By Blair Jackson

Back in the mid- and late 1980s, when my wife, Regan, and I used to put out a Grateful Dead fanzine called The Golden Road, our day jobs prevented us from going on the road as much as we liked, so we used to rely on friends to call and give us blow-by-blow show reports. We’d be working at our drafting tables putting together our magazine at 11 or midnight and the phone would ring: “It’s The Call!” And sure enough, there would be one our buddies, at 2 or 3 a.m. Philly time, on the other end. “Buddy… what a show… let’s see if I can piece this together…” and in his post-show haze he’d struggle to reconstruct the set list, which he hadn’t bothered to write down of course, punctuating it with little details along the way: “I kinda missed the ‘West L.A.’ because the girl in front of me passed out, and the medics were dealing with her during the whole song”; “Out of the ‘Terrapin’ they went into this jam where I thought they might go into ‘Dark Star,’ but nope, Jerry takes off his guitar and it’s ‘Drums’, which was amazing!” It was a blast getting to experience these shows vicariously until the tapes started trickling in during the weeks following the tour.

Gee, how things have changed! No late night calls were necessary to follow the action on The Dead’s latest tour (though we still got a couple of calls anyway, and that was Big Fun). Instead I was usually able to go onto dead.net or Deadnet Central and get the setlist as it went down live, often with opinions and commentary in real time: “Looks like there’s a ‘China Cat’ coming! Nope, they veer into ‘Uncle John’s!’ Yay!” (Of course, if I owned an iPhone, I could’ve had set lists, streaming audio and pix at my fingertips. Time for me to join the 21st century, I guess!) Three of the concerts—first night in Worcester, second night in Philly, and The Gorge—were broadcast live on Sirius Radio, so I got to hear those in the comfort of my own home, and excellent audience recordings of most shows were up on archive.org within a day or two, and that was a really cool way to keep up with the action. To my eternal regret I was only able to go to one show—first Shoreline, which had an outstanding second set—but through archive.org and also buying several of the superb soundboard recordings, I’ve managed to hear nearly everything by now.

And what a tour it was! I think it’s safe to say that it greatly exceeded most people’s expectations, and many believe that it was overall the strongest of the post-Garcia Dead tours. Why? Let me count the ways:

It starts with the Core Four! The rapprochement that began even before the Dead Heads for Obama show back in the winter of ’08 was real and has stuck. They appear to be getting along better than they have in many years, and they all seemed to be thoroughly dedicated to putting in the rehearsal time both before and during the tour to make sure that everyone was on the same page musically.

This has been part of Phil’s M.O. with his own bands for a number of years: They rehearse often and have long soundchecks; with the fundamentals solidified, they are then freer to improvise with confidence. Train wrecks were few and far between on this tour. Phil is obviously in love with that crazy new bass he’s been playing, and who can blame him—it sounds phenomenal. Bob seems utterly relaxed and confident, and I thought he and Warren often gelled in ways that were very reminiscent of Bob and another guitarist you all know…

Bill and Mickey played spectacularly—both with the band and during their amazing Rhythm Devils segments, many of which were centered around specific sonic motifs and space concepts. (This felt like an outgrowth of sorts of Mickey’s recent Global Drum Project tours, where Mickey and his percussion cohorts, aided by electronics wizard Jonah Sharp, explored various textural ideas that were rooted in some fixed composed structures.) For the first time ever, the “Drums” and “Space” segments were plotted out around certain themes. (In Jay Blakesberg’s fine photo books from the tour—available from blurb.com/thedead, the themes for each show are named in the set lists.) Some of the percussion ones were played several times (though with much variation, of course—this is still improvising on the fly), such as the “Obama Funk Jam,” which interspersed samples of Barack and others with some electronic legerdemain, “Music of the Roaring Seas” and “Magma”; while the “Space” jams were keyed around various celestial bodies and events: “Star Drone,” "Cosmic Debris,” “The Big Bang,” “Heartbeat of the Sun” and various jams named after planets.

Both drummers obviously benefited from being in good road shape—Bill was limber from playing so many shows the past year-plus with his great trio, and Mickey toured with the Global Drum Project and his eponymous, more song-oriented band. There were also all sorts of cool samples from the natural world and vocal samples from Africa and Asia which were all-enveloping (and which sound wonderful on the soundboard recordings). I give Mickey extra points for selflessly surrendering the vocal mike that obviously gave him such pleasure with the Other Ones and on the Dead tours of ’03 and ’04, and going back to being a percussionist extraordinaire exclusively. He and Bill played with tremendous power, clarity and sensitivity when it was required.

