KHOL’s own Lonesome Johnnie (of the Lonesome Johnnie Blues Show, Tuesdays 4-6) was on the scene:

I have not seen any surviving member of the Grateful Dead save one Ratdog show since the Furthur tour of 1996. I spent 14 years and most of my vacation time and money seeing the Dead from my first show on March 3rd, 1981 in College Park, MD to the last show in ‘95 at Soldier Field , some 110+ shows, not counting JGB and solo Jerry gigs along the way. Needless to say when I heard the “Core Four”  of Bob, Phil, Micky and Bill had agreed to tour again after doing an Obama rally in PA, I was both intrigued and excited. With road warrior Warren Haynes having the unenviable task of taking Jerry’s place on Guitar and Ratdog keyboard wizard Jeff Cimenti in tow, this was shaping up to be a tour I could get into.

I arrived at the Pepsi Center, and things have not changed a bit. Shakedown Street, while not a s big as the good ol’ days, was still in full swing. Fans holding up one finger looking for a miracle paraded up and down the lots. One improvement I found was the quality of the parking lot food. I had an awesome veggie wrap with freshly roasted red peppers, feta cheese, black beans with all the other fixins. Yum!! I spotted my t-shirts and helped the touring economy by buying 2 shirts. First one had the Steal Your Face logo, but with the Republican logo in it instead of the lazy lightnin. The caption read “Steal Your Freedom”. How appropriate. The other was a shirt with the picture of Frank Zappa from “Chunga’s Revenge” and the caption “You Are What You Is” and on the back the lyric from Joe’s Garage that ends with “Music Is the Best”

I went inside and surveyed the crowd. Lots of older Dead Heads like me, many bringing their kids along, some not even born when Jerry died. Lots of newer heads from the post Jerry era as well. A small taper section  behind the board and all is right with the world.

The band opened with “Feel like a Stranger” and it was on. I had a preview of what to expect as Sirius/XM had already simulcasted 2 shows and I caught bits of both . As stated earlier, the most attention was focused on Warren Haynes. In previous tours, Jerry sound alikes had been used, but Warren had been touring with Phil Lesh and had been encouraged by Phil to NOT sound like Jerry and to put his voice on these songs and work it in with the rest of the Band. The result, I feel, was , pun intended, Dead on. While some on the Boards on Dead.net were bitchin tha Warren didn’t sound like Jerry, or didn’t rock enough a’ la Govt Mule or the Allmans, I was impressed on how he worked his way int the fabric that is Grateful Dead music. You see, despite the fan’s assertions that it was all about Jerry, Jerry did not want it to be all about Jerry, but all about the Band. With Warren in tow, it is all about the Band. Next, “Casey Jones” with Warren on vocals, and like the old days, they kept repeating the chorus at the end, building momentum like a freight train until the crowd just lost it. “Loser” took on a more somber tone than usual and my favorite of the first set and my favorite Pig Pen tune “Easy Wind” was a jamfest. “Crazy Fingers” followed with yet another sublime jam at the end, and long missing from the 90’s set list “Lost Sailor>Saint Of Circumstance” ended the first set. I don’t know what I’m going for, but I’m gonna go for It for sure.

Set two started out Acoustic!! Yes the rare treat that was an acoustic set by the Dead was now the 3rd one this tour. “Deep Elum Blues”, followed by “Me and My Uncle” “I’m as Honest as a Denver Man can Be” Then Phil took the mic for the folk tune “Whiskey in a Jar”. Last, but certainly not least was The Band’s classic “The Weight”. The band  sorta spaced out of this in transition from acoustic to electric Being Bill’s birthday the theme of the jam was “Happy Birthday” eventually turning into a full blown audience sing a long to the drummer himself. “Ramble on Rose” followed, then my second highlight of the night in “King Solomon’s Marbles” a tune that rarely saw the light of day after it appeard on “Blues For Allah”. Drums/ Space then one of the most sublime and ethereal “China Doll’s” I have ever heard. Warren not only sang the snot out of it, his guitar work was magical. The band did stumble through “Cumberland Blues”  and to end the set a raucous “Not Fade Away” that had Warren and Bob egging each other on in the jam. Not the lets-mail-in-the-end-of-the-show NFA of the 80’s and 90’s, but they truly caught fire on this. Phil came out before the encore to encourage folks to sign their donor cards, as he is a transplant survivor. The encore was “Ripple” that not only had the crowd sing along, but had me shed a tear or two as well. I hope they do this again. I will be back if they do.

Set I: Feel Like A Stranger, Casey Jones, Loser, Easy Wind, Crazy Fingers, Lost Sailor, Saint Of Circumstance
Set II: Deep Elem Blues, Me And My Uncle, Whiskey In The Jar, The Weight, Drums > Space > Happy Birthday Billy!, Ramble On Rose, King Solomon’s Marbles, China Doll, Cumberland Blues, Not Fade Away
Encore: Ripple

Order this show for download here.

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