Furthur Festival: The Music is Magic at California Gathering
by Blair Jackson
Well, that was really something!
I’ve yet to encounter anyone who attended the Memorial Day weekend Furthur Festival who didn’t have an absolute blast! And why not: the music was first-rate, the weather breathtakingly beautiful, the setting perfect, even the price was right—$125 for a very full al fresco weekend of camping and music; $75 for a single day of more than 12 hours of music spread across three stages, plus the dozens of crafts booths and other cool stuff, from the Terrapin Pavilion gallery (it’s walls covered in wonderful photos and other GD memorabilia) to the ol’ Kesey bus whence the festival’s name derives, sitting in all its psychedelic glory right in the thick of it all; Zane Kesey cheerfully presiding. Food offerings were bounteous, (mostly) healthy and easily accessible. Bathroom lines weren’t too horrific. Security was present inside but basically hands-off. The large bowl where the big acts played never got hideously congested (see GD at Calaveras, 1987, for contrast), and the sound was clear and loud, even towards the back. From what I could see the one day I was there—Saturday—everyone was pretty much giving everyone else the space they needed/wanted, and the areas around the smaller stages always provided plenty of room for everyone. I didn’t see one negative vibe the whole time I was there. Indeed, this was pretty much a smile-fest all the way around. It was one of those occasions we only rarely encountered back in the old Grateful Dead days where the crowd, the place and the bands all seemed to be in perfect alignment and it really felt like our world, and all that implies. It was truly one of the mellowest and most relaxed (in a good way) concert scenes I’ve ever been a part of.
(There were, however, scattered problems in the campgrounds and outside the immediate area, with numerous drug arrests and even some violent episodes evidently caused by knucklehead dealers and anarchists—why don’t they just go away? Hopefully, these episodes, sensationally reported in the local press, of course, will not prevent this overwhelmingly positive event from taking place next year.)
It was too big to cover it all, but here are some scattershot pictures from the weekend. I’m confident y’all will also give us some of your own impressions of the music and the scene, too!
Photo: Regan McMahon
First of all, the setting: The Calaveras County Fairgrounds are a few miles outside of the old Gold Rush town of Angel’s Camp, in the rolling golden foothills of the Sierra (the snow-capped peaks of which were clearly visible most of the drive up from the Bay Area). The region was immortalized in an 1865 short story by Mark Twain called “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,” and two years later that became the title of a popular collection of Twain short stories. With that sort of literary pedigree, is it any wonder that so many tourist spots in the area have frog names or imagery? Indeed, the whole Fairgrounds seems dedicated to the croaking amphibians—a sign at one of the entrances calls it “Frogtown USA,” and there are frog statues scattered around the site. Just two weeks before the Furthur Fest, the grounds hosted the annual County Fair and Jumping Frog Jubilee, the highlight of which is a jumping contest for the biggest, gnarliest frogs this side of the Pecos. The Furthur Festival’s addition to frogmania was a venue dubbed the Frogtown Fillmore, which was the center of some hot late night action on Friday and Saturday nights.
But we’re getting ahead of ourselves a bit. Friday night, what was rather casually billed as a “soundcheck” for Furthur was actually a full-blown show by the band on the main stage, boasting an incredible set list, and the hot playing to match it. (I wasn’t there but bought CDs of it at the show on Saturday). Check it out:
Jam> The Eleven> Eyes of the World > Dark Star> Bird Song> Loose Lucy, Dear Mr. Fantasy, Scarlet Begonias> Fire on the Mountain, Let It Grow, Unbroken Chain, Standing on the Moon, Playing in the Band> Dark Star, Encore: Goin’ Down the Road Feeling Bad
Wow, impressive from beginning to end, and also completely unpredictable compared to Furthur’s other six sets (three each Saturday and Sunday) which were based around specific albums. The “Dark Star” and “Bird Song” were interplanetary, as you’d hope, and “Scarlet > Fire” a real barn-burner.
