For their fourth and final show in the Empire State, Dead and Company made their annual stop at Saratoga Performing Arts Center, hallowed ground for seeing the Grateful Dead in the 1980s. And much like the Dead shows at SPAC in the 80s, the venue was as packed as ever, hosting a sold out crowd of 25,103 – a few short of the record set by the Dead in 1985.
On Friday, August 27, Deadheads of all ages – grandparents bringing their grandkids, parents going with friends, college kids meeting up with uncles and aunts, or just locals looking for a night of classic American music – filled in every corner of SPAC, and in this era of social distancing, the crowd at times felt like there were more than 25 thousand in attendance. Early entry was a smart move this night, as COVID-19 vaccine checks as well as ticket/security checks slowed entry down for many. If you’re attending a sold out show at SPAC this summer, the best move you can make is go in early and avoid the rush.
photo by Conor McMahon
Once inside, the Saratoga Springs crowd was as boisterous and congenial as you’d expect at a Dead and Company show, let alone a Phil and Friends, Ratdog, Billy and the Kids, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, Dark Star Orchestra, or any other Grateful Dead side-project/tribute band. That’s what makes these shows so appealing to so many – you get that same wonderful vibe from those around you, all of whom are there for the music and allow themselves respite from the daily grind.
That collective release was felt when Dead and Company dropped into “Shakedown Street” to open a show, a resounding statement that tonight was going to be a barnburner. With Bob Weir wearing ‘Bobby Shorts,’ and Oteil Burbridge donning Section 119 shorts, even the band knew it would be a hot one. The “Bertha” that followed maintained the momentum out of “Shakedown,” which wound down so Weir could play a couple of acoustic numbers, the beautiful “Peggy-O” and “Me and My Uncle,” both of which were tour debuts.
photo by Conor McMahon, Oteil’s shorts by Section 119
Would be captain John Mayer took over vocals for “They Love Each Other,” and on “West L.A. Fadeaway” successfully pushed for a second jam with the help of Jeff Chimenti on keys. The set closing “Bird Song” was played at such a slow tempo it took Weir six minutes to get to the lyrics, while he and Mayer struggled for direction throughout the rest, clocking in at 22 minutes for the longest song of the night.
Set 2 opened up with “Let the Good Times Roll,” evoking memories of the show opener on “Downhill From Here,” and driving the bus towards “Scarlet Begonias,” which was paced at times as it meandered over 13-minutes. Surprisingly, “Help on the Way” arrived when “Fire on the Mountain” was expected, cranking up the energy once again, and diving into a “Slipknot” that was exploratory courtesy of John and Oteil, and is well worth a listen below. When “Fire” finally arrived, it lit the crowd up in a haze for 10 minutes, before an exodus of fans made their move towards the back of the lawn or parking lots with the onset of “Drums.” Oteil joined Rhythm Devils Bill and Mickey for the a tribal interlude, followed by Mickey getting to work on The Beam for “Space.”
Upon the band’s full return to the stage, “Cumberland Blues” brought the crowd back to their feet, then giving them a chance to rest during “Days Between,” the final tour debut of the night. “Not Fade Away” would close the set, bringing Buddy Holly’s lyrics to echo across SPA State Park and beyond. To balance out “NFA,” an encore of “Black Muddy River,” while soulful, zapped the energy that had been flowing all night.
While an up and down show tempo-wise, Dead and Company were energetic and polished throughout. It would be difficult to find a fan of the Grateful Dead who didn’t enjoy this performance at SPAC, or elsewhere on this tour, one that comes at a needed time for the fans after many months without live music.
Set 1: Shakedown Street > Bertha, Peggy-O, Me and My Uncle, They Love Each Other > West L.A. Fadeaway, Bird Song
Set 2: Let the Good Times Roll, Scarlet Begonias > Help on the Way > Slipknot! > Fire on the Mountain > Drums/Space > Cumberland Blues > Days Between > Not Fade Away
Wednesday, July 28th brought the 2021 season of Albany’s Alive at Five to a close. The weather was perfect, and for the first time this season, the concert was held at its usual location, Jennings Landing. Albany’s own Joe Mansman and the Midnight Revival Band opened for 80s hair metal band Warrant who celebrated the 30th anniversary of their second and most successful studio album Cherry Pie. Check out the set list and photo gallery below.
