A full weekend of music!

...had an enjoyable weekend of music...we hit the local Great South Bay Music Festival on Sat evening that featured both the Zen Tricksters w/ Donna Jean and the new Mickey Hart band as well...the ZT w/DJ set was a solid blended mix of GD tunes and ZT originals...of note, a smokin' "Till the Morning Comes" opener...DJ was showcasin' some of her classic (in tune) vocal work...my cringed facial expression when they went into "France" could only be matched by the look of total disbelief when the band started to really jam on it's theme with great aplomb and to the cheers, hoots and hollers of everybody watching & listening...Mickey's set was far more enjoyable than i was prepared for...while i loathe Durkin's vocal stylings, and the set did nothing to change my mind about her either, George Porter Jr. laid down heroic bass grooves over the good ol' silky, sinewy guitar lines that you'd hope to get from Kimock...it did take the Toaster a few songs to get into it but once warmed-up, he nailed the hell outta' the "Scarlet Begonias", probably his best tune of the evening...actually, all the GD tunes they covered, Kimock seemed to rise to the occasion for...and thankfully, Mickey's vocals were kept at a minimum for the sake of all involved...it was a groovy little head-scene in my own backyard which made for a really fun night out...

...i totally messed up by listening to classic '01 & '02 PLQ all last week in preparation of the Jones Beach P&F show on Sunday...but before i dissect the Phil show, it deserves to be stated what an enjoyable set put in by Levon Helm and his band as the show opener...the set consisted of some new songs from his recent CD, a few traditional rootsy folk classics and some familiar hits from the Band catalog to round things out...backed by a talented band of musicians, he seems to totally encapture that "down-homey" feel to the music that he plays, making you feel more akin to a southern backporch than a beachfront concert venue...his voice held up pretty well for the most part, failing a little during the last two songs...still, it was wonderful to hear him sing, watch him play the kit and dig on his overt enthusiasm for the music he loves...

...Phil started the set with a "Playin'>Jam>Bird Song" that was more debacle than anything, stumbling with song tempos and overall band cohesiveness...i wasn't partial to the Schecky original that followed either and i began to wonder if it's part of the agreement Schecky's record company has with Lesh to ensure that at least one of his tunes gets played every night in return for the favor of them loaning out their young future recording star to Phil's current band..."The Wheel" was decent...the jam that fell after it was the best thing they played all set, with Campbell and JGJr stepping toe-to-toe for some intense 6-string wailing...the "Mtns of the Moon" that followed was tragic, slow-tempoed to a fault and featured classic Phil ennuciation as he took the vocal reigns...this lead into an average "Uncle Johns" which made me realize how tired i've grown of the carribean boogie treatment this song has suffered from since the '98 Other Ones tour...an awkward "Sugar Mags" closed the set, with every band member trying their hardest to rock the entire crowd with their performance but making it perfectly clear to me how much Bobby owns this tune...

...the "Jam>China Cat>Fire on the Mtn" to start the set did nothing to install a more secure sense of confidence, and for the first time ever at a P&F show, i was really conscious of the number of Jerry tunes being tackled...and not so much just that they were being covered but that most of them were being sung by Phil...Phil - i love you bubba but vocal stability is lacking with this current band and yr' the biggest culprit, holmes...things did not get any better as they went right into "Sugaree"...to paraphrase the infinite wisdom of a certain TN DNCer - i needed another Sugaree like i needed a hole in my head...however, having said that, the Sugaree was the first and only time all night that Schecky impressed me...if nothing else, the kids tries soooo hard and has a certain sense of endless enthusiasm that can be contagious when used properly...it's just that i'm not even sure he fully understands what he's involved in by covering and playing the music in the GD cannon...i guess that kind of musical and historical ignorance is good in a way, in that he approaches the material in fresh, new ways...but there's just certain "classic/traditional" musical passages and guitar lines, annealed in the fires of 65 thru 95, that are paramount in making certain GD songs work when you play them and they need to be adhered to...having said that, the kid did great with the Sugaree...the "St. Stephen" was decent but became entirely overshadowed by the Molitz jam that followed...Molitz is easily my favorite "new friend" by a country mile...his own batch of enthusiasm and endless grab-bag of weirdness and strangeness is just the kind of wild card the music needs...and his vocals aren't bad either, as evident on the Eleven that followed his wicky-wicky jam...of course i was enjoying my namesake song, but i couldn't help but think back to the golden days of the Q and how they would rip my face off in 7/4 time...since i have heard more P&F "Unbroken Chains" than any other song they've ever played, i was not looking forward to yet another one...that was until Molitz came to the rescue once again with his vast array of squeals, blips, beeps and other techno gadgetry...and as Larry created a rather pedestrian at best UBC outtro jam, i was yet again reminded of how much Warren ruled that same jam w/ the PLQ...sigh...i respect Larry as a player - he's talented as all hell, technically proficient and a master of many stringed instruments...but i still don't think he "feels" this stuff like a guitarist in P&F should...the Dark Star seemed like a forced afterthought, but featured a sweet surprise at it's core as it surrounded a "from outta' left field" reading of "Born Cross-Eyed", w/ Molitz on vocals...the return to transitive nightfalls was a rough one and they couldn't find their way into "Rider" fast enough...this also suffered from some vocal shakiness and brought the set to an (un)eventual close...set 2 was certainly better than set 1 but still not a top-notch show by any means...

...the Attics encore many have been the best thing they did all night, with just a trio of Lesh and Mr. & Mrs. Campbell on stage, w/ Larry playing haunting and sparse guitar...the three vocalists hit some pretty sweet harmonies as Lesh safely handled the lower registers...when they did the "When i had no wings to fly..." verse, the harmony they achieved had all the hairs on my neck standing on end...really, really beautiful stuff...too bad they felt the need to continue on into a "Playin' reprise" that proved itself 100% unnecessary, especially after experiencing such masterful, exquisite music during the Attics...oh well...

...having said all this, Jones Beach is about as far as i'd travel for this band...thankfully, Phil still plays one of the fiercest basses in all the land and i'm still very thankful that he's still out there playing music...i didn't like his new bass guitar much, both esthetically and tone-wise...this was also the first show i couldn't ignore the un-nuanced playing of Molo...his powerful, thundering approach was perfect in the PLQ band but without the twin screams of Haynes and Herring to race with, it's simply too much going on...and it's strange it's taken me so long to feel this way...i still dig him as a drummer but he's past his GD-playin' prime, imho...

...lastly, i was lucky enough to bump into Steve Molitz between Levon's and Phil's set...a really nice guy...appreciative of folks knowing who he is and diggin'-on what he brings to the Phil Lesh musical stew...

...see you at the next show!