But wait, Friday night there was lots more late-night action at the aforementioned indoor Frogtown Fillmore, where in the wee hours, members of the weekend’s top bands got together in various configurations to rock the frickin’ house! First up was a lineup that hearkened back to most recent Phil & Friends band—Phil, Larry Campbell and Jackie Greene on guitars, but current Furthur-ites Joe Russo and Jeff Chimenti on drums and keys. They roared through “Viola Lee Blues” and “New Speedway Boogie” (which Jackie often plays with his own group), then Larry switched to fiddle and his angel-voiced wife Teresa Williams joined them for versions of “Peggy-O” and “Tennessee Jed.” Phil split and was replaced by Jackie on bass, the Campbells left, and Bob Weir came out for more “Viola Lee Blues,” followed by “Sugaree,” which also brought RatDog/Jemimah Puddleduck guitarist/singer Mark Karan to the stage for that one song. And last but not least, bassist Jack Casady and guitarist Jorma Kaukonen from Hot Tuna joined the fray (Bob still out there; Jackie switching to keyboards) and tackled “Death Don’t Have No Mercy,” “I Know You Rider” and finally, “Viola Lee Blues” one mo’ time. Not a bad start to the weekend, eh?
Both Saturday and Sunday, most of the early afternoon action at the Fairgrounds was on the two smaller outdoor stages. The Sunshine Stage, which was just a few hundred feet to the side of the main bowl stage and facing rows of actual benches (rather than being at the foot of a grassy slope like the big stage) hosted such groups as The Waybacks (probably the best-known of the bunch), Honeymoon, Carney, Maiden Lane, Common Rotation (with Dan Bern) and Blue Light River (led by Phil’s son Brian).
Just inside the main entrance, in a beautiful area of green grass surrounded by various sprawling shade trees, sat the tiny Dark Hollow acoustic music stage, presided over by Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams. I spent nearly all of Saturday afternoon there, as a parade of fine acts took to the stage. After a few numbers from Larry and Teresa (who also turned up to play at some point with everyone who graced “their” stage), Jemimah Puddleduck came on and played a fabulous set (Mark Karan and Bob Grosse on acoustic guitar and bass respectively, keyboardist John “J.T.” Thomas on accordion for the occasion, and two dynamic percussionists—Wally Ingram and Joe Chirco) that included such cool tunes “It Takes A Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry,” a swingin’ take on “Don’t Let Go,” Randy Newman’s beautiful “Think It’s Gonna Rain,” Gram Parsons’ “She,” the Dead’s “Easy Wind,” and a couple of MK originals. There was lots of jamming even in this acoustic format—it was definitely some of the best music I heard at the Furthur Fest. Guitarist/singer Brian Lesh’s Americana band Blue Light River (featuring the appealing singer Lindsay Brauner) also acquitted themselves nicely (in front of proud papa Phil, who sat casually with wife Jill and friends on the lawn in the meadow) with a set that combined some original songs with covers including “Queen Jane Approximately” and, most intriguing of all, the Garcia-Paul Kantner number “The Mountain Song” from the 1971 Planet Earth Rock and Roll Orchestra sessions… dare to be obscure! (Actually, only the chorus was from that song. The verses were written by Brian, and he calls it “Mountain Town.”)
Right: On the acoustic stage are (L-R) John "J.T." Thomas, Larry Campbell, Teresa Williams and Mark Karan during Jemimah Puddleduck's set. Photos: BJ
Our time at the Dark Hollow stage ended with a sparkling ten-song set by the trio of Jackie Greene, Larry (on fiddle, guitar, mando and vocals) and Teresa that opened with “Bertha,” also featured a moving “Brokedown Palace,” “Sing Me Back Home,” “Don’t Let the Devil Take Your Mind” and several others before concluding with a transcendently gorgeous “Drifting Too Far from the Shore.”
