Subject:  Another NLQP 2005 Review |
Author:
Shad-O-Vision
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Date Posted: 23:45:14 08/27/05 Sat
Sorry for the lateness. After everyone else¡¦s this might be anticlimactic, but read on if you need ANOTHER GratefulFest review. Haven¡¦t had the time to complete it, until now. So, read on.
If you were there, you know what I mean. If you were not, man did you miss out!!!! I'm sorry, but these were the ONES folks. Easily the best run I've ever seen. I've been describing these as incredibly emotional shows, evoking rapture and despair intermittingly. [This sounds stupid even as I type but it¡¦s true]: Other than the birth of my daughters, these were the most powerful moments I¡¦ve ever experienced, specifically the Saturday 8/20/05 show.
Shad¡¦s 100% Honest Warts-And-All Reviews, of stuff that I remember, ¡¥cause there¡¦s a LOT of it!
Friday 8/19/05:
Cornmeal. Go see this appetizing band. Don¡¦t know the name of the lady on fiddle, but wow. Then another good Gans set, especially Down To Eugene. High quality throughout the DSO first set, but let¡¦s face it, that¡¦s the norm when catching a Dark Star show. It¡¦s sad, but we all kind of expect that now, you know? Ok, that¡¦s not a sad thing at all. Well anyhow, Eyes is KILLER right from the start as they blast into the bulk of the song without any slow buildup, and then WHAM as they do the Dirt jams. I can¡¦t put my finger on it, and it pains me to write it, but something seemed a little ¡§off¡¨ during some of the ebbs and flows of some of those jams. Maybe I have to do a little more research and reevaluation. 9.5 out of 10 stars at least nevertheless. The weirdest thing was the absence of China Doll after the Eyes, as it was a rare stand-alone version. Another clue to the date, Scarlet out of Playin, which returns back to Playin completing the sandwich. Duh. It was good. REAL good. Oh! Don¡¦t Ease, a ¡§throwaway¡¨ tune I often feel as do many others (Don¡¦t Sleeze on J-cards ring a bell?) was REALLY hot too! Who knew?!! ƒº
2nd set included a weird tech-diff during El Paso, and a mysterious He¡¦s Gone > Truckin > Spanish Jam > Other One > GDTRFB where you never really knew what song was going to materialize next due to intentional or unintentional clues and teases. Other One included a good roll from Kevin. SSDD had both Lisa and Donna wailing (right?! it¡¦s been a few days now). Taper Geek Alert: The personal highlight for my bro and I was watching the numbers say ¡§2 minutes¡¨ of tape remaining, ¡§1 minute¡¨, and finally reading ¡§0 minutes¡¨ during the SSDD for an eternity capped of by the two of us cheering hysterically when the finale finally crashed and the tape promptly stopped seconds thereafter. Made the switch and enjoyed a spry US Blues. (8/6/74 btw)
Saturday 8/20/05:
Crazy hurricane-like storm blows vendors canopies and small children around the park just a few hours before showtime. Clear skies for Shimmy Shack¡¦s set. Those guys can really play together! Stir Fried had the pleasure of playing quite well in the horizontal hose-down. Gotta love the Dirty Dozen. They not only play up to their name and beyond with some good raunch, the trumpet player dons a black and gold 36 jersey while I in my Steeler Your Face T. Take that Herd/Bix/et al.!
On paper nothing looks all that spectacular. 5/11/78. Short 2nd set in terms of songs. Typical ¡¦78 stuff. However, almost everything is played with an energy, not an easily perceivable FAST-type energy, but an emotional one. Just about every song has a certain, quality, or character, to it that really hit me. I don¡¦t know how it will reproduce on tape or if the disc will get much play in the car, but the experience of this live show was nothing I can properly explain. It¡¦s a ¡§writing about music is like dancing about architecture¡¨-type thing.
Good Cold Rain opener, and fitting, for sure. What, a 20 or so beat BIODTL? Somebody was off by one I think.. :) Slow FOTD not usually my thing, but tonight¡K. it was well received. L.L.Rain made me think, ¡§another slow one? bah!¡¨. But this was an INCREDIBLE L.L.Rain (get the tape). I wish I could remember which lovely lady was responsible for this. Rest of the set was average, but in DSO-land that¡¦s more than merely adequate. Mexicali > Mama DID stand out. And then the Lazy > Supplication. Supplication!!!!! Break.
