Return From The Dead - Part 2

Continued from Return From the Dead - Part 1
by mrjackstraw

The three of us passed out fully clothed and on top of our covers by 2am. A replay of the Carolina/New Jersey game was on the TV. Man, we are getting old. What's funny is that we were all up and about by 8am on Saturday morning, ready to hit the 1-90 east towards Worcester, MA. Our hotel had a free breakfast included so we took advantage of that, showered, checked out and hit the road.

It took us about 3 hours to get to Worcester, MA from Albany and we stopped for Big Mac Combos along the way. It was partly cloudy and a little cooler than the Friday, but it was hard to complain. The scenery gets a lot nicer when you hit Massachusetts. Rolling hills and the interstate winds left and right as much as it goes up and down.

Our only problem on this day was that we were not booked at any hotel. We decided to go straight downtown to the venue and work our way out. There was nothing at all available in the downtown core and it was suggested that we head to Auburn, MA about 5 miles away. On our way to Auburn we notice a heavy metal festival going on at a venue right beside where Shakedown was beginning to be set up. There were all these metalheads dressed in black and chains milling about. It was early, only about 1pm. Did they have any idea the circus was heading straight for them?

Auburn was a no-go and it was at this point we were starting to come to grips with that fact that we may be in trouble here. We ended up in Sturbridge, MA which is about 15 miles away from the downtown core of Worcester. When Sameer went in to ask about room availability their response was, "It's company policy not to rent rooms to 3 adults." OK. His immediate reply was the we are "Two adults with a four-year-old." Good save Sammy. Also a special show out to all those out there who believe in hiring retards. Cheers.

So we had a room, tickets to the show, party favors with a pretty good idea of where to find more if needed, but how were we going to get there? To have someone drive down, watch their consumption and deal with the inevitable traffic would a been a drag. We tried what appeared to be the local Sturbridge cab company. It was apparent they were no longer in business.

Luckily we had taken down the number of a Worcester cab company off a random car we had seen. Just in case, you know? Turns out that was one of the better moves made during the entire trip. We managed to arrange a 3:30pm pick-up at our hotel. We cut a flat rate deal with our cabbie Jim and arranged for him to pick us up after the show at about 1am. This guy was a character and didn't not hesitate to tell us what was wrong with Worcester and the state of Massachusetts. Tolls & their booths were high on his list of "Fuck-ups" along with the building of the hospital right across from the DCU Center (limited access during events) and the fact that a guy could come in from Illinois, never live in Mass and simply become Governor of the state.

Jim kept asking us if he could drop us for food anywhere before the show. "It's only 4 o'clock boys. What are you going to do with all this time before the show?"

"Don't worry Jim. We'll find something to entertain ourselves with." Ha ha.

Tie dye was all over the place now compare to a few hours ago when we first circled the area. We grabbed some Heineken Keg Cans off a vendor and got our bearings. I picked up some earrings for my girlfriend (yes, she liked them) and also grabbed a dancing skeletons patch that I want to put on my bicycle saddle bag.

We wandered over to the main Shakedown and I left the boys to go take a piss. I found a secluded corner of a parking lot and did my business. A little bit of fore site by the city and they could have arranged for some port-a-potties to be put out around the venue. Two days of Dead shows plus the Metal thing. For all the tax dollars being brought in by the traveling Deadheads, they could have really cut down on the smell of piss that was sure to linger long after we left town. Oh well. Live and learn. I should mention that the Hippies had the Metalhead's attention at this point. I'm not sure they had seen anything like this before. Some were even venturing into Shakedown to see what was up. Others were lamenting the fact that the tie-dye army were cramping their style. The hippies didn't seem to notice.

