Furthur fans who visited the band’s website this morning were met with a message from the band –
To our loyal Furthur fans and members of the Furthur community at furthur.net, we’d like to thank you for a terrific ride. We’ll be closing up shop at furthur.net, and heading onward. Thanks for making the Furthur community a great place to hang out, and for coming out to the shows. We’ll all be keeping very busy over the foreseeable future, and it’s time to let Furthur take a bow. We enjoyed the ride more than we can possibly express. You can keep tabs on Phil’s activities at www.terrapincrossroads.net, Bob’s activities at www.bobweir.net and all Grateful Dead news at www.dead.net ”
It looks like the band that was the most recent and arguably its most successful incarnation of remaining Grateful Dead members has decided to call it a day and will be shutting down the website with no intentions of playing again. This news comes in the wake of the cancelled tour dates for Bob Weir and a recent collection of highly successful runs with Phil and Friends appearances at the Capitol Theatre in Portchester.
Since their start in 2009 when remaining Grateful Dead members, Bob Weir and Phil Lesh formed the band with the original lineup also including – John Kadlecik, Jeff Chimenti, Jay Lane and Joe Russo; they have enjoyed massively successful tours and headlined the cream of the crop festivals like All Good and Gathering of the Vibes; all well retaining the Grateful Dead scene that had been slowly dissipating after Jerry’s death in 1995. The band was named for the famous touring bus used by Ken Kesey in the ’60s. While Furthur played a large portion of the Grateful Dead catalogue, they did also put their own spin on things by covering songs from bands like the Beatles and Pink Floyd.
As sad as we are to see this band take its final bow, many feel blessed to have had the opportunity to see Weir and Lesh come together with new members to re-create the music of the Dead. They will be missed.
Last weekend Phil Lesh and Friends played their first of a five weekend residency at the storied Capitol Theatre, starting with a Halloween show. Highlights included spooky takes on “Death Don’t Have No Mercy,” “Sympathy for the Devil” and both versions of “Dark Star” with “Fire on the Mountain” sandwiched in between. An encore of Warren Zevon’s “Werewolves of London” ended the night, like the song did for The Grateful Dead in 1990 and 1991. The next night saw the band tackle “He’s Gone” which included an extended jam,”Mason’s Children” and a great encore of the run of “Help on the Way>Slipknot>Franklin’s Tower”. The two night run consisted of members John Kadlecik, Dan Lebowitz, Rob Barraco, Joe Russo, and Scott Law, while Nels Cline joined in on night two.
This coming weekend Phil will be joined by Eric Krasno, Joe Russo, and Chris Robinson Brotherhood featuring Chris Robinson, Neal Casal, and Adam MacDougall. This line up is surely to take the music towards a more psychedelic sound. The 2005 tour with Chris Robinson has been said to be one of the stronger line ups in the Friends history. Eric Krasno most famously played with Lesh and Russo in Central Park at an unannounced show almost exactly one year ago. The set last about a half-hour and consisted of primarily jazz-style improvisation. The theatre should be buzzing with feelings of the mid 60’s as soon as the band takes the stage on Friday November 7. Tickets are still availabe, but are limited in supply.
This five week residency is of course part of the deal that Lesh maybe with Peter Shapiro, owner of Relix, Brooklyn Bowl, and The Capitol Theatre. Although it looks like Phil won’t be performing 30 shows at The Capitol Theatre like first thought, he will be getting close after he closes the year out with help from Joe Russo’s Almost Dead. The PhilRAD shows take place on December 30 and 31 and are already sold out. At age 74 Phil Lesh definitely won’t be doing this for much longer, so if you have the chance to buy a ticket, take the ride and see the bassist when you get the chance.
Culled from a tour now represented by two box sets and a number of official releases, the new Grateful Dead vault release, Wake Up to Find Out captures the most famous and arguably the most powerful performance of the Spring 1990 tour taking place on March 29, 1990. This concert occurred during the middle night of a legendary three night stand at Nassau Coliseum, the site of many memorable Dead Head convergences. In Dead Head circles this particular tour is mentioned in the same breath as Europe 1972 and Spring 1977, well-known era’s containing musical alchemy occurring on a nightly basis.
The factor that contributes to making this particular concert even more unique is the addition of jazz saxophonist extraordinaire Branford Marsalis joining the band for one song in the first set and the entirety of the second set. As is usual for the Grateful Dead, when guest artists sit in it often drives the band members to new and unusual heights in their improvisations. In the case of Marsalis who was no stranger to jamming, he was indeed a virgin to Grateful Dead music, making his instant assimilation and dissemination of their music even more impressive. Wake Up to Find Out captures the Grateful Dead prior to their slow decent and at their final musical pinnacle. Following Garcia’s 1986 coma and 1987’s gigantic resurgence with the hit LP In the Dark, the Spring of 1990 is witness to a culmination of the group’s career coming to a head in a flurry of all-star performances.
