Sun Caught Fire

Thanks for getting down the list! Only somewhat surprising in the sense that it was the first show of the tour, but I thought it was a really really great show. Jeff commented on it being the tour opener and they were tight and came ready to play and sounded like a celebration of sorts being back at it again. We sure were happy, and getting in our first Nebraska show. Crowd was loud, and Jeff went to speak before Side with the Seeds for first time but backed from mic to let the roar continue.Later on he said that the crowd was going to spoil them for the tour by being so good. And the crowd, at least up front, were really giving it there all to his satisfaction on the bop bop bopping of Spiders. He asked the crowd to hold back on the adulation and to boo a bit and a rousing round of booing ensued.Jeff then pumped up his chest and said it was the first time he felt like a memeber of the WWF. Agree the short land of Lincoln connection to the host city was funny, and also when he ended it by seemingly sincerely asking to confirm they were both named for the same Lincoln. Only other banter I recall was his congratulating the crowd before Forget the Flowers for having made it through the front loaded sad song portion of the show, and band was amused when he added that the rest of the tunes were happy songs so long as you didn't listen to the words. By the way, the Pinewood is a beajtiful outdoor natural ampitheater nestled between the trees (reminded me of the Pines Theater they use to play in the Bershires). Psyched for the Power and Light District of KC, MO.

Thanks for the report. Was supposed to have been there as well, but had to change my travel plans at the last minute. Would you have been there if it hadn't been Nebraska?

 

How was the crowd, generally speaking? Was there any standing or did people sit the whole time? Looked like a fairly typical outdoor bandshell-type setup. I assume it was all on flat ground (i.e. no incline from front to back)...

 

Looking forward to checking out Creamer tonight! Saw him/them at the Big Star Third show in Nashville the other week, so your characterization makes sense.

Yikes, only 3 more shows this year and taking most if not all of 2018 off. May have to switch my Springsteen on Broadway on 11/16 for a different date to make St. Paul. Hope Jeff tours the states.

A national treasure indeed!  Much love and thanks for an ever expanding/gratifying notebook of amazing music and memorable live shows (and at 57, the memorable part ain't easy to maintain!).  For some reason, 49 seemed older to me than the near relief of turning 50. It gets a bit harder to retain, but I believe in the health benefits of immaturity!

All the very best and major gratitude to your better half! 

Steve

I apologize to everyone on this forum for antagonism on my part. This is a great place to discuss all sorts of things, and I don't want to upset that.

 

But I'm not backing away from anything I've said about this film, or about my experiences dealing with deadheads, or being a deadhead.

Agree with your sentiment about this forum. My reaction, particularly in the charged times we are currently experiencing, was to the following generalization about deadheads only being apologist "praisers" of the band:

"I have found that to be an utterly pathetic and predictable trait of deadheads, and I'm sorry to see it here on a WIlco based forum."  

Had you made clear that the trait you observed was narrowly limited to only those you have known then so be it, and indeed unfortunate as that has never been my experience with the deadheads i have known both during my active touring years (1977-1995) and to thereafter. I think no doubt every band of substance has fans who fail or refuse to see/accept or acknowledge any shortcomings or faults, but even so I am happy for folks to derive joy from their musical heroes/choices even if a more critical eye would surely at times be below a raised eyebrow or 2.  Sorry for my strong reaction, peace. 

None of that is relevant to this discussion, except the part about musical impact (which was ignored in the film) but it does reveal that only praise for the Dead (and everything in the Dead galaxy) is welcome here, and anything less than praise will be met with lashing out against all other music.  I have found that to be an utterly pathetic and predictable trait of deadheads, and I'm sorry to see it here on a WIlco based forum.  

Anyone who would type that last sentence with its unfounded generalization and personal attack worthy of the alt right is in my book a close minded asshole, here or on any other forum, though I am confident it was a reflection of the frustration this or any other forum can bring and not a reflection of your true self.

Lack of cooperation and access impacted Long Strange Trip and it certainly had its weak points (as did the band and, most notably, JG insistence that no one lead it properly thus leading to the mess you rightly note), though overall i really enjoyed it up to the slow and steady decline of Garcia. You seem to totally misconstrue the nature and basis of JG's desire for a more simple life than having to keep touring to support a mammoth organization as that was the basis of his comment about living off the small ice cream income rather than continue to tour. I will side with Weir here who feels 1989 and 1990 were the peak of Dead performance. Personally i prefer 1970, pre-1970 and 1977 followed closely by the 89-90 shows and various pockets here and there - -  including the 5 i saw that we are currently celebrating the 30th anniversary of from Red Rocks and Telluride - -, but your fall back to over generalizing the early 90's may say more about you than him. Trust me, i saw plenty of crap and depressing shows in the 93-95 time period where JG health was a driving factor but the hit or miss nature of the band was part of the band's history and ethos.  Criticisms of the movie are well founded but of those among us that are dead and wilco heads, not so much. Peace.

