I have been using Archive for years and never bothered with a login before. However, after reading many of the reviews of Furthur, I felt compelled to weigh in.

Like many of the other posters, I am a longtime Head (first show in '86). I have also been to quite a few P&F and Ratdog shows as well as the Dead incarnations. I think what a lot of people are missing here is that you have to separate the music from the scene and the personalities. Going to see the Grateful Dead when Jerry was alive was as much about being part of the scene and basking in Jerry's unbelievably charismatic presence as it was about the music. As I read once, "People went to see Jerry to be in the same room with him, and that was a nice place to be."

That part of the experience is clearly gone forever. Yet, the songs and the music are still there. Both Ratdog and P&F managed to evolve into fairly interesting musical entities. But what is happening with Furthur is a step beyond that. I do not see how anyone who truly loves these songs and this music cannot hear the fantastic interplay that is happening with this band. Yes, the songs sound more like they did with Jerry, but they don't sound exactly like it. The arrangements and jams are developing all sorts of different directions. I only hope that the old boys can hang in there for a while and let this grow.

Listen to the music!!

I think there has been enough talk about about who should sing which songs. This band is not the Grateful Dead, GD died when Jerry died. That does not mean that this is not a great band, it is. I have seen just about every incarnation of Ratdog and the whole host of Phil bands and lets not leave out the Other Ones and the Dead. I have enjoyed all of them, some more than others. If you want to hear GD listen to CD's or if you want to pretend that this band is GD than that is your business.

There are no hard and fast rules with Furthur and all the other bands that have come since Jerry's demise. Songs can be reinterpreted, appear in different parts of the show and be song by anyone. The only rule that seems to be followed is that Bobby sings Bobby songs and Phil sings Phil songs. Let the boys play. If you want to hear some great songs written by a great band and performed by a great band, then sit back and enjoy and let whatever happens happen!!

Folks, the more I listen,,,the more excited I am...I got to see Hampton and Fairfax...had a blast at both shows...I think Furthur can take this as far as they choose...I agree hardily, who cares who does the vocals...I'm so grateful...and EXCITED that this music is happening NOW...I'm grateful for the EXCELLENT recordings that are coming so quick!!!! Thanks to the tapers...and a HUGE thank you to Bobby and Phil for keeping this going for us!!! Love to all...

cckowali...Ahmen. couldn't have said it better my self.. i was at the show and had an awesome time.. was very disappointing to see the criticism today..

"Bobby- please resist the temptation to cover JGB covers"

"some questionable lead vocal choices (Lucy, Bird Song, phil taking diff vs. in The Weight)" comment from the 2/18 show

"It would be even better if john sang the traditional jerry songs. When Bob trys to sing them it reminds me of William Shattner spoken word" comment from 2/15 show

Honestly people who cares? Just be grateful these guys are alive and still touring. Who cares if Bobby sings a Jerry song, or Phil sings a Bobby song...who cares... they love those songs and deserve to present them to us in a manner of their choosing. If my bands guitar player/singer died, I'd want no one else to be singing his songs but someone from the original group. Bobby and Phil love Jerry, and love to sing his songs as we all do. Who cares if they do them justice, see the love behind the flat notes. See too old men doing what they love, and have loved for all these years.

This is awesome. Does anyone know what happened to the Amherst show?

Thanks for the upload. I partied with you and your girlfriend at the time in auburn hills michigan in 1994. You drove me from the hotel to the shows and we traded tapes for a couple years after that. Anyway, I hope you are doing well, and glad to see you are still on the bus. I will be catching wed night at Radio City and sat night in Atlantic city. Much gratitude, Kyle (from New Jersey)

My only experience with the dead before this was hanging out on shakedown st. when bob weir & ratdog came to the highland bowl in rochester ny.

this was a completely different experience.

Shakedown street, to start, was packed. The energy, excitement and vibes were thick in the air. The freedom and laxity of certain laws was incredible.

Got about ten rows back; perfect view of the whole band. From the first not, i was blown away. A completely different experience in person. I wished that I had stood further back and had more space to dance, it was so congested.

Dear Prudence was beautiful, and as they finished that and broke into satisfaction, i was at first disappointed about another cover right in a row, but it was definately a dead take on it. bob weir truly expressed his dissatisfaction, adding his own words even.

The second set, when they started playing the first few notes of gdtrfb me, and everyone else started going nuts; it was priceless to hear this amazing gem.

I was so happy they finished with 'we bid you goodnight' as well, i feel this is a classic, relaxing way to end the show.

barely had to wait for the encore, they got up and rocked saturday night right away. the group of friends and i called this, figured it was an appropriate encore to the set. just as they were finishing it, weir holds his finger up for one more time, and they jam the chorus again.

all in all, very amazed, very satisfied. couldn't believe the organic, live energy put into every note and jam, and weir's energy belting out the words.

it seemed like a short show, though it was far from, but it was just so high energy it just passed so quick in a way...
i did not want it to end, i did not want to leave the dead. i hoped to stay and see family dog for the afterparty in utica, but my ride wanted to head back. wish i'd driven myself.

I cannot wait for the next opportunity to get the chance to see this amazing group of musicians. rumor has it they may play at the highland bowl in rochester again, really hoping this is true. otherwise planning on attending the all good fest..

peace & love

This show is unreal to say the least. It is totally different than the later GD days... yes they do start with the same songs and similar themes, but they build on it and take it to a whole new level with entirely different variations and jams. I have been listening to each show from the incarnation of the band back in September up until now, and it is amazing to witness the evolution. JK has been taken out of his comfort zone in DSO and been forced to adapt to new musicians and scenarios. He sounds totally different now compared to when he started--and in a good way. He is actively undergoing a metamorphosis. Likewise the entire band now sounds different and tighter compared to five months ago. I think we are seeing the beginning of something great that hopefully will be around for a while. Jerry would most definitely be proud.

