# Michael Franti & Spearhead at Barceló Grand Resort, February 16, 2018

[CID Entertainment](https://www.cidentertainment.com/) presents _Playing in the Sand_, featuring [Michael Franti & Spearhead](http://www.michaelfranti.com/)  
Beach Stage at [Barceló Maya Grand Resort](https://www.barcelo.com/en-us/hotels/mexico/riviera-maya/barcelo-maya-caribe/)  
[Carr. Federal Chetumal- Puerto Juárez Km. 266.3, Solidaridad, 77750 Playa del Carmen, Q.R., Mexico](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Barceló+Maya+Caribe/@20.4895066,-87.2486821,17z/)  
9:00 PM, Friday, February 16, 2018

[[2018-02-15|Back to the previous event!]] ☸ [[:#section2018|Up to the 2018 yearbox!]] ☸ [[:2018#February_events|Up to the 2018 event list!]] ☸  [[2018-02-17|On to the next event!]]
##  One Set

[9:03 PM lights down, band out]

01. [9:03 PM] _Hey World_ (_Don't Give Up_ Version)
02. [9:08 PM] _The Sound of Sunshine_ (w/Lisa from AUD)
03. [9:13 PM] _My Favorite Wine Is Tequila_
04. [9:18 PM] _I Got love for You_
05. [9:24 PM] _I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For_  
[JB swaps to uke]
06. [9:26 PM] _Say Hey (I Love You)_  
[JB back to guitar]
07. [9:32 PM] _the Flower_ (brand new song, first time played)
08. [9:41 PM] ? unidentified tune, lyrics: "Wave after wave"
09. [9:47 PM] _You're Number One_ (with little kid from audience)
10. [9:53 PM] _Show Me Your Peace Sign_
11. [10:00 PM] _Summertime Is in Our Hands_
12. [10:05 PM] _We Are All Earthlings_
13. [10:09 PM] _Good to Be Alive Today_  
[celebration of Wedding nuptials]
14. [10:13 PM] _Life Is Better With You_
15. [10:20 PM] _Another Brick in the Wall, pt 2_
16. [10:24 PM] ? unidentified tune, lyrics: "Stars burn brightest in the darkest night"
17. [10:33 PM] _Say Hey (I Love You)_ (repeated? or more likely I screwed up my notes...)
18. [10:40 PM] _Stay Human 2_
19. [10:46 PM] ? unidentified tune
20. [10:50 PM] _Imagine_ (band and audience sing-along to pre-recorded accompaniment)  
   
**Finale**
21. [10:56 PM] mash-up: _Walk and Don't Look Back_/_Casey Jones_  
[11:02 PM show ends; band off, but then back out after a minute to shake hands and take selfies with eager fans (like Ting!) waiting along the rail]

## Performers

* Mike Blankenship: keyboards;
* Jay Bowman: guitar, harmony vox;
* [Michael Franti](http://www.michaelfranti.com/): acoustic guitar, vox;
* Manas Itiene: drums, harmony vox;
* Carl Young: bass, harmony vox.

### Special Guest (t21 only)

* [Mickey Hart](http://mickeyhart.net/): drums.

## Notes

The first best thing to note for my experience of tonight's show was how loose tonight's crowd was: my guess is that from half to two thirds of the tour guests opted out of attending this gig. Seems kinda silly to me, but everyone's responsible for making their own calls on that count: more room for me to dance? Why thank you!!

The show seemed to be pretty much on par with previous Franti shows: the people who were into it we really into it, and the people who were new to the experience either bounced or groves or waved or sang along as the spirit moves them. I'm glad to report that most everyone up front was really enthusiastic -- that always makes for a better experience!

As Franti launched into _Sound of Sunshine_, he made a comment about needing help from the audience, and Lisa, the girl standing to my right, went absolutely bonkers, jumping up and down, waving and yelling. That must have gotten Michael's attention, because one of the crew then motioned her towards the steps that crossed the front rail, but Lisa was so excited that she simply launched herself over the barrier and into the arms of a surprised security dude. For a moment he had a "WTF" look, but the crew guy intervened, and a minute later, Lisa was up onstage dancing and singing along with Franti. I'm sure that was a vacation highlight for her!

As the show progressed, Franti made multiple trips into the crowd to sing from small 1m x 2m (?) or 4x8' (?) riser platforms that had been set up about 10 yards out from the rail, more or less inline with the right and left PA stacks. Given that the risers were only one step higher than the sand, we couldn't really see anything when he was out there except by watching the video screens, so after his first trek out, I didn't try turning around to follow the action directly. Nothing really to see except the top of Franti's head!

On a later trip out, Michael pulled a girl up onto the platform to dance who was wearing a beautiful yellow butterfly dress, and after hearing her say that she's just gotten engaged today, he got her fiance up to, and then announced that we were going to time travel into the future in order to bless them and help celebrate their wedding. Pretty cosmic eh? Unfortunately, before we could get to that part, things got a little hijacked by a woman wearing a beach-appropriate wedding dress who announced that she had gotten married earlier today. Yeah, well, la-di-da. Way to grab the spotlight from someone else lady: your moment had already passed.

During _Say hey I love you_ Michael called for more dancers onstage, and this time they sent the side stage VIP folks out: Oteil and his wife among them. The crew chief tried to get Mickey Hart out there too, but Mickey resisted, clinging to the lighting stanchion as if to anchor himself in place. Sissy!

Happily, for the final song of the night: a crazy mashup of the Peter Tosh/Mick Jagger collaboration, _Walk and Don't Look Back_ and the chorus of the Grateful Dead's _Casey Jones_, Mickey assented to play, and he stood behind Manas' right shoulder playing that side of the trap set: Tom Tom and cymbals, while Manas played the left. The split seemed to work pretty well -- maybe this is something drummers would know is trivial? -- to me it seemed kind of magical how they were able to share and stay out of each other's way until the very end of the piece. Fun!

{{:wip.png?nolink}}  **Whoa!**  This section is incomplete for now, sorry! {{:wip.png?nolink}}

* recording links

## Photos

Big thanks to Ting for taking pictures and putting together the awesome photo gallery!

### Barcelo sights

{{gallery>2018:2018-02?20180216-1*.jpg}}

### Dead and Company

{{gallery>2018:2018-02?20180216-2*.jpg}}

{{tag>music Michael_Franti_&_Spearhead Barceló_Maya_Grand_Resort Michael_Franti Mike_Blankenship Jay_Bowman Manas_Itiene Carl_Young Mickey_Hart}}

[[2018-02-15|Back to the previous event!]] ☸ [[:#section2018|Up to the 2018 yearbox!]] ☸ [[:2018#February_events|Up to the 2018 event list!]] ☸  [[2018-02-17|On to the next event!]]