The pre-show included beers, nitrous, a new Jack Straw T-Shirt, pieces of paper with NOTHING on them, and the green. We headed into the venue in a good head space skirting around a huge line-up for a shorter one just around the corner. Here's what happened inside:

Set I:

Jam >
Stranger
GDTRFB
Mountains of the Moon >
Dupree's Diamond Blues
Althea>
Bird Song
China Cat Sunflower >
I Know You Rider


Set II:

Jam >
Dancin' >
Milestones>
Terrapin>
Drumz>
Space>
Days Between>
Jam>
Birdsong>
Sat Night

E: Donor Rap
Johnny B. Goode

Highlights for me included the always fun and surprisingly slotted GDTRFB. I had to do a beer run after this song. They were understaffed to say the least. Three 50 year old women were working the stand. They were all sweating profusely and one looked like she was going to fall over on the spot. I managed to make it to the front just as they ran out of cold beer. WTF? We're three songs into the show and you're out of cold beer? It goes back to preparation and to knowing your audience. I would bet my last dollar that whoever manages these stands is some 22 yr old intern who knew about as much about the Deadheads as the Metalheads outside the venue. I digress...anyways this cost me 2 songs, Mountains of the Moon and Dupree's Diamond Blues.

I made it back to my seat for Althea and started boogieing with the boys. This has always been one of my favorite Dead tunes and I have been lucky to have been hit by it a number of times I have gone to see Grateful Dead music live. Birdsong was followed by the first China>Rider of the tour. It was awesome and the crowd was really into it. You can hear on the recording when Bob says, "Let's do it" just as they are about to drop into Rider. He was trying to talk to the band via the prompters and didn't know the audience mic was on. They lit the place up yellow during "the sun's gonna shine on my back door someday" portion and we the crowd ate it up.

Set 2 started with Dancing in the Streets which was OK. Miles Davis' Milestones was next. To be honest I didn't know it at the time, but it sure sounds nice on the recordings. Terrapin Station! Fucking right! Nothing more to add on that one. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Drums/Space followed and it was great. I had missed the previous night's Drums and was really looking forward to this one. Micky had some looping going before he went nuts on his big gear. Very fun. We smoked.

A surprising run of Days Between>Jam>Birdsong reprise followed Space and was really good. The obvious set closer, One More Saturday Night, was performed really well by Rock Star Bobby and the encore of Johnnie B. Goode showcased Warren's skills on the strings.

Overall a very fun show with a mix of many eras of Dead-dom. We had once again lost Andy during the 2nd set. The plan was to not exit until we were together. Wait at the seats or if you were separated, go back to the seats. Sameer & I were shooed away before Andy returned so all we could do was go back to the lot near where we were last all together. The tanks were hissing so Sam & I grabbed balloons by the handful along with a couple of beers.

((((((((((((((((brain)))))))))))))))

Too fun! Boom! There was Andy and the trio was complete. We hung out people watching and the rain began to pick up. We had our own "driver" so there was nothing to do really except take it all in and indulge in whatever.

We rendezvoused with Jim in front of the downtown post office at 1am. We were hungry and he took us by Dunkin' Donuts. I guess he has some pull there because he demanded a senior's discount for all of us even though we clearly do not qualify. Yet. Unfortunately I had already purchased some beef jerky and a Starbucks Iced Coffee drink. Both were impulse buys which I will do from time to time on a road trip.

Back in the hotel room for 2am or so, we crashed and slept until around 10am. There was a Cracker Barrel right outside of our hotel so that's where we got breakfast. I had sour dough bread french toast with real maple syrup & butter. It was amazing and for $5.99 one of the better deals I got on the trip. I think I paid the same for the beef jerky the night before which although good, I would probably put at the other end of the value spectrum.

There drive back was nice enough. Passing Albany I was kind of wishing we were just heading there again. There is always a feeling of unlimited freedom when you first head off down the road and that inevitable feeling that something really good has ended as you make your way back home. This is not a knock on home, but a nod to the excitement, friendship and adventures that await us all as we travel down the road.

Thanks Sammer and Andy, it was a helluvatrip!

