4/15 LESH & FRIENDS AT THE WARFIELD review
Charles Dirksen
of the universe, at least until the next KVHW gig that I see. ;-)
(thanks to L. Bruce Higgins for that good one..)
But, seriously.. A DISCLAIMER (to provide a context): These are
merely the TWO CENTS of someone who has heard around 2000 hours of
Dead shows; almost every Other Ones show; every Phil Lesh and Friends
show; almost every KVHW show; and most of Phish's shows. No matter
what or how much YOU'VE heard, if you were at the show, for the sake
of the tens of thousands of Interested Parties, I sincerely hope you
offer your two cents! =^]
Thursday, April 15, 1999
THE WARFIELD
PHIL LESH & FRIENDS
Trey Anastasio (Phish): Languedoc Hollowbody
Page McConnell (Phish): Grand Piano & organ
John Molo (Other Ones): Drums
Phil Lesh (Grateful Dead, Other Ones): Lead Bass
Steve Kimock (Zero, SK&F, KVHW, Other Ones): Guitars (6+)
Special Guests: Phil's kids, Brian and Graham
"Hello Old Friends" (front of stage; the curtain was still down; Lesh,
Kimock, Brian & Graham -- Phil's young kids -- only) (it was about
five mins; just a cute tune/number/ditty; then a few minute break,
then:
SET ONE (1:40)
Viola Lee Blues (32 mins)
Big Railroad Blues (Page & Trey vocals)
Jack-a-roe (Phil vocals)
Cosmic Charlie
Wolfman's Brother ->
Space ->
Uncle John's Band (w/ Boo Boo) ->
Jam/Space/Jam
SET TWO (1:48)
Alabama Getaway
Sugaree
Like A Rolling Stone ->
I Know You Rider
Row Jimmy (Trey vocals)
Shakedown Street
The Wheel
Not Fade Away
ENCORE (6 mins)
Tamborine Man (Phil vocals)
If you've never been to the Warfield, it's a theater with a large
balcony, a floor, and several separate tiers of space (underneath the
balcony) at varying heights above floor level. It holds approximately
2300 or so people.
It's 3am Friday morning, and I'm in no shape to offer a coherent or
credible account of this evening's show. Nevertheless, since I know
that if I'd missed the show I'd want to hear a detailed account of
what went down:
First, get the tapes and hear this incredibly improvisational (not
simply "jammy" -- but improvisational!) show for yourself.
Second, I was on the floor, one person back from the stage, between
Trey and Phil. I hadn't been this close to Trey since 10/6/89 at the
Paradise (although I was fairly close on 10/8/94 at the Patriot
Center). That shit-eating grin never looked so good! 8^) I hadn't
been this close to Phil since 6/4/98 Other Ones. He looked GREAT!!!
OVERALL: Page sounded BEAUTIFUL all night. His vocals
were strong, and his playing was just PERFECT! =^] He took only a
few, modest solos, but his accompaniment all evening was PROFOUND,
imo. Lesh was INCREDIBLE, too. Simply GORGEOUS bass playing. I'd
forgotten how much I absolutely LOVE HIS STYLE! =^] Molo was
consistently good, too (at times, EXCELLENT, in that he carried a jam
or improvisation foward; but, a few times, I wondered whether he was
listening at all to what the others were doing).
I've heard many better performances overall from both Kimock and
Anastasio than this night's gig, but they were listening closely to
one another, and playing off of one another a great deal ALL NIGHT --
which was a dream come true for me (my two favorite rock guitarists?
I think so). They were alternating lead and rhythm repeatedly,
sometimes many, many times even in a single song or jam (yes,
REALLY!). Add PHIL LESH playing LEAD BASS to this mix, and IT was
honestly Quite Something to Behold, and IT *will* Translate to Tape!
