Leaderboard

the band played really well. beautiful weather. The venue was a little odd. It was a flat field with a stage. Pretty much set in the middle of a strip mall and housing development. I was in a dancing mood so the highlights for me were shakedown and aiko. Awesome grooves on both. Samson and Big River were both boogie down affairs as well. A very beautiful Peggy-O. The band was in fine form. It's been a long time since I caught a mid to late 70's show. I was really hoping for one and the band delivered. Major props and KUDOS to Rob Eaton. Consider that this night in Delaware was a far cry from the normal DSO annual pilgrimage to Delaware. I would have much preferred being packed shoulder to shoulder at The Bottle and Cork. That atmosphere gets everybody dancing and makes for some epic stuff. This was a flat field at a community arts center. It was only 25% full due to Covid pods. They gave special front section seating to volunteers who sat in chairs up front next to the band and gave no dancing or energy back to the band. A majority percentage of the crowd throughout the entire place sat in their lawn chairs for at least the first set. Everyone very spread out. But Eaton would not be dismayed. He spent much of the first set walking around the stage and cajoling the band into some great jams. I was up pretty close to the front so I may have read this incorrectly......but it also appeared to me that he was communicating visually and with body language to people who were at the back of the house. It seemed like he was trying to get the whole place involved by playing to the last row. And by the end of the night....there was definitely a better feel in the audience and more people dancing with the band. It could have been a ho-hum night with very little energy coming from the field.......but to me it seemed like Eaton wasn't gonna let that happen. Many thanks to Eaton and bandmates. Lift off achieved.

Holy Fuck! I’m so sorry! I had more fun than a man should. Amazing night! Not a perfect night but the faults were all mine. Shoulda eaten better beforehand and shoulda brought my regular glasses. Blind and hungry is not the best way to enjoy a show. Rookie move. Enough about me, the band is never better. Great set list made for an elective feel , at least for me. That is a good thing. I thought the sound was off for the first couple songs but they got dialed in pretty quickly. The musicians were on point right out of the gate. We were off to the side but I never stay in my spot anyway. Traveled everywhere, found the best and loudest sound was straight back from the stage. I kept migrating back to the best sound, front and center. After watching numerous people walk out of the belly of the beast with their soccer mom chairs, I moved up front for the home stretch of the second set. Saw so many people that I ‘know’ , talked to many new friends. Did I say the band is never better? They are never better. I used to rate GD shows by their personality . I would say it was a Bobby night, or a Jerry night, good old Grateful Dead, etc. I would say last night was a Lisa night. The band rocked in their usual incredible fashion but Lisa belting out heart of me was incredible. The white Rabbit filler was my first. Also felt Peggy-O, shakedown was nice. Iko was earth shaking, literally. Just a fun night. Sorry for the delayed reaction, I was stuck in the afterglow. Wake up in the morning, do it all over again.

My 2nd Dso show was an accoustic show in Bloomington in 2012. Everyone but me was seated. I was on the rail. The seats were 20 feet from the stage so the pit was just mine. He told everyone to get out of their seats and come up front which they did. Was a very intimate show. The band talked to each other and made jokes all show as it was all accoustic. They even joked with the crowd. I was so new to the Dso scene I didn’t appreciate the intimacy and the banter at the time. Haven’t seen them talk with the crowd or each other like that in the 150 shows since.

I witnessed the same thing from Eaton. I. Felt that he was reaching out to the crowd, trying to get things going.(things were going for me!) He went to the front edge of the stage a couple of times. He was putting out. Not fair to him for me to say it was a Lisa night. Not totally. Another thing that I gotta comment on, in the middle of Black Peter, someone in front busted out laughing like they had just been told a joke. It really pissed me off because Jeff was giving his all, one of the most intimate moments of the night and he was literally being ignored by someone in the crowd. I don’t know how they can tolerate that. Hopefully, tonight will be all good. I’m an hour away from the venue, visiting my daughter and new Granddaughter on the way. Nice pre show stuff.

Don’t usually cajole for a review but it looks like I needed some vicarious livin more than usual. Thank you - I’m glad you got to light the fuse ❤️

2/4/79 Half step franklin mamu big river Peggy o cassidy fotd El paso tjed lazy lightning/supplication Shakedown samson donna song terrapin Playin d/s aiko Black Peter round n round Us blues white rabbit filler

I did a little detective work this morning after seeing that partial list posted, and the only show they ever played all those songs at was 2/4/79, so possibly that one. I saw a couple pics of the show last night, Jeff center stage with The Bean, Skip to the right with his Alembic, looks right for what DSO does for this era. Wake up Greg, enough rest!!

I plan on being back on the bus too after two serious operations and finally being home again just two days ago. Hopefully I'll have enough energy by then. If I can make it, Dr B should too. Peace and Love, Doc

I'm IN ❤️