Love the band. Love the community. Can not believe how fast you turned this around. Went right to listen to Comes a Time and now a romp thru the whole show. I give it 5 stars just for your dedication to us for quick upload. Sweet Sunday indeed.

The short version is this was the show of the tour from start to finish, ok Schoolgirl was not my best choice to open the show, but it was wicked tight and grooved and after that it was to the moon Alice!
Love Promised Land and Bobby was way into it and it was the perfect "yes we have driven all over the NE for the last week" song
It was clear by this point that JK was much more high energy than in Manchester.
Follow this with a early set Cumberland that was smokin' and the party was jumping big time.JK and Jeff laid down some wicked solos and Phil, OMG he was freakin' bringing it!
Then JK shares Ramble on Rose with Bobby and the sing-a-along started.It was very well done and JK solo was excellent. Then we get a thrilling Foolish Heart with the band soaring and Phil was wicked during this one. I was in heaven
Then to go into Rueben & Cherise? Yeah baby it was getting better.Way better!The transition into it was excellent. I think they are still working on this one,JK has the potential to blow the roof off on this one. His vocals were extremely well done and passionate and it was better than the one I listened to from The Throck, so again well done. The guys at the Wharf Rat tabled tipped me off about what they sound checked, so when JK started teasing Dear Prudence, I was all over it. Most folks did not see it coming.
It was a great break out, alittle different arrangement than JGB, as Bob sang it and he did fairly well.It was quite beautiful and the ladies really added some depth to it. I will have to listen to the board again more closely, actually it just came on, and another beautiful transition and it sounds even sweeter now!!
JK delivers a stellar ending solo in it.

So wow three heavy hard to play Jerry tunes in a row, you have to give it up for the band in taking risks, in this show tonight it paid handsomely.
The set ending Satisfaction was off the hook and a hoot. Classic BW rap at the end and the band rocked it out!

They stared early so it was only like 8:35 by set end. The vibe inside was very friendly, the most of the three shows I have seen and everyone was cool and dancing.

Set two was a masterpiece from start to finish. Ok if you went to Ithaca there were a few repeats, but with repeats played like this who would even think of complaining? They begin the set opposite of Ithaca and with a funky China Cat, that was amazing, just last last Sunday and then to go into the Wheel?
Magnificent, and it is official PHIL DROPPED A BOMB during it, I wont give it away where it occurs but enjoy it.
This version was more traditional in tempo, which I prefer, but they still did that sweet vocal harmony at the end. It was an outstanding version which everyone loved. Then they started to jam out of it and after a minute or so Phil switches the key and
BAM!
I Know You Rider and it will be hard to say which one was better but this one was stunning! Jeff had an amazing solo with JK playing some swinging chords and then he tears into his solo.Phil drops more bombs in it as well.
Wow!!!
I will note that I think Phil likes this new formula. Do a Ryan Adam's song followed by Unbroken Chain and then dropped a massive Jerry gem.
Again, as like in Ithaca, this was pure magic.
The Magnolia Mountain was beautiful, much better than Asheville, and it safe to say that this version may be better than the recent ones the Cardinals played last year.I saw several myself.
The harmonies by the girls were perfect and JK is really owning this song. It was the song that was in my head after the show, even more than Comes A Time.
I know what am I saying????
This UC was flawless and Jeff played the baby grand so it had a totally different feel than Ithaca, and the band raged on it. Man this may be "the" song of this new band. The ending was poetic and sparkled like a diamond and then to drop into Come a Time?
It blew me away but I knew it was coming
If I hear Stella Blue in Mohegan I will be a very happy tour head.
Wow I was loving this, as was everyone around me.It was one of those moments that the faithful really acknowledged how special it was.
It was a spectacular version and JK was simply perfect on it.Phil was also quite moving on this as well. As a side note the entire band was on a higher level tonight.I really like Jay Lane too.
" Got to make it some how, on the dreams you still believe"

Then to raged into GDTDFB? Yeh ha!!!!!!
This version smoked the one they played back in December, this was a full throttle version and again the entire band knocked it out of the park.
Follow this with a super Touch of Grey, reminiscent circa 1982, and it was a powerful ending to a maybe the best set of the tour.
To confirm that fact they immediately go into We Bid You Goodnite, which was flawless and full of conviction and emotion;the harmonies were superb.
Jeff was so moved he stood up after they finished and acknowledged the rest of the band for a job well done.
They blew the door wide open with a KILLER Saturday night and even raved it up one more time after ending it.
That was pretty cool and this amazing show was in the bag.
One other side note this was also the first show I experienced black ice on Shakedown, I hope no one bought it.
I for one have not had this much fun in a long time, well it actually was only back in Ithaca LOL
Thanks to this ever increasing amazing band and all those Furthur Freaks, and I haven't seen this many people dancing the whole tour as well.
Right on!

Thanks for sharing and for the quick upload. It sounds great. It was sure nice to get up this morning after last nights show to hear your recording. It was a great show.

I was there last night, it was such an awesome show.
Much better than ithaca. i hate to compare. but look at the entire tour compared to ithaca. Thank you so much for having it up so fast.
SATISFACTION was awesome....the whole show!!! GREAT

Super fast upload. Thanks for the deadication in sharing the music with those of us following tour from afar.

That was fast. I just popped on to see if some recent nights were up and tonight's was already posted!

Simply amazing. I've only just heard the "Comes A Time," but the sound quality is really nice and crisp. I'm looking forward to tracking this and much thanks for the hard work and quick post. If you're in S.F. for Phil's BDay show, I'll gladly buy you a frosty cold one.