Jam – 2014-05-14 – Montana Studios

14 May 2014 Leave a comment

by deadstein in Jams Tags: , , , , , , ,

ds140514Carroll’s sold us out to Carnegie Hall, those low-lifes, and we had to find our way to another home for the night. Montana Studio’s just a block away on 11th at 56th street was our answer.

Montana Studio was more comfortable than most places on the road, but it is still on the road. We only had one drum kit and a conga/latin-drum setup for the second drummer. It wasn’t ideal but got us through the night. Scott really liked the amplified kick drum he had in his monitor. The rest of the acoustics for the night were challenged. Rich had his usual frustrations trying to play and electronic instrument. Kevin’s was right in front of Rich to make matters worse as he couldn’t get himself loud enough in the monitors without feedback. I had a pretty good Twin Reverb, with Master knob, so I wasn’t concerned with anyone’s issues and kept my head down and tried to play. I was having my own issues of trying to play well. Makes you really want to get back home. Freak Out!

The audio files are provided in the following folder:
http://deadstein.com/audio/05-14-14

 

 

 

Jam – 2012-02-02 – Montana’s

05 Feb 2012 2 Comments

by deadstein in Jams Tags: , , , , , ,

Larry, Kathy, Scraps and Rags show their Giants pride at the beginning of this season at dog camp.

Just one last week for me to superstitiously wait until Sunday morning to write about the week’s Deadstein jam.  Much like Deadstein’s monumental run of over 20 decade of playing Grateful Dead music, the New York Giants are on their own run which finds them in Indianapolis, playing on this Superbowl on this Super Sunday.  Deadstein and the Giants have been riding this wave of “pos” all the way from the bowls of defeat in Dallas to a chance to bring the Lombardi trophy home tonight.  Let’s Go Giants!

The first time the Giants won a Superbowl in 1986 they defeated the Denver Broncos and that is where I think Brotpen was for the week.  Without Rich in the area means a slightly discombobulated Deadstein and that is what we had this week.  We reached out for a keyboardist but couldn’t find any.  Scott reached out to an old high school friend of his, Rob from Seaford, who he hasn’t seen in 30 years but they are friends on Facebook.  Rob was in town and agreed to take Scott’s offer to jam and he showed around 9:30, about an hour into the jam.

The jam was different because we were at Montana’s with all of it’s goodness, as Carroll’s didn’t have any room for us this week.  We started with a little, not so Core-4, with Alan who was back with us after missing 2 weeks jamming with some other band.  He arrived with his shiny new VG-Strat with guitar modeling and blue light.  For me, I am still actively trying to complete release 8 of the Jerry Garcia Song Book and brought in with me a loose-leaf binder containing the draft of the new book.  This got me to try a Money Honey as a new Deadstein song, which was really good.  The new book is going to be a nice addition to our jams once it comes out, I can’t wait.

When Rob arrived, I realized he was a guitar player and not a keyboardist.  Additionally, Rob played in a Paul McCartney cover band back at his home by Albany, so he was well versed in some of our packet.  Since we didn’t have anyone playing piano and we had 3 guitarists and a vacant keyboard, I decided to play keys for the remainder of the night and let Rob do what he does so well.  I think it was a good decision, I was challenging for me and a lot of fun.  I haven’t touched any keys in months and I was very rusty.  Nevertheless, I was able to grove and add to the experience of the music, so I think.

Without having Rich there with his MP3 recorder, we don’t  have MP3 to listed to but the setlist is provided below.  Fortunately, Scott is a crazy video taper these days and had his camera and used that to capture the jam.  A few songs are available as the embedded YouTube video.  Enjoy and go Giant’s!

  • Fire
  • Money Honey
  • Twist Of Fate
  • Loser
  • Uncle Johns
  • Shakedown
  • Taxman
  • Bulldog
  • 909
  • Comet Together
  • After Midnight
  • Till There Was You
  • Red Rooster
  • Watchtowe
  •  You Can Never Can Tell
  • JBG

Jam – 2011-11-09 – Montanas

17 Nov 2011 1 Comment

by deadstein in Jams Tags: , , , , , ,

With Carroll’s not having a room for Deadstein to play we were on the road once again trying to find a place that can take us.  Rich suggested this studio, Montana’s at the corner of 56th and 11th to try out.  It cost about what Carroll’s does, is in the same vicinity and also has a very cool staff which helped us get set up and comfortable.  This is definitely the the second best place to play when Carroll’s isn’t available.  In many respect it could even be better than Carroll’s.

Playing in new digs we didn’t have any guests but we did have a substitute for Alan which was Larry Brent.  This meant was going to have the luxury of playing Bob all night while Larry carried the lead.  That’s how it went and it worked well.  The one lesson I learned from the night at Montana’s was to never get caught between Kevin and his amp.  That is no-man’s land and I found myself stuck in it all night long.  Additionally, I never felt comfortable with the mix in the room all night long.  I had trouble hearing my vocals, Rich’s key’s and even my own guitar though all the equipment was good and of high quality.  I played out of a Matchless combo which was w very nice feeling and sounding amp.  All the other instruments also felt good.

One last mention about this jam was it was the night before we were to see Furthur at the Garden the next night.  It was pretty cool that most of the songs Furthur played in the first set at the Garden Deadstein covered the night before.  It was like we were channeling into their vibe.  It was cool to experience while at the show.  If you want to try to channel into Deadstein’s vibe from the night, check out the MP3s below:

http://www.deadstein.com/audio/11-09-11/