Here goes Dave.
I hadn't been to the Chicago Theater since the early 90's, it's a beautiful venue that opened in 1921 and very intimate. It has a very ornate interior which added to the special feelings of the night.
They started off late, but opened with an amazing Box of Rain with Bobby and Phil, with a percussionist I'm not familiar with (Wally Ingram). Throughout the set the percussionist would appear and disappear like smoke. Other than that just Bob and Phil. It was very sweet, but very much like a bluegrass band show. The audience would start to sing and you couldn't hear Bob or Phil sing at some points. being a respectful knowing audience however, it the sing-along was tempered after the first few times (we wanted to hear them sing!) and didn't reach the same level. The boys totally knew what was happening, and realized we were out of their control so they just played along with it. The whole first set was very nice, and Bob and Phil really took the jamming to some "other" places I haven't heard in a long time. Super cool! Ended first set with Register to Vote speech, and their were desks to register in a couple places in the venue. Bobby: "So register to vote...unless you're happy with how things are going then don't bother!" that was it for any government talk.
Second set the percussionist was out the entire time, Jeff from Ratdog/Dead and Company on keys and...
Charlie Sexton Larry Campbell on guitar! That really surprised me in a good way. They brought the PA up to more of a concert level.
They played many Grateful Dead songs, along with some superior jams!!! Dark Star was a highlight, and gorgeous rendition of Hard Rain's Gonna Fall late in the set. All in the true Grateful Dead style with no holding back! Phil did an excellent Bird Song with a Jerry reference (something like a bird withing in HIM sang) and again, a super sweet jam in it. They were opening up the flower several times this show, it was not canned for audience enjoyment it was truly them playing their hearts. Charlie and Jeff did a fine job of filling those parts. Charlie played Mandolin and Mandola/Lute during some of the songs which was cool sometimes, but harsh others. Closed with Phil's organ donation speech (thank you Coty) and then closing with a rousing US Blues.
The interesting thing was the percussionist had no Kick drum. If you heard low tones (and we did often
) it was coming from Phil and no place else. Dream Fyre is an excellent sounding instrument! Case Closed! The show was very Grateful Dead, the Phil and Bob connection is still very apparent.
Last, I was in line to buy a shirt and when I got to the counter they had few shirts and pins with any dates on it. It was nice to realize this was a very very short tour, and I was finally here to see one. I missed all the Jerry and Bob tours back in the day, so it was great to catch a short one!
In closing, ticket scalpers suck. My tickets were overtly expensive after fees and whatnot. Seeing this show made it worth it, as I know these events are in limited supply at this point.
Now, on to Dead and Company at Alpine in June!!! Hope this review is taken with a grain of salt, and a tab of....
