The Dead @ the Verizon Center

I went to see The Dead last night at the Verizon Center in DC. I'm not the connoisseur that my friends who I accompanied are, but it was a great show and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I don't know all the songs, but I am definately a fan. I'm not sure whether Patrice and Jim are still counting how many shows they've seen, but this was only my fourth one. I got to see them once before Jerry Garcia died and three times with various line-ups in the post-Jerry years.

For those of you unfamiliar with the concert experience of "jam bands" (i.e. Grateful Dead, Allman Brothers, Phish, etc.) it is very different than what most touring acts do. Instead of having a show that changes very little from one night to the next, these bands vary the songs from night to night and city to city. They play in a very free form style and usually improvise transitions from one song into the next (the style gets its name because they "jam" between songs and during instrumental breaks between verses). So there is a lot of enjoyment by the fans in guessing, anticipating and recognizing what song comes next. Hence each performance becomes a very rare experience and when you happen to be there on a night when "that" song was played (whatever "that" song is for you) it can be extremely special. It also means that each show can be a bit of a high wire act for the band and the fans.

Another of my favorite acts is Jimmy Buffett. He puts on a great show, but with a very different format. He'll change a handful of songs from night to night, but there are some songs that you know you'll hear any time you see him. There is very little chance of seeing a bad version of Margarittaville because you will not see Buffett without hearing his signature song. With jam bands, you may or may not get to hear "that song" and even if you do the lyrics may get flubbed or the muscians may not be as tight as if they played it every night. But when they are having a good night, like last night, the pay off is big.

For those that are interested, here is the set list for last night's show -

(Set 1)
Cassidy
Passenger
Pride of Cucamonga
Easy Wind (Warren vocals)
Lazy River Road
Alabama Getaway (Warren vocals)
Big Railroad Blue
(Set 2)
Peggy-O (acoustic)
Glory Road (acoustic)
A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall (acoustic)
Space>
Dark Star>
King Solomon's Marbles>
Drums>
Come Together>
Dark Star>
Sugar Magnolia (with Tipper Gore on drums)
(Encore)
Uncle John's Band>
Ripple

Yes, you read that right....Tipper Gore sat in and played the drums last night for one song. You never know what you're gonna get at a Dead show. I'm guessing that means that Al Gore was somewhere in one of the luxury boxes (or back stage). Rumor has it that Nancy Pelosi is a big fan and is at most of the local shows, so she might have been there too. Patrice and I even spotted Tucker Carlson after the show and I took a picture of her with him.

One other unique aspect is The Dead allow fans to record their shows to share with each other. Here is a recording of last night's performance that was posted on archive.org by one of the tapers. It's not the same as being there, but it is the next best thing.