To Wrap Up 30-ish Shows in 30 Days, Grateful Music goes back to it's roots and revisits Memphis,TN 4-1-95

  Memphis, Tennessee. The Bluff City. The home of the blues and Elvis' hometown. The Grateful Dead reunites with the Pyramid on the final spring tour. The Dead always were more lively during Spring and this evening was no different.

 I Come in from Memphis, where I learned to talk the jive-4-1-95 Memphis,TN

Jerry in Memphis, 4-1-95

These shows were the first time that the Dead had been to Memphis since 72'. There are no recorded setlists or recordings of that show but the skinny is that the band was hassled so bad by the cops they swore they would never come back. Well, after what felt like an eternity of driving and sleeping in hotel rooms, I was finally going to get to see the Dead and then drive home without a map and sleep in my own bed! I was dating a girl whose dad worked on the board at the Pyramid, so I knew I was in for both nights. The first night, we had tickets in the mayor's booth, which is not where you want to be with a pocket full of smelly nuggets and a headful of LSD. So we quickly abandoned those seats but not before we filled our pockets with all the food we could and passed it out to hungry heads' for free, as opposed to the taxed venue food. I know for sure how much the Dead loved their fans because I heard from my girlfriend's dad that their rider was huge and most of it had to do with the fact that thousands of gypsies were about to show up on Memphis' doorstep. Little known fact, they were in discussions to play in Memphis in 96' for five-to-seven nights because the shows went off so well. Even though some dickheads tried to crash the Pyramid gates at the start of the show on the first night. I was already in the venue but they had to be traveling heads' because no one who had been to the pyramid would try to rush the doors. It's a GODDAMN PYRAMID! it's almost a fortress. There are ways to sneak in but no one who was dumb enough to brute force the Pyramid would have the brain power to try any other ways.

On to the music, Atlanta was fairly hot and I loved the Visions from the night before but there was no way to match the atmosphere and anticipation for the first shows in Memphis in twenty-three years. The cops stayed mellow and the scene blossomed and everyone was cool and it was the most blissful scene I had been to in a long,long time. With the river in the background, we had no idea that the band felt the same way. It also showed on the stage. I still have trouble deciding which night I liked better. The first night, the energy was unmistakeable. The "Hell in a Bucket" opener was a great opener and then a note-perfect,"Candyman" almost made me cry with pride. Jerry just nailed it. This was 1995 and everyone remembers the "tour from hell" in the summer but the spring tour was wonderful. After a wonderful "Candyman", the band broke out the very first "Take Me to the River", the Al Green classic, that Bobby does a great job of delivering and the band tacked on a nice little jam to the end. 

Jerry then countered with a wonderful rendition of "Lazy River Road", also sounding as good as he could in 95' and that was still pretty damn good. Check out the JGB shows from 95' if you think Jerry had completely blown his voice. After a nice Masterpiece, Phil surprised us with a well-sung "Childhood's End" which I happen to really like and the band was already firing on all cylinders. The set concluded with a "Deal" that wasn't the hottest one I've ever heard but was a smoking version for the tour. 

We took the time during the break to go back to the Mayor's booth and while most of them were watching the news or whatever, we reloaded up on food and passed out free food courtesy of the City of Memphis. So if you're one of those people that got one of those warm, gooey chocolate chip cookies, you're welcome and I hope you had a great show. Once the band came back after a "short break" they blew our collective minds with one of the best versions of "Foolish Heart" that the band ever played. After that came "Way to Go Home", one of my favorite Vince songs. Granted, that's the top of a very short list but this version rocked the house. Vince sang his ass off and the band was completely behind him, with great Jerry-ism's that flowed through the whole song. "Saint of Circumstance" got the call next and Bobby must have caught the ball from Vince and wasn't going to be out-shined. They drove a smoking Saint into "Eyes of the World" that was played at a breakneck tempo. It wasn't bad but I preferred the slower, more relaxed versions and this one seemed like it was almost a race to the end. It was a hot version but most of the heat came from the fact that it was at a fast tempo not that anything special was happening on stage. After a twenty five minute "Drums>Space" that sounded like the band was trying to levitate the Pyramid. They didn't know but just the fact that they were there already had the building shake, rattling, and rolling. 