A Return From The Dead

The First Day....
by mrjackstraw


Friday April 17, 2009 was a glorious day both here in Toronto and across upstate New York and into New England which was perfect for us. Sameer, Andy & I were about to embark on a journey that included both known and unknown entities. We knew that we were in to see The Dead on Friday and Saturday nights and that we had accommodation in Albany, NY for the first night. Beyond that it was all up in the air. Sameer rolled up in front of my place at 830am just as I was finishing my cigarette. We were each wearing ear-to-ear grins and we greeted each other in anticipation for what was to come. From the car I could hear The Dead's music recorded only a few days earlier in NYC.

We breezed to Andy's place with no significant delays. There we had a little snack, some coffee and a J, watched Andy's 6 month old flatly reject prunes and expressed our child-like giddiness to Andy's wife. After doing a car shuffle we were finally Going Down the Road Feeling Good and we crossed into the US via the bridge at Lewiston , NY. We made it through no problem although the border guard seemed to be fishing for something.

We made good time across the I-90 and arrived in Albany at around 5pm. The interstate actually fired us out right near our hotel. We picked up some beers and ice for our room cooler and had a few quick ones before heading down. Waiting for the bus we decided to make a bet on the opener. Balloons were the prize. I liked Sugaree, Andy had Tons of Steel and Sameer had .... something. I forget. A mini van cab showed up at about the same time as another young couple heading down to the show. We flagged it and asked if they wanted to split. They did and we all hopped in. Turns out they were from Toronto as well and were actually in the process of purchasing a place not too far from Andy's. Small world, eh?

It was chaos in downtown Albany outside of the arena. Deadheads everywhere. The local cops have experienced this before and took the appropriate actions by shutting down some streets and just letting things happen that were going to happen. We hit Shakedown straight away and scored some green. It's hard being a Canuck, ya know? We grabbed a few beers and spun one right off. Things would not be the same for a while and a debate would go on as to whether there were any additives.

We didn't have much time in the lot pre-show due to our arrival time and pretty much headed towards the entrance after finishing our session. The few of the streets was awesome as we were climbing the steps of the Times-Union Center. A sea of people. A kaleidoscope of colours. Every few minutes the crowd inside would cheer leading to everyone in line and on the street cheering and yelling. People were excited and so was I.

We just made it in as Casey Jones began. No one won the bet. Whatever. We really should have called that one though. Andy tried to get us down to the floor, but security was tight. No pat down whatsoever coming into the building, but getting onto the floor w/o a floor ticket was a different story. We retreated and got in line for a beer. It was while in this beer line that we enjoyed Cold Rain & Snow and New Minglewood Blues. Can you say, "Understaffed"?



We made it to our seats in the upper deck and were treated to Van Morrison's Into the Mystic. Warren Haynes took care of business on that one. It was followed by a really fun dancable trio of songs starting with a funky West LA Fadeaway, then Brown Eyed Women followed by the set-closing Cumberland Blues.

It was absolute chaos between sets and I wandered out to get a beer only to realize that I was not completely "comfortable" among this many people tightly jammed in and decided to head back to my seat and wait till the crowds thinned. I lost Andy & Sameer during this time. The Dead returned to the stage before the boys made it back and ripped into Viola Lee Blues! As happy as I was, I was upset that Andy was missing this as he's wanted this song the last few Phil & Friends shows we've gone down to. Sugaree came next with Warren singing and this may have been the highlight of the run for me. It was huge! It was during Sugaree that the boys came back and they were nice enough to bring me a frost beverage. Another was rolled as the band steamrolled towards The Other One. You can tell the song is coming, but it never really begins until Phil drops that first huge bass bomb and then it's off to Never Never Land. Drums/Space was next but I had to take care of some urgent business. Beer sales had been stopped so I was shut out on that front but was feeling a lot more comfortable. It was around this time that Andy went MIA from the seats only to pop up from time to time near the entrance right below us, dancing on the rail.

