NEW YORK, NEW YORK -- Saturday Night in NYC with the Dead ... sounds like an epic evening to say the least. In preparation for the event, we started a new Dead tradition: the Dead Draft. Since we were in New York City with Radio City Music Hall right nearby, we figured it would be a good idea to 'draft' five songs apiece for all three attendees that we anticipated they would play that evening. With the Dead you have an extensive song inventory with well over 200 songs that could pop up in the show that evening. In order to select songs correctly, the Deadhead would need to have an extensive knowledge of the Dead repetoire and understand the frequency of plays in addition to what songs had been played recently.
The rules were as follows:
- No Drums and Space (you smartass Drew)
- The song must be actually played and not 'teased'
- Whoever selects the most correct songs wins the pot, in this case that pot equaled $15, or just enough to buy about 1/3 of all the nasty NYC food we consumed immediately after the show
- The Over/Under on correct songs was set at 2, which allows for additional side bets if desired
The draft followed and resulted in the following list:
Drew-
Cassidy
Althea
China Cat
US Blues
Feel Like a Stranger
Adam-
Ship of Fools
Help on the Way
Franklins Tower
New Minglewood Blues
Casey Jones
Steve-
Other One
St. Stephen
The Eleven
Another Saturday Night
Lovelight
The first set played out with eight songs as the Dead got cranked up. The set started very slowly, but picked up and peaked with an 18 minute Sugaree that closed the set.
First Set:
Disc One/Set One:
Intro
Cosmic Charlie
China Cat
Shakedown Street
Ship of Fools
He's Gone
Cassidy
Sugaree
After the first set score: Drew 2 - Adam 1 - Steve 0
The second set opened with Drums/Space, which is somewhat of a departure from convention. From there, an outstanding sequence of epic classics ensued with The Other One through to St. Stephen and a slightly watered-down version of my all-time favorite 'The Eleven.' Maybe the unexpected highlight came with a version of the Stones classic 'Gimme Shelter.' A favorite encore of Brokedown Palace calmly closed the night and allowed us to reflect on a weekend of the 'Ship of Fools,' freaking out the nuns, pantless techno parties, late night NYC fare, Gray's Papaya, and Hoboken.
Second Set:
Drums/Space
Crypitical Envelopment
The Other One
Born Cross Eyed
St Stephen
The Eleven
Uncle John's Band
Unbroken Chain
Gimme Shelter
One More Saturday Night
Donor Rap
E: Brokedown Palace
Final Score: Drew 2 - Adam 1 - Steve 4
In my opinion, calling 4 of 5 songs at a Dead show is an amazing feat in itself. If they would have closed with a Lovelight encore, I would have nailed all five. I thought for sure it was coming too ...
Check out the show here:
http://www.archive.org/details/thedead2009-04-25.jwmod.akg.469.v2.sd722.suraci.sbeok.flac16
4 out of 5 Steve? Nice work, I'm seriously impressed! Given the fact that Drew picked Cassidy (not exactly a common song), I'd say you guys were checking out set lists before the draft (not that there's anything wrong with that). I'll give this show a listen today in anticipation of my journey west to see the Dead in their true element, the Bay Area!
ReplyDeleteAlso, He's Gone has shown up in both set lists reviewed on TSAD so far. I'm going to pray every night for them to play that song on May 10.
ReplyDeleteI forgot you got all 4 of your pics in the 2nd set. Only because you stole from me, One More Saturday Night. Great show at the Garden, glad to experience it, as well as the Ship of Fools.
ReplyDeleteOne more thing... Steve I know you love The Eleven, here's a great version in the middle of an AMAZING second set that I was lucky enough to witness in person:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.archive.org/details/phil2006-07-21.AKG481.FLAC16
Also, if Donna sang as well as Joan does on this recording, the 70s dead shows would never have a bad thing said about them. The duet with Phil on Stars Go blue is incredible and she even nails the Jerry classic Stella Blue.
'Ship of Fools' eh? I was able to catch most of it the archive - great stuff - can't wait for the show by the bay on Mother's Day! Stew, you up for a little draft of our own?
ReplyDelete