Deadstein has been on a real roll recently, a rock and roll, where we play hard a generate a lot of music. I’m sure July 2012 will end up being the month that Deadstein played more songs than any other month of the past 22 years. That’s the type of roll we have been on but we had to keep our eye on the ball this week. With both Rich and Alan out of town this week we called in the help of Larry Brent to take over the Jerry role blues. With that we would be tempted to slip into the old ways of Deadstein when a second set was a monumental effort to mount.
This is not classic, old Deadstein and in 2012, we play hard and and we are prolific, no matter who is in the room. I’m a music pusher and I make no bones about it, so I did my best to keep the music rolling. In the end we almost, arguably reached the 20-song level as China/Rider really is 2 songs, yet we split the Dark Star in 2. In any case, 19 or 20 songs is laudable for the night. In classic Deadstein times in the past, it would have been a record. Even the big, famous 3-set first jam in October 1990 only had 17 songs.
We had a pretty good sounds for most of the night which I borrowed an MP3 recorder to capture, then I mastered it a bit and posted it below. Sounds pretty good, a bit woofy and loud for most of it, but a pretty good effort. The Stranger got us going for the night in the right direction.
For the first part of the night we had our only guests LeeJ and Arlene. They haven’t been around in ages, so it was good to see them. LeeJ may have even taken a video or 2, who would a thunk? The first set was straight forward in proper order and gave use some good focus during it. Ten quality songs without a clunker, gotta be happy about that.
We did the second set with the Eyes of the World with the 1974 ending, and that didn’t go over too well but the rest of it before hand was good. Dark Star Uncle Dark Star was a trip and a serious endeavor, a good reason for not getting to 20 songs. We never got to the Wharf Rat I was trying for as it was preempted by Larry with a Stella Blue. That was a bit busier than it had to be, Larry wasn’t thrill with Kevin’s heavy-hand during it. We then ended it with a really hot Music. Somehow we pulled of the Beautifully Broken. Playing it was probably a tremendous surprise to everyone. The Attics to close was as Deadstein does to Attics. It ain’t pretty Freak out!
Next week we play following the free Ollabelle show at 5:30 at City Winery, I’m looking forward to that whole experience.
To hear the songs from this week, go to the links below:
After the July 12, 2012 Deadstein marathon, this week was expected to be a letdown since we could never live up to the energy we had last week for the Dead/Dylan Giant’s Stadium tribute. There was no plan or a theme for the night which sometimes results in a bunch of nothing being played. For this week, nothing could be further from the truth as this isn’t Deadstein from 15 years ago, but this is a re-”Jew”-vinated band that can’t be held back.
With little traffic to deal with all of us, with the exception of Alan, were at the jam at least 30 minutes early. We decided to get going, get warmed up and get a few songs under our belts before the 8 o’clock hour. This got us a 2-song appetizer, Mississippi Halfstep and the Cats Down Under the Stars, and set the tone for the night, which was we were taking no prisoners.
When Alan got there we started into our six-man assault, starting with a pretty good Shakedown Street which I moved right into a C.C. Rider. This prevented us from taking a break and taking time to reflect on what just happened. This is a good technique to keep us moving forward in a positive fashion.
Eventually, a few of our guests showed up including Steve and Willow and for the second set, Ryan and Maggie showed up. It was toward the end of the night when they were there but we still had a little fire in our bellies and give it to them big. As Scott’s fire was dissipating a bit at that hour, he handed the sticks over to Ryan for a song toward the end of the night. We ended pretty strong considering all the distractions and once again, ran through the 12 o’clock finish-line past the end the night with power yet fully exhausted when we finally left. Leaving everything on the strings realizing there is a week to replenish what was depleted. It is the way you want to pace yourself.
One cool thing about this week’s write up and blog posting is that I am using the new Office 365 Home Premium Preview which was just made available to test drive for free at Microsoft.com. I am testing it out on my consumer preview of Windows 8 and all I can say is this isn’t your grand-daddy’s operating system and office suite. On October 26, 2012, all this stuff should be released for real and Microsoft should be moving us into their vision of the future, which has lots of new cool stuff in it. Stuff is now fast and agile, such as downloading, installing and using a new office suite which just takes minutes.
Back to Deadstein, which hasn’t quite been pushing forward at the break-neck speeds of technology, but we still move forward, react and adapt. The firsts et continued with some nice normal firsts et material, pounding away at playing the songs, and they were good. I think the Birdsong turned into the highlight of the first set as we took it to all different far-off Birdsong lands. That was an interesting jam. We finished the 1st set just after 10 with a repeat of the Bucket we have done a few time recently. It still needs a lot of work. With lots of songs under our belts we were able to relax with a halftime break. Not rushing through it like we have been doing.
We opened the 2nd set easily with an Aiko and headed to an Estimated to start our journey. We didn’t do a drums space this week, but the second set had the feel of a second set with a first half, a second half and one last song to end the night.
