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Jam 2008-10-14 at Carroll’s

15 Oct 2008 6 Comments

by deadstein in Jams Tags: Deadstein, Jam, Jason, Kevin, Larry, Rich, Scott

10-Year Anniversay Skull

It was October 9, 1990that was the first time Deadstein got together and jammed. While it was only Kevin and I from the current line-up that was there that night, yet it started something special that would touch hundreds of musicians, guests and friends over the years. Tonight being October 14, 2008 we are celebrating our 18th anniversary as we embark in our 19th year of Deadstein. Deadstein’s perseverance is no Little Feet but more like the Grateful Dead where we let our free-loving attitude guide us through a long strange trip.

2008-10-14 Brotpen Live From Hells Kitchen

Put the puns and play on words aside, Deadstein and a place to jam the music you love on a regular basis is worth the far more than the price of admission. I’m sure for many that a have been a part of our family and left for whatever reasons, there comes a feeling on a Tuesday night that they wonder what if I was there playing guitar, hanging with the guys and living the Grateful Dead in my conciousness for a few more beloved moments. Deadstein brings you there and it’s a great place to be. You can buy that type of fun at Best Buy, no matter how many reward points they give you. It has been quite a trip through the years. A journey which had a beginning is bound to have and end but right now we are in the middle of the trek. I knew Brotpen from the Dead Batteries, a band I played in with him as well as Larry Menaker another Deadstein original, in the late 80’s but he didn’t arrive back into Deadstein for 4-5 years after we started.

Larry gets his recycling stickers installed at Carrolls

We played with a variety of Keyboardists in the early days, trying them out to see if they would survive. Craig Jackers (sp?) a friend of Larry Brent’s from SUNY Albany played keyboards on the first few jams but he was the first leave and we really haven’t heard from him since. We got so desperate we even put advertisements in the Village Voice seeking keyboardists and tried out a few from that endeavor. We found Jeremy that way who quickly found out the rule that if you pass out during a Deadstein jam, don’t count on us to stop for you. It was a hot night in a claustrophobic Stickworks studio and we were playing for a good 30 minutes without break and during the Other One, Jeremy was resting his head on his Keyboard and then resting on the floor. We looked and went on. Eventually we found Brotpen who had a much stronger inner drive and was able to trip and then get up. He needed no help from any one else.

Larry takes a great autumn photo on his bike ride home from work prior to the jam.

Scott Bayer proves Deadstein has not lost its knack to attract freaks.

Well there is so much to write about and so little time to write about it all. Thankfully, Deadstein and company was one of the early bloggers in the world of the Internet and much of our collective experience is on http://www.Deadstein.com for all to read and for some to reminisce to. Enjoy it and remark about it, because no matter how crappy our music may be, and it isn’t all that bad, the journey has been remarkable and I expect the next 19 years to continue to be a journey though likely to be less remarkable. After all, there are no more jams that will take place during Dead tours, there are likely to be no more midgets, it’s not even politically correct to call them midgets anymore, and there will be nothing like Dennis again.

Larry and Scott Biking on the GWB on Columbus Day 2008

Scott setting up for the night

The last few days have been gorgeous here in the New York City area and Scott and I took advantage of the first Deadstein healthy related activity I could think of by taking a bike ride from his house to NJ and back. I played tennis with LLB once and he kicked my ass, but that is the only other sporting activity I recall with band members. So it was beautiful on Sunday and we cruised 25 miles up and down the Island. A geat day. Take a look at the composite picture above from the Geaorge Washington Bridge. Kathy and Andy Klein joined us on the ride. We rode right past Carroll’s. Maybe we should form a Deadstein basketball team. Who play’s center?

Andy Harcup wishes us peace

I got there expecting to see Kevin’s friend Ken Levine there to celebrate his 56th birthday but instead and in lieu we had Deadstein’s own little runaway, Andy Harcup. He came with his Hagstrom es-335esque guitar and his exhuberant attitude and he was ready to go.

Jason was on lead for the night and I think we are breaking him down a bit and getting him to play some J-Garband songs. Let us not forget that Scott Bayer who showed up for a song or two and we once again we played to Carol over the cell phone. Not much talk of the anniversary but there ususally isn’t too much talk on anything.

