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I wonder if anyone dissing Trey (not here, but on the interwebs in general) has really thought out what a herculean task this was for Trey.  They played 180+ tunes in a space of what, 9 days?  I have played in several cover bands, usually playing songs I LOVE and know by heart, and it's still difficult to keep them all in my head.  And I'm only playing (no singing).  That's also usually a play list of maybe 20-30 tunes.  

 

These 180 songs weren't nice little tidy 3 or 4 minute verse/chorus/bridge type songs.  Many of them have complicated chord changes and ever-changing tempos and transitions.  I simply can't imagine trying to prepare for a series of shows like this.  Under the circumstances I thought he did a terrific job, and in my opinion he made a great effort at respecting the songs and the other members of the band.  He managed to fit in his style while also catering to the songs and what the others were throwing out.

 

I can't imagine how exhausted his brain must be at this point....

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Yeah - all during that PITB on Friday, I was waiting for Donna to show up on stage.

 

Last night's 2nd encore Attics was nicely done --- screens shown pictures of the band during the tune - it was a nice touch.

 

Also agree that the one-two punch of Unbroken Chain and Days Between was a bit much.

 

Bobby wore a "Let Trey Sing" t-shirt - which was a bit funny.

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You're right Poon, I have nothing but respect for Trey. Those were some mighty big shoes he had to step in to. I think he did a commendable job.

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Well, they actually played 94 across to be precise, according to setlist.fm, across the five shows. Subtract 10 for 2 drumz/space each night, and it was 84. but, point taken! I listened to Scarlet Begonias from this weekend a few times in a row last night, thought it was awesome. Agreed on some of the not-so-well-chosen song selections too.

 

I wonder if anyone dissing Trey (not here, but on the interwebs in general) has really thought out what a herculean task this was for Trey.  They played 180+ tunes in a space of what, 9 days?

I can't imagine how exhausted his brain must be at this point....

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From what I heard and saw, Trey was fantastic throughout.  Not to give myself a pat on the back, but I knew he was a fantastic choice from the minute this was announced.  I never understood all the negative commotion about that, the guy is just a fantastic player with his head and heart in the right place.  Trey shined throughout.

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The only show I attended was the final performance. The songs had numerous flubs and the transitions were weak and strained --- but... that being said, the jams were really really well done I thought. To be honest, given the limited amount of time Trey had to practice with the band and to learn the plethora of songs, I was impressed. The band gave one hell of a final show - all things considered...

 

the song choice was a bit odd...Chider, Estimated into a fantastic jam led by Trey that went into.....eyes (no), but rather Built to Last....huh?

 

Also, another amazing Trey led jam out of mountains of the moon that went into .... Cassidy? ok - great song but, huh?

 

Also, out of the space, the band went into...Days Between?...

 

I was impressed with Weir's rhythm while Trey was soloing...looks like nice chemistry there...

 

Also, I was impressed wtih 75000 people all dancing at once...for the whole show...crazy crazy scene....

 

But, most of all, after seeing this show, it makes me want to hear more Trey...

 

Pretty much sums up my impression of last night from my couch.  Only difference, I always want to hear more Trey, I don't know if this was a discovery for you, but either way, hearing more Trey is always a good thing in my book.  For me, not being there in the midst of the energy of the crowd, the numerous flubs and weak transitions took a lot of wind out of my sail.

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Honestly, during the first China solo I latched onto Trey's sound and followed it to the end of the show...He was the most interesting sound...And, honestly, what a great tribute to the band to have another accomplished musician learn their songs and render a new interpretation...

 

Of all the different guitar players the core 4 have had (including "fake jerry"), Trey was the best in my opinion.

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The vision that is sticking with me is Bob just sitting there during the Unbroken jam.  He looked so tired.  For what it was, Fare Thee Well was fun.  Not really a big deal to me as I've seen all the incarnations in the past.  This was just another one of those with lots of hype.  In true Dead style, they just played a show.  

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Another some what cool thing was when Mickey strapped on the train horn during the drums section on the 5th and let it rip --- it brought back memories of 92.

