7/13/91 - Weir/Wasserman @ Darien Lake net.rap
John J. Wood
7/13/91 - Bob Weir & Rob Wasserman - Lakeside Amphitheatre, Darien Lake
=======================================================================
Bombs Away
K.C. Moan
Blackbird
Twilight Time
You Give Me Fever
instrumental
Artificial Flowers
When I Paint My Masterpiece
Maggie's Farm
This Time Forever->
Shade Of Grey->
Easy To Slip->
bass solo (Sastifaction Jam) ->
Victim Or The Crime->
Throwing Stones
ENCORE ONE
----------
Josephine!!!
Misty
ENCORE TWO - w/ Hot Tuna
----------
Cryin' Time
Youngblood
Quite an interesting night, to say the least. First, the Darien Lake
staff gave a good effort in making this show a pain in the ass. With
another poor display of crowd control, it took three Hot Tuna songs for me
just to get through the crowd, get frisked, *then* enter lakeside
Amphitheatre. Inside, muscle bound security goons would roam the premises,
attempting their best stab at an intimidating presence. Generally, I said
these words to Darryl Marsee upon leaving: "Darien Lake *sucks*!!!"
But enough of my griping. Hot Tuna opened with a solid hour of typical
Tuna with a few surprises. One was the Sam Cooke number "Bring It On Home",
given a nice acoustic workout. I wish I could comment on the whole set,
but because my traveling friend didn't arrive back from the Trumansberg
Folk Festival until 5, I was unable to make the Viper portion of the
net.gathering:-(, as I arrived on the premises at approximately 7:00.
Once I got inside, I ran into many old friends from the local Rochester
area and netheads Andy Gallo and Stephen Maltsis. Still, the number
of people I met and ran into were in such a blur that I really didn't
get into "show" mode until approximately 45 minutes into the Tuna
set. Jorma provided a nice "Parchman Farm" encore in an overall
gritty set. I was thankful to receive a listen to a D-6 master of
the Tuna set when I returned to my friend's place in Rochester,
and the tapes did reveal a *serious* overmixing of the slide and dobro in
spots, even if the whole set had its share of fine playing. During
the final encore, Weir was ticked off at the sound mixer, as his
acoustic was mixed too loud over his vocals during "Cryin' Time".
As for our boy Robert, we now know what "Scaring The Children" really
means. I'm not going to disclose details, but let's just say the
"opening" of the show was either Bob's way to shamelessly inflate his
ego in a *serious* manner, or he was being totally sarcastic and playing with
our heads. It was the first bit of comedy of the night, and frankly,
Weir is much better off aborting that opening and letting the music
speak for itself. Like I said, you have to see this, then say to yourself,
"is he *serious*???";-)
Musically, the Weir set was very good, with a couple of struggles along
the way. A nice version of "Bombs Away" opened the show (which I will
bet that it will become the standard opener for this tour), followed
by a laid-back, tasteful "K.C. Moan". "Blackbird" was given a careful
treatment, avoiding the excesses accomplished in the two Dead versions
in 1988.
Of course, with this duo tandem, our boy Robert can now fulfill his
fantasy of being a crooner, and his effort in "Twilight Time" was
legitimate. "You Give Me Fever" offered a bluesy intensity, with
Wasserman's irresistible bass line chugging alons Weir's impassioned
vocals. The Dylan tunes were handled nicely, with a solid "When I Paint My
Masterpiece" containing the "dirty gondola" bridge, and a driving "Maggie's
Farm" given a fresh workout.
However, I felt Bob's voice began to wear out, as both "This Time Forever"
and "Shade Of Grey" suffered from a limited range brought on by Weir's
dry larnyx. After the latter, Bob grabbed (I believe) a can of soda,
drinking it quite heavily. Weir, though, did have something left for a
pretty "Easy To Slip": Even if the first verse was rather flat, that
was offset by the inspired interplay of Weir and Wasserman. At one
point, Weir step back to his speaker for some acoustic feedback that
worked well in the intense moments of the jamming.
