Leading up to this trip I the inside joke was all about what a beautiful winter destination Utica, NY was going to be. Especially deep into February. We met up on Friday night at Sammy's place where we hunkered down, had a few brews, a delicious meal and watch the Olympics. Our goal was to be on the road by 8am and beat the rush out of the city. The 3 of us were showered, fed (toasted bacon, egg, cheese, onion & mayo sandwiches) and were on the road by 8:45am. Not bad. Not bad. We had little to no traffic all the way to the border where we crossed without incident or delay at Lewiston, NY just north of Niagara Falls. We stopped at a Tim Horton's along the New York State Thruway (I-90). I had the chili. The portion sizes are way bigger in the US. The Timbits and donuts are twice the size and the coffee sizes are all one size up from in Canada. I ordered a large and got what would have been an extra large here.
We arrived in Utica at around 2pm. It would have been sooner but a NY State Trooper wanted to discuss our speed so we stopped and obliged. Less than 20 miles from our destination too. When we finally rolled into town we did a quick drive around to gather a lay of the land. Utica has a brewery district centered around Vanick Street that we thought would be a cool spot to start things off. The show was happening at the AUD and was right near our hotel, the Radisson.
There were 2 tour buses parked in front of our hotel and they were in fact the band's. As we were walking in from the parking garage to check in Bobby Weir walked out the front door a got onto one of the buses. He looked like he just woke up. A paparazzi would have got the shot. Since I think paparazzi should be spit on and maybe even water boarded I didn't even make a move for my Sony Cybershot.
We ended up at the Nail Creek Pub (pictured) where it wasn't too full when we walked in but was completely blocked by the time we left. They were playing Grateful Dead and serving up $2.50 pints. How could you go wrong? We snagged a nice corner seat and watched it all unfold. Along with the beers we had some cheese and artichoke dip. Our bill came to less than $30 for what we consumed. I think in Toronto we would have been pushing 3 figures. We were also able to score a nice bud for cheap which is huge for us border challenged folk.
We three amigo headed out of the pub at around 5pm and lit one up for the walk over to the Utica AUD and Shakedown Street. The lot was buzzing and hissing too. We grabbed some beers and some balloons and wandered around. I'm glad it wasn't a really cold Feb day because hanging around outside would have been unbearable. As it was we were out there for about 1 - 1.5 hrs and it wasn't too bad although the feet got a little numb by the end. We were able to grab some chocolates right before going in and they turned out to be game changers.
The Utica AUD is an amazing old hockey arena. Madison Square Garden (as it now exists) was influenced by this building. Also the scene from Slap Shot where the Hanson Brothers got into the crowd after a fan hits one with a set of keys was filmed here. I would say there were 4000 people or so and it was general admission. Beers inside were only $5 and the vibe was relaxed, happy and friendly.
We started the first set down on the floor near the front on the left. I emptied my coat of any valuables and stuck it in a guard rail near the front. I wasn't too concerned if I never saw it again, but I really wasn't worried. The chocolates kicked in fast (for me at least) and as the first set progressed I was glad I only ate 1/2 to start. I like to test the waters first :)
Set 1:
Good Morning Little Schoolgirl >
Promised Land
Cumberland Blues
Ramble On Rose
Foolish Heart >
Reuben & Cherise >
Dear Prudence
Satisfaction
So things started melting for me around the mid-way point of Promised Land. Bobby seemed to be singing a lot better than the last time I saw him with The Dead. Cumberland was fun as always, but Ramble on Rose was just perfect. A huge sing-a-long and smiles everywhere. I was feeling superb at this point. This was just an amazing 1st set. Jerry was all over it. Foolish Heart into Reuban & Cherise...yessir! That R&C is a must listen. We went out into the concourse as Dear Prudence started and this was a mistake for me at least. I was in no shape to be milling about. We hit the head where weird things were happening with one of the urinals. It sounded like it was a huge vacuum. So loud. I was confused and needed to bail immediately. I couldn't find the boys when I left the washroom although I would discover they saw me as they stood in line for beer. I had to get back out to the music. I walked up to the upper level and stood along the rail overlooking everything for the end of Dear Prudence and a great version of the Stone's Satisfaction.
