6844 S Water Rd
Rothbury, MI 49452
Without a doubt the band is having a blast, booking this single big show for the summer at the Rothbury Music Festival in Michigan when a whole April-May tour just wasn’t enough. The lineup at this festival is filled with bands and musicians with whom the Grateful Dead have a connection in some way or another: Bob Dylan, the String Cheese Incident, Willie Nelson, the Black Crowes, Gov’t Mule, and Broken Social Scene (anyone who can detect the link between the Grateful Dead and the stunningly good and always exciting Canadian music collective Broken Social Scene gets a prize…), amongst many other great bands.
The Grateful Dead’s history at music festivals was hit or miss, generally with more hits than misses, and even the misses usually had some hidden gems. Woodstock, of course, is the granddaddy of all rock music festivals, and the performance by the band was famously off. However, the version of Lovelight at this show goes to some immensely entertaining places. Likewise Monterey ‘67, where the band members have often discussed their performance as being mediocre, but anyone who has seen the video of the version of Viola Lee Blues from Monterey can tell there was some magic in the air. A few hits that come to mind are the 5/23&24/69 Big Rock Pow Wow in Florida, at which the Grateful Dead performed twice, both exceptionally good concerts. The Bickershaw Festival on 5/7/72 saw the Grateful Dead play one of the longest, and best, shows of the Europe ’72 tour, and the only show on the tour at which both Dark Star and The Other One were performed (on that tour, one or the other was played each night). One of oddest nights of music I’ve ever been a part of was exactly six years previous to this year’s Rothbury Festival, when The Dead were on the bill at Willie Nelson’s Fourth of July Picnic. The setting was terrific, a sloping hillside just outside of Austin, Texas, with The Dead getting a massive 3 hour time slot. Amongst the other performers were Leon Russell, and in one of the most incongruous pairings I can think of, Toby Keith. But, the tens of thousands of people on hand, regardless of who they came to see, had a blast, with everyone getting along and enjoying a perfect evening with some great music. Willie was a great host, sitting in for a few songs with each performer, and The Dead rose the occasion and blew some Texas minds with a terrific version of Caution that night.
The Grateful Dead’s history in Michigan is a little light, with 32 shows being played in this state, the bulk of which were performed in and around Detroit. The band’s first trip to the state was in 1967, just after the week-long residency in Toronto and shows in Montreal, when they played in Detroit. Other Michigan shows of note included the two shows in October, 1971, during Keith’s first tour with the band; a show in October 1972 during that non-stop run of amazing shows in the Fall of 1972; Cobo Arena shows in the Fall of 1976 and 1977 (the 10/3/76 show is a personal favourite and features one of the most inspired second sets of the year, and a great Scarlet Begonias in the first set); several good shows in Auburn Hills in the early 1990s; and shows at Pine Knob in June 1991 (as well as shows there in 1980 and 1984).
The Michigan shows I’d like to especially point out are from the Pine Knob ’91 run. As anyone who has seen the DVD View From The Vault Vol. 2 , taped just five days before these concerts, knows, the band was looking and sounding great on this tour, with the members of the septet pushing one another to new music heights just about every night. Pine Knob was a nice little place on a tour that was a mix of smaller sheds and large stadiums. Both nights featured some very unique performances and song sequences, and some very cool sounds coming from the stage. The first show on 6/19/91 featured a very different Scarlet>Fire, with Phil’s bass exhibiting a clarity of tone I’d never heard before. The post drums sequence of that show, Stella Blue>Other One>Johnny B. Goode was so bizarre, with a very, very rare Other-One-after-Stella-Blue, and with the Other One going into a rocking Johnny B. Goode, it was a strange night indeed. As odd as that sequence was, the real fireworks were saved for the next show, when the band’s second set began: Throwing Stones>Iko Iko>All Along The Watchtower>Standing On The Moon>He’s Gone. A truly epic night of music. And to show that they were paying attention, the second set wraps up with a very smooth transition back into Throwing Stones, a reprise, before barreling into Not Fade Away. All of this is part of the terrific Download Series Vol. 11, so if you’re inclined to download music, check that show out. From a year with a lot to recommend, these Pine Knob shows were some of the most interesting. Honourable mention for Michigan Dead’s coolest shows are the two nights at the Easttown Theatre in Detroit in October, 1971, with a great, melodic Dark Star part of the second night’s big second set. Also worthy of mention are the Ann Arbor shows in 1979 and the 1989, the latter featuring two great nights on the might fine Spring Tour of 1989.
We'll update this page during the show with the setlist.
See the setlist below.
name to the list of people attending the show.