One of my favorite highlights of the night was Wasserman's upright solo,
which contained a minute or so of "Sastifaction": No questioning Wasserman's
impressive chops, as he played with a professional polish throughout. Weir
must have certainly welcomed the break, as his vocal cords were given a
much-needed rest.
The pair of Dead standards was given inspired treatments. Here's the
shocker, folks: I actually *liked* this version of Victim. Yes, I still think
it's a lame song in general, but the jamming between the two stayed
within a nice melodic framework, rarely submitting to bombast, and allowing
the textures to permutate themselves to an intense, yet mellow, climax.
While this was my only "Throwing Stones" of the Summer, it was given
a more inspired treatment than any of the Spring Tour versions I caught,
and served well as the set closer.
Weir, though, did have a nice surprise up his sleeve: "Josephine", which
I hadn't heard since I caught Bobby & The Midnites nearly 8 years ago
back at the downtown festival Tent in Rochester. Because this tune
is very rare (but probably not now) at the moment, I dug into this
rendition more than I did the other selections, and Weir's vocals for
all the post-bass solo selections were very strong and assured.
Now, here's the second reason why the tour is called "Scaring The Children":
you have to put up with Weir's fantasy of being Bobby Mathis!!;-) Weir
sang "Misty" was a such a seriousness that I interpreted it as a segment
of The Bob Weir Comedy Hour. Actually, Weir's voice held up surprisingly
well, but this tune does *not* fit him. Maybe it's a little too MOR for
me, but I took this more as parody than song, and on more than one
occasion, I placed my Buffalo Bills cap over my face, as I was laughing
too hard. With no acoustic in hand, Bob parlayed the role of the
stand-up crooner. I'm sure the newspapers will bash this, but witnessing
"Misty" was a truly *Bob* experience in itself.;-)
It remains to be seen whether the second encore will be a standard
segment of the tour or not (I suspect it will), but "Cryin' Time",
despite some nice slide work from Jorma, was ragged. This was
the only occasion Weir would commit anything close to a vocal
miscue (yes, folks, Bob *didn't* f*ck up!!;-), but Michael Foranziano(???)
handled the vocal parts, but not particularly impressive.
"Youngblood" was much better, even if there was no jamming, and Weir's
vocals were authorative. I did get a charge of Wasserman and Jack
Casady interchanging bass parts, and this version was much more together,
and closed a fine, if not perfect, evening of music.
The lighting was rather simplistic, yet effective. On the evening's
softer numbers (an upbeat "Artificial Flowers"), a solid star and moon
backdrop laid in back of the duo. During "Throwing Stones", a
"helicopter-type" view of some city streets emphasized, "the future's
here, we are it, we are on our own". And for all you Bob-heads wanting
the fasion report on our boy Robert: purple polo shirt, cut-offs.;-)
Although after the "intro", I was wondering if Weir would come out wearing
a sparkled, tiger-print spandex suit.;-)
Now is my big question: Saturday morning, it rained, and continued
until the early afternoon. So, why *didn't* Bob play "Looks Like
Rain"???;-) I guess you can't complain, and I do plan to attend the
Syracuse show (and to hopefully catch "Heaven Help The Fool", which
I also missed last night).
The scene was rather casual, reminiscent of the Jerry Band '89 scene
at Worcester. I don't have any numbers on arrests, but I would assume
there weren't many. There were some people inside insisting on
talking, especially during Tuna, but one "Shhhhhhh!!!" would normally
manage to silence those masses. Surprisingly, there were no parking
lot problems in my area, as I was one of the last to leave (at
approximately 12:15 a.m.), after unsuccessfully looking for Andy Gallo
and Stephen (as I had tapes for them -- they will be mailed this week,
guys).