(there were bazillions of tapers at this gig... tapes are already
spreading, I'm sure)
Individually speaking: Kimock was HOT and cold. When he was HOT, he
blew the damn roof off the Warfield! =^] When he was cold, he
noodled and/or tooled around. I expected a lot more passionate,
soulful, eyes-closed, gorgeous-start-to-finish solos from him. He
still -- like Trey -- played EXCEPTIONAL rhythm guitar, though! I
thought K played better in the second set, generally speaking, but
that he was still inconsistent when he led (or was SUPPOSED to lead).
Trey was consistently great (as he usually is), and I even enjoyed his
vocals on the Jerry tunes (I'm saying that because I can already hear
Deadheads giving him shit for singing "Row Jimmy" -- a song which I
never thought I'd ever hear *live* again). And though Trey played
more soulfully and noodled much less than I expected, he didn't step
out and **RAGE** on his 'doc very often (if at all.. he was pretty
laid back..). No Rock Star Trey, in other words.. which, frankly, was
probably intentional, and may have been for the best, since such
behavior probably would have alienated the others on the stage.
All things considered, tonight was a GROUP EFFORT, but I think this
will be the weakest night of the run. They are only going to learn to
communicate more effectively with each other, and to hear each other
more clearly, in the two nights ahead. They'd only been rehearsing as
a band, of course, for about five days before this first gig. And in
light of this fact, well... tonight's show was Genius.
First set featured some spectacular full-band grooves and
explorations, particularly in "Viola Lee" and "Uncle John's Band."
"Viola Lee" really was 32-33 mins (not 39, sorry!), and though it had
an episode of confusion -- where the band didn't quite seem to know
where to go next -- it was mostly GLORIOUS! Very, *very*
exploratory! "Big RR Blues" and "Jack-a-Roe" were fun and solid (if
memory serves), but not exceptional. "Cosmic Charlie" was by far the
weakest tune in the set, imo (and I've always loved this tune). They
just didn't have it down, and Kimock didn't solo for shit (he had the
room!). The harmonies weren't that good, either (but then again, I
don't think they have EVER been that good in this tune! ;-).
"Wolfman's Brother" was EXCITING, and a total shock not only because
Mike Gordon (Phish's bass player) -- who was there but not playing --
wrote it, but also because Kimock employed a dual-necked stand up lap
steel on it (Kimock uses this for "Why Can't We All Just Samba," at
KVHW shows, fwiw). Unfortunately, though, Kimock didn't take his
Wolfman's solo far enough into the Funk (too spacey). Wolfman's jam
just dissolved into a devilish, haphazard, arguably boondoggling
Space. The highlight of the Wolfman's for me was hearing Page and
Trey dance expertly around Kimock's slithery and splintering slide
work.
"Uncle John's Band" contained some blistering full-band jams, and
needs to be heard to be believed. It ended uneventfully, I'm afraid,
with a mere note sustained from Trey (ok, a mere note DRAMATICALLY
sustained by Trey... with Phil making a Monumental Hand Gesture to
signal The End of the Set on Trey's sustained note... but IMO it was
still a weak ending, given the Enormity of the preceding efforts by
the entire band).
The second set opened mysteriously with an eight and a half minute,
through the motions, BUT FUN, "Alabama Getaway." (btw, did I say that
Jerry was present tonight in spirit? JERRY WAS PRESENT TONIGHT IN
SPIRIT!) "Sugaree," which Phil sang, contained very soulful, melodious
soloing from Trey. Kimock's soloing was, uh, different (not "better"
or "worse" than Trey's, mind you... just not the Kimockian
Story-Telling Genius Solo).
On the other hand, the jam out of "Like A Rolling Stone," and the
AWE-INSPIRINGLY MAGNIFICENT AND MESMERIZING SEGUE into "Rider,"
featured Kimock at his Damn Near Best, and accompaniment that was
Flawless! The Rider was also a lot of fun... I can't WAIT for
you to hear this! (and I can't wait to hear it again myself!)
"Row Jimmy" (one of my favorite Dead songs) was interesting. Trey sang
it very respectfully, I thought. And I was *extremely* proud of him
for having the BALLS to sing this in the Warfield (of all venues).
