7/4/15 GD50: Fare Thee Well @ Soldier Field - Chicago, IL

After much fanfare and hype the long awaited 4th of July holiday was finally upon us on Saturday.  A few weeks ago during the Ticketmaster re-release I was able to procure two tickets for my buddy Craig and I.  He and I had gone to see some of our first shows together back in 99-00 so it made sense that he was my companion on this journey.  I picked him up at his brother's house around 10 am and we left shortly thereafter for Chicago.  By leaving earlier than usual I was able to beat the holiday traffic.  We parked in Wicker Park and had Big Al's #1 Italian Beef on Milwaukee Ave for lunch.  This brought back memories of seeing shows at my cousin Shawn's apartment on Taylor St. near UIC where I discovered Big Al's. 


A big part of this roadtrip was about looking back on what the music of The Grateful Dead has meant to me.  Seeing shows has been such a big part of my life the last 16+ years and The Grateful Dead set the foundation for all the bands that I enjoy.  More importantly collecting tapes was my gateway to the scene.  The 7/9/95 tapes from Soldier Field are ones that I listened to countless times.  We took the blue line to the south part of the loop and walked across Grant Park to the lakefront.  The circus atmosphere was just getting going around 3 pm when we arrived.  The sights, smells, and sounds of shakedown street let us know we had arrived.  It had been over 15 years since I'd last been to Soldier Field for DMB.  This was my first time in the new reconfiguration.  Our seats were on the bottom part of the upper level in section 336 about on the 50 yard line.  This turned out to be a great vantage point for the massive GD50 stage.  They gave us a program as we entered that was specifically made for that evening.  I saw some familiar faces from Decatur when we entered the venue.


They hit the stage around 7:35 and the opening tuning could be recognized as Shakedown Street which was a great start to the evening.  For me this show wasn't about being critical about the execution but rather celebrating the songs with a huge crowd one last time.  I saw The Dead play Liberty at Allstate Arena in 09 and it obviously was appropriate with it being the 4th of July. Standing on the Moon was placed unusually 3 songs into the show.  Trey did an amazing job on the heartfelt vocals.  I'm a big fan of the Bobby cowboy songs and Me and My Uncle was a highlight for me in the first set.  TN Jed featured Trey using some stock Ocelot/Alaska blues licks.  I was surprised they repeated Cumberland Blues from Santa Clara.  Little Red Rooster reminded me of those aforementioned 7/9/95 tapes.  Bobby was impressive on the slide guitar on his blues showcase.  Friend of the Devil had Phil on vocals.  It's Phil's band so I won't comment on his decision to sing on certain Garcia tunes.  Deal was a fiery way to end the first stanza.  Trey's solo hinted at what was to come in the second set.  The setbreak had cool neon blue lights that set an eerie vibe.  After an excessive hour long setbreak that reminded me of seeing Phish in 99/00 they finally returned to the stage. 


Bird Song isn't a song I would normally think of to open the second set.  Phil's vocals again were grating.  Golden Road saw Trey bringing the most Phish-y jam of the night.  Lost Sailor is a favorite Bobby song of mine from the Go to Heaven album.  I like the album cover with the band wearing white disco suits.  After seeing shows for so long and living life on my own terms you realize there is indeed "a price for being free".  It's a song about someone at a point where he's unsure of direction and that's kind of where I'm at right now in my life.  Lost Sailor was paired with its traditional partner Saint of Circumstance.  Bill Walton wrote in the program that they handed out that he needed these shows.  For me Phish is my favorite and has changed the game for me.  Trey being invited to play these shows is a very big deal and I couldn't have been more proud of his performance.  He obviously put in the necessary prep time.  The fluidity of his playing has me excited for Summer Tour.  This was unusual placement for West L.A. Fadeaway.  I've always enjoyed that one and Bruce Hornsby did a good job on the vocals.  When we arrived in the parking lot we heard them soundchecking Foolish Heart so that one wasn't a huge surprised.  Trey handled the vocal duties and I wouldn't mind seeing Phish try that one.  Drums was a major highlight of the night.  Mickey and Billy were really into it and you literally could feel the drums.  After a lengthy Space session they settled into Stella Blue.  Weir did a good job with this delicate Jerry ballad.  One More Saturday Night was a predictable way to end the set.  It was hard to believe this was the final Saturday night of their career as far as the core four performing together.  The even more predicable U.S. Blues was an appropriate song to proceed an impressive fireworks display with John Philip Sousa's "Stars and Strips Forever" on the PA system.  After that the massive crowd filtered out into the night to the sounds of Bob Dylan's "Tangled Up in the Blue". 


This show exceeded my expectations.  The production was very impressive.  I'm glad we were able to be a part of the final shows.  However, it was a rather obvious cash grab.  Let's call it what it was.  Trey Anastasio is taking pride in his craft of guitar playing again.  That has me optimistic about the future and specifically next month.  After the show we walked along the lake back to the blue line and my car in Wicker Park.  We stopped for McD breakfast in Utica on the way home and arrived back here about 4:30 am.  Overall, the weather was gorgeous and we had a fun experience.

6/28/15 Umphrey's McGee @ Limelight Eventplex - Peoria, IL

It's been two weeks since I saw Umphrey's McGee twice at the end of June.  The show in Des Moines was a smashing success.  However, this Sunday performance in a glorified pole barn known as Limelight Eventplex was somewhat forgettable.  The improvisation simply didn't seem quite as diverse as in Des Moines.  Overall, it was a heavier sound.  I made the short hour drive down to Peoria by myself on Sunday night.  The whole appeal of this show was seeing UM at the CEFCU Stage.  With the flooding the show was moved to the nearby James Baldwin Park.  The night before with the forecasts of imminent rain promoter Jay Goldberg moved the show to this new venue on the north side of Peoria.  I had to park down the road at a strip mall because the venue parking was full.  It was raining and the line of fans wrapped around the building.  I have no idea why they were wanding everyone in front of a sheriff.  They don't do that at the CEFCU Stage. 


The show started with a mult-layered Front Porch sandwich that included Resolution and a guest appearance by merch employee Steve on percussion.  Also, in this sandwich was only the second time played for the Root Beer Rag by Billy Joel.  2x2 had the best jam of the first set.  I liked the juxtaposition of the heavier Little Gift and then the softer song, The Pequod.  It was a treat to hear The Pequod.  A rocking Mulche's wrapped up the set.  This venue was crowded and dark.  It was lacking in any charm whatsoever. 


Dump City had some decent improvisation to get the second set started.  I was close to the stage at this point but had to move back because of the overcrowding.  The Linear was a good call a this juncture. The Bottom Half is a song I've heard too many times.  FF isn't one I normally get excited about but the jam out of it was probably the highlight of the night for me.  OoO is a song I always enjoy.  It was interesting to see them use the intro jam LeBlitz in the middle of the set and it worked well going into Domino Theory.  Yes bassist Chris Squire passed away that day so it was a classy tip of the hat to cover Roundabout.  UM does a great job with that song which I'd only seen once before at the NYE 2010 run.  They did a Front Porch fakeout before setting into a Thin Air encore.  I'm glad I went to this show but it was rather forgettable.