Still, the biggest blunder of the night was simple to note: this show should
have been held at the Finger Lakes Performing Arts Center. Even if
many had a nice vantage point to witness the show, it was offset by
an uneasiness of security and the poor methods of crowd control utilized
in entering *and* leaving the amphitheatre. Until last night, I
was debating on whether to catch Dylan at Darien Lake or the Weir/Wasserman
gig at Syracuse on July 27th. No offense Dylan heads (which I am, of course),
but one show at Darien Lake per summer is enough for me, and I'm sure
another 8,000 will have to tolerate the same Darien Lake bullsh*t when
the Allman Brothers visit September 7th (a perfect show to attend
after Richfield;-).
*-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=*
| John J. Wood jo...@uhura.cc.rochester.edu |
*-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=*
| "Picture a bright, blue Bob just spitting, spitting free, |
| Dizzying with eternity...";-) |
*-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=*
Andrew Gallo
As my friend Bill tells me, my net.raps are only pale imitations
of Catfish John's write-ups. But even so, I will once again embarrass
myself and post my impressions of the show (are you happy Bill? There,
I said it... 8-)
I'll not bother to repost the setlist since the list I was keeping
had a few holes in it. Thanks to Catfish for keeping on top of things...
The day started for me with a nice long drive from Albany
to Darien (took about 5 hours with stops for food and leakage). The lot
was pretty calm where we were (within sight of the Viper). The security
"boy" proceeded to brief us on the drug bust that occurred about 5 minutes
before we arrived. "They had bags of pot and everything!", he said. Those
heathens...
Item #1 on the agenda (after a much needed pit stop) was the Viper,
site of the net.gathering that never was. I loitered around for about an
hour waiting for the gang. Oh, well. Serves me right for blowing off
the Albany gathering this spring. I didn't get to ride any of the rides,
but I will say this - Darien Lake looks to be a real rip-off. A saw
that admission to the park was $15/day. However, once inside there are
really not many rides at all (compare to Riverside in Agawam, Mass).
Most of the really "cool" stuff (go carts, water slides) are extra. The
rest of the park is mostly just one huge midway - 50 cents here, a
buck there. IMHO, don't bother taking the kids here...
About 6:30pm I headed over to the show in time to catch the
tail end of the Bobby sound check. Where I was, secrurity seemed pretty
calm. My friend Bill had a medium sized bag with a camera, lenses,
film, weed, etc. in it and wasn't stopped. The only real run-in I had
with security I had was the guy blocking the stairs to the bleachers
asking for bleacher tickets, which I had. He was actually quite nice
about it, IMHO. Other then him, I hardly noticed that there was security
at all!
Hot Tuna came on just after 7:30 and proceeded to play a most
unmemorable set. Frankly, these folks bore me. I saw them (Jack and Jorma)
on the Jefferson Airplane reunion tour a few summers back (Airplane
played a set, then Tuna, then Airplane again). They bored me at that
show too. I really have nothing good to say about it, so I'll stop
now and spare you my ramblings...
Weir and Wasserman started the show with a most embarrassing
scene, which like Catfish, I will decline to comment on. Suffice it
to say it included a smoke machine and was unworthy of the spectacular
show that followed.
The first part of the show was played, IMHO, pretty close to the
chest including Bombs Away, Blackbird, and Twilight Time. Fever
picked up the spunk a little, but the juicy was poured on during the next
three tunes - a nice instrumental, Artificial Flowers, and Masterpiece.
I have a take of Weir/Wasserman from the winter with Artificial Flowers on
it. In the last chorus they make a key change up, forcing Bobby to
hit and hold the last note of the tune at a level higher than his
voice can really handle. The result on my tape was a large ugly crack
t the end of the song. Last night Bobby managed to hold on, but it
was shakey. IMHO, Bobby needs to either play this song down a step
or take some voice lessons to learn how to support his sound. (This
spoken from a former voice student...) Masterpiece was masterful. Of
all the Dylan tunes the Dead et al do, I like this one by far the best.