6:15 to 7:30. just click on the Info tab on official site. 

Managed to pull 2 front row for Nebraska but hey it's Nebraska. We are going to do the weekend 3 nights in a row in Lincoln, Nebraska; Kansas City, Missouri; and Tulsa, Oklahoma; and then spend 3 days in Santa Fe and catch a 4th show there before home to NY. 4 Wilco shows in 4 states we have not seen them in was too good of a roadtrip to pass up! 

Nice 90 minute slot festival set from the Solid Sounders. And a solid set it was and felt like making a bit of a statement. Rapid fire no banter Wilco. Hell of a treat during a 4 day first time visit to Madrid. What a coincidence.. .Quite a few Wilco fans and more so folks arriving early for Kings of Leon.

Random Name Generator

The Joke Explained

Via Chicago

I Am Trying ...

Art of Almost

Pickled Ginger

If I Ever Was a Child

Someone to Lose

War on War

Jesus etc.

Impossible Germany

California Stars

Box Full of Letters

I'm Always in Love

Heavy Metal Drummer

I'm the Man Who Loves You

Hummingbird

Spiders

I'm A Wheel

Here I come again... and nice my wife, son and I can drive to this one. Have to miss Dead and Company in NYC Saturday but SSF is always a must and nothing better than Being There.... S + Y + DJ.

I finished watching the six episodes and overall really loved it. I particularly enjoyed the first few as they have the totally cool live footage not previously available and the end is of course a bit depressing. A monumental task distilled down to 4 hours so i can see why Phil recently said there is much of the story not told by this documentary. I am curious as to why no interviews and really no mention that i can recall of Mountain Girl and i suppose Jerry's other 3 kids were not interested or approached. Also interesting no interview with Deborah Koons Garcia, his wife when he passed away. Only so much they could include. It would have been nice to hear from Bruce Hornsby as well as he was a major contributor when Brent died and just great on the 15 or so shows i saw with him just in 1990. Also don't recall the movie including anything from Tom Constanten.  Again, 4 hours only allows so much time and all in all i just loved it.

As for JRAD, be sure to check them out. Living in NY it has been easy to catch them and so i have seen them about 10 times and think they are as good as any iteration of the Dead cover bands. I don't include Dead and Company as a cover band really and they are in my view the best post Jerry iteration that includes any original members. Heading out to Boulder tomorrow for the shows at Folsom field Friday and Saturday and then stopping in Louisville for Wilco Sunday on the way home. Nice weekend!

Speaking of animated Jerry (we have lift-off on the last note)....(the whole show, particularly 2nd set, has Garcia utterly rocking out:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eViobWoVLJo

So glad someone posted some of the Duke video from 4/12/78. I thought of it when reading some of the comments about the inertia bound Mr. Garcia. That was, of course, generally true, but i remember his dancing a bit 9/18/87 at start of Women are Smarter, but Duke is pretty crazy. I saw them 4/15/78 at William & Mary and he was way animated that night but Weir even more so during Around & Around especially. 

Here is the setlist as played as i see it has not been posted. Thought it was another great show and others can provide details.

You Are My Face

Normal American Kids

If Ever I was A Child

Cry All Day

Side With the Seeds

Radio Cure

Kamera

The Joke Explained

Misunderstood

Someone to Lose

At Least That's What You Said

The Lonely 1

Impossible Germany

We Aren't the World (Saftey Girl)

Dawned on Me

Theologians

Via Chicago

Locator

Heavy Metal Drummer

I'm The Man Who Loves You

Hummingbird

The Late Greats

Random Name Generator

Red-Eyed and Blue

I Got You (At the End of the Century)

Outta Site (Outta Mind)

Spiders (Kidsmoke)

Passenger Side

Shot In the Arm

.

Have singles for Sunday in Rows Q and R of the center orchestra. Seats are one behind the other. $100 for the "pair. 

We will soldier on in your absence, but I love reading the posts even when Im there. I'm doing all 4 being sans excuse as a NYer. Really enjoyed all 4 in Chicago, and sorry had to miss Massey this year but good to have some home games. My sense is there will be at least a bit more setlist variety in NY than Chicago, but you know what they say about Wishful Thinking. We sure know they can just crank out the core songs of the current set amazingly well.I left Chicago ready for more and I know it will be the same after NY and hope to catch them somewhere before SS.

Hey, you never know...you might even get a Monday in there to shake things up! Have fun in NYC...wish I could make it.