Sameer & I were keeping tabs on him while discussing how much we'd like to hear a Stella Blue right here. We got the Warren/slow song part right. The song, however, was Comes A Time, a Jerry ballad that while never a regular part of any eras setlists showed up throughout the band's history never being shelved. It just wasn't played as mush some others. I am really looking forward to listening to this one again. Phil's Unbroken Chain was next and Andy was still down on the rail. The seamless 2nd set finished with a high energy Throwing Stones that had the entire crowd shaking.

It was at this point I noticed Andy's absence from the rail below, but Phil was on stage giving his donor rap and then the band came out and began Not Fade Away. Great audience participation and a great version of the song from where I was sitting. There were smiles all around as we headed out sans Andy.

Outside the venue was chaos again. We waited around in a few different places hoping to catch Andy walking by or waiting. Nope. Down to shakedown we went and milled about looking at the goods and having a beer. Then we heard the hiissssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss of the tanks and off we went. I got scammed on my first set as I had only received 1/4 before the guys pulled up shop thinking the 5.0 was onto them. No rebate. No worries. We grabbed some more and filled our heads till the wa-wa-wa-wa-wa-wa-ing.

It was not long after that we purchase a little strip of paper for $20. There was nothing special about it (as we found out the next night), just a little strip of paper. There are some people you hope you see again in life. Just for a little retribution. There are others you hope you never see again. Like this kid whose thing was to go up to people and say, "I just got out of jail. Can I get some of your balloon?" Sammy is a kind guy and on this night he obliged. Remember the Jail-Kid. He makes another appearance.

For about an hour it was balloons>beer>balloons>balloons etc, etc. Sameer was hungry and we hit a pizza joint just down the road. We split a slice of cheese which was really two slices. It was thin crust and had to be folded in half to prevent cheese slippage. I added garlic salt. Fantastic. At this point we weren't sure if Andy had headed back to the hotel or what. The boys didn't bring their phones and I don't own one so we were out there on our own with no way to call each other or a cab. I know for some of you this would have been the beginning of the end, such is your reliance on this little device. But lo and behold, there was Andy! Sitting on a bench looking just as someone should following a Dead show. A little spacey, but no real problems. I mean, at this point I don't think there were many of us who didn't.

One the cops came in en masse on horseback to clear the main Shakedown, we decided to book it back. Albany is not the greatest city to try to hail a cab. After walking a few blocks we managed to score and "out-of-town illegal cab". When this vehicle rolled up to us it sounded as if parts were just going to start falling off. Seriously. Every bump we hit along out 3 mile journey rocked the cab. We drove past tons of SUNY students looking for cabs after a Friday night out. It's too bad they didn't know where the real party was that night. I think our cabbie was a boozer. He told us about every bar we passed on the way back.

Not interested in going anywhere we were back in our room and turned on some hockey highlights. All of us fell asleep fully clothed on top of the covers pretty much immediately. After a full day of travel, a crazy show, etc, and considering we are not teenagers anymore, we did alright.

Stay tuned for Day 2.

Day of the Dead

The day has finally come. After putting my head down and working, saving bit by bit, Andy, Sammy & I are hitting the road for a couple of Dead shows. The first one is tonight in Albany, NY and then we are off to Worcester, MA for the Saturday show.

The setlists look great so far with a bunch of surprises and stuff from all eras. I think the boys are having fun together again which is nice. After 3 shows we still have not heard Eyes of the World, Scarlet>Fire, China>Rider, Morning Dew, Viola Lee Blues (please), The Other One, as well as a lot of "traditional" first set material like Brown Eyed Women, Friend of the Devil, Bird Song, etc. I'm excited for the possibilities. Anything can happen.

Sammy is picking me up and we are meeting at Andy's to take his car. Hopefully the border is not too backed up and we get through quick. This is always a pain in the ass for Canadians going to shows. If you are American and run into some Canadians at any show (Dead, Phish, WSP, etc) do the right thing...help them out. They were not in a position to properly pack for a trip of this nature.