Setlists
Warrant: Sure Feels Good To Me, Love in Stereo, Bed Of Roses, Your The Only Hell Your Mama Ever Raised, I saw Red, Song And Dance Man, Mr. Rainmaker, Blind Faith, Train, Train, Down Boys, D.R.F.S.R, Sometimes She Cries, Louder Harder Faster/Machine Gun, Heaven, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Cherry Pie
Joe Mansman & The Midnight Revival Band: Moon Vixen, Sellout, Live For Thrills, Renegade Love, Cut Out My Tongue, Below or Above, Wild Woman, Take It Easy, Lips On Fire, Dead As It Gets, Reap and Sow, Blood Grain Cocaine, Cheap Looks, Revels, Dagger
On Wednesday July 21st, Albany’s Alive At Five Concert series returned to the rain location under the 787 overpass. This week featured Albany’s own Funk/soul band, Hartley’s Encore, as well as Yam Yam, a Jam/Funk/soul group from Harrisburg, PA.
Check out the Setlists and photo gallery of the evening below. Alive at Five will hold their final FREE concert of the season on Wednesday, July 28 with 80s hair band Warrant, with Joe Mansman and the Midnight Revival Band opening the night.
Hartley’s Encore: Feels So Good, Burnin, Mary Jane*, Bright Light Shining, Eyes Open, All to You, Move on Up*, Hartley’s Encore
Yam Yam: Cashew Reprise, Cashew, Juice Box, Big Bird, Grease Trap, Star Dog , Vulphie, Boogie On Reggae Woman*, Not My Dog, Central Station, Roy, ’94, Dinnertime, Kamal, Cory Wong*, Sizzle, Medusa’s Crisco, Treason, I’ll Be Right Here
On Wednesday, July 14th, Albany’s Alive at 5 concert series featured two acts native to upstate New York, indie folk-pop duo, The Sea The Sea, and Folk-rock, multi instrumentalist Amy Helm.
For the third week in a row, the concert was held at the Rain location under the 787 overpass. Despite the uncooperative weather, attendance was near capacity. Check out the setlists and photo gallery below.
Alive at 5 returns this week, Wednesday, July 21, with Hartley’s Encore and YAM YAM.
Setlists from Alive at 5 with Amy Helm and The Sea The Sea
The Sea The Sea: I’ll be loving you, Rainstorm, A thousand years, Broken, In the altogether, Back to the wild, Not the same as goodbye, The meaning of love, This is the way, Love we are we love, Let our Kites Fly, Nothing Brighter, The Art of Feeling, I’m so Lonesome, Stumbling Home, Everybody, Fall before the climb
Amy Helm: This Too Shall Light, Heat Lightning, Breathing, Rescue Me, Roll The Stone, Carry It Alone, Calling Home, Cotton On The Cane, Running Out Of Love, Wait For The Rain, Terminal B, He Called Me Baby, Atlantic City, Didn’t It rain, Sweet Mama
For the second week of the City of Albany’s Alive at 5 concert series, funk was on the lineup and Soule Monde and company delivered. Moving to the rain location at the boat lunch under 787, the night started on time with Victory Soul Orchestra, who have been on the rise over the last year with memorable streams and now, live performances.
Headlining Alive at 5 tonight was Soule Monde, featuring Russ Lawton and Ray Paczkowski from Trey Anastasio Band. The drums and keys duo sounds more like a full band and got the ample crowd up and moving. Deep funky Afrobeat influenced rhythms framed much of the performance, one that paused for 15 minutes following the song seen below, and then continued until the 8pm curfew.
Alive at 5 returns next week with Amy Helm headlining, and The Sea The Sea opening the night.
Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) was alive once again on June 18, as Trey Anastasio kicked off three nights of acoustic shows with some friends along for the ride.
On Friday night, Trey welcomed Beacon Jams stars the Rescue Squad Strings and Jeff Tanski for eleven songs during the show, while performing another eleven solo on acoustic guitar. The songs included Phish numbers, as well as one of Trey’s new quarantine home recordings, “Lost in the Pack.”