After an interesting little journey the band rolled into one of my favorite ways out of space, "The Wheel". Once again, this was a high-energy, fast tempo version that was solid but not overwhelming. It was still good but the band was pushing the tempo instead of letting it build organically like the song did in earlier years. After "The Wheel" was rolling it snuck into another song that generally came out of space, "All Along the Watchtower". This is the one time that the fast tempo of the second set made sense and Bobby sang and played like it was a life or death situation and Jerry kept right up with him with smoking fills and a scorching solo that grabbed my attention because he was so obviously waiting to jump on it and once he grabbed it he rode it out and owned it. The song that came next was the one that sealed the deal. "Standing on the Moon" came up next and in a ten and a half minute version, Jerry laid it all out. He hit all the vocals and the cracks in his voice still give me goosebumps just thinking about it. I've heard people say that it doesn't belong in that spot. That's a Dew or "Days Between", etc. spot and SOTM doesn't have the weight to match up against a "Stella Blue" but on this one night in Memphis, it seared my brain and the crowd loved it. We all were waiting for an April Fool's Day surprise, the surprise was that ended the show. It didn't take much of a Head' to call the encore and Bobby poured all his weight into the "One More Saturday Night" that came up. 

This first night was just a taste and to know that there was one more show before the band was packed and gone made leaving the venue special. We had to be made to leave because the lights were up and the cops weren't all that concerned about making the parking lots empty, so we stuck around and had a blast in the parking lot. Does anyone else remember the guy rolling down the street in front of the Pyramid on a motorcycle, popping a wheelie, and then eating it about thirty yards down the street and getting cheers and then completely wiping out? He jumped up and screamed,"Hell Yeah" and the crowd went nuts. This weekend still stands out in my mind like a diamond and I wish it was the last shows I saw, instead of going on Summer Tour and seeing the trainwreck happen. Actually, that's a lie, I had a blast at every show I saw. Hope you enjoy the show and if you don't like 95' give this one a shot.

Greg Heffelfinger

"Take Me to the River" 4-1-95

Grateful Dead

The Pyramid Memphis,TN

4/1/95

Set One:

Hell In A Bucket 
Candyman 
Take Me To The River 
Lazy River Road 
When I Paint My Masterpiece 
Childhood's End 
Deal 

Set Two:

Foolish Heart 
Way To Go Home 
Saint Of Circumstance ->
Eyes Of The World ->
Drums ->
Space ->
The Wheel ->
All Along The Watchtower ->
Standing On The Moon 

Encore

One More Sat. Night

  

© 2016 Grateful Music LLC

Phish and B.B King and the Blues are all there and so is the Thrill on this 17-min plus Rendition of "The Thrill is Gone" in 2003.

B.B. King joined Phish in 2003 for a blues lesson for the fans at the Meadowlands in on this date.

 My partner in crime, Kevin Long, posted a video of Bobby Rush earlier and I was reminded of this moment in Phishtory. An almost 18 minute version of "The Thrill is Gone" which was just part of the three songs BB sat in for. One of those being a 23-minute version of "Every Day I Have the Blues". Just listen to the way Mike holds down the low end and Page creeps around the edges as "Blues Boy" King belts out his signature tune. One of the best of the numerous guests Phish has invited on to their stage.

Blues are the guts of rock music but Phish doesn't play rock music. They do Phish. Phish plays equal parts jazz, funk, rock, prog, bluegrass, etc. and this proves that they can stand on the stage with anyone.

(courtesy of phish.net)

This was in 2003. The King of Blues still had some pep in his step before he finally moved on. He may have passed but his legacy never will. Especially to the city of Memphis, where we learned to talk the jive. These streets are soaked in the blues and B.B. King was a King of these Memphish streets. Elvis may be the king of rock n' roll but the blues came first and there was only King of Memphis Blues and that was B.B. King and his trusty Lucille. 

"All I can do is wish you well..."



























© 2016 Grateful Music LLC

Umphrey's McGee in Memphis at Minglewood Hall on 8/18/2016: A Review and Setlist by Greg Heffelfinger

What else can you say about Umphrey's is that they put on a great show? Every time I've ever seen them they've rocked the house.