We are thinking it will take about 6 hours down the I-90. Boring highway that charges tolls. Gotta love it. We are set for a hotel in Albany but Worcester is a different story. I guess a lot of folks are staying down as there is a show at the same venue on Sunday as well. We'll see what type of ghetto accommodations we come up with. Nothing wrong with a little adventure.

I just want to finish by saying that the Red Wings are off to a solid start and are only 15 wins away from retaining The Cup after a 4-1 win vs Columbus in which the 3rd line excelled.

Peace.
mrjackstraw

Easter Weekend

Happy Easter Freeks and Geeks! To the non-religious like myself, Happy Random Long Weekend!

I have some duties to attend to so I will keep this short. Just some random thoughts on random things...

The Masters is underway and Mike Weir is in good shape. I have him in our office pool so if he makes a run it will be nice to cheer for my favorite golfer without having to pull for some other schmuck for monetary reasons. We eliminated Tiger and drew names to select the draft order. 23 people @ $10 each. I was luck to be able to select 23/23. Yep, dead last. The guy who picked first went with Mickelson and wanted to make a side bet with me, but he wouldn't lay any odds. So I told him to get bent. I have a straight-up bet with the VP, Weir vs Luke Donald for $20 and I swapped 25% of Weir for 25% of Paul Casey. The prize structure is $150, $70, $20 so I figured it was best to not put all my eggs in one basket. If Donald hadn't went birdie, birdie, eagle on 13, 14, and 15 I'd already be looking at a guaranteed profit. As it stands I have a 5 stroke advantage in that little side bet so tough to complain.

The Tragically Hip's new album We Are the Same gets better with every listen. These guys never rest on their laurels and I love that about them. HMV just reported that it hit #1 in Canada. Congrats.

The Tigers were in town to open the season against the Jays and left with a 1-3 record. Unfortunately I did not make it down to any of the games due to the Tragically Hip movie on Monday and work obligations after that. It's looks like we'll be in Detroit for Father's Day weekend to see the Tigers vs the Brewers. I'll where my old Fielder shirt for that one. As for the Jays, they look like they're going to put a lot of runs on the board this year. Travis Snyder is going to be right there for Rookie of the Year. The injuries to Marcum and McGowan really suck because, but they have a lot of other young arms that need to grab their chance and run with it.

We leave next Friday for Albany, NY and Worcester, MA to see The Dead. I'm going with Sameer and Andy. Should be a blast. I will have more on this and of course all the ensuing shenanigans.

Here's the link of the day.

Play Dead > Play Crashed Ice

Andy, Sameer & I scored tickets to see The Dead in April in Albany. We wanted to do a Friday in Albany and Saturday in Worcester, MA. Alas, the scalpers jumped all over the MA tickets for the Saturday night. Boy do they have a surprise coming. At the prices The Dead are charging for this tour ($100 WTF) I can't see many people forking over $150+ to see a band who hasn't played a lot together and is without one Jerry Garcia. So we will be in Worcester, MA on the Saturday ready to grab those extras on the cheap. There is a Buffalo show on April 18th. From Toronto it's the closest, but being during the week we would actually have to take more time off work for it than to travel. So it's a trip down the I-90 for us.

Phish tickets go on sale next Friday and I am really wanting to score some Jones Beach seats. They are going to be tough and may cost a bit extra, but I would like to take my girl to NYC and tie it all in. Since they are dealing with Live Nation and not TicketBastard (no link sorry), I have found out that Blockbuster Video Stores are now ticket outlets. I am hoping this is not just an American thing, but that tickets can also be purchased for US shows here in Canada at out Blockbuster Video stores. We'll see. Check out my Phish 2009 Tour Blog.

REDBULL CRASHED ICE

Have you heard of this? It's on TSN tonight starting at 8 or 830pm. Not sure which. Basically races are done in groups of four. Each racer is dressed in full hockey gear and a track has been created through Old Quebec City.





There's twists and turns, drops and jumps with about 100,000 people there to party and watch the races. It looks absolutely crazy. This year is also the first year that women will be involved. So it's four person heats (20 runners for the women, 64 runners for the men) with the top two from each heat advancing until a winner is declared.