High Fives to the Other Guys! Keyboardist Jeff Chimenti has really come into his own the last few years. Anyone who paid attention to what he was doing with The Dead in ’04—and to what he does with RatDog all the time—was probably not surprised to hear him stepping out so effectively on this latest tour. But he was also given more opportunities for solos and he stepped into the fray and took solos, too, and he was always up to the challenge. His marvelously sympathetic organ and piano work provided the perfect coloration for so many songs, and he was at the wheel driving many a jam, as well.

As for Warren… well, he certainly rose to the occasion under the pressure of being the guy on this tour, without a second lead player backing him up. He took the time to really learn all the significant parts and signpost riffs, but he still put his own spin on things (outrageous slide!) and wasn’t afraid to diverge from the well-worn pathways carved by Garcia and others. And my own personal view (YMMV, needless to say) is that there is no one I’d rather hear tackling Garcia’s songs than Warren. He has truly internalized them—even the heaviest ballads—and he delivers them with unbridled passion and understanding. Check out what he does with “High Time” and “Comes A Time,” among others. That he can play so well in three bands (Dead, Mule, Allmans) is nothing short of remarkable; we’re so lucky to have him!

Variety is the Spice of Life! Thanks to the ongoing lists of Mr. Zomby Wulf on dead.net, we know that The Dead played roughly 150 songs (not counting “Drums” and “Space”) in just 22 shows—a stupendous achievement! No song was played more than five times, and 40 (or so; I suck at counting) were played only once. There were lots of intriguing left-field choices along the way, touching every phase of the Grateful Dead’s long career… okay, I guess it was a ripoff they didn’t play “Day Job,” “Money Money” or “Barbed Wire Whipping Party.” (Dare to dream, y’all!)

And what’s more, any song could turn up at any time. For the last few years, both Phil and Bob have been pretty good about abandoning the Grateful Dead’s rather formulaic approach to constructing set lists—where most songs generally appeared in the same spots in either the first or second sets. But even so, it was still somewhat shocking to find a “Stella Blue” or “Black Peter” in a first set (Buffalo and L.A. respectively), “Scarlet-Fire” as an encore (Shoreline), “Drums” and “Space” to open a second set (Madison Square Garden), and so on. With much of the traditional “first set” material mostly ignored (cowboy songs, blues covers), the band really delivered their best, most popular and jammiest stuff night after night, as well as really nailing a lot of their lesser-known songs, including Phil’s “Pride of Cucamonga” and “King Solomon’s Marbles.” You couldn’t even take for granted that the person you were expecting to sing a song on a given night would be the one to actually step up to the mike. At different shows, Bobby or Warren might sing “Morning Dew” or “Days Between” or “Scarlet Begonias.” On some songs they’d trade verses—Bobby singing the first verse of “Bird Song,” Warren the second; or Warren singing “Lady with a Fan” and Bob taking over at the “Terrapin Station” part of the suite (“Inspiration…”). A nice touch.

Acoustic sets were few and far between but mostly appreciated by those who got to see them. Someday this band should consider doing an acoustic tour of smaller halls where that kind of music could really shine. But even in these cavernous environs, you had to love Bob’s alternately ethereal and roaring “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” and Warren’s great take on Van Morrison’s “Into the Mystic.”

Everybody’s Playing in the Heart of Gold Band! It had been five years since The Dead toured, and even though Phil Lesh & Friends and RatDog and Mickey’s groups have done so much to keep the flame burning and the Dead Head Family together and dancing, there was something about these shows that made them feel like a reunion of sorts. There were lots of folks who hadn’t seen each other in years (and that tended to make the first sets most nights social occasions as much as musical ones, for better and worse). But there were also lots of newcomers—younger Heads who never saw the Grateful Dead, but who have clearly “gotten it,” either through the post-Jerry bands, or listening to recordings of Dead shows they got from friends, older siblings or parents. Young and old seemed to enjoy themselves, and I, for one, am cheered by the sight of new blood coming into the scene!

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And now, some subjective favorites from the tour; really tough to pick among so much top-notch stuff. There were no truly weak shows in my estimation, and probably half of them would qualify as “really good” or “great.” Feel free to add your own favorites below.