During the mid-afternoon, too, both days, the Terrapin Pavilion was packed wall to wall with hundreds of Dead Heads for a couple of loosely structured Q&A sessions moderated by Furthur media relations chief J.C. Juanis and featuring lively stories from folks like Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, photographer Herbie Greene, former GD manager Rock Scully and basketball great/World’s Tallest Dead Head Bill Walton.
Then it was over to the main stage and excellent electric sets by Jemimah Puddleduck (loved “Walk Through the Fire”) and Jackie Greene (great blues workout on “The Thrill Is Gone”; a thoroughly raucous “I’m Waiting for the Man” with guest Mark Karan; hot “Like a Ball and Chain” closer) before Furthur took the stage around 8:25, when Phil stepped to the mike and dedicated the show to Larry Campbell’s mother, Maggie, who died a couple weeks earlier. “Maggie Campbell was a great friend to all music and musicians,” Phil noted, “and one of the most vital and alive people I’ve ever known… God bless you, Maggie! Dance with us!”
Let’s see, which of the six pre-announced albums will it be?… Drum roll…All right, it’s the opening strains of “Box of Rain,” which means it’s American Beauty first! I was particularly delighted by that because even though I’d seen three of the five (unannounced) “album” nights that Phil & Friends (with Jackie and Larry) played at the Warfield in SF two years ago, I’d missed the Workingman’s Dead/American Beauty night. Of course the downside of this format is that if you know the albums well, there is no mystery about what song comes next, which has always been one of the most compelling parts of the Grateful Dead and post-Jerry bands experience. Still, it’s always fascinating to hear how it all hangs together (or not) based on the relative evolution of the tunes on each album—for instance, “Till the Morning Comes” has only been played a few times by Phil’s bands in recent years (and “Operator” even less so), while songs like “Sugar Magnolia” and “Truckin’” have, obviously, been part of the ongoing history of the GD and post-GD groups for most of the past 40 years. Larry Campbell came out and added fiddle to an excellent “Friend of the Devil,” mandolin to “Ripple” and electric guitar to a few others, and Teresa joined in on the spectacular “Attics of My Life.” I also loved John K’s heartfelt “Candyman.” “Box of Rain” featured a real jam on it for the first time in my experience, and though Phil’s “Operator” stumbled in places, it still felt “new.” “Sugar Mag,” curiously, didn’t have its “Sunshine Daydream” coda. Maybe they were going to “save it” for the end, after “Truckin’,” and forgot?
The second set was, much to my surprise, Workingman’s Dead (I thought for sure they’d save that for Sunday) and it felt even more cohesive to me than American Beauty. John K. was especially strong on his version of “High Time,” and everybody cooked on an extended “New Speedway Boogie.” As you’d hope, “Uncle John’s Band” was a glorious unifying experience (nice jam, too!); “Cumberland Blues” provided non-stop hip-shakin’ excitement; and “Casey Jones” was completely out of control by the end, just like the engineer in the song.
It was no surprise that the third “album” of the evening, Anthem of the Sun, would be the most unified and jammiest of the three—after all, that album consists of connected tunes and a ton of experimental playing. However, as well-played and exploratory as the 18-minute “Other One” in the heart of the opening “That’s It for the Other One” suite was, it was also a tad sedate and well-behaved for my tastes. Much stronger was the “New Potato Caboose,” which John nailed guitar-wise and which benefitted greatly from the vocal contributions of Sunshine Becker and recent addition Jeff Pehrson. (In fact, they were superb all weekend long; I like having that extra on-pitch male voice in the mix.) John sang lead on a solid “Alligator,” and Bob took on “Caution” and did a great job on it. Phil and Joe Russo were driving that train rhythmically, while John’s guitar danced furiously on top.
