StephenR with Stu Allen & Mars Hotel Berkeley

[StephenR]

I will be checking into the Mars Hotel for a gig with Stu Allen this Friday April 6th at the Ashkenaz on San Pablo Ave in Berkeley. Stu has been doing a series of gigs featuring one show from each Grateful Dead year starting with 1965. Friday we will be visiting the year 1973, one of my favorite years for the GD. I saw a lot of amazing shows that year and consider it a high point among the years I attended shows, 1969-1995. Would be great to see some of the local Alembicians if any of you can make it. If you are a Weir fan John "Stewball" Stewart is going to be handling the Bobby slot. John is probably the best Weir interpreter in the Bay Area. He is a good friend of Bob's and has taken many lessons from him over the years so he really knows all the parts and style.

http://www.ashkenaz.com/

Showtime 8PM
We are starting an hour earlier than usual so we have time for the entire show.

[David Houck]

Sounds very cool!  Enjoy!

[hieronymous]

I'm hoping to go for at least the first couple of hours - I'm happy it's starting early! I have such a busy weekend that I won't be able to stay out past my normal bedtime... Looking forward to the show though!

[lbpesq]

I'm out of town on Friday, but I'm hoping to get back in time to check it out.

Bill, tgo

[StephenR]

Thanks David!

Harry, a couple of hours and you should be able to catch the entire first set... Long shows back in the early 70s.

Bill, if you can make it back in time it will be nice to see you, been a while.

[lbpesq]

Stephen sings!!!!

I caught most of the first set, (a LONG set, just like in '73!) but had to split before the break or I would have said "hi".  The band sounded outstanding.  Lots of good '73 era tunes and arrangements, and our own StephenR sang "Box of Rain"!  I was glad I could attend as an hour prior to the show I was weaving my way through a multi-car accident evolving right in front of me on the freeway.  Several cars were careening back and forth across the lanes smashing into each other.  I felt like a slalom skier weaving around all the crashes - I don't know how I avoided it unscathed.  By far the most harrowing experience I've ever had in 45+ years of driving!  Talk about adrenalin!

Bill, tgo

[sonicus]

Stephen , I am sorry that I did not make it . I got all caught up tinkering with my sump pump in my basement and then with a bicycle project .  Bill I am very glad that you out maneuvered  the tragic possibilities and saved yourself from a bad scene !

[hieronymous]

I had a lot of fun - wish I could have caught the second set, first set had a lot of songs that I usually skip over (Promised Land, Beat It On Down the Line, El Paso, etc.) but Sugaree, Bird Song, Box of Rain, China/Rider were great! Like Bill I had to leave and missed the Playin in the Band set closer (at least I assume that was the last song of the set).


I wish I could have taken better pictures but I didn't want to draw attention to myself at the beginning to get a pic of Stephen's rig, and the best spot to watch him play with an unobstructed view was a dance zone, I prefer to stand by people not moving around so much so this is all I got:





Sounded great though! Here's the poster for posterity too:

[StephenR]

Moving very slowly so far today. Show last night was a lot of fun. I was amazed at how many people came out despite the truly awful weather. The load-out last night was one of the worst I can remember. By the time I was putting my gear in the car a bit before 2AM the rain was torrential. I got completely soaked and had to stand in a river of 6" deep water while putting stuff in my CRV. The drive home was tension filled, standing water all over the roads, crashed cars, police lights, ambulances. As I headed down 580 east through Oakland I could see that the entire westbound side of the highway was closed at one point with police cars and emergency vehicles everywhere and a line of backed-up cars sitting waiting for them to open the road again.

Thanks for coming down Bill, and for the compliments about the performance. Your freeway ride  sounds terrifying, so glad you were able to maneuver through safely! Wish I had had time to say hello. First set last night clocked in at 2 hours and 25 minutes. We took about a half hour break followed by a 90 minute second set and finished up around 1:30. Hope you caught the Bird Song in set one, it felt pretty special to us up on stage. Some really out-there and cool jams last night. 1973 was such a fertile year for the Dead.

Wolf, hope your basement stayed dry. Our garage didn't.

Harry, didn't realize you made it down last night, thanks so much for coming! Jen didn't see either you or Bill so we had no idea either of you were there. It is always great to see the dancers and spinners but all the movement can make it hard if you just want to stand and listen. There was someone on the rail last night who videotaped everything and was taking still shots simultaneously. Bob Cogswell recorded the show and it will be on the Live Music Archive soon. Video will be on Youtube.