It was another full filling Deadstein jam night with lots of good music and fun that made leaving a bummer and making you want for more. With more to come, it looks like this week will be a non-core-4 jam with Rich and Alan out of town. Nevertheless, I’m sure it will be something short of spectacular so stay tuned and freak out.
To listen to the 21 songs we played this week, use the links below:
This week Deadstein found itself celebrating the 25th anniversary of the great July 12, 1987 Dead/Dylan show at Giants Stadium. It was good that all of Deadstein was there to celebrate and try to recreate this great show which all of us, with the exception of Kevin, attended. We all had great memories of the show and having the privilege to try to play it was and honor.
I had prepared for the week nicely in that I broke out my cassette master from the show and digitized and mastered it for distribution to the band. It was one of the great sounding tape I had ever made. Patching out of my friend Tom’s Sennheiser 441’s located close to the stage in front of the board gave the tape great energy, presence and sound. From second 1 of the Hell in a Bucket, you could tell both the Grateful Dead and the Giants Stadium crowd was in for something epic.
In addition to distributing the music to everyone I also had to chart out several new songs to Deadstein that we never played before. Of the 31-song 3-set show, we would have a nice handful of songs that were new to us. In the Grateful Dead world we had the Tons of Steel and it was really a nice experience to play. It worked for us. In the Dylan world we had Tomorrow is Such a Long Time, Highway 61, John Brown, Wicked Messenger and Chimes of Freedom. These were all new songs for us and even when we got to these Dylan songs late into the night they were played with gusto; much better than I would have expected; a really nice night of music.
Having to attempt to play 31 songs in three sets, excluding drums and space, is a bit more than can realistically be done in 4 hours of studio time but I was determined to try. I was rushing in and out of songs throughout the night, much to the detriment to the beginning of many of them, but a bit a urgency was needed. I thought that was the energy of the night 25 years ago anyway. The Bucket was a mess at the beginning due to this but by the end of it I think we got it as a band. So not to digress into self-loathing and as the show dictated, we went right into theWest LAwhich set us straight for the night and was a good Deadstein effort. We went old-school with the Greatest Story which Donna D, one of our guests seemed to enjoy.
Other guests from the night included Steve and Lindsey who caught our 2nd set and part of the 3rd sets. By the time they left it was time ever-so annoying Scott Bayer to show up.
The room sound seemed especially good this night, I was able to hear Rich’s piano much better than usual and the vocals were even coming through short of a very infrequent squeal.
We continued to ram through the first set finishing the 10 song powerhouse in about an hour. It felt good and was a nice sprint through 10 songs that almost felt like one big one. We took the quick break and started the 2nd set with the Morning Dew and had a meaningful Playing, drums, space Other One that represented the extend of our real jamming for the night. The Stella Blue, Throwing Stones, Not Fade Away were the close to the classic quick set getting us prepared for Dylan set.
As had to be the case, we did have enough time to complete the entire Dylan set, with double encore in the allotted time. We made a great attempt though as we played hard and fast; not wasting anytime between songs. I did cut a verse or two from the songs here and there and the leads were all short, but besides that, these Dylan songs were all pretty beefy and took a lot to play.
Slow Train has been in the Deadstein repertoire for years and so has Memphis Blues, so that got us going with the Dylan stuff and the momentum from this start got us through the two new songs to come next. Tomorrow’s Such and Long Time and Highway 61 were really a lot of fun to do. I got to give Kevin credit for holding up nicely through all these Dylan songs that he did really know. As I stated before, he was the only one that wasn’t at this show
Baby Blue and Ballad of a Thin Man are also songs we do which also helped get us through, the simple and groovy new songs to follow; John brown and Wicked messenger. Again, I was kind of surprised how good these were for us to play. I was kind of shocked how we got it and played it with the type of feeling I sensed from the show 25 years ago. Queen Jane seemed funny to do at that time of the night, but that is what was on tap and we went into the last of the new songs, Chimes of Freedom at about 11:55 which carried us through the 12-midnight deadline. Like all the other new songs of the night, the freshness and fun of the Chimes of Freedom was flashing. This song had quick chord changes and kept us on out toes and almost had a little Reggae beat to it. There were lots of words to spit out and I got most of them. This was a real challenge as the eyes really begin to blur by that time of the night. I many respects I was amazed how well I was able to get through all the words and they came upon me in the book at breakneck speeds in the time of music.
Alan and I looked at each other after the Chimes of Freedom and thinking how could we abandon the Watchtower which was such an epic moment of the concert. With that we decided to extend the am into the next day as we played the Watchtower and the Times They Are a Changing to end the night. Even at this late hour both renditions were worthy of the effort.
July 12, 1987 was an epic show and recreating its vibe 25 years later was an epic challenge and one I was very happy to undertake. It got me to break out the cassette, crank some great sounding Grateful Dead, master the cassette with my great new tools and enjoy learning how to play these songs. With the 5 new songs I now have established a new working version of the Jerry Garcia Song Book version 9, to one-day replace the existing version 8, sooner than later. Iteration in the 21st century is quick. Before I put my box of cassettes away and put the old Sony D5 back into basic storage, I saw a nice little cassette from Madison Square Garden 9-18-87 that I think I’m going to give my mastering treatment to my master.