The biggest shock of the night was when they came back for an encore and introduced a brand-new song with excellent Robert Hunter lyrics called “Muli Guli.” Musically it sort of reminds me of a hybrid of “U.S. Blues” and “Pride of Cucamonga”—a Grateful Dead shuffle all the way. Phil, Bob and John traded off on the lead vocals. The set then concluded with the de rigeur (but still appreciated) “Saturday Night.” Funky New Orleans jammeisters Galactic then kept the Frogtown Fillmore rockin’ in the late, late night slot.
amid the rolling hills of Calaveras County.
Photo: BJ
Day Three broke warm and sunny and once again saw plenty of great music on the two small stages before the Mother Hips hit the main stage in the late afternoon. On the acoustic stage, Dan Bern’s group, Common Rotation, was well-received, and Blue Light River played another set, this time joined by Phil and the older of his two musical sons, Grahame—nice to have two generations so happy together onstage! Jackie Greene and Tim Bluhm of the Mother Hips did one of their upbeat and harmony-filled Skinny Singers sets (aided by Nikki Bluhm), and country-rock singer-songwriter J.C. Flyer played a couple of his original tunes in the midst of a set by stage hosts Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams (who again offered their services to anyone who needed an extra voice or stringed instrument part at the Dark Hollow stage). For many, the highlight was undoubtedly the appearance of Hot Tuna’s Jack and Jorma and mandolinist Barry Mitterhoff (joined a bit by Larry Campbell, natch) for a set of deep country blues and old-time folk numbers. After all, Tuna was the original psychedelic acoustic group in the SF scene!
Electric Hot Tuna also smoked on the main stage during their hour-and-a-half slot. Besides Jack, Jorma and Barry, the current lineup consists of journeyman guitarist G.E. Smith (most recently with Moonalice), and drummer Skoota Warner. The red-hot band’s 11-song set included favorites such as “I See the Light,” “Rock Me Baby,” “Corners Without Exits,” “99 Year Blues” and “Bowlegged Woman, Knock-Kneed Man.” Yowza!
Furthur, Night Two: With three “albums” remaining, the biggest question was the order in which they would be played. Furthur prolonged the mystery by opening their first set with a four-and-half minute jam which finally ended up at… Baddup-Baaaaaa!...i.e. “Help on the Way”! Yeah! Blues for Allah! This should be interesting… And it was. The “Help-Slip-Frank” was powerful and (just about) perfectly executed (especially the “Slipknot!” jam.) Drummer Joe Russo—a skins-smackin’ savage all weekend—laid down a little solo before the group exploded into a ten-minute “King’s Solomon’s Marbles,” JK and Jeff C. soloing effectively during the churning middle section; the whole group negotiating every twist and turn with fluidity and ease. John’s “Crazy Fingers” was truly a thing of beauty, with a lilting final jam that went on and on, and Bob’s instrumental “Sage and Spirit” was a sonorous quartet with no drums—lovely!
But still, looming off in the distance—the 800-pound camel in the room—was the “Blues for Allah” suite. How the hell were they gonna pull that off? Really well, that’s how! Man, you’d think it had been a regular part of their repertoire these past 35 years. The vocal passages were spot-on (all the weirdly designed harmonies in place), the instrumental flights in between actually more interesting than on the Grateful Dead album (fabulous drum fills by Joe R. during the opening minutes), and I love the way after the last verse they went into this strange, raunchy blues riff for a bit (hey, it is called “Blues for Allah”) before it settled into the lovely last vocal refrain: “Under e-ter-ni-ty…” Fantastic! Quite an achievement!
