Concerts

The Allman Brothers & Widespred Panic in Camden for a night of great music

So last night The Allman Brothers and Widespread Panic played at the Susquehanna Bank Center (formerly the Twitter Center) in Camden, NJ. Widespread Panic came on stage promptly at 7:00pm. I had forgotten that Jimmy Hearing was playing guitar for them. He use to play with The Allman Brothers, Jazz is Dead, Phil and Friends and The Dead. The whole band sounded great and I was glad to finally see them. Jimmy was working it and his playing was outstanding. They played 2 hours and it was packed full of great music. I was very impressed with them, and since I have only heard a few things of there’s and I think this show has made me a fan. I will be downloading some other shows to get a better feel of them.

Here is the Widespread Panic playlist from last night:

Lil Kin >
Radio Child
Up All Night
Can’t Get High >
Fishwater >
Christmas Katie >
Travelin’ Light
Diner >
Space Wrangler
Blackout Blues
Junior >
You Should Be Glad
Tall Boy
Climb To Safety

The Allman Brothers took the stage around 9:50pm and hit the ground running with Statesboro Blues. Even though the weather was hot and humid the band sounded great. I haven’t seen the brothers in about 2 years and I was very impressed at how well Derick Trucks has grown into the band. Greg sounded great and he hasn’t lost his grove, he pounded on the keys and never sounded better. Of course Warren Haynes sounded great so not much to say there. A few of the members of Widespread Panic joined the band for a few songs. I thought Jimmy playing with band was good, it was one of the best Dreams and One Ways Out I have heard in a long time.

Here is The Allman Brothers playlist from last night:

Statesboro Blues
Les Brers In A Minor
Come and Go Blues
The Sky Is Crying
Don’t Keep Me Wonderin’
I Walk On Gilded Splinters
with John Bell, guitar & vocals; Sonny Ortiz, percussion
Trouble No More
Good Morning Little School Girl
with Jo Jo Hermann, piano; James van de Bogert, drums
Revival
The Weight
with Jo Jo Hermann, piano
Dreams
with Jimmy Herring, guitar; James van de Bogert, drums
One Way Out
with Jimmy Herring, guitar

Encore
Whipping Post

Now to the down side of the night. At this show there were 2 different types of fans. The we are going to get so drunk and wasted that we will look and act stupid all night and the we come to a show to actually see the show and have a good time and actually remember the show the next night.

I see these types of fans at most shows I go to. The first type get so drunk and stoned that they weave all over the place and act like fools, then they usually pass out and miss the show. We had a whole row of them in front of us last night. They enjoyed the whole two hours of Widespread Panic and the whole break before the Brothers then when the Brothers hit the stage they droped like flies and were asleep by the end of the second song.

It just doesn’t make sense to me why you would pay good money to see a show and then get so wasted you miss most of it and then feel sick the next day.

I also don’t understand those who leave the show in the middle of it to go home? But that’s a whole different post.

Drum solos at concerts….

Has the drum solo at concerts become the bathroom break of a show? I was watching a Rush concert on TV yesterday and started thinking about this question. Now don’ t get me wrong I like a good drum solo but some drummers just don’t thrill me like a certain few do. Some of my friends I talk to and go see shows with all have a different opinion on this matter. Some Deadheads love it when drums start but others just roll there eyes and head to the concession stands or take a short nap in there seats. I like a good drum solo but it has to be certain drummers. Most of the time at a Dead show it depends how many of the shows I have seen already, if it’s at the start of the tour I will watch the drums solo, but later into the tour it becomes a break from the show and hit the bar for a water.

So while I thought of this heavy question I have come up with my list of drummers I like to see do a drum solo.

  1. Matt Abts – Gov’t Mule
  2. Mickey Hart & Bill Kreutzmann – The Grateful Dead
  3. John Molo – Phil Lesh & Friends, The Other Ones, Bruce Hornsby
  4. Liberty DeVitto – Former Drummer for Billy Joel
  5. Neil Peart – Rush
  6. Butch Trucks – The Allman Brothers
  7. John Bonham – Led Zeppelin (deceased)
  8. Chester Cortez Thompson – Frank Zappa, Genesis, Phil Collins
  9. Phill Collins – Genises & Solo

So that’s my list. Out of the 9 I have seen 8 of them play and they are all worth the watch and listen. Each has there own way of playing.

