MY night began at 5pm. I would have preferred to have a few hours to prepare for this show, but I was busy all day long until 5. A group of us met at the Coliseum Bar, which used to be aptly named, until the Coliseum next door was torn down. Anyway, we had a few beers and relaxed for a bit more than an hour. That was nice, I got to meet a few people I didn't know, and I should ask Eric and Craig if they enjoyed their seats. Anyway, after a brief walk and a short wait in line we were finally inside Roseland Ballroom. I love concerts here. The room is large and long, but there are no seats so you are either forced to dance for the entire show or stand still until you are in pain. There is a balcony that is usually filled with various VIPs and the select few who are able to actually get a seat. Most of all though, Roseland is loud, and it makes a great place to see a rock show. Phil Lesh & Friends stepped on stage promptly at 7pm. They were joined by Jimmy Herring and Warren Haynes on guitars. They just started playing and after 5 minutes they had worked their way into a smoking rendition of Dark Star. The endless Grateful Dead jam had begun. If you could dream of this amazing combination of musical talents on stage, it couldn't have sounded better. The jam worked its way through Unbroken Chain, and into I Know You Rider. There was a brief pause as the crowd shook the floor cheering until Phil, Warren and Jimmy roared into Black Peter. Besides the fact that this song was amazing, it was also the beginning of the second jam. Black Peter swerved into The Wheel. As each song became more incredible, The Wheel spun into Doin That Rag until the first set culminated in a stellar version of Sunshine of Your Love. The group on stage had blown away every expectation I had had before the show. Beside the fact that it was impossible to guess what to expect, I hadn't figured on the night starting of with such a bang. Phil, Warren, and Jimmy played for an hour and fifteen minutes. Every minute they were on stage was just flat out great. I could heap as much praise on these guys as I could think of and it wouldn't be enough. And this was just the beginning! The stage was shuffled around slightly for the next fifteen minutes. From advertisements for the concert, everyone expected to see Warren Haynes and Matt Abts of Gov't Mule with a whole slew of guests. This was not the case. The Allman Brothers Band came out next. Warren and Jimmy returned with their guitars for the entire second set. The Allmans lit into Trouble No More. They followed up with Black Hearted Woman and Stand Back. The level that Phil, Warren and Jimmy had set earlier had been equaled. While I was thinking about exactly how amazing this night had begun the Allmans slipped into Jessica. I love Jessica, it's just a really fun jam. I can't really put it any better than to say that Warren and Jimmy tore it up. The crowd bounced around in perfect harmony with the music for the next fifteen minutes. After Jessica, Little Milton was brought on stage. The blues song they played was a perfect break from the style of jamming that had been going on all night. Little Milton, owned the stage for this and the next song, Warren Haynes's Soulshine. He traded vocals with Warren throughout Soulshine and raised the bar just a little higher. After Little Milton left the stage, The Black Crowes' Chris and Rich Robinson joined the Allmans for one song. The song was the Allmans' Dreams and it was the highlight of my night. The energy in the room was still climbing and the absolute mastery of the guitar that went down for the next 15 minutes captured in one song the magic of the night. Warren and Jimmy shown on stage but it was Rich Robinson who stole the song away. As solo after solo progressed through the song, the music settled onto Rich's strings. With his slide as his wand, Rich created music spells such that I had never heard. It was like the Black Crowes were coming out of one man, instead of the entire band. I honestly don't think I can describe what he did in any other way. Chris also put his mark on the song but he was much more reserved than he usually is. The flamboyant, outspoken lead singer of the Crowes was just happy to be there and appreciating the moment, but he sounded great. Warren and Chris sang with as much heart in Dreams as I had ever seen either of them sing with. Chris and Rich left the stage to a roar of applause and Phil was brought back out for another song with Warren and Jimmy. They finished their hour and twenty minute set with Franklin's Tower. It was the perfect ending to a perfect set. The Allmans had run the gamut of jamming in one short set and the fans had loved every second of it. The worst part about the show at this point was having to endure the endless chatter of the fans, as each person continually told the person next to them how amazing the show was. That happens at every rock show, there's always people who are enjoying themselves so much that they need to shout into the ear of every person around them, but this was the first time I had seen everyone leaning over to tell the guy next to them how great the show was. It was really that good, I mean I caught myself doing it too. There was a half hour delay between the end of the Allmans set and the third set. Nobody really knew what to expect, because everyone had expected the Allmans to close the