Just about all you could want from a Scarlet > Fire (more Scarlet than Fire this time), but that only warmed things up: Dancin, long and involved. Never met one of those I didn¡¦t thoroughly enjoy. Drums is good and funky when a slough of people come out for a family drums. Can¡¦t remember most now, but Looky and Pres were out there having a good time. Perfect ¡¦78-style NFA, with that long buildup, and not so flashy and hard-hitting. Great team effort (lead by John¡¦s vocals) on Stella Blue, a song now never the same for me since Scott¡¦s memorial. My first Around in over 4 years didn¡¦t disappoint, especially the up tempo ending (actually Cold Rain, BIODTL, and Lazy > Supp were all absent from my shows the last 4 years until THIS show ¡V thanks guys!!!!). More Chuck Berry to come¡K. Goofy Werewolves. SMOKING J.B.Goode.
Correct me if I¡¦m wrong, but this is when Evan used the perfect word to remember those who are gone: angels. That speech, in that setting. Powerful.
Had a BLAST after the show. Thanks to George, Arthur, Ashley, Ryan, Re, and Gerry for pranksterish fun ¡¥round the campfire, and to new neighbor and friend Shaggy, and to Dark Star Coffee Girl Jen for keeping me cool with milkshake after milkshake. Try the chai. Sorry to the people we may have kept up until (almost) dawn.
Sunday 8/21/05:
Sunday morning I woke up a bit after 11:00 and ran down to the stage to catch the Morning Gans jam. Great stuff with Cheryl Ann, but the highlight was John playing mandolin and singing on some tunes, especially Down To Eugene and Rueben & Cherise. The request for Valerie was denied but this guy wasn¡¦t complaining. The Tricksters were awesome. They closed their set with my first ever live New Potato. REAL long and involved. Keller¡¦s set would have benefited from nightfall and some nifty lighting. Last year I REALLY got off on the first half of his set, and enjoyed the rest. This year was all like last year¡¦s second half, very enjoyable but not thoroughly spectacular.
Having a hard time remembering all the original raffle setlist songs. WRS > Let It Grow was about 18 thrilling minutes, with Eaton on his acoustic. Donna came out and did an eloquent Cassidy. Oh, loved Barraco singing Mr. Charlie. Speaking of Charlie, Cosmic Charlie (isn¡¦t one of those spelled with an ¡¥ley¡¦?) came out of the St. Stephen second set opener¡K oh that slide guitar¡K which was, again, a song I haven¡¦t heard in 4 years, when I did a LOT of shows. Drums/Space was rather out there, especially with the lights bouncing off of the stage, trees, and ourselves. SOTM. Perfect. For many I believe the moon wasn¡¦t quite visible during the song as it was rising up from behind some trees, but it was so BRIGHT that it didn¡¦t matter. The Alabama encore (for Tiff) rocked hard, and made me think how much more this one would be loved if the lyrics were more Minglewood, Touch, or Cassidy. Bama went into Sing Me Back Home, a personal favorite, but this one was with both ladies. Each one took a turn leading the ¡§COME ALIVE¡¨ buildup. This was in my noggin the whole time driving home.
This weekend, this just about as perfect as can be weekend, was capped off for us by getting lost ¡V missed a turn, wrong turn, who knows, but it was something stupid I¡¦m sure ¡V but getting lost is FUN if you do it with walkie-talkies and two cars worth of people and you¡¦re in middle of NOWHERE and you smell like a selection of meats cooked over a campfire. The folks at the rest area, which was rather busy for the hour which we arrived, raised a few ¡¥brows to be sure.
People, you¡¦re insane if next year you don¡¦t make it. Start requesting personal days, renting RVs, and finding babysitters pronto. It¡¦s the show of the year, every year. The NYE run, which hopefully I¡¦ll make after a 4 year absence, ain¡¦t got nothing on this.
Not played but appropriate...
¡§Ain¡¦t no place I¡¦d rather be
Baby won¡¦t you carry me
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