Free The Dead

Last night my cousin Henry and I piled into the truck and headed into New York City to see The Dead at the Roseland Ballroom. It was a free show that you had to enter an e-mail to get tickets. There were three intimate shows or “sets” last night including ours. The first set was at the Angel Orensanz Theatre with just Bobby, Phil and Warren doing and Acoustic set, the second show was at the Gramercy Theatre with the Full Electric Band and they ended at the Roseland Ballroom.

The show was supposed to start at 11pm and the doors opened at 8pm. We were in line and read for the doors to open. I have never been in the Roseland without over 500 people, but last night when we walked in at 8pm it was empty and was total great. We were the first to use the mens room which was empty as well which is nice not having to fight for the can. We found the Rose Bar in the back that we didn’t know existed. After exploring a little we made camp along the VIP stage wall and got comfortable. We just hung back and watched as the room filled and started hearing about the other two shows that The Dead just finished, and that they were great.

The show started promptly at 11:20pm. and ran to about 1:20pm.

Full Electric Band
Roseland Theatre

  • Althea
  • Cassady
  • Uncle John’s Band>
  • Eyes of the World>St Stephen>
    Dark Star>Sugar Magnolias
  • E: Not Fade Away

The band was tight and in great form, Warren was still working off the lyric book but it was the first round of shows and the tour doesn’t offically start till April, 12 in North Carolina. Bob did mess up a few words in Cassidy but over all it was a good show.

As for the crowd it was great. It was true blue Deadheads with an age range that ranged from grade school kids to the over 70’s set, that were there to see the band. Before the show it was a whole bunch of catching up with old friends and making new ones with those around you, but once the band hit the stage it was all about the music for the crowd and catching the vibe and letting your self flow with it. On the VIP stage there was one woman who was dancing even to the band tuning up before the first song…she was floating on the vibes coming form the “music” and she didn’t stop dancing till the music stopped…she was in constant motion. There were a few to drunk and too baked people…I seem to always get one right in front of me, who thinks he can dance and then proceeds to bang into me and last night was no different. This guy at least apologized but also wanted to tell me his life story while the band was playing. Finally his buddy got him to move up front and that was the end of him. Other then him there was a good vibe throughout the ballroom.

Sure the show was short and the wait was long but the tickets were free and the band was in great form and the crowd over all was the perfect crowd to see the show with. These three shows were put together for the fans to experience The Dead in and intimate atmosphere and that’s what was achieved. I love seeing bands in venues like the Roseland Ballroom, Irving Plaza or The TLA in Philly. So if you can get tickets for any of the shows on this tour I would recommend getting them and going and enjoy the music and vibe, of course it won’t be as intimate as these shows, but they will be worth going to. I am now off to figure out how to get at least two or three tickets for the two shows at the Spectrum in Philly.

So in closing as I have said in the past “The Grateful Dead might not be the best at what they do, but they are the only ones that do what they do.”

Here are the Set Lists for the other two “sets”

Bob, Phil & Warren Acoustic
Angel Orensanz Theatre

  • Dire Wolf
  • Bird Song
  • Cumberland Blues
  • Pride of Cucamonga
  • Lazy River Rd
  • KC Jones
  • E: Ripple

Full Electric Band
Gramercy Theatre

  • Jam>Playin’ in the Band>Good Lovin’>
  • The Wheel>Franklin’s Tower
  • E: Touch of Grey

It’s looking like the Spring/Summer is going to be a Grateful season

So on Saturday night I finally took notice of an e-mail in my In-box from Dead.net, the Grateful Dead’s website. It was a notice that The Dead were going to do 3 shows in NYC today starting at 5pm, 8pm and 11pm and that they were free shows. The only way to get the tickets was to enter the drawing for tickets. So of course I had missed the dead line to get my name in the running I was way bummed, because right now I don’t have the money to see the shows in Philly. Right about that time the following e-mail came in from GDTS TOO the Dead’s mail order ticket company.

There are a small amount of free tickets available from our GDTS TOO allotment for one of The Dead’s performances at The Angel Orensanz Foundation Center for the Arts, Gramercy Theatre and Roseland Ballroom on Monday, March 30, 2009. The intention of these small venue shows is to provide an opportunity for fans to see The Dead in an intimate setting for free.

