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What are you listening to right now?

RIP Jane Birkin. Don’t want to minimize her as simply a Serge muse, because she wasn’t, but this is still cool as shit stuff. Unfortunately 3 of the videos aren’t easily available.







 
OldGouldandBlack said:
Bruce on accordion is awesome, though.

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Oh no doubt, I just chuckle anytime accordion comes into the fold. Maybe it is the eastern pa in me, but it creates a very visceral scene of seriousness and silliness simultaneously unfolding. So the notion the Dead was bringing the accordion back gave me a good chuckle.
 
birdman said:
No Judgement on the accordion playing from me, but, overall, is this supposed to be good? It sounds pretty terrible.
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The mix is kind of all fucked up. Way too much Weir and Welnick, vocals unbalanced.

I was just looking for a quick Bruce accordion vid -- maybe not the best choice.
 
I hope you guys will indulge me for a minute as I've got to dump some thoughts on the weekend.

I came to the Dead during COVID, so pretty late compared to some of you guys. Back in 2016, just prior to moving to Denver, I heard "Althea" in my friends car and that got me interested. Nice groove, cool solo...cracked the door so to speak. In 2019 I saw Dead & Company for the first time - it was cool, but it wasn't really until 2020 during Covid when I fully got on the bus. Fast forward to 2021 and music is back and I'm fully into the Dead at that point. Got to see Dead & Co twice that year (Red Rocks / Greenwood Village) and had a blast. In 2022 I take in another night at Boulder and have a great time. Into 2023, the Final Tour is announced so I'm pretty excited - plan to take in 2 nights in Boulder. Then Billy K backs out and I was feeling kind of over it at that point so going becomes second priority. We end up booking a trip that conflicts with the Boulder dates and I just kind of resign myself to the fact that I won't see them this summer. Talking it over with the wife makes me realize I'd like to go and the SF shows are my best bet. She's hyped for me, helps me book the plane ticket with her miles, and come up with a plan. I invited a friend last minute (he's kind of into the dead, only exposure to live Dead was one show at JRAD), but he's up for a weekend of fun so he's in for N2/N3.

At the airport on Friday morning, I book a hotel room for the night (Sat/Sun were already handled). Touch down in SFO and start working for a ticket - get a good deal on a club level seat! Head down about 2 hours before show time - and it's fucking NUTS. Shakedown like I've never seen before. Take in the sights/sounds/smells with a lap there before deciding to head into the stadium. Find my seat and start chatting up the people next to me - just all around good vibes. NFA opener is so good - really set the tone for the weekend. Right into Shakedown. At this point I'm so happy to be there. It's a party. The band keeps working through the set and it's just getting more and more fun.

Second set kicks off with China Cat Sunflower and it was just ON all the way to Drums. Phew, get a breather. Mickey had some really cool Golden Gate bridge animation / visuals queued up for drums. Standing on the Moon was a nice ballad after the Dark Star/Big River jam. Casey Jones kicks off, obvious fan favorite, the whole place came right back to life! And then it keeps going. And going. And going. Absolute shred fest from John Mayer - just epic rock star shit and I mean that as the biggest possible compliment I can muster. He was great all night, but that Casey Jones solo absolutely ripped. Lights were epic, too. Nice US Blues after CJ and then Knockin' on Heaven's Door...whooo boy, got a little dusty when they started putting up pictures of former friends/band members that have passed. The pictures of Pigpen and Jerry almost got me. Took a long time to wind down and get some sleep once I get back to the hotel.

My buddy flew in for N2 so I was pumped for the company; hit the lot for a lap before heading into Oracle Park with time to get beers and settle in. Set 1 kicks off with Good Times and it is, in fact, good times. Hell in a bucket follows, it hurts me too, jack straw...keeping the hit train alive and I'm here for it. Cassidy hits and it's a pretty big one (almost 12 minutes). It ends and after about 30 seconds I hear the melody for They Love Each Other and I'm on another planet. Not only is it a personal favorite of mine, but the tempo is up, just like they did in Fenway (which I'd had on repeat for 3 weeks). They take that one like 9 minutes before transitioning to Turn on your love light. Kind of seemed like Bobby was ready to move on and pushed the transition. All good, caught a great John / Jeff jam on TLEO. Set 2 is probably my favorite of the run, though I obviously didn't know that it would turn into that. Opens up with Deal (9 minutes, John Mayer just wailing away). Playing In the Band up next, sweet. Then a very dark "The Other One" - lights and visuals were on point...it was a ride. Oh, wait...is that what I think it is? TERRAPIN! Another sweet Drums/Space jam led by Mickey which gets jammed into Uncle John's Band. A good one too. Playing Reprise!! Other One Reprise? Yes please. Another very cool / dark Other One jam...which goes into Dew. Oh man, getting dusty in there again. Dew is a 15 minute BURNER with Pretty Jerry doing his thing (really fucking well). The boys walk off stage and John Mayer comes back with an Acoustic - as soon as I saw that I called Ripple. Nailed It! (Also called the Dew closer on N2, though it was probably kind of predictable)...Ripple is a nice cool down.

N3 starts an hour earlier, so 3 sets? Bertha to start, time to dance. They roll through Good Lovin, Loser, High Time, all good. Nothing quite as good as N1/2 yet. Samson and Delilah hits - fun! Then Althea > Dear Mr. Fantasy > Hey Jude > Bird song to close. that section was fun - Althea had a different vibe to it and I liked it, but there was some extra sauce on it last night. Second set kicks off with Help is on the way, so you know it's game on. Help>Slip>Franklins into Estimated...phew. Eyes comes - thankfully, need to lighten up a little. Good timing. Drums and Space up next with a drone show - so fucking cool. Giant, trippy eyeball just staring around during the space portion - glad I wasn't dosed last night cuz it could have been reeeeally weird. Space leads to Days Between, then we get Cumberland, then Sugar Magnolia. I know it's not over, but man, starting to feel like it. The boys come back and send us off with Truckin > Brokedown Palace > NFA. During Truckin' they flashed Jerry's mugshot on the screen during the "busted down on bourbon street" line. Nice touch....I'm not sure there is a better way to end the final tour than those three songs.

Still hard to accept it as the final tour, but in some ways it also feels like a righteous way to go out - on top. I know 95 Dead were limping along and then Jerry died...this definitely feels like the opposite of that. I feel so fortunate to have taken in these final shows of the final tour, whatever that ends up meaning. It was a hell of a good weekend and felt so celebratory.

NFA!
 
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OldGouldandBlack said:
Was asked by a buddy to come up with 30 minutes of "Latin" music (he said I could include SA/Brazil) for his wedding reception this coming Saturday where's he going to rotate through different themed playlists he's asked friends to put together. This was tough, and 30 minutes gets filled up fast. Anyway, here's my first take. He wanted it to be upbeat. Open to suggestions or switch outs, though, especially if you speak the language and notice some bad vibes lyrically; like, I had this Ruben Blades songs on there originally that was disco-y and upbeat, but it turned out he was talking about rich, plastic people getting together and destroying the earth and stuff, and neither of these folks are that, and no one would probably be paying attention to the lyrics in another language, anyway, but the vibes were off, you know?

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hmm...page not found for me

updated link?
 
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