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| Bob Weir performing "I Know You Rider" |
I had never been to The Wiltern
before, and I was struck by how friendly the
staff was, at least all the folks I came in contact with. Apart from the
parking attendant. That guy was a dick. But I don’t know if the garage is even
associated with the Wiltern. Could be a different set of employees. And while
I’m on that, $25 seemed like a lot to pay to park in that little garage, and then to
be told I had to squeeze my wagon into a compact spot when there were plenty of
larger spots available. What a dick. But everyone else I talked with was really
nice, very relaxed. And the venue itself was nice as well. It’s not as
pretty or ornate as Pantages, but has something of that vibe, and is more intimate. And the general
admission floor area has a few different levels, so even if you’re toward the
back, you could have a good view (provided a basketball player didn’t plant
himself in front of you, of course – and there is one of those wandering about,
I am told, but I didn’t notice him at this show – geez, I’ve been in
parentheses long enough that I can’t recall what the hell this sentence is
really about – ah, no matter).
My friend and I picked a spot
maybe halfway back, and I stood with my left foot on the white tape that
indicated the aisles. I find that as I get older space is becoming more and
more important to me, and having people surrounding me is less and less
attractive. When we came in, one of the employees was putting tape on the floor
in a weird spot on the side, and she told me it was for the tapers. I didn’t
think the tapers would want to be there, and certainly none of them went to
that spot, as far as I could tell. But the tape on the floor reminded me of
that Lars von Trier film Dogville, in
which the whole set is basically indicated by tape on the floor. It gave
tonight a somewhat surreal feel to me, as the reality of the walls created by
the tape was dubious at best, unless we believed in it, and I definitely began
to believe in it. Plus, the usher near me enforced the walls’ reality. Which I
appreciated.
At 7:38, someone stepped onto
the stage, putting the set lists in place. It’s still a bit odd, the band
working from a set list. But of course, it isn’t that band, is it? It’s one
member. But still, even at the Dead & Company shows they have a set list.
It takes a bit of getting used to, doesn’t it? At 7:53, Bob Weir came out on
stage and started the show by himself, with just his acoustic guitar. He opened
with “KC Moan.” Nice start, but it was remarkable how noisy the audience was.
Bob Weir then started strumming the next tune, and it wasn’t until the vocals
started that most people recognized the song as “Loose Lucy.” Bob’s voice
sounded great, by the way. And behind him above the stage was a screen with
imagery of fields and so on. The audience sang along with “Loose Lucy,” and
they were excited, exuberant in their delivery of “Yeah” and – of course – “Thank
you for a real good time.”
Bob then talked about how fifty
or so years ago a fifteen-year-old wanted to run off and be a cowboy, and so
did, and that then led to “Blue Mountain,” the title track of the new CD, the
first song of the night from the album. And it sounded so good, performed solo
by Bob.
The band then came on for “Cottonwood
Lullaby,” another song from the new album. By then, the crowd had settled down
a bit. There was a loony near me who just couldn’t stop yelling pointless
comments, but eventually he was able to turn his comments inward, or find that
special calm within his particular brand of storm. Whatever it was, he did finally
shut the fuck up. And I figured he’d be in some other sphere for the second set
anyway, no way was he going to be able to remain in one spot without the music
transfixing him. Following “Cottonwood Lullaby” was “Lay My Lily Down,” one of
my favorites from the new CD, and the song that gave us the night’s first bit
of jamming. This was a great version, I always appreciate the banjo, and it was
followed by an absolutely wonderful version of another favorite of mine, “Only
A River,” with a river being shown on the screen behind the band.
The line from “Ghost Towns”
that always grabs me for some reason is “Love
comes and goes.” Something about his deliver, I suppose. Bob followed that with a somewhat relaxed “El Paso” and
then concluded the first set with “Gonesville,” featuring some great guitar
during the jam. The first set ended at 8:52 p.m.