Five (Yikes, Only Five?) Favorite Shows (in chronological order)

1. 4/25/09, Madison Square Garden, New Yawk
All right, back to a Gah-den one mo’ time! This was one of the toughest tickets of the tour, for obvious reasons, and the Dead came out with guns blazing (so to speak) to mow down the frantic New York crowd. Actually, truth be told, this show starts out weakly with a pretty awful (if heartfelt) “Cosmic Charlie” (couldn’t sing it in ’69 or ’76; it’s worse now). But all is forgiven once “China Cat” begins to unfold, and then the show really takes off with “Shakedown Street.” I love Warren’s faster take on “Ship of Fools,” and Bob handles “Cassidy” with typical fluid grace. The closing “Sugaree,” with Warren and Jeff all over that thang, is truly epic.

The second set opens with—WTF???—“Drums” and “Space” (or if you want to be technical about it, “Sphere of Io” and “Magma”)! From there, on paper at least, it looks like a psychedelic school bus ride through classic ’60s Dead, but listen to it and there’s no mistaking that this is today’s Dead. Dig: The “Cryptical Envelopment” is actually part of the “Space,” with Phil singing over an arhythmic electronic wash—much more like “What’s Become of the Baby” than a traditional “Cryptical,” and brilliantly realized. That’s followed by a careening “Other One,” a nearly perfect “Born Cross-Eyed,” a long, very meaty jam, and then “St. Stephen” (after all, “in and out of the garden he goes”!) and “The Eleven,” both in their more jammy, contemporary incarnations. But wait, they’re just warmin’ up! How about an lazy “Uncle John’s” to bring us back to earth, followed by a great “Unbroken Chain” (one of the best songs of the tour IMHO, and I’m not even that big a fan of it), and—WTF? Pt. 2—“Gimme Shelter,” belted with authority by Mr. Haynes. Yikes, I’m drenched in sweat just thinkin’ about it! (It’s another great soundboard. Take a moment to salute live mixer Derek Featherstone for a job very well done, in the hall and on disc!)

2. 4/28/09 Izod Center, East Rutherford, NJ
Sorry, but this will always be the Meadowlands to me (or the Brendan Byrne Arena)—old habits die hard. Both of the Jersey shows featured the great saxophonist Branford Marsalis sitting in with the boys, and each night the music was spellbinding. I’m going to go on the record right now and say that no outside musician has fit in better with the Dead over the years. Branford is confident enough to be a leader onstage on any type of material, yet he is also a completely sympathetic accompanist. His tone on tenor or soprano, his adventurousness, and his melodic inventiveness made him a perfect foil for Garcia the times they played together (Nassau ’90 being the most famous example), and he has fit in well with post-Jerry lineups, too: If you haven’t heard his playing on a Warren-sung “Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys” or the Middle Eastern-flavored “Space” from Raleigh, 8/17/04, check it out. The guy is hands-down one of the great improvisers of our time, so is it any wonder that he fits in so well with The Dead?

At this show, Branford and company dig into several of the same songs they tackled at Nassau in ’90, but rather than sounding like they’re trying to recapture some past glory, everything sounds utterly fresh and alive, from the nearly 20-minute “Bird Song,” to “Fire on the Mountain,” “Dark Star” (of course), “Eyes of the World,” a wondrous “Space,” a brisk and honkin’ “Lovelight,” and, my favorite of all, Miles Davis’ “Milestones,” which really gives Branford and Jeff a chance to blow, jazz-style. Wow! Don’t miss this one!

3. 5/2/09, The Spectrum, Philly
Both Philly shows are worth seeking, but this one gets the nod because it was the last time The Dead will ever play the aging arena, which is scheduled to fall to the wrecking ball shortly (no doubt we’ll all be enjoying footage of its implosion on YouTube up the road!) and they really pulled out all the stops and kicked out the jams for a typically rabid local crowd.

The first set kicks off with “Saturday Night” (always good as an opener) and includes a very nicely rendered “Althea,” an emotional “He’s Gone” (we all know who that’s about these days…) into an affirmative “Uncle John’s,” and a rollicking “Mason’s Children” complete with meaty jam, to close the set. Set Two rocks hard from the get-go with “Good Lovin’” followed by “Cumberland,” then sets sail on uncertain seas with “Cryptical Envelopment” and “The Other One.” This show’s “Space” drifts into the first of just two versions of “Morning Dew” on the tour—nicely handled by Bob—and then the back end of the show is killer: “St. Stephen,” “Revolution” (thank you, Warren!) and finally “Help-Slip-Frank” to bring it on home. There could only be one appropriate encore choice, and thank God they made the right one: “Samson and Delilah” had all 18,000 souls on hand screaming “If I had my way, I would tear this old building down!” Whoo-ee! (Actually, that’s not a bad idea—let Dead Heads do the demolition!)