The second set was Aoxomoxoa, another disc with intriguing possibilities and its own set of challenges. Now, back at the Warfield in 2008, Teresa Williams turned out to be the secret ingredient that allowed Phil & Friends (with Larry and Jackie) to navigate through the previously uncharted waters of “What’s Become of the Baby” and “Rosemary.” Well, there she was again, dueting with Phil on “Baby” when the time came; nice to have her around! But first, the “St. Stephen” kickoff was full of fire and great playing, and then right after the “what would be the answer to the answer man?” line, they lurched right into “Dupree’s,” the story passionately “told” by JK both vocally and with his guitar (aided by Larry C. on sprightly fiddle). Jeff also shone brightly on that one. Larry stayed on for “Rosemary,” etching the melody with a sweet violin line, accompanied by a simple guitar line from JK, before Phil (alone) entered with a nearly whispered first verse. Other instruments soon came in quietly, but the song stayed appropriately understated and dreamy throughout. “Doin’ That Rag” built a nice head of steam in the concluding jam (and they did sing the a capella part at the end), and then came another superbly trippy and varied “Mountains of the Moon” (with more fiddle!), followed closely by “China Cat”—always a crowd-pleaser; neat hearing Jeff playing the T.C. organ fills from the album version. Instead of rolling into “I Know You Rider,” however, the jam after the song disassembled until it drifted into a tamboura-like drone to usher in the bizarre “What’s Become of the Baby.” Seems like the whole accompaniment was electronic swoops, feedback and other strange sounds. Phil and Teresa traded verses in what was one of the more abstract and moderne pieces this band (or any) has attempted. Crazykool! The set ended with a nice extended “Cosmic Charlie.”
I wouldn’t have guessed going into the weekend that Terrapin Station would wind up being one of the best, if not the best, set of the weekend, but that was certainly the case! (Again, I was only there Saturday; I bought a FLAC download of Sunday, and Saturday—what tremendous recordings!) It’s tough to explain what was so great about this set, but it starts with a dynamite “Estimated” that hit all of its marks with passion and precision. Once again, Sunshine and Jeff P. really added some heft with their backup vocals, and John’s guitar work was filled with fire and energy. The long concluding jam then drifted into a “Dancing in the Streets” that was like a hybrid of the Dead’s late ’70s disco interpretation of the tune (as on the Terrapin Station album) and their more melodic (and faithful) reading, circa ’69-’70 (and ’84-’85). Quite unusual, but they pulled it off. John had that percussive, chirping Garcia guitar tone from the late ’70s down perfectly. (Too bad they didn’t attempt the wild jam they used to do after the main song part in that era!) “Passenger” and “Samson” both rocked ferociously (the entrance to the latter was changed—rather than having a drum opening, it started with the chorus; a nice switcheroo), and then came the real shocker of the night: Donna Jean’s “Sunrise,” sung magnificently (and majestically) by Teresa Williams. Wow! (You can find a solid, albeit unauthorized, audience video of this tune here). And then that led directly into a “Terrapin” for the ages: Not just the “Lady with a Fan” and “Terrapin Station” sections that are usually performed, but the whole shebang, including the “Terrapin Transit” bridge (you love it on your recording of 3/18/77; the only time the Dead played it live), “At A Siding” (“while you were gone…” etc. with Bob and John trading vocals) and then the wildly exciting “Terrapin Flyer” section (which RatDog has been playing wonderfully for the past few years), totally propelled by the Beast from the East, Joe Russo, and ending up at the reprise of the “Terrapin” jam. (Here’s the same stealth videographer’s take of the last ten minutes of the suite).The transitions were flawless, the jamming expansive… Awesome!
The evening—and the festival—concluded with a short but spirited “Not Fade Away,” and then the 9,000 or so on hand returned to their campsites or stumbled back to their cars for the drive back home. All in all, quite a weekend. We should do it again some time.
For LOTS of cool photos from the weekend (and complete Furthur setlists), go to http://furthur.net and follow the "Setlists/Photos" link!------------------(-----@
Peace and lovingkindness to you and yours,
SherBear
I was the most knaRLY "CUBENSIS" ABORT !
Right on Sher Bear - what she said!
------------------------------(----@
It was a great way to enjoy a part of the festival as
I had costal-wrongsidedness. I have listened and watched
many clips now and feel the bands really nailed these tunes.
I am continuing my quest for seeing and hearing a little...
more, as the days dwindle to Summer Tour 2010.