Another closeup from the Piano

We played a lot of songs for the night. I started it all off by wrestling a bluesy intro jam in E into a Wang Dang Doodle. Wasn’t the best thing in the world, but it wasn’t the worst. If you want to hear the jam it is available at the link below:

http://www.deadstein.com/audio/10-14-08/

We actually have 20 MP3s provided at this link. While there were a few small quickies, there were other double combos, and with the presences of Andy, we had some first timers. It was over 20 songs. That is a lot for us.

Jam 2008-10-06 at Carroll’s

07 Oct 2008 13 Comments

by deadstein in Jams Tags: Al D, Jam, Jason, JB, Kevin, Larry, Rich, Scott

Kevin strung out by his bass 10-6-2008

It’s a Monday night jam which tends to be our least favorite of day of the week to play but even an undesirable Moday is better than noday so Monday it is. It seems like Bayside Al will be playing the lead role for the early portion of the night but it may be core four thereafter.

I ended up shooting about 3 minutes of video and below is a bit of it. Not much to see unless you are one of the ones to be seen. So look if you must but don’t expect much. Nevertheless, youtube makes looking at worthless stuff pleasure so take a look.

While it is fairly nice outisde, the chill to the air tells us the summer is over for sure and the winter is not far behind. Never-the-matter, I’m still wearing shorts and I am sure ther air conditioning will be cranked. I’m gonna bring the camera and the video so I hopefully be able to get some shot and footage posted.

Rich is passionate about something

So I got to Carroll’s pretty early, lucky to get a spot since there was a show at Teminal 51, and Kevin was at the computer by the soda machine looking up tabs for some Metal-Talica song. For the most part we aren’t metal heads or Talicas so it never materialized. What eventually materialized were Rich and Scott followed by Al D.and JB, they have a lot of initials at the Ludlow camp. The Ludlow campers were only available to 11:00 and somehow the starswere aligned and Jason showed as they were packing up their gear. We were able to get 5 to 6 songs with Jason before the midnight hour came upon us. Scott Bayer was there for a few songs and we did play over the cell phone to Carol.

JBs eyes match his guitar.

I think we played well and had a lot a good moments with Al and JB. We made it through a Cats Down Under the Stars pretty well and JB snag a Balland of a Thiun Man where I was able to pull off one of the better leads of my life, thanks to my effects rack and setting 151. When Jason showed up around 11:00 it gave us a bit more energy than we would typically have during the last hour of the night. That carried us throught 5 or six good songs including a Terraping, Saturday Night and a few others.

Rich, live from Hells Kitchen

Al and his SG

Als Effect Board

Inside the world of Kevin

Jam 2008-10-01 at Carroll’s

02 Oct 2008 1 Comment

by deadstein in Jams Tags: Jam, Jason, Kevin, Larry, Rich, Scott

What is This?

Deadstein October 10, 2008

With sundown today comes the end of Rosh Hashanah and the beginning of Deadstein’s jam. We are scheduled to play on a tight a tight schedule to make it just after the holiday and within the schedule to jam with some of our good friends. On my bike ride home a Hasidic guy in his mid 20’s with his 5-6 year old son stopped me on the bike path in the woods and asked me if I was Jewish and wanted to hear the Shofar. I obliged him and the 3 of us said a prayer and he blew the shofar for what seemed like a long time. In any case it scared all the deer away and gives me a very positive vibe from which to approach tonight’s jam.

Jasons skewed rig

Scott and Michael 10-1-2008

It’s the first day of October and it looks like it may rain but it was a pretty nice day today. In the world, this week the economy fell apart more so than last week but at least Deadstein goes on. If people would have invested in Deadstein instead of bad mortgages they would still be broke but at least they would be happy. While the market is a roller coaster you cannot count on, Deadstein is the Rock of Freakbralter which you can count on Long live Deadstein and Happy New Year. While the world around us is crumbling like a cheap house of cards, Deadstein’s strong foundation provides the stability to get many of us through these difficult times.

Dan-Dan the Van Man

So for a Wednesday night in the Fall, there was little traffic coming in. Although there was a show at the club down the street I was able to get a good spot and I moved into our favorite Studio 2. We were expecting a few guests including Alan D and JD so we had equipment and mics for them but they didn’t show. Who did show were Scott Bayer, Dan-Dan the Van Man and our brother in arms, Michael. It was great to see every one and we had a good night. It ended up being the 5 of us with Jason on lead and we played lots of good songs at sometimes in funky order.

