Carroll’s | my Steal Your Space book

Jam – May 19, 2010 – Carroll’s

20 May 2010 7 Comments

by deadstein in Jams Tags: Carroll's, Jam, Kevin, Larry, Wikler

Wednesday, May 19, 2010 brought us nice weather, little traffic and a Grateful Dead anniversary that is worth playing. Yup, 33 years ago Jerry and the boys played their phenomenally interesting show at the Fox Theater in Atlanta with one of the great post space portions of a show I know of. While it would have been nice to play the entire show it wasn’t gonna happen. We had played a couple of the first set songs over the past couple of weeks and didn’t want to repeat them. Additionally, Alan had somewhere to go in the middle of the jam for 45 minutes or so and that broke the jam into three distinct segments.

The first part of the night we played a few of the first set songs including the opening Promised Land Sugaree. We were having PZM mic issues during the first songs and PA-EQ for a song thereafter so the night got off to a slow start with lots of warble in the room. These issues eventually corrected themselves, we got a new PZM and tweaked the EQ and by the end of the night the system sounded pretty good. We also played the El Paso and Loser from the 1st set before Alan left.

During Alan’s departure we played a few Garband songs including That What Love Will Make You Do, When the Hunter Gets Captured b the Game and the Dear Prudence. When Alan got back we played a Row Jimmy from the first set. I think we worked out the structural issues and got it right for what may be the first time. Following that we tried the seldom pulled out, You Ain’t Going No Where which had a nice beat to it. Since we didn’t have lyrics to that song I used my iPad to look up the lyrics and ironically and unbeknown to me I found a website that had mock lyrics set to that song which I sang for the first two verses until I realized I was reading and singing fake lyrics. Fortunately, I was able to quickly use the iPad on my music-stand and Safari’s backspace to find a different site with the correct lyrics during a keyboard lead. That was crazy stuff that was circulating my mind as I was going through all of this.

For the rest of the night beginning at 10:30 p.m. we figured we would tackle the entire second set of the Fox show. We did the opening Samson and Ramble on Rose and then embarked on the combination of Playing, Uncle Johns, Terrapin, Drums, Space, Wheel China Doll and closing with Playing. We did this combination of songs for the most part without stopping and even transitioning nicely between tunes. We got done with the whole thing by 11:45, just enough time for me to sing a closing It’s All Over Now Baby Blue. This was a nice night-cap on the evening.

I have always loved the Fox 5-19-77 show and this night was an opportunity to pay it the homage it so richly deserves. Until the next time we play-to-pay homage to the Grateful Dead and on behalf of all the folks from Deadstein, Freak Out!

Jam – 2010-05-12 – Carroll’s

13 May 2010 13 Comments

by deadstein in Jams Tags: Carroll's, Jam, Kevin, Larry, Rich, Scott, Wikler

Drawn on the iPad by Kevin using Art Studio

Wednesday night and the 5 of us assembled at Carroll’s to do what we do which is to do our best jamming the music of the Grateful Dead. We opened with the Bertha and closed with the Weight and had a lot of substance in between.

The were plenty of squeals in the room. The PZM had a 12k dog style type of badness to it but it didn’t prove to be too much of an issue as the night went on. Kevin’s combo of JC-120 and old school Ampeg had a pulsating squeal to it which turned out to be Scott Bayer’s cell phone. Lastly, Alan also had a squeal in his rig which caused him to pull on of his effects out of his Arsenal. Scott Bayer turned out to be our only guests.

We started strong and drive through the finish line though the Weigh was like a weight around us as we approached the midnight finish line. We had some good substance prior to all of that including an early Scarlet Fire and a nice combo of He’s Gone –> Other One –> Smokestack Lightning –> Other One –> Stella Blue. We a pretty on top of it So Many Roads which is surprising considering it was late in the night, we hadn’t played it in a long time and I never sang it before.

For the second week in a row, this week’s art work is courtesy of Kevin who created it with my iPad during the jam. Until next week, Freak Out.

If you want to hear what we played go to:

http://www.deadstein.com/audio/05-12-10/ or just listen to the MP3s below:

Kevin want a cracker or a dozen

Jam – 2010-05-05 – Carroll’s

06 May 2010 7 Comments

by deadstein in Jams Tags: Carroll's, Jam, Kevin, Larry, Rich, Scott, Wikler

This was a Wednesday night jam for us this week. The weather was beautiful and there was no reason not to have a good jam. Lou Reed was rehearsing next door and even though he wasn’t a guest, we shall treat him as such. The only other guest we had for the night was Scott Bayer who was all hyped up playing a mean bongo. He did manage to contact Carol on the cell phone and we played a Werewolves of London for her.

Short of having no real guests we just had the typical 5-man rotation with me on lead, Alan on rhythm, Rich on keys, Kevin on bass and Scott on the skins. Kevin got Carroll’s to get him a different amp setup tonight including a Roland JC-120 for the high end and some other amp for the lows. He’ll have to comment on its sound compared to the normal sound he guest. The PZM under the piano was squealing so Chris from Carroll’s put in the Beta 57 under the piano and I thought it sounded pretty good.

The real new news for the night was the introduction of my new iPad which I used in lieu of my book. It worked very well as a PDF display showing score in very crispy and zoomable detail. It will all be great until it spills over and cracks, like Kevin’s books fell over at least on 2 occasions throughout the night. The artwork above was created by Kevin at the jam using one of my new iPad art apps. There is alot of good and fun to come from that machine.