So as fast as my fingers could type I got my name and my cousins Henry’s name in an e-mail and sent it in. So last night at around 8:30pm I got the word….we are seeing The Dead at the Roseland Ball Room in NYC at 11pm tonight.

It’s going to be a long day but I can’t wait to see the band. It’s been to long since I have seen a concert and over 6 years since I have seen The Dead. So Henry and I will be driving into the city around 6pm to get there by 8pm when the doors open, get our tickets and then hang out at the ballroom and wait till 11pm for the show. The one bummer about the Roseland is that it’s a standing only venue, but hey it’s a free show and should be a blast and it will be fun to hopefully meet up with some old friends and deadheads.

So check back in a few days for a review and set-list.

A night at Irving Plaza with Waren Haynes and Friends

It was titled “Warren Haynes all star jam at Irving plaza on March 28th 2007.” It was an OK show. It had it’s high points and it’s low points. The biggest low point being that the show started an hour late. It was scheduled to start ate 9 with doors opening at 8. Well we were in line by 7:30 and they opened the doors early which was no big deal since the night was warm and the crowed was friendly. But then we had to stand around for 2 hours till Warren finally came out and started the show with an acoustic version of “A Million Miles From Yesterday” which went right into “Sad And Deep As You” He was then joined but Edwin McCain
the first of may friends of the night. The first hour was all acoustic till Susan Tedeschi came out and did 2 great songs which she forgot the words on the last one and blamed her Irving Plaza bad luck. After she was done Warren came out and was joined by Greg Allman and they did 2 acoustic songs with Greg on lead vocals. Then the first break of about 30 min. (another low point)

The break was over and the Allman Brothers band came out to a loud cheer and went right into “Come and Go Blues” and then right into one of the best versions of “Jessica” I have heard in a few years (high point). We got another 15 – 30 min break while the next band set up.

The Derek Trucks band minus Derek came out with Susan Tedeschi on lead guitar and vocals on “Evidence”. For the rest of the set Derek was playing and Susan was singing. She has a great set of pipes and a great stage presence. Derek has defiantly come into his own and is playing the best he has in years. (On a side note if you missed the article about him in Rolling Stones Magazine try to get a hold of it and give it a read.)Another 30 min break while Matt Abts tuned his drums and the band I guess went out for pizza or something (Big Low Point). Warren’s wife Stefani Scamardo came out and thanked the fans for coming out and telling us that we are the real reason they do this and that this show was for us…well next time you are doing a show for us how about
starting on time.Mule finally came out and kicked it right off with “Hammer And Nails”. The band was tight and the “friends” were a perfect fit for the night. They did a 5 song set and the encore.

We had to bail before the encore to catch the last train out of New York for the night.

I think the show over all was a great show and we saw and heard some great music. Like I said waiting an extra hour for the show to start sucked and I know the delay was for the venu to sell more alcohol and that Warren and the band are known to start late but an hour is crazy, but I would do it again. If they had started at least a 1/2 hour late they cold have played more music for the fans…since the show was for us.

As my cousin said while we were waiting it’s these little shows that you get great live music and pairings of musicians you wouldn’t get other wise. I am a big fan of the “Jam Band” genre and it is shows like this that make this kind of music great.

Here is the set list:

Warren Haynes Solo Acoustic
01 Intro 00:27.52
02 A Million Miles From Yesterday 03:40.67
03 Sad And Deep As You * 04:49.31

Warren Haynes & Edwin McCain
04 Sign On The Door 07:11.25
05 Crazy 06:09.07

Warren Haynes, Kevn Kinney & Edwin McCain
06 Good Country Mile 07:13.74
07 Trail Of Seasons 05:24.24
08 I Shall Be Released # 06:28.30

Susan Tedeschi
09 Till The Earth Runs Dry 03:08.58
10 Shelter 05:02.40

Gregg Allman & Warren Haynes Acoustic
11 All My Friends 05:15.04
12 These Days 06:02.02

Allman Brothers Band
13 Come And Go Blues 06:32.17
14 Jessica 12:41.56

Derek Trucks Band with Susan Tedeschi
15 Evidence $% 08:02.39
16 I Wish I Knew 06:50.12
17 Only You Know And I Know 04:28.73
18 The Weight %+ 12:18.23