Stu puts together a different band every night for the Mars Hotel shows so there is always an element of surprise for the audience and musicians. Here is the final line-up and set list.

Stu Allen - guitar
Jeannette Ferber - vocals
John Stewart - guitar
Mitch Stein - keyboards
Stephen Ramirez - bass
Sean Nelson - drums

3/22/73 Utica NY

Set 1
Promised Land
Sugaree
Mexicali Blues
They Love Each Other
Looks Like Rain
Deal
Beat It On Down The Line (5)
Bird Song
Jack Straw
Box of Rain
You Ain't Woman Enough
Race Is On
Row Jimmy
El Paso
China Cat Sunflower>
Feelin' Groovy Jam>
I Know You Rider
Playing in the Band
 
-/-
 
Set 2
Big River
Wave That Flag
Me & My Uncle
Here Comes Sunshine
Truckin’>
Nobody’s Fault But Mine Jam>
The Other One>
Eyes of the World>
Stronger Than Dirt Jam>
China Doll
Sugar Magnolia
 
-//-
 
One More Saturday Night
Casey Jones

[hieronymous]

Thanks for the setlist! I liked Row Jimmy too.


Sorry to hear you had such a rough load-out and ride home! I looked at a weather app during one of the last songs in the first set and the rain was a-comin'! I made it home before it really hit though.


Love that bass too - I forgot it was a small-body - is it short scale or medium or...? And low B? Do you have to remember not to hit the low B on the '70s shows?


Bass sounded great out front!

[edwardofhuncote]

So cool, these shows being re-created. 


I would love to try that one day.

[StephenR]

Hey Harry, bass has a 32" scale. Feels cramped in the upper registers to me especially after years playing 35" scale basses but it is a great sounding bass. Rosewood (or Cocobolo) has a warm deep tone to it that really works well for bass. I use the B-string all the time but, of course, unless you play a note below E you aren't hitting any notes that couldn't be played on a four-string. I did hit a number of low Ds the other night and the last note of the last song was a low C. Funny I was thinking while I was playing that those notes did not exist on any basses (that I am aware of) in 1973.

I was assured that the bass sounded great in the house despite feeling very tubby and weird at my position on stage. I was near the sub on that side and this was also the first time I played this room since they revamped the stage, it sounded very different to me. Bo Putnam was doing FOH for us and said that since they redid the stage he has a lot of problems with standing waves coming from the bass since the new stage is much more resonant. He asked my about my DI, I always bring my Avalon U5, for some reason he does not remember that I have used it on every Stu gig I have done with him over the last five years. He said my DI had an incredibly smooth and deep sound, part of that is definitely the Avalon but I am pretty sure this is the first time Bo has heard my Series bass.

Gregory, you guys should work up full classic Dead show done bluegrass style. Would be really cool. There is also a new Jerry Garcia release forthcoming of all the existing recordings of pre-Dead Garcia music with the various bluegrass bands he worked in. A night of the Jerry bluegrass era stuff would probably be a lot of fun to play and would draw a good sized crowd. Or do an entire night of Old and in the Way material, pretty sure that the first album is still the best selling bluegrass release of all time.

[lbpesq]

The bass sounded great from the audience perspective.  In fact all the instruments could be heard - excellent FOH mix.  And yes, the Bird Song was sweet!

Bill, tgo

[rv_bass]

That’s a beautiful bass, Stephen!

[StephenR]

Tomorrow (Thursday) I will be checking into the Mars Hotel for another gig at the Ashkenaz in Berkeley. Since we will be covering a show from 1988 it seems only fitting that I play my Alembicized "88 Modulus Quantum five-string. This will be the first time I have played it on stage since it was back at the mothership last fall to have an electronics upgrade. I will also be debuting my new bass rig and I am pretty sure Stu will be playing his brand-new "Rosebud" replica guitar. Also psyched that the rest of my buddies from CRYPTICAL will be on this gig, should be a lot of fun!

"If you come, we will build it"

Grateful Dead Night #288

Thursday July 25, 2018
The Ashkenaz Music and Dance Club
1317 San Pablo Ave, Berkeley

7:30 - doors
8:00 - Stu Allen & Mars Hotel

This show will be a retrospective of a Grateful Dead show from 1988.

This Week's Lineup:

Stu Allen - guitar
Barry Erde - guitar
Mitch Stein - keyboards
Stephen Ramirez - bass
Shaun Wilson - drums
Pete Lavezzoli - drums