I think my hilight of the night that I can remember was the Same Thing. I like mine and Alan’s leads on that thing. The big mistake for me was to attempt the Sing Me Back Home. I was no where close on that thing as it was a total disaster. The rest of the night was hit and miss bt at least we always have next week to hit or miss again. Until then, Freak Out.

To hear the MP3s from the night’s songs go to the following link or just click the MP3s below:

http://www.deadstein.com/audio/05-05-10/

Jam – 2010-04-20 – Carroll’s

21 Apr 2010 7 Comments

by deadstein in Jams Tags: Carroll's, Jam, Kevin, Larry, Rich, Scott, Wikler

Give me 5, we’re still alive.
It ain’t no luck, we live to suck.

On a Tuesday night Deadstein got together in the larger studio and enjoyed a new configuration, room setup wise, and had a few good songs to put under its belt. On this night we only had the five of us without any guests whatsoever. The bongos were there, ready to be played, but there was no one there to play them.

We opened with the Aiko-Aiko, Jack Straw and played big meaningful songs, as Kevin likes to describe them, throughout most of the night. This included Ramble on Rose, Loser and a Birdsong, Let It Grow, Deal to end the first set at 10:00.

After 10:00 Kevin made his quick phone call home and we were ready for a set 2 which also included some big combinations including a Here Comes Sunshine –> Wheel –> I Need a Miracle –> Bertha. We played another few songs in the middle there and ended the night strongly with a Uncle John’s Band –> Morning Dew. While we botched the intro to the 1st lead of the Morning Dew, the rest of the song was pretty good.

If nothing else, we got lots of good playing in with lots of big songs. I think we did well for the most part. An altering tempo on the Dark Hollow in the first set was no good and the first lead of the Morning Dew was a total mess but short of that we had more good moments that bad ones. Alan was having gremlins electronically throughout the night. Scott started of not liking his drum kit but it grew on him by the end of the night. Kevin, Rich and I were pretty much status quo.

The real question is what happens next week when we be playing in a much different circumstance. Until then, Freak Out if you can.

Jam – 2010-04-14 – Carroll’s

15 Apr 2010 1 Comment

by deadstein in Jams Tags: Carroll's, Jam, Kevin, Larry, Rich, Scott, Wikler

Seemed like it would be a typical Wednesday night jam with me on lead , Alan on rhythm, Kev on bass, Scott and Rich … In many respects, it was such a night… In many more it, it wasn’t. The night was bracketed by a slow fade in and a slow fade out.

Rich was unusually late as he didn’t come with Scott to the Studio. He was frantically trying to get a DVD project done for some Brazilian woman who ended up showing up at midnight to see Deadstein at its most lethargic. With Rich late and Alan also running behind, Kevin, Scott and I started the night with a trio of music. After midnight and maybe another odd song or two. Unless Scott or Kevin chime in with whatever else we played, we will never know because there was no recording.

As everyone got there the five of us opened the jamming with an Alabama Getaway. It was around that time that Ken showed up with a box of cookies tied with bakers string. Then Miriam, Rob and a new friend of theirs came and hung for a song or two. For a little while we had a little freakfest going for a while.It was too cool but the scene couldn’t sustain itself.

After playing a good set of songs, lots of good jams and moments Alan was called to home duties. I guess that is why they call them home duties. Rob and Miriam had enough and Ken had to get home and do his taxes. We were down to Core-4. Before I knew it Kevin was making love to the floor and we were back to a trio. We spent this time playing songs from the supplemental book including a Boxer, Beatles assortment and the end of Dark Side of the Moon. Hey at least most of us survived. Till next Tuesday Freak Out. Not.

Below are the first 10 songs Rich recorded from the night. We payed many songs thereafter but it was after people started falling out. The Don’t Let Go and Dear Prudence was a Core-4 the rest was the full band.

Jam – 2010-04-07 – Carroll’s

08 Apr 2010 Leave a comment

by deadstein in Jams Tags: Carroll's, Jam, Kevin, Larry, Rich, Scott, Wikler

After a week off, Deadstein assembled again on this Wednesday night. The weather has been hot outside for an early April jam and we were all in our summer digs. We were a little rusty as was Carroll’s equipment, but we al did the best with the hand we were dealt and made some good music. I could have as truthfully said we made some bad music, but there was of course way more good than bad. Alan had amp problems, Rich had piano microphone issues and the PA was Jerry-rigged to get both channels working. Did we let it bother us, nah, it’s Deadstein, and that the most important thing to be working and we did. I had a great Super Reverb, so who was I to complain.

Stranger was the opener and it was pretty good. I think it was pretty impressive for our first song after being off for a week. I know I hardly practiced in the past 14 day. We played the mellow Peggy-O thereafter which Alan showed us the ending line which is A–C#m–F#M–C#m-D—A. The Queen Jane was also good so I don’t know why I’m thinking so negatively. As should be expected we peaked early and staggered through the 12 o’clock finishline. Actually, I think I played drums for the last song Box of Rain while Scott sang it. That gave me lots of energy to take with me on the way home.

Scott Bayer was our only guest of the night. I recall him Bongoing away during the Woman are Smarter and a few more songs thereafter. I pulled a Jack Straw out of my ass when everyone thought I was going into Looks Like Rain, it took a little while to wipe that one clean but once it was, it was ok. The Other One we played was probably the best one we have payed with me on the lead, so that was good. We made it to the end of the Lost Sailor / Saint of Circumstance and there was nothing good about it but the ending. When we see and hear the MP3s, I guess I will see the entire setlist so until then there will be. Freak Out.