers to benefit the SF-SPCA. Tonight, I'll sit in the FIRST ROW for show number three, then get ready for Las Vegas. I've had a few minutes to wander around downtown Denver and like it here very much. The people are welcoming and kind, no-one is in a hurry and what the locals refer to as traffic makes me laugh!