| Author | Message | ||
| dfung60
Senior Member Username: dfung60 Post Number: 612 Registered: 5-2002 |
I attended the Saturday show in Santa Clara. Phil was played the Alembic the entire night. I'm not a Deadhead, but attended with Geoff Gould who built Bob and Phil's Modulus Graphite instruments from 1982 through the 1990s. The sound for the drums and bass was amazing from the first note - powerful and very natural. To me the guitars did not sound great during the first set (intentional fuzzbox city), but sounded better in the second. The joint was packed. First set started around 7:40 or so, went for an hour, then there was a long intermission until the sun had set. Fireworks show too, at the start of the second set. Levi's Stadium is fairly unrestricted on cameras, so I got some nice shots. Unfortunately, the image size limit here means you can't see much detail. David Fung      (Message edited by davehouck on June 28, 2015) | ||
| ed_too
Junior Username: ed_too Post Number: 50 Registered: 3-2011 |
This looks like the short scale - no? | ||
| echo008
Senior Member Username: echo008 Post Number: 479 Registered: 2-2003 |
Double post (Message edited by echo008 on June 28, 2015) | ||
| echo008
Senior Member Username: echo008 Post Number: 480 Registered: 2-2003 |
Honestly I dont know who this person is (BUT Thank you!), there are a ton of great hi def videos from last night, you can hear and see among other things Phil's Wonderful Alembic up close and personal. https://www.facebook.com/martin.singer.58511/media_set?set=vb.100000252133799&type=2 | ||
| mica
Moderator Username: mica Post Number: 8558 Registered: 6-2000 |
Yes it was Phil's new Series II 6 string short scale version. He picked it up on May 8th. Both basses were made from the same board of Coco Bolo I'd been hoarding for years so they have a similar look. How to tell the difference...Short scale 'Belarion' has black hardware, LEDs are blue with red at 12th & 24th. Medium scale 'Khaleesi' has chrome hardware with LEDs red with blue at 12th & 24th. | ||
| hieronymous
Senior Member Username: hieronymous Post Number: 1533 Registered: 1-2005 |
I think seeing and hearing Belarion (and Phil of course!) is the most exciting thing for me about going to this show! | ||
| lbpesq
Senior Member Username: lbpesq Post Number: 6123 Registered: 7-2004 |
Short review: Loved the show! Can't wait to go back tonight! Longer Review: THE SCENE: I have to start by admitting that I wasn't expecting much. I'm not a big Trey guy and the ticket prices and other costs put me off a bit - was this just a money grab? Even the parking was $60! Then a good omen: it turns out my son's girlfriend's father works at Levi's and got me parking passes to the VIP garage next to the stadium. (After all these years of putting money into raising this kid, he's finally paying off!) Someone handed me a long stem American Beauty Rose as I entered (They gave out roses to the first 45,000 attendees). Food and drink was absurdly expensive, as one expects at a stadium these days. Regular American beer was $10.25. Water $5.75, etc. T-shirts were $40 and a ball cap was $35 (yea, I bought one and will be getting a couple of T's tonight - but I'm not the only sucker). THE SHOW My seats were in the second level, on the opposite end of the stadium as the band, dead center. A LONG way away but we could easily see on the giant screens. The guys came on around 40 minutes late (Stoner Standard Time). They opened with Truckin'. At the beginning the sound was just plain bad - way too much bass (I know that's almost sacrilege around here), but by the end of the song the sound was dialed in and pretty darn good considering the size of the venue and where I was sitting. Then, (and I couldn't make this up), a rainbow appeared above the stage!  Truckin' was followed by my all-time favorite Dead song, Uncle John's Band. Then they pulled out a bunch of old material: Alligator, Cumberland Blues, Born Cross-eyed, Cream Puff War, and Viola Lee Blues to close out the first set. The second set started with another oldie, Cryptical Envelopment. Then they played the first three sides of Live Dead: Dark Star > St. Stephen > The Eleven > Turn on Your Love Light. This was followed by drums > What's Become of the Baby > Space > The Other One. They ended with Morning Dew and encored with Casey Jones. Trey fit right in without being overbearing or being a Jerry clone. And it was very cool seeing that big hunk of cocobolo a hundred feet long all night.  I'm in the pit tonight for a more up close and personal experience. I not sure I can stand that long without chemical friends anymore, but I'm going to give it a try. For the Chicago shows I'll be comfortable on my couch with pay-per-view, free beer, and no bathroom lines. lol Bill, tgo | ||
| mavnet
Junior Username: mavnet Post Number: 48 Registered: 2-2003 |
David - thanks for posting the pics, and Tom, thanks for the link to the videos. Anyone know Phil's current signal path - what's he playing through here? | ||
| stephenr
Member Username: stephenr Post Number: 92 Registered: 9-2014 |
Here's a link to a video of the complete first set. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oibbsUVOyR0 | ||
| davehouck
Moderator Username: davehouck Post Number: 11818 Registered: 5-2002 |
Thanks Stephen! The sound wasn't synced with the video, but it was still very enjoyable. Glad I got to see it. | ||
| elwoodblue
Senior Member Username: elwoodblue Post Number: 1636 Registered: 6-2002 |
second set! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWd9PLlp6J0 | ||
| hammer
Senior Member Username: hammer Post Number: 716 Registered: 9-2009 |
Argh!!! In Poland and India for work and have poor and slow internet service. No chance of streaming and it took 30 minutes to download the first part of Truck'n. I'll be hoping both video and audio will be available when I return. | ||