I even think I like the Weir/Wasserman version better than the one the
Dead do.
Maggies Farm followed, and was, frankly, a let down, as were
the next few songs to follow. My favorite Weir tune, Easy to Slip,
was tasteful but not inspiring.
What followed next was, IMHO, the high point of the show - the
Wasserman bass solo. This guy can cook and his tone is amazingly
pure. The Satisfaction jam was truely amazing was Wasserman was able to
pull of a bass and percussion line simultaneously and with great results.
(By this I don't mean a knock on the guitar like some do, I mean a full
set of traps, minus a high-hat.) Perhaps this was made possible by
the low 6th string on his bass. I'll leave it to someone else to
comment further, someone who knows the bass better than I. Also,
Wasserman pulled out a bow and "bowed" as well as slapped with it. In
short, he wowed me with his musical breadth and depth.
I don't know anything about this guy, but if I had to I'd guess
he is classically trained. I get this feeling from his total artistic
presence, both in his sound and in his choice of licks. I'd like to
see this guy play with Garcia sometime or maybe even Branford. I think
Wasserman has a huge amount of potential and should be headlining his
own band.
Victim or the Crime followed. My friend Bill groaned. "We'll
probably get a Picasso Moon next", he said sarcastically. However, I
must say I was pleasantly surprised, as I was with the Throwing
Stones that closed the set.
For the encore switched to electric and tore into the Bobby
and the Midnight's tune Josephine. During the mid-song jamming Bill
and I swore we heard the riffs for Spoonful - it was there, it was
lurking... 8-) Instead we got Misty. Yuck. A guy next to me said,
"He look, they turned the smoke back on". "You idiot", I said,
"that's 'mist'...!" 8-) Bobby's lounge lizard rendition was truely
pathetic. The real clincher was when a fellow behind me started
singing "New York New York". I thought I was going to bust a gut
laughing - it would have been a perfect follow-up.
The second encore was a join venture with Weir/Wasserman and
Hot Tuna. Yawn. 'Nuff said.
From a technical perspective I thought the sound was pretty
good, especially during the Weir set (I was half asleep during the Tuna,
so I'll decline comment). I did think the lighting needed help. The
band would go into a mood change and you could almost count to five
before the lights followed. I'll attribute this partially to the fact
that we're very early in the tour. Hopefully that aspect of the show will
improve.
As far as this whole theme of "Scaring the Children" is concerned,
I have no clue what its all about. I expected a bit of stage banter
to clue us in to this mystery, but none came. All I can think of it that
is was some kind of environmental reference, but I don't know for sure.
In closing let me say that I was most impressed with the Weir and
Wasserman set, especially Masterpiece, Victim(!), and Josephine.
However, Wasserman's solo was, for me, the highlight of the show.
That's all for now. See you all in Boston!
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------------<
> Andy Gallo | State University of | "If six, turned out to be <
> ga...@cs.albany.edu | New York at Albany | nine, I don't mind..." 8-) <
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------------<
INGRAFFIA EDMOND J
In article <3...@karp.albany.edu> ga...@cs.albany.edu (Andrew Gallo) writes:
>
> Hot Tuna came on just after 7:30 and proceeded to play a most
>unmemorable set. Frankly, these folks bore me. I saw them (Jack and Jorma)
>on the Jefferson Airplane reunion tour a few summers back (Airplane
>played a set, then Tuna, then Airplane again). They bored me at that
>show too. I really have nothing good to say about it, so I'll stop
>now and spare you my ramblings...
Not to say that being a musician makes one cool, but from this
set of sentences, Andy, I can tell you don't play guitar. Maybe
I'm wrong (as you mention your voice studies later on), so please
correct me if I am. But it would be a first for me to hear a guitar
player have such disinterest in Jorma's and Jack's playing. I've
seen Hot Tuna acoustic, as well as Jorma solo, a number of times,
and their musical interplay will never cease to amaze me. Sure,
a lot of the songs are slow, based on traditional blues a la Rev.