We have the following single tickets for the upcoming Beacon shows.  Please send private message if interested in any.  Each ticket is available on this fan board for $75 each (less than face value) or best offer:

3/18:

Orchestra     2 Row J  seat 28

Orchestra     4 Row M seat 42

Orchestra     1 Row P seat 17

Orchestra Cen Row S seat 103

3/19:

Orchestra Cen Row Q seat 103

Orchestra Cen Row R seat 103 (note these two are one behind the other)

Orchestra      4 Row O seat 38

Orchestra      3 Row O seat 43

3/21:

Orchestra       3 row  O seat 39

Yeah i am going to call ticketmaster. I got a single really good seat in section 115 but face value with fees i just checked was $336.85. Crazy (but that adjective applies to me as much to them as i bought the ticket).

Understand your frustration. What bothers me about ticketmaster are the very high service charges. Artists seem to control actual ticket price and many many bands got tired of selling a $50 ticket only to have it sold for $100 or $300 etc on the secondary market. This has become more of an issue with the ease for anyone to be a "scalper" on stubhub and other similar marketplaces AND given shift in music industry where most artists only make money from touring (ticket sales/merch and not record sales. That has made artists focus more on how much they get from ultimate price of ticket by time it is used. What also bothers me are artists like Clapton who charge a fortune like for 3/20 at Madison Square Garden.The guy must be rich beyond need and he is pricing my son and his generation out of chance to see one of the legends. Clapton's attitude, which is his right, i assume is these are face value prices the market will support and hey it's a market driven business and no one makes you go. I bought a single ticket from ticketmsster and it was over $300 with service charges. I figure one more time to see him and then i wont ever again. Springsteen used to sell lower priced tickets for behind the stage and in the rafters, but he cut down the number of ticket pricing levels. But when he plays i go no matter what and last tour with fees was about $175. Some artists, Green Day one of many exmples as is our beloved Wilco, keep prices lretty low which means more fans can afford to go but also means more buyers can make more money on stubhub selling if the market establishes a higher price. I prefer that approach, but not all artists due because of dollars going to others.

All that said, instead of blowing off seeing shows i would see more up and coming or lesser known but good bands before they get too big as there are so many. I dont think I paid $30 to see in NYC Kaleo, Shovels and Rope, Maren Morris, Houndmouth and Jackie Greene or JRAD by way of exanples and so many more for $50-100 range. Thankfully Wilco is still very reasonably priced and to me always a well spent dollar.

My friend told me that when he accesses ticket on his ticketmaster app on iphone there is an icon to transfer the ticket. Might be worth poking around on that, but I am among the androids so of no utility.

Have to disagree with any notion the band should avoid the Beacon.  It is one of the best venues to see a concert in my opinion in NYC among the reserved seat venues. I am fine with it if they play the Cap instead as you note as that is just under 15 minutes from my house and very well run but at times not always accommodating.  This is almost certainly at the doing of the Band as I have seen hundreds of shows at the Beacon going all the way to my first in spring of 1978 (Little Feat) and never had this procedure.  It sounds like anti-scalping move and maybe it needs to be tweaked and it does sound possible but Ticketmaster is another story and so of course wants to charge for that too. Sometimes when I buy Jeff tickets or Wilco (but not an issue with Chicago Theater) in Chicago my only option is will call and that is at least as much the headache if it then turns out I am not able to make it from NY to Chicago for the show. Glad you developed a work around and agree when the lights go down cares concerns and criticisms tend to melt away. 9 days...

I read that the Grateful Dead and Black Sabbath were both on the bill on May 24, 1970 at a festival in England called the Hollywood Festival. 

Just in relation to February 13, 1970. I am in a small email group among college deadhead buddies and we do day of the dead every day and vote for favorite show on that particular date. When i got the email today I responded that it being a Grateful Dead national holiday i thought it would be a day off. Here is the text of the email but names etc removed to protect the innocent:

Really fantastic show! I wasn't there, but love the smokin' opening Help-->Slip->Frank (20= minute Franklin's?!) opener, the "Music" is rocking as hell, and the "Sugaree" is smoooooooth. Did you go to others on this spring tour (one of their best ever)??

Unfortunately that was the only one of spring tour. I had just turned 17 but no excuse. In 77 I saw that first one 4/29/77 and Englishtown 9/3/77 and saw Garcia Band 7/12/77 in Asbury Park NJ and early and late shows at Palladium again in NYC late November I think the 27th of 77. Did manage to see 209 Dead shows with Jerry and about 30 Garcia Band. Up to 73 Wilco and will see many this year.

Happy anniversary! I often mark the anniversaries of memorable GD shows, always fun to remember and helps me decide what to listen to that day. And hey, "feeling old" can be just a state of mind. Listening to the Dead keeps me feeling young, whatever the calendar says!