Set One:
Sugar Magnolia
Eyes Of The World>
Estimated Prophet
Loose Lucy
Friend Of The Devil
Into The Mystic
Help On The Way>
Slipknot!>
Franklin's Tower
Set Two:
One More Saturday Night
Shakedown Street>
China Cat Sunflower>
I Know You Rider>
Drums / Space>
Viola Lee Blues
Morning Dew
Throwing Stones
Sunshine Daydream
Encore:
US Blues
Not Fade Away
Comments
String Cheese
BTW ... the SCI download of their Rothbury show is already available on their web site...for what its' worth - but I think there was an earlier comment that The Dead might have to work through Rothbury - apparently SCI didn't have to, hopefully the download of our boys at Rothbury will be ready soon.
The Band That Keeps on Giving
What a great show!!!
I have been to about 150 Grateful Dead/Dead/etc. Shows and:
That was
Some of the best Dead music I have ever heard!
The first set started a little disjointed while they where working on getting the sound Just Exactly Right.
Phil added an extra verse to FOD that was cool, but I don't think it came out the way he planned!!!
Things really got grooving during Estimated. Into the Mystic was a nice treat from Warren. I have never heard him play it with the Dead. Very smooth jams in between songs. Before Mystic they teased Dark Star a little bit.
Help-Slip-Franklens was a treat to end the first set. Really it was like we got 2 fat Second sets if you look at the songs they picked.
The second set came on fast! The set break could not have been more then 15 min. One More Sat Night, got things rockin right out of the gate and left us wondering what the encore was going to be.
Shakedown St. was out of this world. That is about the point to me where it felt like the crowed was locked in and the band was firing on all cylinders, the jams went on and on with Warren keeping step with the band like he had been doing it for years. At this point he really has! China Cat was a blast! Its funny how many people try to sing along to that song and get the words mixed up!!! Then they started teasing UJB for maybe 10 min, they would hint at it and then break it down and then come round and hint at it again. After a while they snuck into Rider. As that jam wore down it sounded to alot of us that they had gone into Space before Drums! It tooks me a while to realize that the Drum triggers where playing really mellow vibrations. I sat down and was completly hypnotized. The music took my mind in many directions. Very well played indeed! I think it may have been a composed song rather then a jam. Space brought me way out and I was flowing with the "Hive Mind", this led to a very appropriate Viola Lee Blues. The band and crowed where both having a Blast!!!!
Morning Dew and Throwing Stones where played with a vengance. The Boys where on a mission. The commentary on the loss of huminisim in modern culture rang out and left me wondering how I ever didn't love my fellow man with everything I got.
Phil came out and did his Organ Doner Rap. Had us all look at one another and ask the ones we love to donate. Now that I am used to the rap it gives me a warm fuzzy feeling to see everyone looking around at one another knowing that they have each others backs in a very real way!
US Blues was the obvious pick for the 4th and the fireworks where stuning. The song was played with a great deal of idealism that carried over I think from Throwing Stones, making the song fun but a little more serious then I am used to. I was glad they chose to end on a less somber note with NFA. Always a good time! Short but not really lasting sing along. That is something I am missing from the old days...
My brain was done after the show. I had to head back to the campsite and chill for a while.
Overall a really good night!!!! Thank You Dead!!!
^^^ great review and recap
^^^ great review and recap for people that weren't there. However you must have been on something great, cause the set break was a hell of a lot longer than 15 min! It was your usual long long Phil break. Didn't you notice that they were scheduled to play until 12 and they actually finished at 1:20?
I thought the show was awesome. I love the vocal jams the guys are throwing into songs like Shakedown street and NFA. I was right behind the soundboard, same spot I was for phil last year and it just sounded great. 60,000 people dancing, some of them completely naked was definitely a sight to see when I went up to the top of the hill for a drink. During Phil's donor rap he said that they want to play there again next year! I hope this happens. I drove out on Saturday for the Dead. It's a 3 hour breeze of a ride from detroit, and it feels like you're on another planet when you get there. I'll be there every year for the dead on the 4th of july. Thats what America is all about!
You're right, DFunk, the set
You're right, DFunk, the set break was almost exactly an hour long (not to mention starting the show 30 minutes "late"), so I can only surmise that LSommer was REALLY in the zone after that incredible first set.
The Dead's performance has been well reviewed in prior posts so I won't add to that (but it WAS even better than the two Philly shows I saw in May). But for Dead fans thinking about going to Rothbury in the future (should Phil's comments come to pass), I can offer a couple of comments about the scene.
Overall, I really enjoyed the festival and have no regrets about the time or money spent to get there/be there. However, the weekend got off to a rough start when we walked in via the gate a bit north of the main one and encountered very Nazi-like security people that literally emptied out our pockets and actually took two joints my brother-in-law was carrying. WTF do they think people are bringing into a show like that?
