I looked up and saw the entire upper concrete structure bouncing, a site I will never forget. We finally got the hard-rocking resolution next with “Not Fade Away,” which had the whole stadium singing along and jumping up and down. Again, this was not on most people’s list of essential Dead listening, but players gonna play. The song was strong, but as the tension seemed to build to a resolution that could only be a hard rocker, the group went into the molasses-slow “Days Between,” one of Garcia and Robert Hunter’s final compositions. They came out of Space and landed on “Unbroken Chain,” another Phil lead vocal. Because the Dead need to get weird they have a perverse sense of equilibrium. That was quite the first half of a set.Īnd then, of course, things got a little weird. I gladly squatted on the floor, taking a load off my legs, and looked up away from the stage watching Bill and Mickey do their mad scientist thing on the enormous Jumbotron on the stadium’s far side. Next up was a Space > Drums segment that was highly entertaining. The whole suite was beautifully rendered, superbly played and emotionally resonant. And while neither made anyone forget about Jerry Garcia, it all worked. Lesh took the first verses, Weir the latter. Trey sang the song beautifully and Hornsby helped it swing.Īs the band came down, some familiar piano notes tinkled and the crowd roared: “Terrapin Station” was under way. The strong start continued right into “Althea.” This aggregation does slinky really well and showed it again here. The jam went a bit atonal, before Lesh took the lead pumping it back up and leading straight back into another, final verse. The song wound down into a little jam that segued beautifully into “Cassidy,” which featured another stellar extended jam, highlighted by some nifty harmony playing by Weir and Anastasio and sweet interplay between Trey and Hornsby. “What a long strange trip it’s been” was greeted with roars and mass sing-alongs every time through. And after a nice, swirly intro, the band kicked into “Truckin’,” a song that just HAD to be repeated, and it was a great, hard-driving version. Literally, a gorgeous, extended display over the stadium that made clear again that this was not a normal night. The second set-and perhaps the final in the Dead’s 50-year history-began with fireworks."China Cat Sunflower" > "I Know You Rider" | "Estimated Prophet" | "Built to Last" | "Samson and Delilah" | "Mountains of the Moon" > "Throwing Stones" The set closed strongly with “Throwing Stones,” with the “Ashes, Ashes” chorus a giant sing-along each time through and a very nice jam in the middle, involving everyone. Emphasizing not repeating a song in a five-night run makes no sense to me at a time like this. I understand that pulling something like that off is part of the Dead ethos, but on the final night, I’d have taken something like Bruce Hornsby singing “Loser,” whether or not they played it last week in Santa Clara. It was also, I believe, the first time that song had been played since 1969. “Mountains of the Moon” was musically excellent, but Lesh’s lead vocal flattened the melody and… well, it was neither the first nor last time a song was musically superb but vocally lacking. “Built to Last” was nicely played, but remains a rather slight song in my estimation. Anastasio has established great rapport with keyboardists Bruce Hornsby and Jeff Chimenti, with the three often engaging in call and response, harmony and counterpoint. The strong, in-sync playing continued throughout the first set.
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