To listen to the MP3s of Deadstein playing the tribute the the 7-12-87 show, use the links below.
For another week, Deadstein was without its full compliment as Rich was out of town. This left the five of us to our own devices to move the momentum forward. Our own devices were limited to iPhones to record the jam as none of us have a simple MP3 recorder to capture the evening’s music. I captured the first 13 songs on my phone before I ran out of space, but at least it is something. As I am typing this on Sunday morning following the show, I have no idea what we played except the 13 songs listed, but I know we played several more. I don’t think we go past 20 but we probably came pretty close.
With respect to guests, we had none. We therefore welcome Lee’s key lime pie, with graham-cracker crust as the guest for the night. I think we are all together once again next week on Tuesday, with no work on Wednesday, so look for a fun on.
If you want to hear and see the first part of the night click on the links below, assuming they eventually get uploaded to YouTube.
Without a plan leaves Deadstein thinking on its feet which sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t. This Tuesday night, it seemed to work for us. Scott suggested opening with the Here Comes Sunshine which made a lot of sense and that sent us down a path that got us going for the night. The Sunshine enlightened us to go for the Viola Lee and without and worry about the song we were in it and playing our hearts out of it. The cool thing about that transition was I turned to the page in Kevin’s book for him from an upside down position and turned right to the page and off we went. Remarkably, I then went to my book to turn to the Viola Lee and also turned to the page on first swipe. It was destiny in a good way. We transitioned out of the Viola Lee into a easy Bertha and before we knew it were were on our weekly Deadstein journey far away from home base.
By the time the 4th song hit some of our guests came in to watch us including Ryan Steve and Maggie and they brought a friend of theirs, Willow to experience the Deadstein experience. Scott Bayer and another couple of friends of Rich showed up by the end of the night and that was it for guests. As far a band members, all 6 of us were there this week inside Studio #2 with the refinished Piano. Scott and Lee were is reversed positions for the week, but it didn’t feel too different.
With respect to instruments, my Fuchs Fender twin I started with felt weak and under the weather. I swapped it out after the Bertha and was good to go for the rest of the jam. As soon as the amp swap was done there was no time to waste and away we continued. I selected Jack-a-Roe next which has always been tough for Deadstein but we did it early and kept up a good pace with it so that song was more enjoyable than usual.
We successfully navigated our ways through a bunch of first set songs ending the first half of the night with the One More Saturday Night which featured Ryan on drums, being thrown into the fire without any warmup. Its the best way to go forward.
The nice feature of the second set was the Miracle, Wheel, Gimme Some Loving Dear Mr. Fantasy combination. That we performed from the seat of our pants without a plan, but it felt like we had been preparing for it all along. These are rarely played songs for us and to do them where they feel good gives us a boost of confidence. I think Kevin was at the vending machine for Thrill is Gone but he was back for the closing.
Kevin always hates when we brutalize Beatles songs so he wasn’t psyched about trying the Across the Universe just before the end of the night. People we doubting if there was even a drum line to the song, but I got it going and it felt pretty natural for us to do. To close the night at song listed as #25 was the Getaway, not easy to do when you are tired after midnight, but it was a great closer and a great way to send you home stuffed from an evening of digesting unlimited Deadstein.
What a Freakstival.
To hear what we did , you can go to the MP3 links provided below:
We finally go the entire band together for a full jam, over 20 songs once again. I think the only guest was Steve, short of that, it was just us six. We didn’t have a plan, but we weren’t taking any prisoners as we launched into a Help Slip Franklins to open. I know I messed up the Slipknot! royally, but most of it was fun. From there we played a significant night of music. Kevin asked for the Foolish heart, but it was a foolish request as we weren’t quite up to that task. nevertheless, we tried any challenge that was in front of us, which was everything.
I recall in many respects getting a nice mix of music between the instruments during som of our jams. There was some good listening and playing off of each other. That dominated much of the night and hopefully got us to play some good music, maybe the MP3s will reveal the goodness that the night felt.
Over the weekend, I saw on few minutes of a show on PBS that featured the La Floroent, across from our old stomping grounds on Ganesvoort Street. I utilized the new Google search that is incorporated as part of Deadstein.com and found a few juicy morsels of Deadstein history regarding that restaurant. We play 20 songs regularly these days,with a Florent burger, we were lucky to get 8 in for the night. You can find some good stuff with that search feature.
Deadstein has been on a real roll recently, a rock and roll, where we play hard a generate a lot of music. I’m sure July 2012 will end up being the month that Deadstein played more songs than any other month of the past 22 years. That’s the type of roll we have been on but we had to keep our eye on the ball this week. With both Rich and Alan out of town this week we called in the help of Larry Brent to take over the Jerry role blues. With that we would be tempted to slip into the old ways of Deadstein when a second set was a monumental effort to mount.
my Steal Your Space book 