Trey told stories during the performance, asking the audience what they’d been up to since Mexico, the last Phish shows held in February 2020. Trey gave nod to HBO’s Succession Season 2 for best viewing this past year, as well as Marc Rebillet’s vaccine song.
The crowd, held to 30% capacity (due to live performance restrictions at the time of announcement) skewed slightly younger, with crowd pleasers “Everything’s Right,” “Turtle in the Clouds” and “Sigma Oasis” elating the audience, the latter especially with the line, “Take off your mask.”
Fans were treated to two lengthy compositions with the Rescue Squad Strings and Tanski with the early composition “Fluffhead” and the more recent “Mercury,” both wowing the crowd, the latter making its acoustic debut along with the Anastasio/Tansky duet of “Split Open and Melt.”
A show closing “First Tube” gave a nod to the late Tony Markellis, as Anastasio said, “With deepest love,” for the former TAB bassist and longtime resident of Saratoga Springs.
Set 1: Wilson [1], Alive Again[1], Stash [2], Water in the Sky[2], Lost in the Pack[1], Back on the Train[1], Sample in a Jar[1], Sigma Oasis[1], Theme From the Bottom[1], Shade [3], Fluffhead[2], Mercury [4], The Inlaw Josie Wales[2], Turtle in the Clouds[1], Maze[1], Snowflakes in the Sand[1], Everything’s Right [5], Split Open and Melt [6], Joy[2], Harry Hood[2]
Encore: More[1], First Tube[4] [1] Trey on acoustic guitar. [2] Trey on acoustic guitar; with the Rescue Squad Strings and Jeff Tanski on piano. [3] Trey on acoustic guitar; with Jeff Tanski on piano. [4] Trey on acoustic guitar; with the Rescue Squad Strings and Jeff Tanski on piano. First acoustic performance. [5] Trey on acoustic guitar. Started and stopped before being played in full. [6] Trey on acoustic guitar; with Jeff Tanski on piano. First acoustic performance.
Saturday night found Trey and a full house at SPAC for round two. Phish bandmate Page McConnell stopped by late in the evening, surprising fans for a few songs.
Just before the encore, Trey thanked the audience, crew and friends and spoke about the late Tony Markellis.
Tony will always be a part of all of our lives. He of course, Saratoga resident and native. Page reminded me backstage of a fact that was quite true that I had forgotten. His absolute favorite song in the repertoire of all of this groups of friends who play together is this next song. He just loved this one. One of Page’s favorites too.
Trey Anastasio
And with that, “Sleeping Monkey” was played by Trey and Page, with the crowd letting out a laugh, and later singing the “home on the train” part in unison. For the final songs of the encore, Trey brought Jeff Tanski and the Rescue Squad Strings as Page stepped off, closing the night with “If I Could” and “Say It To Me S.A.N.T.O.S.”
Set1: Set Your Soul Free, Blaze On, I Never Needed You Like This Before, Esther#, Brian And Robert*, Wolfman’s Brother*, Divided Sky*, Driver, When the Words Go Away, Twist, Foam#, What’s the Use*, Chalk Dust Torture, Sand#, Pebbles and Marbles*, Lifeboy*, Backwards Down the Number Line, Limb By Limb, Mountains in the Mist^, Sleep^, Waste^, Sleeping Monkey^
Encore: If I Could$, Say It To Me S.A.N.T.O.S.
* – with Rescue Squad Strings + Jeff Tanski # – with Jeff Tanski ^ – with Page McConnell $ – with Rescue Squad Strings + Page McConnell
For the third and final night of acoustic performance at SPAC, Anastasio spent the longest day of the year focusing intently on playing and less time sharing stories. On the 17 year anniversary of one of Phish’s most notable SPAC performances, Anastasio gave the date fresh significance as acoustic debuts of “Reba,” “Drift While You’re Sleeping,” “You Enjoy Myself” and “Tweezer Reprise” were the specials of the day.