Taken from the original multi-track recordings, the sonic clarity and definition on this release is unsurpassed. As this particular run of shows was being recorded for the eventual live release, Without a Net, all of the shows were being captured for posterity in a professional manner. This ain’t no bootleg. The high musical standard set during the playing of the tour was equaled by the recording method of the shows.
The concert and recording begin with the high tempo on-two punch of a “Jack Straw”/”Bertha” opener. Rough but ready and extremely high energy the band comes out swinging with a stinging duo of opening songs. The entire first set is typical of the era, which is to say played to an extremely high standard. The set is somewhat short but in this case quality outweighs quantity. After reaching an early summit with a fragrant and fat “Ramble On Rose” the first highlight of the set lifts off of the earth with a breezy and all time version of “Bird Song”.
Marsalis joins the band for an extended and delicately constructed version of the song in which his saxophone blends in with the band like a permanent fixture. Immediately Garcia and Marsalis trade feathery licks while Lesh and the drummers navigate the winds aloft, rising and falling with the altitude. It doesn’t take long for the band to generate a blustery convalescence of sound. Garcia switches to rhythm causing the jam to collect and disperse momentum. Once the tempo has been stated Mydland, Garcia and Marsalis weave their scaled discoveries into a slithering melodic dance. The song is driven by the breezes of inspiration, moving by its own accord, Lesh the main impetus constantly shifting the directive allowing for the soloists to create on an ever changing canvas. “Bird Song” soon gently returns to earth, headed toward the “Promised Land” and a rip snortin’ rock n roll conclusion to the first set. The rendition of “Bird Song” obviously got everyone off because as Marsalis prepared to leave after his appearance, he was notified by Lesh and other band members that he would be invited to join the band for the entirety of the second set. What a set it would turn out to be.
The second half begins with a patient and jazzy “Eyes of the World” built like the old days, this is actually the version that would end up being represented on the official release Without a Net. Finding the perfect tempo, this “Eyes” feels like the band has discovered the version they have been waiting their entire career to perform. Billy and Mickey tumble like rolling thunder and Lesh swings like a nimble club musician. Marsalis streaks across the landscape with transcendent melodic statements that not only play against Garcia’s statements but draw them in intimately before shooting across the bands percolating groove. Garcia uses his new-found MIDI capabilities to join Marsalis not only on guitar but on a breathy oboe.
In contrast to normal procedure the band segues into “Estimated Prophet” after a wonderfully strange wah-wah’d outro jam. Again, this “Estimated Prophet” is one of the better versions you will hear and an ace choice for Marsalis to play on because of its 7/4 time signature and jazz aesthetics. This is solid electric blue 1990’s Grateful Dead, containing tasteful true ensemble playing where the band interplay drives the jams, not individual soloing. This is what has and will always separate the Dead from other improv ‘Jam’ bands, their ability to listen and respond to the minutest musical detail and grow it into a stately sonic statement.
“Estimated” stretches like warm taffy, Marsalis drops out, Garcia starts to get strange and the jam has nowhere to go except for its natural resting place, “Dark Star”. The obvious choice to go after the delicious jamming that has preceded it, this “Dark Star” makes up the central meat of the set encompassing a pre-drums first verse, drums/space and a post space verse two. The band skips around the theme for a while making glorious statements. After the first verse is sung a kinetic ambiance settles on the band and they enter a sideways fusion flavored groove. A strange brew develops with the drummers getting especially excited by the proceedings by laying down a three dimensional dissonant rhythm. The central orbit of “Dark Star” is reached and the highlight of the concert is created with all members locked into an unseen influence. The jam takes on a tangible form, a pinwheel tumbling through a star filled transparent box that lacks gravity. Garcia thumbs through his diverse MIDI index hitting on multiple tones and even a “Close Encounters” vibe at one point while Lesh slides across wooden floors in his sock feet. Marsalis joyfully syncopates with Garcia tumbling into a multicolored ball of experimental scales, converging and then drifting away. The jam gets thick and heavy with quirky additions by Mydland and Weir before falling into a trippy drums segment and a spacious space horizon of bells, clinks, dings and other playful ‘noises’ by the drummers.