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I have a friend who lives on the South Loop. He may have been at that show, but if the horn was as loud in the stadium is it sounded in the stream I was listening to, I felt bad for his little boy back at home and all the other neighbors. 

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It was pretty loud -- the whole stadium was loud --- I was surprised yesterday that they shot off more fireworks - between the sets - not after the show, which is typical. I was wondering if they did it earlier in the evening to appease the neighborhood.

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I watched all three shows (1,5 in a bar with great sound, 1.5 at home on back porch). Trey was kept on a bit of a leash by Weir, imo, particularly on tunes like Jack Straw on Friday night.

 

Trey did an amazing job all-around.

 

The last two night, particularly last night, the tempos on almost every tune were too slow for my liking.

 

Love Mickey's set-up.

 

The Drums-> Space last night was pretty much the highlight for me of the last show.

 

Friday night's show was excellent and the last two so-so with moments of great playing but not enough for them to stand out to these ears.

 

Happy for everyone who got to go. I was fine watching from the bar with other 'heads and home with a coupla 'heads.

 

Saw the camera pan to Perry Farrell on the floor walking around early in the broadcast last night, too....

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JK was there the first night, no?  That must have been weird for him.

 

I also enjoyed D/S.  So cool seeing them up close.

 

Okay, so now the tour with John Mayer?

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I did last night's show at the Capitol Theater in Port Chester. My line of thinking was that it would be more fun to be in a general admission setting rather than a movie theater and being a place that the dead actually played I thought it would be fitting.

 

I feel like I definitely made the right choice. A 90 minute drive with some good tunes in the car made if feel like actually going to a show. The crowd was great, not too drunk and plenty happy and friendly. They were also very "into it", clapping and yelling and singing along despite being a thousand miles away from where the concert was actually happening. The sound system was fantastic, probably better than what the people at Soldier Field were hearing.

 

My only gripes were with the setlist, everything else was outstanding.

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So I did all three nights from the pit. A few thoughts:

 

1) Wilco is my favorite band. After that it has always been Dead 2a, phish 2b and they flip around constantly. So I am pretty familiar with Trey after years of Phish and knew he would do well with this group. He also can handle the spotlight as well as anyone and I think that mattered somewhat. 

 

2) This whole weekend was about moments.

 - Moments with friends who you may not have gotten to see Jerry with but you've become close at other shows.

 - Moments in a city I love seeing a lot of really happy and genuinely kind people just being in the moment and at peace. 

 - Moments of music transcendence. And there were some as I had expected. You take that talent, this music, the time of year, and the weather we had in Chicago (three picture perfect days..) and the combination was going to spark some great stuff. A few off the top of my head:

 - Night 1: Box of Rain was beautiful, Scarlet Fire was a ton of fun even with the mistakes but the jams were excellent, Help>slip>FT was great. The fans were thrilled and the music was grand. 

 - Night 2: Standing on the Moon was the best of the slower stuff all weekend. Trey crushed it. Tennessee Jed was a camp singaround that was tons of fun, sailor.saint was really quite interesting. One more Saturday night was a straight rocker; as much fun as I've had in a show in a long time

 - Night 3: Harder to find (I thought this was the weakest of the weekend) but China/Rider was fine, Terrapin hit some really big notes and Phil sounds pretty darn good. The samson jam was fantastic. 

3) And my overall reaction and belief is that one committed themselves to a weekend like this for the moments above. You have to ignore the flubs (and there were MANY of them and it became hard to ignore some time). You had to ignore that it seemed like they came on stage and then went into their own space and didnt speak. You had to ignore the fact that lines were going to be super long, and that solider field really is not a modern place to see anything.

 

But that's the point. I went for the moments above. And for that I am thankful that I had the ability to go, that mail order worked, and that I made it through the weekend.

 

Onward to Phish/Wilco/ and all the other great music that is out there.

 

Will 

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.  And to my ears, the best current way to experience live GD music is to go see or listen to JRAD.

This.

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