I was at the show last night in Seattle too! It was my first time seeing Phil since Jerry's passing. We were front row, right on the rail in front of Phil. I was very happy to see Alembic represented so nicely onstage. The guitar sounded great, but I must admit my attention was on Phil just about the entire time. The first set was pretty good but I could tell they were having some problems getting the fire going, but I was happy just to be seeing Phil again. When they came out for the second set, things just took off! It was sheer bliss. I couldn't believe how great they sounded. Truth be told, when I first heard of the Furthur concept I was very skeptical. It just seemed like they had become a cover band of themselves... as time went on I realized how much I missed hearing Phil in person and finally decided I would go see them since they were basically playing just down the street from where I live. I am now a convert! I LOVED IT!
I took my girlfriend who had never seen the Dead before... she grew up in Eastern Germany and they didn't get much choice of what they could listen to. I've been playing lots of music that is new for her and she was very interested in this Grateful Dead thing that seemed almost intangible in terms of describing the whole mythic culture surrounding it. Well, long story a bit shorter, she was charmed by the whole community vibe and was mesmerized by the music, as was I. We're going to see them tomorrow night in Portland and if we could we would go on Friday too! (any body got tickets?) Sorry for the rambling response but I thought I would share our experience. She thought the Alembic guitar was very sexy (she is very wise in that regard). There's just something special about Alembic's, and it goes beyond tone, or looks, or anything else you can name.... there is a magic deeply infused in Alembic. They were a very potent element of that great, cosmic swirl that was the 60's musical and cultural revolution, and that is one of the reasons I will always have a deeply seeded love of the Alembic company. They so beautifully represent that intangible, magical time! Some of that magic can be revisited by listening to CD's or DVD's.... or if you're really lucky, you can feel it in person, being created right then and there ... just go see FURTHUR! And if you need to touch the intangible, just pick up your Alembic!