In all honesty I feel the band had busted their proverbial nut at this point as they move out of a foggy space and into verse two of “Dark Star” then into the joyousness of the “Wheel’. This is not negative in any way, I just feel had reached the end of their journey of discovery and now locked it into cruise control to rock the assembled crowd home. The band then blasts through “Throwing Stones” >”Lovelight” and the poignant encore of “Knockin on Heavens Door” – all played extremely well and find the band exhibiting the same enthusiasm in place since the opening numbers. Marsalis illuminates “Lovelight” with his sexy horn blasts, making the familiar brand spanking new as he has consistently the entire evening. The crowd walks dazed to the exits after the gentle closing of “Knockin On Heavens Door”.
Wake Up to Find Out is a wonderful document of a band getting a second and even third wind after an extended and influential touring career. The concert is possibly the finest of an era saturated with evenings always perched on the edges of musical genius. The addition of Branford Marsalis only increases the bands penchant for improvisation and originality. This 1990 concert can lock into any era of Grateful Dead music and compete with the finest nights the band ever played. The quality of performance, recording capture and song selection combine for a perfect and proper listening experience.
Phil Lesh will continue his exclusive deal with Peter Shapiro and The Capitol Theatre with a five weekend run throughout November. Unlike his other runs though these shows are only taking place on Fridays and Saturdays starting with a Halloween show on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1. This run will see a new cast of musicians play with Phil every weekend with the only constant being one of the best drummers on the scene, Joe Russo.
The first weekend of shows will have Dan Lebowitz, Rob Barraco, John Kadlecik and special guests. The Halloween show is sure to be special as The Grateful Dead always used to treat holidays with a nod and a grin. The following weekend of Nov. 7 and 8 will see The Chris Robinson Brotherhood and Eric Krasno join in on the fun. Chris Robinson is no stranger to playing with Phil over the years and Krasno joined Phil and Russo in Central Park a year ago. The third weekend of shows has some old friends coming to the stage in Larry Campbell, John Kadlecik, Teresa Williams, and Jeff Chimenti. The penultimate weekend has Keller Williams, John Kadlecik, and Jason Crosby bringing their take on the catalog. These two middle weekends may not be the shows most fans are going to try for tickets for first, but they will certainly be some of the more interesting shows of the run.
The final weekend will have Stu Allen, Anders Osborne, Marco Benevento, and special guests to cap off the run with Lesh and Russo. These last two shows are already gaining a lot of hype and it is well deserved as the cast of musicianship that is going to be on stage is impressive, and the idea of unannounced guests coming as well lets the mind wander of who else will join. All shows will be going on sale through the venue’s website on September 12th at Noon and will likely sell out rather quickly.
Anyone can tell you that putting on a music festival is no easy task; it takes months and months of planning. Each year is a fresh start to learn from previous mistakes and create improvements for everyone involved from volunteers, festival goers, musicians and more. After the inaugural four-day Lockn’ Music Festival, organizers have made some serious changes involving musical lineups, camping spots, vendors and hopefully less frustrating traffic jams. Check out ‘s own Nick Fitanides’ review and Phrazz’s photos of the last year’s Lockn’.
The 2nd annual Lockn’ Music Festival is set to take place Sept 4-7 at the Oak Ridge Estate in Arrington, VA with a star-studded lineup that is sure to make every second of the weekend count. This year’s artists include Widespread Panic, The Allman Brothers Band, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, The String Cheese Incident, Umphrey’s McGee, Phil Lesh & Friends, Willie Nelson and many more. Bob Weir & RatDog as well as Further were originally set to perform but recently Bob Weir cancelled all remaining shows for the forseeable future, including his appearance at Lockn’. To fill in the void, Lockn’ has booked Bill Kreutzmann’s Locknstep Allstars to Friday’s lineup plus funk masters Lettuce and two-sets from Umphrey’s McGee for Thursday. Lockn’ – the interlocking festival, features two side-by-side identical stages, providing a continuous flow of music with multiple sit in guest possibilities.
Click here for the weekend schedule so not to miss out on any of the music on the various stages. Check out the official Countdown to Lockn’ 2014 playlist on soundcloud.com with 19 tracks featuring many of the artists performing this year.
New this year will be the festival layout with the addition of a 385 acre farm located next to the current festival site. The new use of fields and woods for camping means that all campsites will now surround the concert site, making them almost a mile and half closer than last year. With the new farm fields, the traffic plan will now allow better site access and hopefully less congestion plus pedestrian and vehicle interactions will be greatly minimized. Also new this year is the on-site Biking program, giving people the chance to explore over 30 miles of bike trails as well as a convenient way to travel from camp site to the main stage. Guests are encouraged to bring their own bikes but may borrow the top of the line mountain bikes brought in by Snowshoe Mountain Bike Park with plenty of bike racks throughout the festival grounds.