Kudos to the MUSIC MAKERS! I have loved having such
an array of my favorite music "kinda" live via the internet.
I had many dear friends in attendance and did get a
phone call over the weekend and got to listen to a few
moments of music streaming over the cell phone in the wee
hours of the East Coast morning dew. (EST)
This was such a nice hearty piece of writing, I can't thank you
enough...thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!
-----------------------(-----@
My friends found some beautiful roses growing there
and said they smelled wonderful.
I have some more grate reading to do with the JK write-up
and will get caught up with you on that later.
Thanks for taking the time to capture the beauty,
family and friends with your "art"icle but mostly for
the awesome description of the MUSIC!
I think that holiday is offically, "MEMORIAL".
So glad you took the time to do such a fine job
for thoes who weren't able to attend in the flesh but were
there in spirit! ---------------(----@
In peace and lovingkindness for you and ALL in "our world".
A world of peace, love and sweetness for ALL.
Thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread with
your stories and travels (ALL of Ya's), I've felt like a virtural
traveler with you. It's been mostly nice to hear your tales
from the rolling hills of the other-side. Peace Forever.
------------------------------(----@
X~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SherBear
I flew out to Mt aire from CO with my 5 year old daughter.We had a wonderful camping spot,the weather was epic, the music was fabulous,the scene was grate in pockets;Just had to poke around, the food vending was decent(They could of done better in that dept.), the GD archive artwork was really kewl, the interviews were awesome, & the family vibe was really grate. I was dancing near Bill Walton sunday night.All the hob-knobs of GD family were there.
Yea, there was the grimey.But thats part of the balance of GD family.Ugly,but real. I did notice some children unattended inside the venue;One was playing with my daughter.I don't care about what scene it is, my daughter NEVER leaves my sight or hearing.I also noticed drunk spun-uns in the family tent,which really irked me too. We were camping with ole school family & friends & I had a huge family network around me & my daughter.It was quite magical when I pulled in with my planned family,that I saw my old roommate & really good buddy from OR & then another longtime sister buddy of mine from santa cruz.So they camped with our crew too.It was just str8 up magic all weekend.
I was in bed early most nights, but saw most of the friday show,was in bed after the hightime sat night, & saw most of the sunday show.I had to head back to the camp early due to the family obilgations. But could here the music at the camp very vividly.I personally liked the sunday show the best.The passenger ,dancing,& est. were off the charts. The terrapin suite was mind blowin. The blues for allah was really kewl too.Usually I am not in the mood for that spacey sands & marbles stuff, but it fit the mood nicely.
Overall,It was a lot of work flying out with all my camping gear & a 5 year old. I would have prefered having a RV.But due to lack of info about RV camping(Which previously said that there was going to be NO RV camping,then later announced that there was limited RV spaces,which I saw quite a bit RVs.It would have been easier to fly in & rent a RV instead of hauling out all my tent camping gear+childs camping gear+childs entertainment stuff+clothes+a stop a wal-mart for coolers,chairs,etc...) I actually emailed the furthur info email 3 times about bringing in a class B,NEVER even got a response! Which really pissed me off.I didn't wanna commit to a RV if I knew I Had to fly in & there was a chance that I could of got rejected at the gate.But like I said NEVER even got a response so I committed to the tent camping scenerio. But we made the best of it & had a grate time. Bottomline, I am not happy with who ever is in charge of making sure the emails are answered & the info for this fest was lack luster at best.Lots of vague info. I heard that Phils wife is the one in charge,so she needs to hire a better staff in my opinion.
whew....Ok got that off my chest.
It was worth every moment,but would have liked to see a better informed website.
"Walk me out in the morning dew"
I flew out to Mt aire from CO with my 5 year old daughter.We had a wonderful camping spot,the weather was epic, the music was fabulous,the scene was grate in pockets;Just had to poke around, the food vending was decent(They could of done better in that dept.), the GD archive artwork was really kewl, the interviews were awesome, & the family vibe was really grate. I was dancing near Bill Walton sunday night.All the hob-knobs of GD family were there.
