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Road Report: The Dead July 1, 2004

Idaho Center Amphitheater, Nampa, Idaho

For those interested there is more beneath the fold....

Updated the afternoon of 7/2.

1:27 AM MST ....this is not complete......

Folks, you will get your money's worth. Hunter opens at 5:17 and the last note of Johnny B. Good blasted out at about 10:40. The standard breaks seemed shorter than usual.

The Venue:

Capacity ~11,000 todays attendance maybe 6-8000. This is a relatively new venue and is nicely done. It sits on an east-west line and today the band members were all wearing their sunglasses as they faced the west.

It is nicely grassed...very comfortable for bare feet. On the other hand, they were very strict about what you could bring in: no water, no food, no backpacks (I emptied everything from my backpack into a garbage bag and was allowed to bring it in. Go figure...rules that might have been made by congress.)

Big deal? Well, it was in the low 90s when the gates opened and you would think that they would want everyone to stay well hydrated. Well, yes, but only by buying 12 oz cups of water at 2.50 each. BS. There were only two water fountains that we found. On the other hand the 5.50 beers were very generous.

Robert Hunter

Opened and played about a one hour set. As usual Hunter sings as if the muse is still fresh. I particulary liked the Direwolf>Pretty Peggy-O>Direwolf>PPO>DW and Ripple. As far as I am concerned there is only one person who sings Hunter tunes better than Hunter and he's not singin' them where we can hear him right now.

The Dead

Whew! I'm exhausted.

Phil, Bob and Warren all have what looks like flat panel displays set up in front of them. Couldn't tell if they were for lyrics, set lists or what. Bob's disappeared shortly after what appeared to be a change of plans 2/3 through the first set (more on this later).

To lead things off a brief tuning jam opened up into a lilting China Cat Sunflower....

which is pretty much where I'm going to leave you for now. I'll post an update sometime later today after catching some sleep. I need to catch a plane to Portland in about 6 hours.

Here's more:

Set 1: Jam>

I was up on the edge of the amphitheater when the opening jam started and by the time I was back at my seat (7th row center) they were already teasing China Cat and a minute or so later made a somewhat rough transition into

China Cat Sunflower>

Which was a fairly laid back version and played not quite as brightly as I like. The bridge headed toward IKYR was strong and detoured nicely into

Good Lovin'

Which really picked up folks feet and, I think, set the tenor for much of what wwas to follow later. A very brief 10-15 second hiatus and then!

Madman Across The Water>

This may have been Warren's stongest vocal performance of the night with the possible exception of some parts of Death Don't Have no Mercy. The band worked this one hard and both the energy level and musical interaction was high.

Down The Road Again>

I'm not a big fan of Mickey's vocals though this was much more well done then I've heard before...

Jam>
Mason's Children>

The vocals were too far back in the mix (for me this became a real problem later with Warren). I thought Herring's guitar work was not up to this particular song. He seemed to be just doing stuff to be doing it... But he redeems himself a couple songs down.

Loser>

Wow, this was just like you've always heard it*. The seque into

Strange World>

was pretty weak as were Warren's vocals. I don't think it was him as much as the mix. I haven't mentioned his guitar work yet so I'll just say that throughout the show he seemed to fill in the sound nicely. This is a song that will take some familiarization...it didn't really do much for me tonight.

At this point I believe the 'preplanned' set list changed. As they jammed out of Strange World it was pretty clear that Bobby was changing direction both from his playing and from body language interaction with the rest of the band. They had all taken off their sunglasses by now and were warily watching the western sky where really black thunderheads were gathering. After a bit more jam they broke into what was a very powerful and prescient

Looks Like Rain

in which Herring is ripping perfection off his frets! LLR closed normally and here I expected to get a set closing I Know You Rider but with the lack of transition I should have known better. They broke into

Deal

Which got everyone back up on their feet and closed out the set with a huge burst of energy. Ok, I admit that I expected I Know you rider to

All in all a pleasing first set that was around an hour maybe a bit more. It was very clear that this group has been working on the music and was intent on having a lot of fun and giving the audience a treat.

Halftime as perhaps 30 minutes maybe a bit shorter. Dark clouds and increasing wind had everyone on edge as the band came back on for the second set.

Set 2: Music Never Stopped>

Hey, we were all going to have a lot of fun and Bob was going to damned well make sure of it despite that rain that started somewhere around now. Bob worked every last drop out of this emphasizing that, hey, the music will not ever stop over and over before they moved nicely into

Reuben & Cerise>

Today, I just don't remember this one.......

I do though remember the Watchtower teases building during transition and they just really blasted out into

All Along the Watchtower> Jam>

They worked this long and hard and Bob's vocals were strong and all instruments were full on!

Birdsong>Jam>

Which was pleasing but not as crisp as I'd like and Phil's vocals are not his strength. I not here though that throughout the night Phil's base was a driving force. He was having a hugely good time!

Uncle John's Band> Jam>

Nicely done and just when I thought the jam was headed into drumz they found their way back to

I Know You Rider>

And everyone just kept on dancing. There was no energy let down here

Drumz/Space>

We were somewhat shocked that they did not bring a Wheel out of the much too short space. The thunder and lighting were definitely present. But, what the hell, how often do you get this:

Death Don't Have No Mercy>

With Warren in peak form and meaning every word and every note! At this point no one would have been dispappointed if they'd dropped in to one of the traditional up tempo 2nd set closers. The music had been great; the entire crowd had been on their feet all night with smiles on their faces. But, no, lets not be oh so 1995 lets just rip some new holes in the fabric of the universe>>>

St. Stephen> William Tell Bridge>The Eleven>

Hey Pockey Way

Hey, I'm not used to this one as a set closer put it worked just fine.
Donor Rap/Headcount Rap
E: Johnny B Goode

The crowd worked hard for one more but couldn't drive the road crew from the stage.

Excellent show and I now have high expectations of a tsunami by the time we get to The Gorge. Now its time to head out to Columbia Meadows for today's show.

*But, then, no Dead song is ever just like you've always hear it.

Posted by Steve on July 2, 2004