Slim's presents This Is All a Dream We Dreamed: A Salute to the Grateful Dead
2015-12-20
Great American Music Hall
859 O'Farrell Street, San Francisco, CA 94109
8:00 PM, Sunday, December 20, 2015

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2015 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2015 event list! ☸ On to the next event!

Whoa! This section is incomplete for now, sorry!

[8:00 PM lights down, announcements; onstage: Paige Clem, David Gans, Jacob Groopman, Neil Hampton, Jeff Hobbs, Roger Sideman]

1. [8:02 PM] U.S. Blues (DG) [add Jason Crosby and Danny Eisenberg at very end]
2. [8:09 PM] High Time (RH)
   [-PC]
3. [8:18 PM] Deal (DG) ª
   [-DE, JC; +Jordan Feinstein; Melody Walker: acoustic guitar; RH swaps back to violin]
4. [8:26 PM] Loser (MW)
   [-JF; +JC, DE, Mo Sardella: electronic trap set]
5. [8:36 PM] Fire on the Mountain (JH)
   [-MW, JC]
6. [8:46 PM] Day Job (DG)
   [set ends 8:53 PM]

[9:09 PM lights down] [Melody Walker: vox; James Nash: g; Mark Karan: g;, Paige Clem: vox; Mo Sardella: dr; Robin Sylvester: b; Danny Eisenberg: keys]

1. [9:10 PM] Ramble On Rose (PC)
   [-MW]
2. [9:21 PM] It Hurts Me Too (PC) [-JN; +Pat Nevins: g; NH, DG, JF]
3. [9:31 PM] Catfish John (PN) [-JF; +JC]
4. [9:38 PM] Playin' in the Band (PN) [-All off but MS, RS; +JN, JF, Roger McNamee: acoustic guitar; JC: 6-string violin]
5. [9:53 PM] Big River (RM) [+PC]
6. [9:59 PM] Ripple (JC) [-JC, RM; +Maurice Tani: acoustic guitar; DE; Mike Anderson: bass; DE; NH]
7. [10:12 PM] Believe It Or Not (MT) [+DG, JH: a sax]
8. [10:19 PM] Stella Blue (MT) [-NH, MT, MA, DE, RH; +Joe Chirko: dr; Wayne Scheller: organ; JF, Robin S]
9. [10:27 PM] Bird Song (Mo S) [-JC, M, MS, RobinS, DG; +PC, MW, PamB, HenryK, Bob Bralove, Roger S, Matt Hartle, NH]
10. [10:41 PM] Good Love (MW) »
11. [10:50 PM] Mason's Children (DG/MH/MW) »
12. [10:56 PM] Good Love [-PB, MW, Matt H, HK, RS; +JN, MS, RobinS, DE]
13. [11:02 PM] Shakedown Street (JN/DG) [-PC, NH, BB; +PB]
14. [11:12 PM] You Win Again (PB) [+MW, PC, BB]
15. [11:17 PM] Ship of Fools (PB) [-PB; +MK, Matt H, DG > hvox]
16. [11:26 PM] Second That Emotion (MW) [-PC, MW, BB, DG; +RH: violin]
17. [11:34 PM] Death Don't Have No Mercy (MK)
18. [11:44 PM] Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues (MK) [+PaigeC, Matt H, DG, MW, Neil H]
19. [11:50 PM] Brokedown Palace (DG) [set ends 11:56 PM]

• Pam Brandon AKA Belle Monroe: lead & harmony vox;
• Paige Clem: lead & harmony vox ;
• Jason Crosby: piano, keyboards, 6-string violin, lead & harmony vox ;
• Danny Eisenberg: keyboards;
• David Gans: guitar, lead & harmony vox;
• Jacob Groopman: mandolin;
• Matt Hartle: guitar;
• Jeff Hobbs: violin, alto saxophone, lead & harmony vox ;
• Henry Kaiser: guitar;
• Mark Karan: guitar, vox;
• Roger McNamee: guitar, lead & harmony vox ;
• James Nash: guitar, vox;
• Pat Nevins: guitar, harmonica, vox;
• Mo Sardella: drums, lead & harmony vox;
• Roger Sideman: bass;
• Robin Sylvester: bass;
• Maurice Tani: guitar, lead vox;
• Melody Walker: acoustic guitar, lead & harmony vox.

Given that it was a dark and stormy Sunday night, I suppose the turnout for tonight's show was pretty good, but I bet the performers would have been psyched for a stronger turnout – my guess is that the venue was no more than half full tonight. On the other hand, those of us present were very enthusiastic…

And the many players offered us a good two sets full of choice Grateful Dead tunes – fulfilling the promise of tonight's program title. Of course, that title is shared by the new book that David Gans just put together, but except for a brief aside or two, the merchandising promotion part of the night was strictly soft sell – believe it if you need it, yada yada yada.

I particularly enjoyed Roger's rendition of High Time early on in the opening set from Sweet Blossom. Somehow it fit just right with my mood at that time. On the other hand, I'm not sure what to make of David's choice to close the set with Day Job. I get that there's a smidgen of humor in it that's bound to appeal to struggling musicians, but that's not enough to offset the lingering distaste of hearing it way too many times in the 80's. Funny how those (bad) feelings come rushing right back, eh? I guess I ought to needle David about it next time we see him… I'd say the tune needs to rest at least another decade or two!

After a relatively brief break – all the better to keep the crowd from slipping away! – the show resumed with the rotating casting I expected for this event. It's not necessarily the best format for delivering a powerful presentation, but it certainly fun to hear how a variety of players react to one another in sharing their varying interpretations of this repertoire.

Being rather long, the second set offered many highlights. Tonight my preferences leaned towards the blues and country tunes. It Hurts Me Too, Believe It or Not, and You Win Again were all top notch. Which isn't intended as a knock on any of the other tunes, only to highlight those as the few that really floated my boat tonight.

Big thanks to David for getting this gig together, and to all the performers who contributed their time and effort!

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2015 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2015 event list! ☸ On to the next event!