THANK YOU, TREY!! Unfortunately though, for whatever reason, Kimock
didn't launch into any mind-blowing, heavenly solo to accompany Trey's
performance on rhythm and vocals. Kimock was clearly given the room,
too. Maybe he didn't feel comfortable soloing in a territory so close
to Jerry, I DON'T KNOW, but I was hurting for some soulful lead guitar
in this one. And it was there only in spirit (which might, of course,
have been Kimock's point...).
SHAKEDOWN was unf@$kingbelievable! In the first round of soloing, I
was distracted by an enormously rude aging control hippie couple who
decided to give a girl dancing passionately beside me a Good, Loud
Talking To. The girl (who was, of course, doped up on something),
then freaked out on them by dancing wildly into the aging control
hippie wife, and the aging control hippie husband practically threw
the wildly dancing girl into a bunch of other people on the floor
behind me. I don't know what happened to the girl, but I think I
heard her SCREAMING (she was by this time a good five feet behind me
or so, I'd bet) about having been pushed violently by the aging
control hippie husband ... ANYWAY, Back to the Shakedown: hear it for
yourself! The most exciting god damn version I think I ever heard.
Fantastic playing from everyone! (I should probably listen to 4/17/82
Hartford again, though, to be sure, though.. =^). It was definitely
the most incredible Shakedown I've ever seen *live* (I only saw around
50 dead shows between 1986-1994).
Ok, I'm REALLY tired now.. "The Wheel" wasn't flawlessly played.
Definitely shaky in the composed section. But it was still very
pretty overall, as you'd expect. "Not Fade Away" contained some
brilliant soloing from Kimock and Anastasio, and was -- all things
considered -- a good full-band effort. But they could have really
blown this out of the water... and it did NOT quite reach THAT point.
(it was still pretty damn improvisational!! =^)
The encore ("Tambourine Man") was, well, like the opening "Hello Old
Friends," very cute. I couldn't help but laugh hysterically (and
smile brightly), given what a strange choice it was. It seemed
obvious that no one wanted to play it except Phil. The looks on Trey's
and Steve's faces were Precious. I hope someone was taking pictures
of them at this point. :-) They both looked mildly amused -- but
otherwise disenchanted (and tired). I love this song, I really do,
but the Byrds did it right, and I doubt I'll ever hear it done better.
If you weren't there tonight, we missed you.
A VERY SPECIAL THANK YOU TO PHIL LESH AND TO THE UNBROKEN CHAIN
FOUNDATION FOR PUTTING ON THIS WONDERFUL SHOW!! =^]
two cents,
charlie
p.s. If you enjoyed this review, please let me know, because I'm
exhausted now, and will be this weekend... and I won't bother
reviewing the next two shows ASAP after them if you don't inspire me
to do so (even with a few words), and give this more meaning (it's
just two cents, after all..). :-)
Charles Dirksen
Some Tired Moron420 wrote:
>"Uncle John's Band" contained some blistering full-band jams, and
I can't believe I failed to mention that Kimock went ABSOLUTELY CRAZY in
UJB, soloing on "Kissing the Boo Boo" (a poorly named Zero instrumental,
which KVHW has also played a couple of times recently). More than a quote
or a tease.. Kimock was wailing away a la "Boo Boo." Hence my reference to
"Boo Boo" in the setlist besides Uncle John's Band.
two cents, and g'night,
charlie
Craig A.
Thanks for the review -- I am incredibly jealous right now...
Craig
email address = xxcraig....@mbia.comxx
minus the x's....
Christian David Hoard
warmup for Summer Reviews: if you're wondering how to write a review,
that is, this is how to do it, no matter if you have or have not heard
decades worth of Phish/Dead/whatever.
Charlie: Please do continue with the reviews through the weekend. It's
great fun reading them.
Oh, and to be very picky: Gordo didn't really write WOLFMAN'S; it's full
band/Marshall, unless that's what you meant.
CDH
eric masters
Charles, your reviews are always great to read. Don't give up on us yet.