When they came back on stage at
9:35 p.m. for the second set, my friend Jon and I tried to guess what they’d
open with. We were both wrong. They started with “Me And My Uncle,” and
stretched it out a bit, following it with “Jack-A-Roe.” That was good, but the
second set really started to get going with “West L.A. Fadeaway.” They sort of
eased into it, teasing it a bit, with a nice intro, and it was all accompanied
by some trippy images on the screen. This was a truly excellent rendition of “West
L.A. Fadeaway,” bluesy and sweet. At moments, Bobby would suddenly shift into
focus for me, and things would get more real, if only briefly. So it was best
to turn attention to the increasingly psychedelic images being projected on the
screen, a healthful dose of the unreal to remind you where you stand. The
audience sang along, but ahead of Bob, and I wondered a moment later if I didn’t
hear it correctly, but then here they did it again – are they singing along with
the album version playing in their heads? – things were getting weird, no question. This was a
delicious version of “West L.A. Fadeaway.”
John Mayer then came out on
stage to join in on guitar and vocals, something that had been a topic of
discussion during the set break (and even before the show), rumors and detective work (hey, isn’t that his
amp on stage, not being used?). Just try to keep that guy away. I love that he
is clearly in this for the joy of it. He’s here because there’s nowhere else he’d prefer to be, and his energy transferred immediately to the crowd as the band went
into “Jack Straw.” This was an excellent “Jack Straw,” and maybe I was a bit out
of it, but there was a moment where I thought the song had ended and they were drifting
toward something else, but it was back to “Jack Straw” that they went.
Fantastic version, really, probably the high point of the show. And during the
jam Bob switched to electric guitar. Bob switched back to acoustic for “Morning
Dew.” Joining the band for this song was Matt Berninger on vocals for certain
verses and sections. For a moment in my head I heard myself yammering from the
future, having already written the review and letting myself know I could read it
later (though when I got home, I found that wasn’t exactly the way it went or
was to go, but no matter). They ended the second set with “I Know You Rider,”
with Bob fooling with the lyrics a bit, coming in a bit early with
the “headlight” line before correcting himself and singing “The sun’s gonna shine in back door someday.” It was a fun
version. The second set ended at 10:36 p.m.
A minute later Bob came back on
stage to perform “Ki-Yi Bossie” solo, introducing it by telling us we’d gone
back to the range. Amy, the woman in front of me, had mentioned she wanted to
hear that one before the show, and was understandably excited when he started it. It’s probably
the most playful tune from the new album, and I love the line “I was looking for salvation, but nothing
caught my eye.” The band, including John Mayer and Matt Berninger, then
joined him again, and Bob introduced the band (with Mayer then introducing Bob).
Bob stayed on acoustic guitar, and they went into “Peggy-O.” They then wrapped
things up with my all-time favorite song, “Ripple.” The perfect ending to an
excellent night. I couldn’t have asked for more. The show ended at 10:58 p.m.
Set List
Set I
- KC Moan
- Loose Lucy
- Blue Mountain
- Cottonwood Lullaby
- Lay My Lily Down
- Only A River
- Ghost Towns
- El Paso
- Gonesville
Set II
- Me And My Uncle
- Jack-A-Roe
- West L.A. Fadeaway
- Jack Straw
- Morning Dew
- I Know You Rider
Encore
- Ki-Yi Bossie
- Peggy-O
- Ripple
I didn't take my camera with me because I knew I'd be dancing and didn't want to worry about it. So I tried a few shots with my phone, but I just can't get that little bugger to focus properly. It seems to have no interest in following my instructions. But hell, here are a few shots anyway.
Driving my friend home, the
familiar turned strange, and the munchies really overcame me, so by the time I
got to my place, I was interested only in snacking. First I ate all the rest of the
cheese in the apartment (except the cream cheese), finishing off a giant bag of
shredded cheddar, sharp, some of it falling onto the floor, and the counter,
and into the sink, before moving on to a box of Mike And Ike, and then a bag of
Mike And Ike (I hadn’t known that particular candy came in bags, but there it was). Still
not satisfied, I made myself a peanut butter sandwich. Then I looked for more
candy, finding a bag of M&Ms and eating them before devouring some peanuts.
By then, I was systematically finishing off everything I had in the
cupboards. It was like a little late-night project: clean the cupboards by
eating everything they contained. And you know, it’s disappointing when these projects are left only partially completed.
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| "KC Moan" |
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| "I Know You Rider" |
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| "Ki-Yi Bossie" |
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| "Ripple" |
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