jw harding

Great Iko Iko too. Maybe the best Visions. It's on the Fallout from the Philzone cds.

I saw the 2nd to last show, which was dreadful apart from the Visions of Johanna, which Jerry really came alive for. Thank baby Jesus for teleprompters. When he held his hand in the air and hollered the "Mona Lisa must've had the highway blues" line, the entire stadium was knocked on their asses. Stunning. It's on youtube, certainly worth watching. Rest of the show was bad. I cringed when they started Terrapin, my favorite tune. Butchered.

I think this is from the Wolfgang's Vault recent release. I've never seen it before. Enjoy, you dirty hippies. http://youtu.be/n1epUZhQ40I

There's a blogger that does a "Summer of Dead" concert review series. It's worth checking out, leads to some interesting discoveries. Anywho, here's my contribution: http://doomandgloomfromthetomb.tumblr.com/post/91255735102/summer-of-dead-2014-soldier-field-chicago

Leavin' Texas, fourth day of July...

Really enjoyed the Viola Lee Blues from the second show Nels did with Phil. Some of the most interesting post-Dead music I've heard in a long time. Things start to get weird around the 6 minute mark. Each verse is sung at a different tempo with a variation on the melody. Around the 11 minute mark, they almost enter into Spiders territory, but not quite. Then a seamless transition into Eyes of the World. Real nice. Both Nels and Scofield play much differently than the melodic style of Garcia and everyone who has tried to fill his shoes. Enjoyed this inventive and fresh approach.

Are tapers allowed at these shows? I would be happy to listen and provide a definitive assessment of the quality of the show. Thanks.

Seems like these special guests are mainly in the second set. Maybe a few first set tunes tomorrow too. Ross James and Jordan Levine are guys Phil plays with a lot at his place in Marin.

Free audio stream here: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/taperrob

Was that webcast via Nugs or some other streaming service? Nugs is doing the shows the next 2 nights, so hopefully the quality will be improved regardless. Shouldn't be too hard to stream a show.

Just saw an excellent CRB show this past weekend. It's definitely derivative of the Grateful Dead and Garcia band in the 70's - cosmic cowboy hippie thing - but that's about as good as it gets so I don't mind. Their originals are pretty forgettable, but they lead to some good jams and put on a great show, fun band that plays well together. I prefer them to the Crowes, who I find to be equally derivative but with less interesting influences for my tastes. There are audio recordings of full shows up on youtube if anyone is interested.

There was a Phil Quintet show I saw in 2000 that ranks up with the best shows I've ever seen. https://archive.org/details/2000-10-21.paf.sbd.philleshnet.2356.sbeok.flacf Loved the Q, and have generally found Phil's various Friends to be the most consistent and appealing shows to check out post-Dead, until John joined in. Also saw a The Dead show at the Forum in LA on their last tour with Warren and Chimenti that was up there with the best Grateful Dead shows I've seen, but I know that lineup could be hit or miss. The difference in this show was it was pretty high energy, seems to be a rarity

I can't disagree with these replies. Just different strokes for different folks.

To each their own. I find fake Jerry to be unlistenable. His singing is painful and his guitar playing is pedestrian considering the context he plays in. He has no edge, just a cornball hippie. The guy is just so derivative and worshipful of Jerry that it is creepy. There's an interview right now on jambands.com with current members of DSO who are ripping on John saying their current guitarist is much better, particularly at the early psychedelic stuff which John was not capable of doing. Maybe they're butt hurt over John leaving, but that doesn't make them wrong. Kreutzman has ripped on him t

Nels is going to be joining Phil and Friends for a pair of shows next week. Should be a pretty good lineup as he's joining Scofield and Medeski. Not sure what fake Jerry is gonna do up there, but hopefully he's stays the fuck out of the way. Should get weird. http://www.jambands.com/news/2014/05/21/nels-cline-to-join-phil-lesh-friends-at-the-cap/

I thought the Tomorrow Never Knows they did with Weir was the best of the covers. Hope they keep doing that one. Good song for everybody to get weird, particularly Glen.

They did St. Stephen at the final show at Shoreline. Recording I heard sounded pretty good.

Baba O'Reilly made some sense as they were playing stadiums more in those days, probably played well to the big crowds. Fun to see live, but doesn't come off so great on the recordings. A bit too classic rocky as well. Tomorrow Never Knows suits them better, but would've made more sense coming out of Space, Dark Star, Other One, etc.

Jeff and Jon Bon are both the owners of their bands, with the musicians being employees, so I think that comparison is more apt than Yorke/Radiohead who have an equal partnership. It was a joke, not considering artistic issues. Sorry you missed it.

Yeah, you caught on to my joke. Nice that Tweedy is going to play with musicians under his own name rather than just replace the guys in Wilco. Sounds like Sambora is looking for a gig...

This is kind of like Jon Bon Jovi recording and touring without Bon Jovi. Hopefully the quality of the material and performances will be as strong as well!

Jerry is by far my favorite in the band. But I don't see it as being quite the same as Wilco without Tweedy. More like the Allmans without Duane. Similarly they have been hit and miss since the departure of their leader. I walked out on the last Ratdog show I saw, would never see one of those again. Some Phil shows I've seen have been astounding with the quality of jamming going back to the Dead's peak. Other times a bit tedious and exhausting. Furthur/Other Ones/Dead seem pretty inconsistent. Last "The Dead" show I saw was amazing though. Certainly worth checking out if you love the songs, vi

I think most of Phil's streams end up here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdksSRVYuocSzyGucMNKvWg

That Chicago show is a favorite of mine. Seamless second set, with Hornsby teasing Dark Star throughout. Best Foolish Heart I've ever heard. It really benefited from a second keyboard player.

I traveled from San Diego two weekends ago. Luckily Greg played and sounded great, but if he was sick I would have rather the shows gone on without him, and I'm sure anyone who spent money on travel and vacation days would. Also, you've clearly established your opinion about this being a tribute band. It's your opinion, your entitled to it, but you're wrong and your opinion sucks. My mind was blown in 2 shows by one of the best bands I've ever seen live, period, playing some of the greatest music ever written. If you can't enjoy that, or it's degraded in some way not due to the quality of the