4. 5/9/09, The Forum, Los Angeles
This just might be my favorite show of the tour, a total winner from first note to last, with many an unexpected twist and turn along this golden road. So, there they are in glittering L.A., no doubt with celebrities in attendance—are they gonna play the “hits,” maybe open with “Truckin’” or some such? No, sir! Instead they jump off the high dive and into “Viola Lee Blues,” jamming it out to Phil & Friends proportions (i.e. a lot), and using that as a launch pad into other songs: “VLB”> “Bertha,”> “VLB” verse 2 > “Caution” > “VLB” verse 3 > “Black Peter” (expertly sung by Bob). A considerably-better-than-the-Garden-but-still-not-great version of “Cosmic Charlie” ends the first set.

The second set is a fabulous set list played really well, including another dynamite “Shakedown,” “New Speedway Boogie,” “Scarlet-Fire,” “Dark Star” sandwiched around a Warren-sung “Wharf Rat,” and then a surprise closer: a rippin’ “Satisfaction” (followed by the de riguer “Saturday Night” encore, also smokin’)!

5. 5/14/09, Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View, Calif.
OK, I really screwed up not going to this show. When this second Shoreline concert was announced, I was still hurtin’ financially from the mail-in for the first one (5/10), so I thought I’d skip this and save a few bucks. Big mistake: I missed a really hot show. This is another one that is really consistently strong top to bottom, but I’ve gotta say, it’s the first set that really blows me away. I had wondered whether Warren playing two shows with the Allman Brothers (I went to the first; loved it!) at the beautifully restored Fox Theatre in Oakland between Shoreline Dead concerts would affect his playing at all. Hard to say exactly, but the little jamlet preceding the opening “Jack Straw” sure sounds a lot like (sweet) “Melissa” to me! There’s a kick-ass “Mason’s Children” mid-set, then another fine “Ship of Fools” (where Warren sings “49 years upon my head…”). Then Bob goes into a fine “Standing on the Moon,” but right after the bridge, instead of rolling into the next verse, it veers into a full “Terrapin”! After a mini-jam at the end of that tune, right on the beat, they go back into the last couple of verses and coda of “Standing on the Moon.” Totally cool!

The second set has more delights, including a rare “Estimated” opener, the Anthem of the Sun duo of “New Potato Caboose” and “Born Cross-Eyed,” a fine nod to Brent Mydland (and Jerry) with “Dear Mr. Fantasy,” and then, out of “Space,” “Morning Dew” with Warren on lead vocals this time—it’s interesting to hear him try a quiet ending for this song; I think it works. I seem to recall there’s a very brief quotation of the Allmans’ “Mountain Jam” between the set-concluding “China Cat-Rider” duo. Then, in keeping with the previous Shoreline show’s triple encore (“St. Stephen> The Eleven,” “Touch of Grey”), the 5/14 show goes on for another half-hour or so with “Scarlet-Fire” and “Deal.” Goooood stuff!


A Bunch of Cool Things From the Other Shows Worth Checking Out

1. “Truckin’” from Greensboro, 4/12

2. “Dark Star”> “King Solomon’s Marbles” from Washington, 4/12

3. “Crazy Fingers” from Charlottesville, 4/15

4. “Comes A Time” from Albany, 4/17

5. “Goin’ Down the Road” and “Mountains of the Moon” from Worcester #1, 4/18

6. “Slipknot” > “Let It Grow” > “Uncle John’s” from Worcester #2, 4/19

7. “Smokestack Lightning” and “Stella Blue” from Buffalo, 4/21

8. “The Golden Road” from Wilkes-Barre, 4/22

9. “Death Don’t Have No Mercy” from Nassau, 4/24

10. “Tomorrow Never Knows” > “Black Peter” from Hartford, 4/26

11. “Days Between” from Meadowlands #2, 4/29

12. “New Speedway Boogie” from Philly #1, 5/1

13. “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” from Chicago #1, 5/4

14. “Weather Report Suite” from Chicago #2, 5/5

15. “King Solomon’s Marbles” > “Stronger Than Dirt” from Denver, 5/7

16. “Saint Stephen” > “The Eleven” from Shoreline #1, 5/10

17. “Crazy Fingers” and “Dark Star” (verse one) from The Gorge, 5/16


Four Other Shows I Wish I’d Attended

1. Greensboro; 2. Charlottesville; 3. Worcester #2; 4. Philly #1

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All photos seen here are from Jay Blakesberg's 2009 Dead tour books. Go to www.blurb.com/thedead to see more!

So…enough of my opinions: What are YOUR tour highlights?