Here is last year's final, also from Quebec City, Canada:



I had a nice run on Party Poker last night taking 2 first place finishes and 1 second place finish in the three events I entered. A nice bankroll boost that hopefully I can use to my advantage. Time will tell, but I am feeling very confident right now about my game and the decisions I am making. That's three solid positive sessions in a row for me so hopefully this is just the start of a nice little run. I have really made an effort to protect my final chip while focusing on small pot poker, striking when I am the dominant hand on pots I have then been able to build.

It's -17C here in Toronto at this very moment. I'm really wishing I had bought more beer last night so I wouldn't need to re-stock before CRASHED ICE starts. Oh well. Don't forget about the NHL Skills Competition. I don't know when it starts. It's nowhere to be found on the NHL's home page, where it should be, along with network info for both Canada and the US. More NHL Marketing 101. How's that going?

Later.

Obama Time

I'm very excited. I'm very excited for America. I'm very excited for us up here in Canada. It feels like we are getting a long lost friend back. I'm very excited for the world. We are on the brink of something here and it's important that we (the planet) move this in the right direction. There have always been dividing lines both internationally and within countries themselves and I hope that this man and America can inspire the world with its ideals (like it used to before torture camps, reduced rights and such). We need to start looking beyond dividing lines to find common ground and we need to look at the world as if we're governing with future generations in mind.

It's going to be fun to watch everything today. The Dead are playing one of the inaugural balls at Obama's request. Here's a funny quote I read at Rolling Stone online from percussionist Mickey Hart:

- Another pitfall of political rocking: a background check. “It gave me pause when I had to get a security clearance to play a gig!” Hart says. So did they get past the security scan? “Oh, yeah, we don’t look so bad on paper. It’s not as bad as you might think.”

"We don't look so bad on paper." Classic.

-mrjackstraw

The Dead to tour in 2009

Taken from www.dead.net:

Happy New Year, everybody!! Hope and change are in the air! So what better way to kick off 2009 than to confirm what’s been buzzing in the rumor mill for some time: The Dead will be touring for the first time in more than four years, with nearly twenty shows spread across a month from mid-April through mid-May! Details will be announced here soon, so keep your eyes on dead.net!

The lineup for this edition of The Dead will be the same one that rocked the house at Penn State last fall at the Obama benefit: The Core Four of Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann, joined by guitar monster Warren Haynes and RatDog keyboard ace Jeff Chimenti (both veterans of the 2004 Dead "Wave That Flag" tour). The mood of the band for this Spring Fling is way up, so it’s sure to be a great tour!

Dead.net will be your official hub for ALL news about the tour, including dates and ticket info... and perhaps even a few surprises along the way!

So gas up the Tourmobile, get out that really wild tie-dye--you know, the one with the red spiral melting into the purple and green that’s in a heap of clothes in the back of your closet--and start getting into Show Shape!

You know it’s gonna get stranger, so let’s get on with the show...

April 12 Greensboro NC Greensboro Coliseum
April 14 Washington DC Verizon Center
April 15 Charlottesville VA John Paul Jones Arena
April 17 Albany NY Times Union Center
April 18 Worcester MA DCU Center
April 19 Worcester MA DCU Center
April 21 Buffalo NY HSBC Arena
April 22 Wilkes-Barre PA Wachovia Arena @
Casey Plaza
April 24 Uniondale NY Nassau Coliseum
April 25 New York NY Madison Square Garden
April 26 Hartford CT XL Center
April 28 E. Rutherford NJ IZOD Center
April 29 E. Rutherford NJ IZOD Center
May 1 Philadelphia PA Wachovia Spectrum
May 2 Philadelphia PA Wachovia Spectrum
May 5 Chicago IL All State Arena
May 7 Denver CO Pepsi Center
May 9 Los Angeles CA The Forum
May 10 Mountain View CA Shoreline Amphitheater

So pretty exciting. Truckin' off to Buffalo I guess.