And when the Dead, in all its forms, invites someone into the fold, people take notice, for we know they are worthy of our attention. And lately, it’s been George Porter Jr., a tie-dye clad, all smiles, funk, R & B bass player from New Orleans. Starting out in the ’60s with a simple placard, “Have bass, will travel,” George…
The show was a convergence of several notable elements: it was the first day of the 2020s, the ability to carry out an outdoor show in the middle of winter, and the show was Phil’s first full concert in 4½ months following back surgery and recuperation, since a one-set Phil & Friends performance on Aug. 11, 2019, at the Beach Road Weekend festival in Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., (he did play…
A new, cavernous San Francisco concert venue was put to use by Dead & Company on Dec. 30, and while it is the biggest indoor venue in Grateful Dead-hometown history, the party was no less enthusiastic. On New Year’s Eve, balloons would drop and a vintage plane would fly through the arena at midnight, but here on the 30th, the penultimate night of the year, Dead & Company delivered a…
Next came my personal favorite tune of the night, a cover of Jimmy Cliff’s “Sitting Here in Limbo” which many of us were turned onto by Jerry Garcia’s interpretations. Through all the fiery instrumental jams, classic bluegrass sounds mixed with psychedelic rock, it’s these types of covers that truly stand out and make this band special. Every word sung and note played are dripping with…
“Guitarmeggedon!” That is one of the words used by Devon Allman to describe the sheer volume of talent and amplitude displayed at Denver’s Mission Ballroom on December 8th. The metropolitan’s newest venue played host to the Allman Family Revival, a conglomerate of the Allman Betts…