As I walked into the venue and picked up my ticket, I could hear the strains of "Ocean Billy" drifting out of the doorway. It was 8:36 and the show started six minutes previously, and they were already deep into the jam. I thought I would see more dancers but I heard a lot of people saying they had never seen them before. So UM needs to remedy that. The crowd was stunned. There wasn't much dancing but it was because they couldn't believe how amazing the band sounded and the lights had them hypnotized. The band weaved in and out of different tunes. By the time the band hit "Believe the Lie" most people had chilled out and I started to see dancing, happy faces instead of jaw-dropping looks of amazement. The band showed off it's jam face and it's love of metal and it's funk that the Memphis crowd was eating out of their hand. I stepped out to have a cigarette and their were people out there grooving too. Cigarettes and vapor smoke wafted out of the smoking section while people chatted about the how good Umphrey's was and they had no idea. I found that amusing. 

When I went back in through another door on house right, as the "The Floor" was starting. After "Kimble", it happened. The first time my jaw dropped that night. They started a note perfect "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi" by Radiohead. I can't say it was note for note because the band put their own stamp on it adding little flourishes that enhanced an already gorgeous song. They finished up the first set by going back into "Ocean Billy" Another great set of UM's in the books. Bookended by "Ocean Billy" and just what I needed.

courtesy of Aaron Bradley

 The second set started with just a couple of notes. However, those notes belonged to the incredible "Shine on You Crazy Diamond" which the crowd lovingly sang every word with the band. They definitely dug the Pink Floyd cover that kicked off a set that included another round of the funk/metal/jam that is Umphrey's stock in trade. After the lovingly played tribute to Syd Barrett, the band swung into the "40's Theme" and played after "No Diablo" it was hot as hell, from the crowd and the band. Wailing it's way through "Resolution" the band dropped the Tom Petty classic"Free Fallin" instrumental jam interpolated into the middle of the song. After that showing, the band brought out local boy that made good with his brother in The North Mississippi All-Stars, Cody Dickinson. They started "Booth Love" with Cody on percussion but UM's percussion team is so strong that Cody couldn't really find a place to fit in and only played for a couple of minutes. He then took the microphone and exhorted the crowd into singalong chants and after some hugs with the band, he stepped off. It was nice of the band to invite him up but it didn't really work. It didn't work not because of Cody, it didn't work for the best reason. Umphrey's McGee is so strong as a unit that there wasn't room for another percussionist.  

The band showed some fireworks in the second set. With the two guitarist playing with each other, Brendon playing on Jake's guitar while they both kept playing. Or maybe it was the other way around, it's a little hazy. Nevertheless, it was an amazing performance of musicianship. It was also just more proof of the virtuosity of this band. As the band played on during the crowd's blissful amazement, they swung into a smooth and beautiful "End of the Road" the band closed on a good vocal turn by Brendon Bayliss on "Bad Friday" and "Partyin' Peeps" ended another great show at Minglewood Hall in Memphis. Keep coming through town Umphrey's, there were many new fans made that night.

fan with a sign setlist from the band outside the venue. Score!

Umphrey's also offered something I had never seen from any band before ever. For a little extra, a fan would be provided with a set of headphones and an audio mix from the soundboard and a copy of the show in your preferred format. The band sounds amazing without it but for a little more to see the band with high quality headphones that work while you smoke outside and you hear what the sound engineer hears is an interesting idea and they are trying it out on this tour. This is a novel idea and a good idea for audiophile fans. So, the whole show was a winner from all perspectives, as far as i could tell. New fans were made and old fans were happy. That's how a good show should end.

Written by: Greg Heffelfinger

Set 1: Ocean Billy > Words, The Linear > Believe the Lie, The Floor, Kimble, Weird Fishes/Arpeggi, Ocean Billy

Set 2: Shine On You Crazy Diamond > 40's Theme, No Diablo, Resolution[1], Booth Love[2], End of the Road, Bad Friday

Encore: Partyin' Peeps

[1] with Free Fallin' (Tom Petty) jam
[2] with Cody Dickinson on percussion and vocals

(setlist from umphreys.com)

© 2016 Grateful Music LLC