Gov’t Mule featuring Kofi Burbridge on Keys
19 Hammer And Nails 06:29.66
20 32/20 Blues ^ 07:51.67
21 Same Thing ^& 13:17.44
22 Straight To Hell @ 09:27.58
23 Turn On Your Lovelight ! 08:19.22
Encore:
24 That’s What Love Will Make You Do ~ 12:03.08

Total: 169:16.74

  • with Kofi Burbridge

with Susan Tedeschi

$ no Derek
% with Eric Krasno
+ with Edwin McCain
^ with Audley Freed
& with Charlie Drayton
@ with Kevn Kinney, Edwin McCain, Tony Mason and Lenny Kaye
! with Col. Bruce Hampton, Audley Freed, Tony Mason & Jay Collins
~ with Brian Mitchell, Jay Collins, Tony Mason and Audley Freed

Great to See Phill & Friends agian…the only true band that plays the best of the Dead

Headed to The Tower Theater last night with my cousin Henry for a night with Phil & Friends. Neither of us has seen P&F in over 3 years. We have either missed when he was close by. This was a new set of Friends since the last time we saw him. The only ones left from the Quintet was Rob Borraco and Phil himself. Phil has added Joan Osborn, Larry Campbell (guitar+more) Jeff Sipe (drums), and Barry Sless (guitar, pedal steel). It was a good show the crowd was great. We weren’t even in our seats for more than 3 min when a guy 3 rows back ralphed on the floor and it moved downhill to row L..so Henry and I headed down to the front and were there for the whole show. On an aside..why do the ushers even bother to get the standing crowd back to there seat? As a crowd Deadheads are the most laid back group of concert goers…just let us be and let us enjoy the show. I think it’s a Philly thing..when I see a show in NYC I never get hassled for being down front or off to the side. Last night I saw more people getting hassled for being up front…but anyway the show was great..it did drag in a few spots but the band kicked it right back up.

Joan is defiantly a great improvement to the band. She stayed right out there danced during the jams and had a great voice and did great justice to the music….

Here is the setlist:

Set 1:
Spacey Jam (Joan harmonizing)>
Crazy Fingers> Jam>
Alligator> Jam>
Easy Plateau> Jam (Joan harmonizing)>
No More Do I> Althea
Cosmic Charlie

Set 2:
Jam> New Speedway Boogie>
Jam> Bartering Lines> Jam>
Death Don’t Have No Mercy> Jam>
Lady With A Fan> The Wheel>
Terrapin Station> Space> Rosemary
Turn On Your Lovelight>
Roll In My Sweet Baby’s Arms>
Turn On Your Lovelight

Encore:
Donor Rap/Intros
Mason’s Children

Wish I was able to go to all 3 nights because tonights and tomorrows should really rock…

I’m Listening to Viola Lee Blues – Phil & Friends – Providence, RI February 22, 2006

A good way to End the YEAR!!!!

For the last 3 years, I have accompanied my cousin Henry to New York City 2 nights before New Year’s Eve to see the hot band Gov’t Mule and this year was no different. It rocked. The setlist says it all.

First Set:
Mr. Man > Perfect Shelter> Lola Leave Your Light On>
Livin Lovin Maid She Said > Tomorrow Never Knows Jam (with a verse of vocals at the end)
Tastes Like Wine
Banks of the Deep End
Suffer
32-20 Blues with Ron Holloway

Second Set:
Game Face> Mountain Jam> Game Face Johnny Bratton Jam (from Miles Davis Jack Johnson Sessions)
Hunger Strike> Dear Mr. Fantasy> Hunger Strike
Wandering Child> Drums> Devil Likes It Slow w/ Ron Holloway (and a smokin’ solo from Warren as always!!)
Oh Well Little Toy Brain
Lively Up Yourself
Mule

Encore:
John The Revelator (Danny on Trumpet Playing the Outro as he comes across the stage)

This was the first show in all my years of going to shows that I actually wore my earplugs the whole night. I bought a pair of ER*20 High Fidelity Ear Plugs a few years back from Etymotic Research and they were great. They deadened the sound but didn’t affect the sound quality of the music. They were worth the money. My hearing isn’t the greatest any way from playing my music too loud all these years and going to shows with unprotected ears. It’s been getting so bad they are ringing even after I get out of the car with the radio on to loud. So it’s time to change my ways and turn the volume down……

It’s been a busy month since last we talked

As I said it’s been a busy month since last we talked. I have had my birthday, Family in town, Picnic Prep, La Vigna Picnic, Working on the XP rollout and Server 2003 testing and roll out ideas.