Gary Davis and Robert Johnson, but IMHO this is the REAL stuff,
much unlike the poor interpretations of other artists that Weir
attempts. Again, just my opinion, as yours is above, but I've never
heard or read anyone refer to HFT as "boring"...
> Weir and Wasserman started the show with a most embarrassing
>scene, which like Catfish, I will decline to comment on. Suffice it
>to say it included a smoke machine and was unworthy of the spectacular
>show that followed.
I wish one of you guys would elaborate on this stuff! :^) Sounds
like CLASSIC cheese-Weir! I'll never know since I can't bring myself
to spend $20-25 on a ticket for these guys. I've heard the tapes of
a couple different shows, and to me, their stuff is "boring"...
> What followed next was, IMHO, the high point of the show - the
>Wasserman bass solo. This guy can cook and his tone is amazingly
>pure. The Satisfaction jam was truely amazing was Wasserman was able to
>pull of a bass and percussion line simultaneously and with great results.
>(By this I don't mean a knock on the guitar like some do, I mean a full
>set of traps, minus a high-hat.) Perhaps this was made possible by
>the low 6th string on his bass. I'll leave it to someone else to
>comment further, someone who knows the bass better than I. Also,
>Wasserman pulled out a bow and "bowed" as well as slapped with it. In
>short, he wowed me with his musical breadth and depth.
> I don't know anything about this guy, but if I had to I'd guess
>he is classically trained. I get this feeling from his total artistic
>presence, both in his sound and in his choice of licks. I'd like to
>see this guy play with Garcia sometime or maybe even Branford. I think
>Wasserman has a huge amount of potential and should be headlining his
>own band.
Finally, we agree! :^) Admittedly, I haven't seen Rob play live,
but this might be the one reason I'd shell out the $$ for this show.
I've heard his two albums, and his technique and resonance are
AMAZING! I've also heard him on an old Grisman album where his
bass work is outstanding, completely inline with Grisman's pickin'.
I've read that he IS classically trained. BTW, Garcia is on his
upcoming album called "Trios", with our friend Edie Brickell as
the third on that track. The twist is...Ol' Jer plays PIANO on
the tune....:^)
>>-----------------------------------------------------------------------------<
>> Andy Gallo | State University of | "If six, turned out to be <
>> ga...@cs.albany.edu | New York at Albany | nine, I don't mind..." 8-) <
>>-----------------------------------------------------------------------------<
Andrew Gallo
A few messages ago I said Hot Tuna "bored" me. So I get the following
rebuttal:
In article <1991Jul14....@colorado.edu>, ingr...@tramp.Colorado.EDU (INGRAFFIA EDMOND J) writes:
> Not to say that being a musician makes one cool, but from this
> set of sentences, Andy, I can tell you don't play guitar. Maybe
You're right. I used to sing (mostly classical repertoire). I
also used to blow a trumpet and have recently begun to play again after
a 4 year lapse. I also *try* to play keyboards and would really love to
learn a stringed instrument (either bass, banjo, or mandolin).
> and their musical interplay will never cease to amaze me. Sure,
> a lot of the songs are slow, based on traditional blues a la Rev.
> Gary Davis and Robert Johnson, but IMHO this is the REAL stuff,
I have no problem with slow or traditional blues numbers. I'm
a proud owner of the Robert Johnson CD set that just came out. I also
attend blues shows when possible, including the Blues Festival at SPAC
last summer. In fact, althought I sing a more rigid format of classical
arias, I really long to be able to sing "the blues", or at least a
watered down bleached version, a la Joe Cocker, for example.