| davehouck
Moderator Username: davehouck Post Number: 11822 Registered: 5-2002 |
Second set was wonderful! Thanks! | ||
| rv_bass
Junior Username: rv_bass Post Number: 42 Registered: 8-2014 |
Hi Mavnet, It's a Meyer Sound Lab rig similar to the one Mike Gordon uses and describes here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8NDxginP3fk | ||
| davehouck
Moderator Username: davehouck Post Number: 11823 Registered: 5-2002 |
Nice mention of our Edwin in part 2 of Mike's rig rundown video! | ||
| pauldo
Senior Member Username: pauldo Post Number: 1524 Registered: 6-2006 |
Bill, I appreciate your review, you are a trusted source. Interested in your perspective from the pit . . . . just make sure you position yourself in the Phil Zone! And make sure to wear a good pair of comfortable shoes. :-D | ||
| mavnet
Junior Username: mavnet Post Number: 49 Registered: 2-2003 |
Thanks, rv, exactly what I was looking for as a starting point. | ||
| hieronymous
Senior Member Username: hieronymous Post Number: 1534 Registered: 1-2005 |
I went to Sunday's show - bass sounded nice, low end was extremely clear, had a bit of a Precision-y growl to it. Looked great of course! Set 1 really meandered in my opinion - if you think about it, the main soloists are not really "band members" so it felt like they were tiptoe-ing around at best, lost at the worst. I almost wanted Bobby to conduct and tell people when to solo and when to stop, but of course that's not the Dead way. Things finally took off in the last song of the first set, "Hell in a Bucket" - there was a moment during Trey's solo when drummer Bill Kretuzmann was on the screen and lifted his right arm egging Trey on just as the magic was happening! That was awesome, and a great way to close the set. Set 2 had some amazing jamming between songs, though the people around me all sat down since it wasn't a "song" but to me it was really really nice, interesting, aggressive improvisation, something I actually didn't expect, especially given set 1 (though of course set 2 is more the place for that kind of thing to happen). I was up in the upper section furthest away from the stage (free tickets!) - kind of scary, there is only a little railing at the edge of the balcony - in fact, near the end someone in the back row behind me fell, knocked over the guy in front of him, who came down next to me - could have been a tragedy. Phil came out before the encore and spoke - expressed his gratitude to the crowd - it was pretty amazing for them to play two nights in a 68,000 seat arena - he also encouraged everyone to become an organ donor, given that he is a liver transplant recipient. All in all a nice show, glad that I went. Phil seemed to have a really good time - one of his comments when thanking all the people who came and made it possible was "who knew?" - maybe they'll keep playing? ;) | ||
| artswork99
Moderator Username: artswork99 Post Number: 2046 Registered: 7-2007 |
Good reviews and links, thanks everyone! | ||
| 5a_quilt_top
Senior Member Username: 5a_quilt_top Post Number: 564 Registered: 6-2012 |
Your "locationally challenged" friends really appreciate this - thanks. The pix are great - ! | ||
| rv_bass
Junior Username: rv_bass Post Number: 43 Registered: 8-2014 |
Nice photos - Does anyone know who the other two tall guys are standing next to Bill Walton in the upper right corner of the third photo? Thanks! | ||
| hieronymous
Senior Member Username: hieronymous Post Number: 1535 Registered: 1-2005 |
There are some nice shots at the GD50 Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/GratefulDead50/photos_stream I also posted a slightly modified version of my review at my new blog: https://hieronymousseven.wordpress.com/2015/06/30/grateful-dead-fare-thee-well-sunday-june-28-2015-concert-review/ | ||
| glocke
Senior Member Username: glocke Post Number: 1011 Registered: 9-2002 |
I've been catching some of this on youtube... A lot of the jams sound awesome...completely and utterly awesome, and at the end of the day thats what it's all about for me. Some of the songs sounded kind of rough though to me though, like they were either searching for a groove that wasn't there or they were just holding back too much.. Sort of wish i was there...(saying "sort of" because these days I simply can't fathom being an arena with 50k+ people) | ||
| pace
Senior Member Username: pace Post Number: 1128 Registered: 4-2004 |
Watching the '89 Orchard Park show just now.... My 6yo daughter sits down w/ me on the couch, and I ask her if she knows if she knows what band is playing.... She takes a second and asks "is this the grateful dead"? I say yes, and begin to quiz her on who's playing what. She knows Jerry and Bobby, I show her Mickey and Brent, then a shot of Phil pops up, and she doesn't know his name.... I say 'that's Phil Lesh, the coolest bass player on earth'.... She responds 'then why is he such a nerd'?..... Ahh... From the mouths of babes.... | ||
| hieronymous
Senior Member Username: hieronymous Post Number: 1538 Registered: 1-2005 |
I remember I had a tape that had Father Guido Sarducci interviewing Jerry Garcia backstage at a show - it was hilarious - at one point he asks "who he thinks is the ugliest member of the band?" - it's at about 9:25: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igfxUvcu_-I Actually, I think Phil has aged the most gracefully and looks better than ever! Definitely the coolest member of the band right now in my book - I am a bassist of course so I may be biased! | ||
| pauldo
Senior Member Username: pauldo Post Number: 1530 Registered: 6-2006 |
Has Bill been back to the site since he was "in the pit"? Mildly concerned . . . Speaking of Jerry - last night Warren Haynes did a solo set - he played Patchwork Quilt which I found very touching and appropriate. P.S. I'm with you Harry - Phil is the coolest member of the band. |