Birthday
My birthday ended out well. We went out for dinner and then to a movie. We saw the “Fantastic 4”. I thought it was an ok movie but as all first Marvel-based movies it was deep in background short on action and adventure. Then we had a nice meal at Chevies the Mexican place. It was a nice birthday maybe one of these years my wife and daughter will throw me a big surprise party.

Family in Town and picnic prep
The last week of July is always busy. My uncle from Michigan rolls into town and heads to the Jersey Shore for the week with his family. I usually don’t get to the shore when he is there so I don’t get to hang out much but this year I made it a point to take my daughter to the shore and hang out with my uncle and his family. The day went well Avery and I had 2 great meal s and got some sun to darken our skin and a swim in the Atlantic. 😉

The rest of the week was taken up preparing for the La Vigna Picnic. It was a quick hot week. My uncle Dean was under the weather so he was limited in what stuff he could do so I picked up the slack.

La Vigna Picnic

This year’s La Vigna Picnic was great. We had the highest attendance in a long time and everyone seemed to have a great time. the weather was cooler and less humid. Dean was still under the weather so Fran and I ran the games and took care of the MC duties for the day. I ended up selling the 50/50 tickets and making the most money ever in the history of La Vigna Picnics. I will now be stuck doing the selling for a long time…

Working on the XP rollout and Server 2003 testing

Finished the rollout of Windows XP in all the satellite offices and am working on getting it done here in the corporate office. I am also working on testing Server 2003 and Active Directory for the server upgrades. I am in the process right now of building the AD network in parallel with the NT network here in the corporate office.

This week Carolyn and I went to see Huey Lewis and the News on Tuesday night. It was a good show and better then I thought it would be. Huey is a very good showman and very fan friendly. I would go see him and see if he does a totally different show.

We are getting ready to go see Jimmy Buffet next weekend in Philadelphia which is unlike any other concert experience that I am used to. It’s one big party check out last years comments on the show. We are also getting ready for the final big picnic of the summer on September 4th so if you are in the Trenton NJ area on that day drop me a line and stop by….. 🙂

Another great Gov’t Mule concert

Gov’t Mule played the Festival Pier in Philadelphia Sunday night. It was a great show a good way for me to start the summer concert season. Here is the setlist…

Set 1:
Slackjaw Jezebel
Perfect Shelter
Bad Little Doggie
Bad Man Walking
About To Rage
She Said, She Said
Tomorrow Never Knows
Jealous Kind w/Ron Holloway on Sax
Sco-Mule w/Ron Holloway on Sax

Set 2:
Maybe I`m Amazed
Soulshine
Thorazine Shuffle
Devil Likes It Slow w/Ron Holloway on Sax
Drums>Jam>
My Oh My
32/20 Blues w/Ron Holloway on Sax
Mule

Encore
Low Spark of High Heeled Boys w/Ron Holloway on Sax

It was a great night weather-wise, once the sun went down we got a nice breeze off the river, and it kept things cooled down. Now I am still amazed at the amount of people who get so trashed at these shows. Yes I have a few beers, but not to the extent that I sit down an fall asleep during the show. I have seen more and more of this at Mule, Alman Brothers and even Phil and Friends show. Or they get so trashed that they just stumble around. We had a guy who sat down right in front of us and went right to sleep. To me that’s a wast of money. See my rant about concerts fans and the spectrum it’s at the bottom here.

A sure sign that spring is here……

Well a sure sign of spring is here is the announcement and sale of the Jimmy Buffet summer show in the Philly area. Tickets went on sale this morning at 10 am for “A Salty Piece of Land Tour”. The dates are August 25 and 27.

I of course got my tickets for this year. 8 tickets for Saturday, August 27th at a new venue for Jimmy the “Citizens Bank Park” which is great because they were able to fit about 4 times the amount of people they can fit at the Tweeter Center in Camden. They didn’t use Ticketmaster for these shows which I think is great they are using a new online service new era tickets it was a little slow but what do you expect with Jimmy. So an hour and 36 min after the tickets went on sale there are still tickets left which is unheard of when Jimmy plays at the Tweeter Center…..

So with 5 months to go, it will be something to look forward to getting through the rest of the winter and early summer……