First Set
- Jack Straw
-
Candyman
-
Me & My Uncle
-
Big River
-
Sugaree
-
El Paso
-
Stagger Lee
-
Minglewood Blues
-
Music Never Stopped
-
Gomorrah
Second Set
Notes
Another great freaky
night of the freakiest place on earth, or at least on
38th street. There was a lot of cool stuff going on
and trying to remember it two night later may be
difficult.
After the keying of Larry's car
last he and I decided to park in lots. He parked on
40th which was open past 11:00. I on the other hand
parked at the place on 38th that closes at 11
sharp. Thanks to Larry, I remembered to get my car
at the end of halftime. It was a bummer but it was
pretty quick and invigorating. The worst thing is
that it's so easy to forget about it. It's going
to happen some day.
The Freakboy had us all freaked up
for the evening by supplying the prejam munch.
Corned beef and pastrami from the Carnegie Deli is almost
as good as it gets, and it was GOOD! There was talk
of the prejam Gyro II as the main meal next week.
Who knows maybe we can pull it off.
Just as most of us were nicely
satisfied with our culturally enhanced sandwiches in
comes the culturally challenged Spillboy arriving in a
rail-car with with Commandant Klinks bohemian daughter
wrapped around his tattooed forearm. She stated
she had a problem with our Jewishness in a disturbing way
but in the end, she seemed to like the three songs she
and Kabalah Boy hung out for. Whatever happened,
there was a very freaky thing going on in a very unkind
way.
Larry M. had
some type of kid duty to attend to and couldn't make it
until the end of the first set. Coffee Boy Mitch
was cool enough to sit in for the first half and provided
a nice steadiness which we took advantage of. This
coupled with the missing Brotman made for a more
structured and open environment and it's amazing how we
fill in all the open pours of the music dermas.
Nooks and cranies are no match for Deadstein oleo.
I surprised Larry B. when I showed
up with my new Mu-tron III+ Reissue that I picked up at
the Philadelphia Guitar show. I assume this will be
a great effect for me and I'll explain why. Like
the Grateful Dead, this Mu-tron is sensitive,
sophisticated and can't be fully enjoyed at first
play. I can tell, I am going to have to get used to
it, dial it in for what it does well and we will have a
good time fluctuating together. The thing sounded
real good in my bedroom but when it came to the jam I
didn't do a good job of using it. That's good,
because the RP6, which I could tell is just a cheap
thrill, was a blessing when I first played it. The
Mu-tron on the other hand has more character that needs
to be polished to bring out its grain. It will add
a new level of freakiness to the sound of Deadstein when
used appropriately. I finally felt comfortable
with the sound I got out of it during the Shakedown
Street.
First Set Comments
- The Me and My Uncle/Big River
has an excellent beat and one of our better
transitions. Kevin was amazed by it and I
think that overrates it because there is much
further to go. Transitions are one place
where we still think and just don't play.
When we stop thinking through our transitions and
just play them they will become great.
- Stagger Lee was tough for
me. I had lot of problems remembering it.
- Going against the list with
the Music Never Stopped hurt us. It was one
of the worst Musics in a long time.
Half Time Eating Comments
- The Pronto Pizza we had for
half time was the worst Deadstein food product we
have ever ordered. We got a Sicilian pizza
with half sausage and it was the worst pizza
ever. The crust we totally soggy and gross,
there was a lot of bad sauce and no cheese
whatsoever except for a sprinkling of
parmesan. It wasn't even pizza. It
was almost similar to a Elio's frozen pizza but
that would be doing do a disservice to
Elio's. Talking about it just makes you
mad. It's embarrassing for New York.
- We had left over candy but not
much food to speak of. Thanks to Johnny for
those sandwiches before the jam. Without
that we would have been lost.
Second Set Comments
- It didn't seem as if
we were destined to play a second set.
Bloated and lethargic from an
evening's worth of abuse and over
indulgence left little hope of achieving
Kevin's desires. We never did play
Kevin's set list but we did manage to
play two good big numbers inspired by
Michael's presence, a guy who really can
really appreciate a hot Dead tune.
And you know, he can dance with the best
of the freaks. And it doesn't get
much freakier than that and isn't that
what it is all about. Land of the
Freak, home of the Freak. Not much
more to say than Freak. It's
pretty sad. The universal antidote
to writer's block and life, Freak.
You gotta love it, you gotta hate it, but
you gotta play it to win.
- We started the
Shakedown about 5 minutes to 11:00 and
ended the night just about as late as we
have ever played during a normal
jam. After the very elongated,
flowing and diverse Shakedown Street
Larry M. commented "Think of what
might have been." He was right
and it really makes you think and pay
homage to the kindness we generate.
Super powerful, complex, endearing,
humanistic music made at the drop of a
hat is inspiring. It has gotten me
to play/practice more and buy new and
improved stuff. This in turn makes
me a better musician and makes us all
better. The arrival of Scott's new
drums will hopefully send him over the
hump and to brighter pastures. This
is all having a great impact on
Deadstein. A spiraling evolution of
freaky music which lifts you up, throws
you for a loop a gently places you down
from where you came. You can't beat
that.
- The Cassidy was even
great. We played like we didn't
want to stop. All the playing in
the second set had a strong verde/pearl
flavor to it.
Weather