show. Everything was put into place when the Black Crowes marched onto the stage. The stagehands had set up a third drum kit on stage. There were already two drum kits and a percussion kit at the back of the stage, but in an effort to keep the band closer together on stage, Steve Gorman's kit was set up up front stage left. This setup created a strange effect, the Crowes seemed even more up close and personal. The Crowes opened their set with Hot Burrito #2, an old Gram Parson song from his Flying Burrito Brothers days. It bounced and hopped perfectly. The Crowes are masters of playing songs that most people don't know, but playing them so well that people learn them really fast. That's the way Hot Burrito #2 is. When it started most of the crowd seemed a bit confused, but by the end of the song almost everyone was singing along with Chris Robinson. The Crowes jammed out the end of this song in a way that was part Allmans and part honky tonk swagger, but it was all Black Crowes. They followed it up with Kinky Reggae. Chris recently sang this Bob Marley song when he took part in the Bob Marley One Love Tribute Concert. The Crowes again took the crowd to a new place. This would be the only reggae song of the night and it was perfect. After bouncing through their second song, they moved into Boomer's Story. This old Ry Cooder arranged song was a Crowes standard in their first few years, but hasn't seen much stage time lately. Boomer's Story showed how laid back the Crowes were, they gave everyone a great song and a chance to breath a little easier. That's kind of what Boomer's Story is; its the reason its such a good song. Warren Haynes returned to the stage after his three-song absence. In fact those three covers by the Black Crowes would be the only minutes that Warren wouldn't be on stage that night. Warren led the Crowes into Chevrolet, an old Taj Mahal song, followed by Elmore James' Shake Your Money Maker and the Peter Green era Fleetwood Mac tune, Oh Well. All three of these songs showcased the Crowes and their career. While Oh Well brought back memories of the Crowes recent tour with Jimmy Page, Shake Your Money Maker and Chevrolet brought back memories of a time not too long ago when Allen Woody and Warren Haynes would often share the stage with the Black Crowes. The Crowes set rapped up in just over a half hour and although it may have been a bit short, it was no less amazing. For the third straight set of the night my expectations had been blown to pieces. For almost 4 straight hours I had been witness to a barrage of perfect music. It simply doesn't get any better than this. And the show was not even close to being finished. Warren Haynes and Matt Abts walked on for the final set of the night at 11 o'clock. They introduced Dave Schools from Widespead Panic, who would fill in on bass for the next few songs. Keyboardist, Johnny Neel also joined them on stage for the set. They begin with two of their own songs, Lay Your Burden Down and Falling Down. Both songs were good, but they really only warmed up the band for the next song, Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys by Traffic. "Wow": that's pretty much the response the crowd had. They next cruised into Pink Floyd's Shine On You Crazy Diamond with some members of Blue Floyd, including Berry Oakley Jr., a return to the music of Floyd that Woody and Matt Abts had played and toured with over the summer. Shine On You Crazy Diamond turned into a fantastic and short drum and keyboard jam, which in turn moved into Wish You Were Here. Wish You Were Here featured a montage of pictures and video clips of Allen Woody in the screen above the stage. The crowd sang along for the entire song and everyone on stage poured out their feeling into the music. Woody would be missed, even as the music went on. Cortez The Killer by Neil Young was next continuing the string of endless highlight's, and then they burned through I'm Going Straight To Hell with Edwin McCain, Darius Rucker(aka Hootie)and Kevin Kinney followed by When The Blues Comes Knocking wit Little Milton returning to the stage. Little Milton stayed on stage for Turn On Your Lovelight. For this song they were also joined by Jimmy Herring and Merl Saunders. The show wound down with Going Down The Road Feeling Bad with a return appearance by Chris Robinson, Phil Lesh and Merl Saunders among others. Simple Man followed which featured Audley Freed, and Ed Harsch of the Crowes and Artimus Pyle from Lynyrd Skynyrd. Leslie West came out with his band to sing two song including Mississippi Queen. For the last song, I Shall Be Released, Warren and Matt were joined on stage by a collection of various musicians from the last few songs. Warren announced that they were going to play one last song, because that was all there was time for; the curfew for the venue that night was 1am. I Shall Be Released finished off six hours of the finest live music I had ever heard. Physically exhausted and mentally drained we all left and headed back out to 52nd Street. We had just been witness to Warren Haynes play the ultimate tribute concert for his friend Allen Woody. The normally garrulous Chris Robinson was mostly reserved for the night but he managed to mention a perfect perspective both on Woody and the night. "I'd like to thank every one for coming out tonight... beautiful people deserve beautiful events". Pretty much that says it. |