[YouTube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pk1EQmO2m34]

Larry and Michael

I recall a first set Stella Blue, we closed with a Tennessee Jed, had an early Brokedown, and so on and so forth. We even pulled off the Music Sugaree Music 8-7-82 stlye and it was good. I think we blew Dan the Van Man away with that one. As well as the Stella Blue. He seemed to be a bit mesmerized by it all. And there’s a lot to be mesmerized by a Deadstein.

Yummy, Yummy. It was good when ti when down.

I brought in some junk food for all of us to enjoy and some how luckily out of my bag of tricks I found a fresh yummy peach for Michael. That was a nice movement. Speaking of which we once again played a song for Carroll over the cell phone and had that Mitzvah on our souls.

It will be great to listen to some of the highlights once Rich posts them. I alos have some video to process and post so look for that down below and stay tuned to Deadstein. I think we are playing Monday next week. Welcome to Fall. By the way you may enjoy Scrap’s agility trials from the past weekend with Kathy. Check them out.

Scott and Kev

How, how about posting a comment?

How about a hand for our taper!

Jam 2008-09-24 at Carroll’s

24 Sep 2008 4 Comments

by deadstein in Jams Tags: Al D, Jam, Kevin, Larry, Rich, Scott

The spider I should charge rent for living in my front door.

The lineup at Carroll

So, it’s another week and I hear Al D is the lead-du-jour. Good to see him, maybe we’ll get some of that Bayside entourage going with Al. It’s always a bit freakier every time he shows up. While the jam hasn’t happened yet, get a load of the pictures of the spider that spins webs in my front door every day that I walk through every morning. I would kill it if it wasn’t so photogenic.

Halftime here at the jam eating bugles as Kevin is vending like a madman. Great stuff to post at halftime. Alan showed up with Alan on harmonica and Coffee Boy also showed. Super big sound in the room. A bit out of control.

Mitch with the blue Maple Sparkling kit

Made it home nicely. I was able to score 3 bags of primo coffee, so I’m all excited about that. Was great to see Coffee and play with him. The same will bayside Al who always kicks up the freak level a notch and then let us not forget Harmonica Al who played rhythm harmonica throughout the evening, with me trying to remember to call out the keys for him.

Scott Bayer was there for a song or two, asking us about short films. We played a China-Rider over the cell phone to Carol. We played, we hing and we ate lots of vending food. All and all a fun night a raucus activity. You knew the energy level was going to be pretty high when we opened with a lengthy Other One. There wasn’t much that was slow and easy. The Masterpiece that I atempted may have been the lowest we got.

Al posing for the shot

Harmonica Al wetting his lips

Nothing left of the jam but an empty bag of Crunch and Munch.

Jam 2008-09-04 at Carroll’s

04 Sep 2008 5 Comments

by deadstein in Jams Tags: Jam, Jason, Kevin, Larry, Rich, Scott

Jasons guitar at a rockin angle

It’s Thursday, Labor Day has come and gone, the summer for all intents and purposes is over and Deadstein continues along. We are back with Jason this week and from the feel of it, I’m sensing good things. It’s Thursday so the week is almost over yet it seems so young. A Monday holiday will do that.

Scotty early on in the night was play so hot he was smoking

Not focusing on what is important in the Fall, we are playing on Thursday night but it is also the opening game in this year’s NFL season and to boot, the Giants are playing and I’m gonna miss it. I hope the wireless signal is strong at Carroll’s tonight so my Slingbox on my AT&T Tilt works. I have a special treat to bring in tonight, some chocolate chip cookies someone baked fro me, so bring your appetites.

Rich behind the keys

Well the jam is over, Friday is upon us and the Giants won the season opener against the Redskins at home, 16-7. I don’t miss too many Giant games but for a good night of Deadstein it is well worth it.

Kevin was working late so we actually played a Stella Blue at the beginning of the night without him. Did the Jerry-Bob-Jerry thing for most of the first set. Opening with a Rhapsody and closing with a Saturday Night. The was a Rooster in there, Stagger Lee, Next Time You see Me, Dark Hollow, and a few more. We actually got to play 3 Garband songs through the night, giving me a chance to video tape some of it since there isn’t much of a Bob role in the Garband. We had the Catfish John. Finally we even worked out some nice stuff and rhythms, from my perspective on the Me and My Uncle. It sounded good.

