GD-related Bands

1995-08-08 Ratdog / The Band

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Central Park Summerstage

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Rob Wasserman's Trios album showed how artists as diverse as Jerry Garcia, Edie Brickel, Brian and Carney Wilson and Yo-Yo Ma could play on a single album and make it work. On this night it was a treat to see not only the original iteration of Ratdog but also The Band. The Grateful Dead had been on tour earlier that summer and I had seen them at Giants Stadium. When I considered whether I wanted tickets for this Rat Dog show, it seemed like a no-brainer as I was then working in midtown manhattan and living on the upper east side - so going to Summerstage was literally on my way home from work and felt like my own backyard. As I recall it was a nice night and a great show.

Unfortunately, unbeknownst to most fans, in the days before this show, Jerry Garcia had been admitted to Serenity Knowles treatment center and had some severe health health problems in addition to his opiate addiction. Jerry passed away on this night. The next day the news reported it, and thus began the mourning of Jerry's passing. Bob Weir decided to go ahead and play the show that Ratdog was scheduled to perform the following night (Aug 9) in New Hampshire, and he briefly addressed Jerry's passing in an interview before the show. By the end of that show Weir's emotions got the better of him, and he threw his guitar down in frustration as Ratdog completed their performance. Overnight, I went from having a pleasant feeling seeing two of my favorite bands outdoors on a lovely summer night to mourning the death of one of my favorite musicians. What a difference a single day had made.

1997-10-25 Ratdog

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Hammerstein Ballroom

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The Hammerstein Ballroom had popped up around that time as a "new" live music venue in NYC. It was actually an old venue that had been known as the Manhattan Center. (On setlists.FM there is a gap from the late 70s through the 90s for any shows there.) Most Deadheads knew that some classic live tracks played by the Dead, particularly the ultra-classic versions of Not Fade Away - Going Down the Road Feeling that appear on the "Skull and Roses" live album - were recorded at the Manhattan Center in 1971. But until the Hammerstein Ballroom re-opened for shows in the 1990s, I had no idea where the "Manhattan Center" even was or whether it still existed.

1998-07-04 Further Festival '98

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Saratoga Performing Arts Center

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On the day of the show, we were pleasantly surprised to discover that the members of the Other Ones were staying at our hotel in downtown Saratoga Springs. I met Bruce Hornsby and spoke to him for a few minutes while Phil Lesh and his family (including the two boys) were having breakfast in the restaurant, and Mickey walked back from the pool covered in a towel. Later that night we would see the same two blond boys (Phil's kids) sitting on the stage with their feet draped over one of the cabinets, during the Other Ones' set.

2000-04-14 Phil Lesh & Friends

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Tower Theater

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This show took place on a Friday night at the end of a week when the stock market plunge had really picked up steam in the wake of the "dot-com bust" that Spring. I remember thinking that Phil's selection of the Wheel in the setlist that night was a reference to that carnage ("if the thunder dont get you then the lightning will...."), but who knows, maybe it was just on my mind.

2001-07-22 Phil & Friends / Ratdog

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Saratoga Performing Arts Center

 
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Of course, I could’t help remembering the amazing 1983 Dead show when I attended shows like this at SPAC. These were some nice Ratdog setlists in this era, with Blackbird and whole bunch of Dead tunes. Ratdog’s set included Friend of the Devil, the same song I would see DMB would play there at SPAC with Bela Fleck on the weekend of the fare thee well concerts in Chicago.

2008-07-13 Levon Helm Band / Phil Lesh & Friends

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Jones Beach Theater

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An opportunity to see Levon Helm Band opening for Phil. I remember the fantastic horn arrangements that LHB incorporated (Steve Bernstein arranging) and found them to be the highlight of the entire concert. The LHB played "Long Black Veil" on this day, a classic tune that the Band covered on its classic first album, and that’s been played by almost every major band I like. The song was used in the title of a radio show that Jerry Garcia was doing before the Grateful Dead existed. On various occassions I have seen it performed not only by LHB and by The Band, but also by Dave Matthews Band, Bruce Hornsby and Little Feat, so its a major connection among various artists documented on these pages.

2014-04-02 Phil Lesh & Friends (with Boyd Tinsley)

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Capitol Theater

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With Boyd Tinsley, so this was a rare melding of members of two of my all-time favorite bands, DMB and the Grateful Dead. Us DMB fans just love Boyd without exception and without reservation, so I really enjoyed seeing him that night, and he seemed happy to be there. We saw Boyd by the bus after the show and gave him a hug and told him "see you this summer at SPAC!"