With the mantra of ‘Never Miss a Sunday’ show holding true through a pandemic, Trey kicked off the show with an unexpected Father’s Day opener in “Carini,” noting afterwards this was a Father’s Day song with the lyrics “he went across the street and called his dad,” the ends seemingly justifying the means.
A spirited acoustic version of “Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan” had a nice jam at end that worked its way into “Free” which had cheers throughout for “I feel the feeling I forgot.”
For the first acoustic debut of the night, “Reba” featured a duet with Jeff Tanski on piano, who added in a little ragtime style in the first third of the composition. The incredibly intricate song, one that Anastasio recently mentioned on Alive Again (Osiris Network) took the pair on a complex journey through one of Phish’s oldest fan-favorites. Anastasio noted afterwards that it was Tanski who helped him through the pandemic by playing together for 4-5 hours daily in a small practice space in New York City.
Welcoming back The Rescue Squad Strings – Katie Kresek and Maxim Moston on violin, Rachel Golub on viola, Anja Wood on cello – Anastasio dove into “Strange Design” and the debut of “Drift While You’re Sleeping,” the crowd moved by lyrics “It’s love, it’s love, it always was. And it is and it always will be love.”
Trey went solo for “Ghost” and “Farmhouse” before welcoming back Tanski for “Ghosts of the Forest” with aquarium-hued lighting and Anastasio hanging on the lyric “I’m drowning in my own mind” to the song’s morendo. The Strings returned for “Light” which used the blank canvas behind the stage to simulate a sunrise growing brighter as the song built towards climax.
“Bathtub Gin” and “NICU” had the audience singing along once again, followed by Tansky returning for two somber numbers in “Dirt” and “Miss You.” The Strings then came back again for the at-home composition from April 2020, “Till We Meet Again.” If there was any point of the evening where there was an interlude in the music, it was these previous few tunes, as the crowd would soon find out.
A solo version of “Tube” brought out big cheers for science, and with Tansky and the string section, fans were wowed with “The Lizards.” Debuting during the Beacon Jams in Fall 2020, the addition of strings to the fan-favorite had the song hitting a little different this evening. Paired with the “Slave to the Traffic Light” that followed, fans were blessed with two classic Phish songs plus strings in as intimate a setting as 30% capacity at SPAC could allow.
After a solo version of “Possum,” Trey read a sign saying “Play what makes you happy.” He obliged, playing “a little ditty that makes me happy,” that being “You Enjoy Myself.” The vocal jam afterwards was reminiscent of past performances with orchestras, such as at Carnegie Hall in 2009, with Anastasio standing in front of the canvas backdrop, his silhouette visible against orange and then blue light.
For the encore, Trey thanked everyone for three great nights, introduced the string section and Tansky, and moved into the Ghosts of the Forest ballad “Life Beyond a Dream.” The addition of strings to emotionally powerful songs from across his decades of performance stood out tonight, but the show closer, “Tweezer Reprise,” would be the icing on the evening as the first ever version with a string section, with Anastasio smiling ear to ear as the typical finale of Phish shows reigned supreme once again in the halls of SPAC.
Anastasio will perform two nights at The Beacon Theatre, June 22 and 23, the first shows with an audience at the famed venue since March 2020.
Set 1: Carini [1], Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan[1], Free[1], Reba [2], Strange Design [3], Drift While You’re Sleeping [4], Ghost[1], Farmhouse[1], Ghosts of the Forest [5], Light[3], Bathtub Gin[1], NICU[1], Dirt[5], Miss You[5], Till We Meet Again[3], Tube[1], The Lizards[3], Slave to the Traffic Light[3], Possum[1], You Enjoy Myself[4]
Encore: A Life Beyond The Dream[3], Tweezer Reprise[4] [1] Trey on acoustic guitar. [2] Trey on acoustic guitar; with Jeff Tanski on piano. First acoustic performance. No whistling. [3] Trey on acoustic guitar; with the Rescue Squad Strings and Jeff Tanski on piano. [4] Trey on acoustic guitar; with the Rescue Squad Strings and Jeff Tanski on piano. First acoustic performance. [5] Trey on acoustic guitar; with Jeff Tanski on piano.