Hold tight for two more reviews (ASAP or not). These shows are the only
shows I have seriously drooled over in ages. Feed us please!!!!Thanks, Eric
Christian Crumlish
what do you mean with boo boo? more like the ckagmd riff.
> Jam/Space/Jam
when is a jam space?
> "Wolfman's Brother" was EXCITING, and a total shock not only because
> Mike Gordon (Phish's bass player) -- who was there but not playing --
> wrote it, but also because Kimock employed a dual-necked stand up lap
> steel on it (Kimock uses this for "Why Can't We All Just Samba," at
> KVHW shows, fwiw).
page was loving his embellishments to the intro
> The second set opened mysteriously with an eight and a half minute,
> through the motions, BUT FUN, "Alabama Getaway."
kimock's texas-by-way-of-memphis solo rocked
J.B. Koubek
Thank you so much for the review. I was able to catch the first
setlist last night, but seeing the setlist really doesn't give me a
feel for how the songs were played. I've got to hear the tapes. From
your review it sounds like Trey and Steve fed off one another all
night. I'm just wondering what they're gonna pull out of their little
bag of tricks the next too shows. 2001 would be interesting. Does
anyone know if a tape of the soundcheck might make it's way into the
hands of the trading public. I'd really like to see them pull out
something challenging (Sage and Spirit/King Solomon's)...I can dream,
can't I. How about Trey singing lead on a full Terrapin Suite!
Please keep the reviews comming.
J.B.
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Mark J. Young
> "Cosmic Charlie" was by far the weakest tune in the set, imo
> (and I've always loved this tune). They just didn't have it down,
> and Kimock didn't solo for shit (he had the room!). The harmonies
> weren't that good, either (but then again, I
> don't think they have EVER been that good in this tune! ;-).
Not great overall but still really interesting. I think this
was the first number on which Trey really stepped up - I was
bumming on how he wasn't opening up and then he took a short
but beautifully built solo that knocked my socks off. It was
soft and sharp and oh so elegantly shaped. Then of course he
went off huge in Uncle John's and my bumming ceased. I thought
the Trey+Page vocal in Cosmic Charlie was wonderful too
- it got pretty muddy when Phil joined in though.
> "Sugaree," which Phil sang, contained very soulful, melodious
> soloing from Trey. Kimock's soloing was, uh, different (not "better"
> or "worse" than Trey's, mind you... just not the Kimockian
> Story-Telling Genius Solo).
Along with that wonderfully twisted Viola Lee, this was a highlight
for me - Page was taking a solo with sweet embellishing from
Trey, then later on Steve stepped up, maybe to take over but
Page and Trey hung in there. They were jamming together quite
closely then and it was really dense and tasty. Seemed like the
first prolonged group jamming to me where each of them was
very prominent but no one dominating.
> On the other hand, the jam out of "Like A Rolling Stone," and the
> AWE-INSPIRINGLY MAGNIFICENT AND MESMERIZING SEGUE into "Rider,"
> featured Kimock at his Damn Near Best, and accompaniment that was
> Flawless! The Rider was also a lot of fun... I can't WAIT for
> you to hear this! (and I can't wait to hear it again myself!)
This was incredible. It was so unlike a Zero version, short
moments between verses without the prolonged solos in the middle
- Steve takes his solo at the end - then Trey kind of capped
Steve's solo with a series of raucous strums and it got
quite hard which seemed weird from the perspective of the
sweet Zero versions, but it set things up for the segue. Wow!
I haven't had this much fun at a show in a long time.
The excitement in wondering what they're going play
and how they're going to play it makes the material and
the musicians entirely new to me again. Hearing Steve
and Trey side by side makes me see each in a whole new light.
I'm totally (re)charged up for summer KVHW and Phish!
Mark
Judd T
them. Charlie always has the best reviews. Thank you (once again) for
giving me at least some kind of understanding of what went down. Your
review (as usual) almost made me feel as if I actually knew what went down,
but that will not happen. Thanks again.
Peace,
Matt
Charles Dirksen <cdir...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:3.0.6.32.1999041...@earthlink.net...