Things settled down for me during set break and I met up with the boys back at the original floor spot we had. The second set was approaching and we needed a plan.
Second Set..."Buy the ticket, take the ride." ~ HST
Man I love 2nd sets. We decided to get off the floor and to head up to the seats. We found a spot along the rail in the aisle where you can choose either to go down to seats or up to seats. The rail was quite useful and no one was in our line of sight. In addition, security was non-existent and smoking was not an issue. Below was our vantage point for the 2nd set. Great little venue, as I said.
Set 2:
China Cat Sunflower >
The Wheel >
I Know You Rider
Magnolia Mountain,
Unbroken Chain
Comes A Time >
Goin' Down The Road Feelin' Bad >
Touch Of Grey >
And We Bid You Goodnight
Encore:
One More Saturday Night
I haven't re-listened to the show yet, but I do know I had a grin from ear to ear for that China>Wheel>Rider. The place was lit and so was I. It was sometime during that madness that I decided to eat the other half of my psychedelic chocolate and off we went again. Magnolia Mountain was a bit of a buzz kill for me (literally). I don't know why they feel the need to cover Ryan Adams with the size of their own songbook. Plus he's an asshole. Whatever. Unbroken Chain was the highlight of the night for me. What a gonzo tune. I went back up the elevator during that one. Comes a Time was perfectly placed and played. You could close your eyes and feel the presence of Garcia. Beautiful, beautiful song.
Things got cranked up again with GDTRFB > Touch of Grey and I won breakfast when they played We Bid You Goodnight. Indeed! All of us wrote 5 songs down on a piece of paper and that was the only one to hit between us. We didn't check the previous night's set list so we had no idea what was coming song-wise which is just how I like it. The One More Saturday Night encore was so much a given that we actually excluded the song from out little game. Maybe we need to stop going on Saturdays, eh?
We sat for a bit after the lights came up and just tried to gather ourselves. Did a bit of people watching. I had to run up close to the stage to grab my coat. It was still there and unmolested. Sammy & I were separated from Andy but we had a pre-arranged meeting spot in the lot which was key. We grabbed some balloons & kept a lookout. Eventually the Triacta was reformed. I grabbed a cheese & salsa burrito and a t-shirt and we ambled around the lot a bit longer.
We left the lot and went to look for a bar called The Dog House. I think. We heard about it from a guy at the show. Joe? John? Either way...We ended up walking straight past it and back to the area where we originally began the day. Sammy was hungry but food was hard to come by. No bars served anything. No wings, fries, onion rings. Nothing. There was a pizzeria but they ran out of food just as we walked in. There was not a lot of 'Big Picture Thinking' going on in Utica. Maybe this is why the town is slowly dying. We also stumbled upon a strip bar that served no booze. This could be because of some local law or maybe it's a New York State thing. Whatever the reason for this non-booze issue, the place was completely empty and I can't help but think the lack of available libations was a contributing factor in this. I mean it was Saturday at midnight. You gotta figure that's a pretty busy time for a gentlemen's club. Now they could have been selling crack and blow jobs in the back, but we beat it on down the line as soon as the words "No drinks" were uttered.
We eventually found The Dog House. They wanted to charge us $5 cover. I have no idea why. I thought they should just be thankful we wanted to step inside and have a drink. I asked for leniency on the cover and the door man obliged. This was my only Blue Moon of the trip and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Alas, we were beat and headed back to the hotel after our pint where we hustled the vending machine out of about 8 mini bags of chips. This was literally the only food source in Utica at the time.
I don't remember falling asleep. Breakfast was at Denny's. I had the Country Fried Steak & white gravy with eggs over easy, grated hash browns (my favourite) and brown toast courtesy of those who lost the bet. I did leave the tip though. There was a woman sitting beside us (her back to us) who had an ass that stretched over a meter across when she sat. If you're going to have a world in which there is Country Fried Steak with the white gravy you are going to have mega-asses. And sometimes they will be staring you in the face. Sometimes you gotta take the good with the bad.
Utica Photos
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