12/23/2013

As is always the case, getting people together during the holiday season is always a challenge. Deadstein still perseveres as our 52nd jam of the year is a testament to. This year is a little strange in that Chistmas and New Years Day both come on Wednesday. In essence, this makes the opportunity to jam to only be on Monday or Thursday. No matter what we do, we cannot seem to get Lee and Scott together but fortunately we have both of them and we haven't missed a week. This week, Lee couldn't make the jam but Scott was ready to go and away we went.

We were supposed to be playing as a quartet, as Rich was supposed to have a practice with his other band, but to our surprise, he showed up with Scott. A yoink and away we went. China Cat Rider was the opener for the night and a good one it was. It set us up for a large successful evening of music. This was one of our better China Cats. The first set seemed to flow from there. The only real hiccups were the Big River opening but it isn't too bad. Otherwise the first set is beefy and solid. The Garcia Band segment of Van Morrison songs was really nice, including one of our better He Ain't Give You None. The Let It Grow, as is its role, was a very hot exciting was to close the first set at 10pm.

The second set was characterized by two 3-song segments with our little Beatle thing to close. The Viola Lee is still a lost cause and the Stephen Eleven requires rehearsal before playing to give it the respect they deserve, but no one is perfect, so we play and do the best we can by the seat of our collective pants. With this said, there is more good than bad and it's better to play and try than not to play at all. Fifty-two Deadstein jams in a year shows the Freaks are Out!