For the rest of the weekend, I was compelled to "prepare" for security more carefully than I have for decades, but I'm happy to report that we found ways to make sure all of our "stuff" came inside with us.
The only other unexpected issue with Rothbury was the long, LONG distances between (some of) the campgrounds and the stages. Because the staff would essentially not allow anyone to walk on the roads or walk through VIP camping areas, we were forced to walk nearly two miles from our campsite to the main stage, even though they were only blocks apart "as the crow flies". Now, I'm in my 50s and surely benefitted from the exercise (we had a pedometer and walked 20 miles in 2.5 days), but with a little forethought, much shorter paths are possible. What the long distances prevented me from doing was checking out some of the shows earlier in the day, as we decided to just go in once for the main acts. Most notably, I missed Peter Rowan at 2 pm on Sunday 'cause I just didn't have the energy to walk four miles to hear him. I'm hoping for a chance to give the organizers a little feedback about that.
On the plus side, the on-site food choices were plentiful, even for this ol' vegetarian, and the food and beer prices were pretty reasonable, too. The capacity of the playing areas was great (I'd estimate 35K - 40K people were at the main stage for both the Dead and Dylan...60K overall is what I heard). These old bones sure do miss having a chair to sit on occasionally, though...I was on my feet for seven hours on Saturday night.
But the best feature of Rothbury, by far, was Sherwood Forest. What a scene!! Several acres of old growth pines, giving you a 3-storey canopy and a pine needle floor. Funky lights, stages for impromptu performances, several bars, hammocks everywhere...a very cool place to process a recently-completed show! All in all, I will definitely go back to Rothbury if the Dead are headed there again.
Actually now that I think
Actually now that I think about it the company of a pretty young lady may have made the set break go by a little more quickly... :)
As far as the sceen went the only thing that bugged me was the lack of access to fresh water. I hate not being able to wash my hands regularly. Next year I will have to bring more water.
One other thing I forgot to mention that I thought was neat where the bikes they had set up around the event. At first I was wondering why anyone would want to attend a spining class after hiking around a fest! Then I found out that it was a way for people to "repay" the energy they used. The bikes where hooked up generators. So part of the show was run litteraly on people power!!!!
Rothbury
The reviewers above have summed up the show quite nicely. I was able to see the tour through the two Philly shows. This one was better than the first night at East Rutherford and the second night at the Spectrum - not to take anything away from those shows - they were smokin hot both of those nights. Every night in fact with the exception of Wilkes-Barre (a little boring). I can't speak to anything past Philly - have the downloads but you know how that goes. After this tour and this last show the boys ARE back.
They have reasserted themselves as the kings of the musical world once again! Bill Graham's words, they aren't the best at what they do, they are the only ones who do what they do, are still true after all these years.
There are several things that 'bother' me about the scene (people who never leave their campsites, lack of respect for personal property / space, and a disregard for the music). All their loss. I am able to ignore it for the most part. If it really bothers me I will take an individual aside or group and explain how the "scene" works (or used to work) and usually that is pretty effective. Many of them werent even 10 years old when Jerry died!
For me, it is a spiritual journey (with or without any type of "help"), I viewed this trip to Rothbury as my trip to Mecca to pray once again before the altar of The Dead. I am looking forward to praying there again like I used to, as they say, back in the day, sometime in 2010! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!!!!!!
amazing show!!! any chance
amazing show!!! any chance of us getting a CD release? i would love to relive that performance!!!
It's up...
I just looked and Rothbury is posted on Archive. I haven't listened yet so don't know the quality, but Spring tour recordings have all been really good, I assume this is no exception.
Peace, Steve
GRate show, insane set.
GRate show, insane set. Anyone else notice the three orange lights that appeared from stage left and hovered above the band before fading into the background? They first appeared during shakedown st and reappeared for sunshine daydream. I am content accepting that they were ufo's who couldn't pass up the opportunity to see the dead at rothbury on the 4th of july!, The band were heavily tuned to the magic that nite, so this isnt' impossible for me to believe. It is not the first time Ive experienced an unexplainable phenom in the sky during a heavy outdoor show. thought it was curious tho how no one has brought this up despite fact that everyone i was near in the crowd noticed and were blown away by their presence. Only in America, Only the Grateful Dead.
so now I"m being told what I
so now I"m being told what I saw were those floating lanterns that were set off in mass number during string cheese. this would make sense but the one's during the dead seemed to have a more intelligent flightpath, (There were only three, in a triangular pattern, and they continued to switch places while retaining the shape.) Ive seen the lanterns plenty of times before and when I saw these I immediately thought they were not them. But hey, who knows, I could have seen anything that nite, lemme know folks