Yea, there was the grimey.But thats part of the balance of GD family.Ugly,but real. I did notice some children unattended inside the venue;One was playing with my daughter.I don't care about what scene it is, my daughter NEVER leaves my sight or hearing.I also noticed drunk spun-uns in the family tent,which really irked me too. We were camping with ole school family & friends & I had a huge family network around me & my daughter.It was quite magical when I pulled in with my planned family,that I saw my old roommate & really good buddy from OR & then another longtime sister buddy of mine from santa cruz.So they camped with our crew too.It was just str8 up magic all weekend.
I was in bed early most nights, but saw most of the friday show,was in bed after the hightime sat night, & saw most of the sunday show.I had to head back to the camp early due to the family obilgations. But could here the music at the camp very vividly.I personally liked the sunday show the best.The passenger ,dancing,& est. were off the charts. The terrapin suite was mind blowin. The blues for allah was really kewl too.Usually I am not in the mood for that spacey sands & marbles stuff, but it fit the mood nicely.
Overall,It was a lot of work flying out with all my camping gear & a 5 year old. I would have prefered having a RV.But due to lack of info about RV camping(Which previously said that there was going to be NO RV camping,then later announced that there was limited RV spaces,which I saw quite a bit RVs.It would have been easier to fly in & rent a RV instead of hauling out all my tent camping gear+childs camping gear+childs entertainment stuff+clothes+a stop a wal-mart for coolers,chairs,etc...) I actually emailed the furthur info email 3 times about bringing in a class B,NEVER even got a response! Which really pissed me off.I didn't wanna commit to a RV if I knew I Had to fly in & there was a chance that I could of got rejected at the gate.But like I said NEVER even got a response so I committed to the tent camping scenerio. But we made the best of it & had a grate time. Bottomline, I am not happy with who ever is in charge of making sure the emails are answered & the info for this fest was lack luster at best.Lots of vague info. I heard that Phils wife is the one in charge,so she needs to hire a better staff in my opinion.
whew....Ok got that off my chest.
It was worth every moment,but would have liked to see a better informed website.
"Walk me out in the morning dew"
I was at the show and had a blast--mostly. Amazing music and wildly fun time with friends old and new.
I agree with Blair's comment about knuckle head dealers and anarchists, they should go away. I was in family camp with kids hanging out and someone let her pit bull off the leash. It then chased after my buddy's kid and shit in the middle of our camp. When we asked her to leash it, she got on our case for being uptight.
There were a lot of buffoons there who obviously came, not for the music, but because they smelled a profit or monster buzz. I remember when the drugs raised our collective consciousness, not caused us to get angry and belligerent then puke, and pass out. It reminded me of some of those shows back in the final years.
As for the police and security. I saw the official police hassle no one unless they were clearing fixing to be hassled with. I even talked with one of them about that. One guy started going off about the number of cops and firemen and how we should throw them all out. I don't know about that. If I slopped on that hill and broke my ankle, I wouldn't mind having a cop and fireman around to take care of me. Likewise, I saw some woman had a seizure in the market area on Sunday. Fortunately there were some EMTs and nurses on hand. I'm no fan of cops or authority, but until we can police ourselves completely, effectively, and safely, they're going to have to be there.
Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, it was a great play with tons of excellent music. The Friday night sound check blew me away; Blues for Allah beginning to end rocked, and Hot Tuna's unannounced show at the acoustic stage could not have been cooler
ok i heard of the show from a friend, i thought to my self it will be a hard road but i can make it.
when it came time, i had to get a day off. and at this time my car broke down so i was like how am i going to make it now. my friend said hes going in his truck with his girl so i had to hitch a ride. i asked him if i can lay in the back of his truck the drive from la there and he said no.
so at this point i was like i think ill just blow my check and say rent a car get a tent get a ticket get my supplys and hit the road with a beer and a blunt. well we desided it would be cheaper if i just let them ride with me in the rental and off we went.