Lockn’ recently had their liquor license revoked by the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) due to last year’s undercover ABC agents witnessing hundreds of instances of inappropriate drug/alcohol use. This is not the final ruling, the license remains active until the 30 day appeal. Hopefully, everything will work out because Lockn’ is partnering with Sixpoint and many other local craft vendors to bring Brewers Village, a separated section of the festival for fans to enjoy a nice cold one.
Tickets are still available for general admission, VIP Packages, student tickets and single day tickets. Unfortunately, RV camping tickets are already sold out as well as preferred tent-only camping tickets. Each ticket requires a GA camping pass with various prices depending on your camping situation between tent, car or forest camping.
With the Grateful Dead’s 50th anniversary slated for next year it’s starting to look like a true reunion tour is a possibility.
Founding member Bob Weir as quoted in Rolling Stone: “We have to do something commemorative, I think we owe it to the fans, we owe it to the songs, we owe it to ourselves.” and “If there are issues we have to get past, I think that we owe it to ourselves to man up and get past them.”
Since Jerry’s death in 1995 there have been two partial reunion groups – The Other One’s in the late 90’s, and The Dead which last hit the stage in 2009. Since then, remaining members have remained at arm’s length in the split faction’s of Furthur (Weir/Lesh) and the Rhythm Devils (Hart/Kreutzmann) barely on speaking terms. Lesh has also stated he is retiring from “the tour bus” after 2014.
There are definitely remaining hurdles to cross, but any glimmer of an original lineup Grateful Dead reunion tour should have fans salivating with heady hope. Stay tuned…
Coming hot off of the heals of eight great performances at The Capitol Theatre and two at The Brooklyn Academy of Music, Phil Lesh and Friends have added a new show at New York City’s Rumsey Playfield in Central Park on Wednesday May 28.
For this performance Phil’s friends will be Warren Haynes, Joe Russo, John Medeski, and John Scofield. All of these amazing musicians have played with Phil in prior incarnations of the friends band over the years. This show is part of the deal that Phil Lesh made with Peter Shapiro at the beginning of the year that is letting New York City Deadheads reap the benefits with plenty of music from the 74-year-old bassist. Tickets go on sale on The Capitol Theatre’s website on Friday April 25th and Noon.
Photo Credit: Scott Harris at the Central Park Jazz and Colors Festival 2013
Relix.com announced the “Friends” that will be joining Phil Lesh for 8 shows at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, NY, and as part of an exclusive deal with Relix, Phil & Friends will play a sting of shows at the popular venue, with the first set of shows in April 2014.
Today Phil’s “friends” were confirmed to be – For the first segment, Lesh will be joined by Furthur band mates John Kadlecik, Joe Russo and Jeff Chimenti as well as the husband/wife duo Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams. Phil’s band for the second segment will be made up of Russo, Kadlecik, Jackie Greene and Marco Benevento. A pre-sale for the Cap shows starts on Wednesday, February 5 at 10 a.m. ET with the general onsale to follow a week from today. These shows will take place in two segments: April 2 – 5 and April 9 – 12.
In addition, Lesh also has a visit booked to Shapiro’s new Brooklyn Bowl Las Vegas on April 18 – 20. His band for these shows will be made up of John Scofield, John Medeski, Joe Russo and Jackie Greene. Tickets to see Phil in Vegas go on sale tomorrow, February 1, at 1 p.m. ET via BrooklynBowl.com.
Since their start in 2009 when remaining Grateful Dead members, Bob Weir and Phil Lesh formed the band with the original lineup also including – John Kadlecik, Jeff Chimenti, Jay Lane and Joe Russo; they have enjoyed massively successful tours and headlined the cream of the crop festivals like All Good and Gathering of the Vibes; all well retaining the Grateful Dead scene that had been slowly dissipating after Jerry’s death in 1995. The band was named for the famous touring bus used by Ken Kesey in the ’60s. While Furthur played a large portion of the Grateful Dead catalogue, they did also put their own spin on things by covering songs from bands like the Beatles and Pink Floyd.
Today Phil’s “friends” were confirmed to be – For the first segment, Lesh will be joined by Furthur band mates John Kadlecik, Joe Russo and Jeff Chimenti as well as the husband/wife duo Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams. Phil’s band for the second segment will be made up of Russo, Kadlecik, Jackie Greene and Marco Benevento. A pre-sale for the Cap shows starts on Wednesday, February 5 at 10 a.m. ET with the general onsale to follow a week from today. These shows will take place in two segments: April 2 – 5 and April 9 – 12.