Look who is playing in Studio 2. Elvis, no, it is Deadstein.

For the second set we did the Terrapin and Kevin really like it but I played poorly during it. We cooked the birdsong, “tits” as Jason says. Did the Throwing Stones and Not Fade Away Other One Around and Around and it was over a 12:00. I even sang a Hard to Handle while Rich was accompanying Scott home, or something. We of course played live from Hell;s Kitchen to Carol over the cell phone. There was a Knockin in there toward the end. Scott may not remember all of the second set as he was asleep during a nice chunk of it, duirng the Other One.

We here is the setlist below from the other night. I thinkk all the links should work and thanks to Rich for recording it. It is with his new Tascam, solid state 2 track recorder with built in microphones.

Stella Blue
Rhapsody in Red
Little Red Rooster
Deal
Dark Hollow
Stagger Lee
Next Time You See Me
Catfish John
Me and My Uncle
Birdsong
One More Saturday Night
Terrapin Station
Throwing Stones
Not Fade Away
The Other One
Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
Around and Around

Jason rockin in the second set.

Speaking of video, Rich showed us his film project he has undertaken with Scott Bayer which is a documentary about Scott’s journeys and recordings of film festivals, like the Tribecca, from the past. It was really interesting, and with Scott as the main star, a little spooky yet uplifting.

Kevin playing the Modulus on 9-4-2008

Well, it was an interesting week of politics this week as the Republican National Convention got underway. Nominee, John McCain suprised the world by choosing an unknown conservative Governor from Alaska, Sarah Palin, as his running mate. In her acceptance speech last night she compared Barack Obama to John McClain by stating, “Some use change to promote their careers while others, like John McClain, use their careers to promote change.” This clever quote leads me, pardon the pun, to our poll for this week as it relates to the Grateful Dead.

Let’s see a few moments that I caught on video for the night. First is the video of the ever so enjabale “Check One-Two” featuring Scott, this is followed by an enchanting story told by Kevin of skirting his way through a red light and a traffic ticket and finally are a few moments from the opening number, Rhapsody in Red.

This next video is most of the Catfish John

Now it just seems like it’s just before we started so get into the elevatorand say “so long.”

Hold the door! Wait for me!

Jam 2008-08-27 at Carroll’s

28 Aug 2008 4 Comments

by deadstein in Jams Tags: Bruce, Jam, Kevin, Larry, Rich, Scott

Larry and Kev for a quick candid on 8-27-2008

After a week off without jamming Deadstein is getting back together to play a few song. This week we finally get Scott’s friend Bruce Tanis in to play guitar for us. It promises to be a slightly freakier week in a different sense, but it will be a Deadstein jam nevertheless. Look forward to the post jam recap. I’m taking a camera in so I will hopefully get a few good shots to post. In addition, I assume we will also get the Brotpen recording. Yoinks Away!

Well, I was the first one to arrive by a good 10 minutes, and I wasn’t early. When Scott and Rich walked in with Bruce his existence became apparent to me. As Kevin said, he’s the Les Paul guy, and that he was, the guy with the beautiful Les Paul.

No use whining over spilled wine

We started with the simple blues of a Mystery Train and continued through the night. Rich was a in “Yes, and thanks for asking” type of mood and it was a foggy night thereafter. Rich tilted up the piano and there went Bruce’s bottle of wine. We got into a nice full Playing in the Band that worked well. I sang a Shakedown which was I hadn’t often done. There was plenty of other good stuff. Let us not forget the Positively 4th Street.. Was it hot? I forget and it was the last song. Oh well, at least I made it home.

Scott Bayer was there for a song or two and we played over the cellular network to Carol down the street. Scott’s leg was tingling and Kevin’s heads was also fizzy.

Bruce and his Les Paul

In the world it was another nice night capping off what was a beautiful August 2008. Was a bit depressing in the fact that it was getting dark by the time I arrived at Carroll’s at 7:45.

In the world, the Mets are hanging on to a one-half game lead over the Phillies and the Yankees are like in free fall looking like they will not make the playoffs for the first time in like 15 years. The Democratic convention is going on and Obama is holding on to like a 1/2 point lead over McCain. That leads to today’s poll.