Greg from Chestertown

So, what’s up with ‘meet up at the movies’? Are we not allowed to have that fun either? Guess not. God forbid. Better not. I might get sick and die. Better stay home and live. Bitter? Pissed? No, not me. This is more fun than eating dirt.

I was reading somewhere recently that when the warlocks changed their name to the Grateful Dead, Bill Graham was upset about it. They already had an Acid test scheduled the next weekend. Members of the band told Bill, that’s what we’re doing. Put ‘formerly the Warlocks’ on the posters. That changes my perspective on their ‘formerly the Warlocks’ shows they did in ‘89 in Hampton.

I thought don’t ease was the night before, right after desolation row.

Just a couple of random thoughts, a customer informed me today that the local grocery store (Redner’s) was playing Estimated Prophet on the overhead speakers today. The other important thing is that when I was texting earlier, I typed the word ‘long’. My smartphone suggested that the next word was ‘strange trip’. I thought that was cool

I did the Spectrum show the next spring where Jerry played ‘comes a time’. Unfortunately, I drank about eight beers, dropped a green world blotter, and inadvertently smoked some opium offered to us by the heads that pushed their broke down VW bus into the parking spot next to us. Yea, I noticed a funny taste and was like, what are we smoking? ‘Oh, it’s opium.’ Needless to say, I was too ossified to appreciate what was a really good show. I never left my seat all night. That night was the one that motivated me to start racking up the shows and taking the music seriously, letting the party become secondary.

I missed this spring tour, Working on boats in OCNJ. WMMR in Philly had the opening of the show live on the radio. Bobby hits the midnight hour, the crowd goes nuts and I immediately regret not being there. I made sure THAT never happened again.

I was listening to that this morning. I got chills when, before Tom Thumb blues, everyone was chanting ‘we want Phil’ . Pretty nice birthday present.

Isn’t that a lyric from the title track Aja? ......Double helix in the sky tonight.....

That looks awesome! I was the biggest Steely Dan freak before I discovered the Grateful Dead. Kid Charlegmane sandwich! Wow! I would definitely go see that. Thing is, do they tour or do I have to travel to the double Helix? Hey, I just realized, do you get that from a Steely Dan tune?

I caught Better offDead last night at the 8X10 in Baltimore. Pretty damn good, fun party time, great group of followers. Bertha good lovin’ opener, sweet Peggy-o, China Ryder second set opener, U S bluz second set closer. A bunch of fun stuff in the middle. Superb so many roads. They don’t necessarily play tunes where you would expect them in the set list. Basically always elective. I’m gonna describe them as their thing is to take a tune and build and build kinda like a free bird jam but not really. Go see them to fill the void when Dark Star isn’t around.

I remember when DSO recreated that show because that’s the date that my son was born. I caught the Grateful Dead two weeks later and they were fine. Reviews of the Original Tacoma show are all about the sound being awful. I guess the sound man can have an off night.

I couldn’t quite make out the next tune but I was thinking obscure Dylan. Kinda freaked me out, thought I was having a flashback but I caught myself. I haven’t seen a DSO Low Spark live. Yet.

So, I’m in the grocery store this afternoon and the speakers in the ceiling are playing Low Spark. Just the original version, though, not a Dark Star rendition. I thought it was pretty cool.

I’m guessing Bobby is going to pass away on stage. He’s there more than home. Gotta respect that. I’m gonna sit right here until I die....

I think I figured it out last night. Dead and Company is a Dark Star Orchestra tribute band.

Feeble attempt at a set list from last night at The 8X10, Better Off Dead. Mississippi half step West LA Corrinna Box a Rain ( pretty damn good) hey Pocky way Mighty Quinn new speedway boogie terrapin I need a Miracle standing on the moon St. Stephen Alligator some Stevie Wonder tune Sugar Mags kinda in that order, many big gaps. They played a lot more than I’m Recalling.

Better off Dead at The 8X10 in Baltimore.

They did the same thing a week later, 12/26/69, in Dallas. My favorite show. Supposedly, the drummer was late, Not on the acoustic set. I read somewhere about the honesty of ‘ someone is late so, let’s play acoustic’. Some say it was a stunt of sorts so that the could dabble in acoustic. I’m glad they did. I love acoustic Grateful Dead, 1970 and 1980. Jerry’s style really comes through on acoustic. Listen to Jerry’s solo on ‘to lay me down’ off of Reckoning. Such gentle picking.

I think it was Jerry who said it was ‘group music’ that they were trying to achieve. I read somewhere where Bobby describes that special moment when they successfully achieve what they were trying to get at, as basically ‘the music plays the band’. It definitely requires the audience to achieve that point. The draw for me is that every note matters. You have to listen to every note. Same song, different version, you gotta listen to every note. This is not background music.

Tall people and talkers are the worst.

Right!? That piece gives me new found respect for Mayer. He gets it. A pretty good attempt at describing the indescribable.

Actually, it was tonight. Just caught the high and wides album release concert at the Garfield theatre in Chestertown. Original bluegrass, they’ve been around for a while, pretty tight, used to be called a chester river runoff. They’re doing a few more album release shows in the near future on the Western shore, DC,Baltimore area. I would if I were you.

Jack Black cracks me the fuck up. If you grew up in the seventies, he lived in your neighborhood, went to your school. I watch School of Rock every time it comes around on my television.

Reminds me of an idea I had for a license plate. 123 BACK

The dirty grass players, along with the high and wides (Formerly Chester River Runoff) at the Garfield Theatre in Chestertown, Md. as part of the Downrigging festival. Tall ships and bluegrass all weekend. At times, there were two fiddles, two mandolins or two banjos on stage. Freestylin bluegrass jams, original stuff, a few ‘Dead’ tunes. Rosalee McFall, Goin’ down the road feelin’ bad, Deep Elem Blues. I ran into the guitar player for the high and wides at the grocery store today. I thanked him and commented that they were just winging it last night. He said, yea, a lot of those songs I had never played before.