when we arrived i felt like i knew all the major california heads by face and was so glad cause it made me feel like home. in the lott friday people were cracking brews and geting their ways about. i got my band and set my tent. at which time we drank a few more brews some jim bean and headed in to the jam session.
it was so funny tho cause it was like every night i went in my head would get spun around and i would end up at my tent dancing in the road. but to be honest the hemp speakers made it just so clear from far away i still felt like i was in the show.
the second day i drank as soon as i woke up and by 12 i was barfing in this lil creak, for like 5 hours. by that time every one was eating lunch and geting ready for the night.
night came and every one had a sence of fear, cause the band was gonna rock so hard that we would freak out. and yes it happend some one did freak the hell out. one thing i did notice the 2nd night was that they were blasting lazers through the guitars that were over laping like a banner of colors. then i seen bill walton walking by like a sasquash.
the third day was a lil slow in the morning and some what a mellow day cause every one knew it was the last night for us all. yet by noon all the smiles came out. and every one ate and watched the interview with bill n bob. as soon as night came we ran late at getting into the show but when we did i was making sure i grooved hard and well. i danced as lazers hit me and bob pointed at me. then i was again freaked out at some point and ended up at my tent again and was like fk it dancing in the road again!
the next morning every one just packed up and hit the road!
Thanks so much for coming out on stage to play for the world!!
very good interview again, you are on a roll. I was not there but friday sounds like it was a real gas and the rest was just icing on the cake, hopefully they can take this show on the road, let the rest of the us get these great jams too like the furthur festivals in the 90's, I would drive hours, but not days for this show, just don't have that much time anymore.
Locations
I was not really sure what to espect since I haven't seen the boys in a while and have been away from the scene. But memorial day weekend deffinatley took me back to my touring days and the family vibe was all around! Since my hubby and I got to the fair grounds early Friday morning we got a great camping site right in front of the bond fire area. We had the best neighbors anyone could have ever asked for and hung with them all weekend. Friday nights "Soud Check" witch was acualy a full show jammed the night away. I was getting down so hard on the hill all night that I was sore from my ankles to my knees the rest of the weekend. Unfortunatley I fell alsleep after the boys played that night and didn't make the killer after show. My neighbors told us about it in the morning and I was really bummed that I missed it. Saturday morning was super mellow, We stopped by the Sun Shine stage to see Phil's son's band. It was so nice to see Phil under a tent right next to all the phans. He seems like such a down to earth person and i have just so much respect for him and the music he plays. Saturday night started the one disc per set. I really wasn't all that excited about hearing a CD played through because one of my favorite things about going to a dead show is you never know what they are going to play or what songs they are going to mix together. When you se the dead you never hear the same song played the same ever. Thats another reason why I love them so much. But I have to say that even though i knew what song was comming next they swept me away with there jams and had me dancing another night away. Galatic was so funky that i had to push myself to dance even more. After Galatic I headed to the drum circle and drummed until the sun came up.
Since I was up until the early mornin on Sat I had a hard time waking up on Sunday.
I hung at camp for most of the day Sunday to try and spare as much engery as I could for the last night of Further.
They kicked off the night with the album “Blues for Allah", witch was amazing but then went to a very dark, slow, spacey place with Aoxomoxoa. Since the music seemed to be taking me to a very weird and strange place I had to head back to camp and listen to the rest in my tent. I will have to purchased the MP3 of the Terripan sets. I am so mad that I missed it. But all in all I was very impressed with the music and the vibe of the scene. I just wish that all you junky festies that are just there for the drugs give our scene a bad name. Its one thing to "have a good time" and let your mind travel with the music but its another to just get messed up the whole time and never even go into the show because you don't even care about the music. Sorry I had to get that off my chest. Those are the poeple that give our family a bad name and they arn't even part of it. I hope Further keeps on trucking with taking the music Further.