I was at both of these Chicago shows (the 25th and 26th). After 6 years, I went back and listened to both of them to see what was what.

This night is okay. It's not sucky, it's not outstanding. A decent night for a good band. There are definitely some miscues, and I do confess that while Chris Robinson can sing the old Pigpen tunes stronger than ANYBODY ELSE I've ever heard, his leaning heavily on the teleprompter still bugs me. Here Comes Sunshine, Cumberland, Hurricane and Caution with Big Brown were real standouts. The rest was okay, but felt uninspired. Perhaps they were tired after the previous night's fireworks.

Overall, I give it three stars. It was a nice enough evening, but about half of the set lacked passion. If you want the real deal from Chicago 2005, grab the previous evening's show; they delivered it so much on the 25th, listening to the crowd shower him with love before he begin his Donor Rap gives me goosebumps.

Too bad ratbob turned out to NOT be a friend he would fit nicely.....nonetheless as I find with all the phil shows there are some great points, some good points and some pointless...... I thought new speedway boogie thru to rider was excellent and the beginning of the feedback ......but then the caution was a botch ....... Decent cumberland and golden road......one thing for sure Phil is solid always.....I would like to see him bring jorma back for a tour with bobby if he ever wakes the f-up......whatever...... Check out maxcreek.com great band, too

The guy who wrote the review calling Phil & friends a coverband is right on. The entire experience of the show was negative--the music just sounded hollow, no energy and the crowd was composed of a bunch of poser wanna-be *deadheads* more interested in snorting coke and smoking weed then what was gong on-stage. My last Phil show I believe...

I downloaded New Speedway through Rider to use as filler, and am very impressed. I'm gonna need to grab the rest. GREAT recording, too! I prefer the sound over those NJ dsbds (which is where the filler ended up).

My girlfriend and I were at this show and I thought that the energy that phil and his friends created in this show was majic. so what if chris didnt now all the words , he rocked and so did all the musicians on stage. Obviously they were all good musicians, or phil lesh wouldnt have had them on stage. Stop comparing them to the Dead because they're not, so just enjoy it for the pure fact that it is artistic expression. Coming from a musicians point of view I believe this was an awesome show start to finish. And also if someone could post an Mp3 version that would be cool.

This show was a lot better than some people would have you believe. Loser through Hurricane was outstanding, but I thought Caution really stole the show. Robinson missed a few parts on some songs he really shouldn't have, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been...and I'm surprised no one's jumped on Molo...I though he was the worst of the bunch that night by a long shot.

can't phil find some friends that know the tunes. It seemed like a cover band. campbell didn't know any of the tunes. mookie screwed up key parts esp. on fire. Barry Sless came through bustin out the envelope filter. caution sucked. music was good but learn the words chris

This is the 2nd show from the current tour I've listened to and I found the entire show to very good. I listened to it from start to finish w/headphones and my only complaint might be a bit too much crowd chatter. Other than that, a solid performance. I really like the Tumbleweed and the Caution is another barn burner.

Show was very good.

There definately were issues, such as Chris trying to key off of Phil for the start of some harmonies when Chris' mike was in front of Phil's - Chris would have to turn his head then turn back coming in a half beat late - and the teleprompters were kind of annoying.

However, the energy and quality were high. Everything up to Caution was phenomenal. I wasn't particularly pleased with Caution through to the end of the show. There were two amazing stretches, though: Tumbleweed through Golden Road (8 Miles High was a terrific surprise) and Loser through Hurricane (Hurricane was smokin).

All in all, a most excellent show.

The recording is not the highest quality, but it still was a great show. I saw it live, so my opinion is probably a little biased. There were a few mistakes, but that was excusable too. The covers of Hurricane and Eight Miles High were unexpected and AWESOME. Good show...

This show was half the previous night. Way to many big mistakes, Jams that didn't work, from a band which didn't seem to know the songs very well not to mention really feel them.

Definetly some high points in the ways of Tumbleweed in Eden, Hurricane, Scarlet, Caution.

Truckin was butched, so was Brown Eyed Women,

Eight Miles High was super weak.

Tumbleweed in Eden was very well played.

Caution made me wounder what year it was.

Fire was kind of a dissapointment.

Altogether the show lacked energy and inspiration.

Playing loud does is not the same as having good energy. Or playing well for that matter.

First set was stellar, second set didn't quite rub me the right way; the excessive bluesiness wasn't what I was hoping for, but it was done quite well. However, Caution in the middle of a Scarlet-Fire with Phil on the Alembic is certainly a treat I may never experience again. Good show to be at, as far as I can tell the recording is great.-kudos Mr. Travitz Definitely better shows out there, but still a fun one. Any chance we'll get this show posted as a VBR ZIP?

sweet ass show. phil pulled out big brown during the second set and we even got some distortion. great show, ive been checking this all night waiting for the tapes because i saw the dude with the equiptment