I also have no doubt that Jorma is a skilled guitarist or that
his "interplay" with Jack is worth examining. However, music, to me,
is more than just smart playing. I take a far more emotional view of
music, and frankly, Tuna fails to move me "emotionally". Now I've only
seen them twice, so maybe I'm being premature - maybe both shows I saw were
"off" performances, but judging from audience response, I doubt it. Tuna's
musical interpritations fail to "talk" to me. That's OK - hey, some people
don't get off on the Dead even though others worship them like gods. I
don't relate to Tuna. But that doesn't mean that I wouldn't seem them
again. Hey, sometimes the Boyz are off too, and I still keep coming back.
> > Weir and Wasserman started the show with a most embarrassing
> >scene, which like Catfish, I will decline to comment on. Suffice it
> >to say it included a smoke machine and was unworthy of the spectacular
> >show that followed.
> I wish one of you guys would elaborate on this stuff! :^) Sounds
OK, I guess I'll spill it. If you are going to a Bob'n'Rob
show and don't want the fun spoiled, hit "n" now...
They start off by killing the stage lights. As the lights come
up, the smoke machine starts up and the music starts - the theme from
2001 - daaa....Daaaa...DAAaaa...DA.DA...dum.dum.dum.dum.dum.dum.dum.dum...
(I think its called "Thus Spake Zarathrustra(sp?)" or something like that.)
After the big climax in the piece, Bob and Rob take the stage.
Real cheezy. (Almost as bad as the version of "Misty" they did...)
> like CLASSIC cheese-Weir! I'll never know since I can't bring myself
> to spend $20-25 on a ticket for these guys. I've heard the tapes of
Darien tix were $17 plus $0.50 handling fee. Not outrageous.
Hey, I can understand if people disagree with my attack on
Hot Tuna. It wouldn't be the first time I voiced a minority opinion.
I just hope you can see where I'm coming from.
By the way, the Dead suck... 8-)
INGRAFFIA EDMOND J
>a proud owner of the Robert Johnson CD set that just came out.
So am I...KIND STUFF, eh :^) But I'm still surprised Tuna does
nothing for you...Oh well :^)
> I also have no doubt that Jorma is a skilled guitarist or that
>his "interplay" with Jack is worth examining. However, music, to me,
>is more than just smart playing. I take a far more emotional view of
>music, and frankly, Tuna fails to move me "emotionally".
Very true...there is more to music than smart playing...I've
always thought Tuna has had that "more", putting real spirit
into the songs, giving them a renewed meaning in the scuzzy 90s.
>Now I've only
>seen them twice, so maybe I'm being premature - maybe both shows I saw were
>"off" performances, but judging from audience response, I doubt it.
I'm wondering...at the other gig, was Tuna the opener also? The
time limit, as well as the fact that the audience is pumped for
the headliner, might have had something to do with the seemingly
lackluster performances. Maybe give 'em another chance if you can
catch them on their own, with two long sets.
>Tuna's musical interpritations fail to "talk" to me. That's OK - hey, some
>people don't get off on the Dead even though others worship them like gods. I
>don't relate to Tuna. But that doesn't mean that I wouldn't seem them
>again. Hey, sometimes the Boyz are off too, and I still keep coming back.
Again, quite true...I've seen some stinkers among my 100+ Dead shows :^)
I'm glad you'd give 'em another chance...they're two of the few artists
left, IMHO, that continue to take blues in a positive, forward
direction. They may grow on you...not like a fungus, I hope :^)
> Hey, I can understand if people disagree with my attack on
>Hot Tuna. It wouldn't be the first time I voiced a minority opinion.
>I just hope you can see where I'm coming from.
I do. That's why the .net exists, so we can get other folks'
perspective on issues, whether musical, political, etc. I just
really DIG Hot Tuna, so I was quite surprised...:^)
> By the way, the Dead suck... 8-)
Who????????? :^()
>>-----------------------------------------------------------------------------<
>> Andy Gallo | State University of | "If six, turned out to be <
>> ga...@cs.albany.edu | New York at Albany | nine, I don't mind..." 8-) <
>>-----------------------------------------------------------------------------<
"If all the hippies/cut off all their hair/I just don't care..."