Branford show was great but the next night rules

OK so, i had the great pleasure of meeting and hanging out at least half the day with Branford in 2011. He was performing on a program i was running in NOLA and, funny enough, he spotted me a mile away...perhaps it was the long hair and patchouli. So we gots to talkin' and he told me tons of stories but when we talked about his playing that first night VS the NYE show he did later and he said this : ' if you listen to the songs, i barely play the first measure or two until i figure out where this is going, cause i didnt want to be there just playing for the sake of playing, i was listening hard and man did they listen back '

He loves the Dead heads and loved the vibe and the groove....overall one of my favorite memories in my biz....
He also told me stories of that NYE show when his band opened before he sat in but thats for another time

https://youtu.be/GnnoHPFMs3U

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love this thread

branford show was the only one of that run i missed!

if the next night was the ((edie show)) then YES YES YES

The middle Branford show gets eternal fluffing and deservedly so but the first night and this show are in many ways, equally impressive. Bam, boom, bam.

I went to see Branford play at an opera house venue in Maryland about six months later. A whole gaggle of Drippies showed up and were dancing in the wings and such, treating the performance like a Dead show. The regular attendees were absolutely confounded about what was happening.

I was lucky enough to hit Albany and Nassau. Getting the Nassau tickets was an ordeal. Had to Fed Ex the mail order package to my non dead head coworkers non dead head merchant marine ship captain brother who lived on Long Island since they didn't want people traveling there. Can't believe that all worked out. 

Any way Nassau was the best three night stand I ever went to. Never understood the love for Albany. Good songs but never came together as a great shows. 

My last Brent shows. 

A hike from my north NJ home to Nassau. I saw 4 of 5 shows that run, with the middle show (Branford sit-in) as a day for R&R.

Not the best call ....

Have listened to 3.29 so may times.

Just enjoying 3.30 again now for the first time.... a grate week for the boys and the fans!

I never saw a show there but do recall the hype and generally more restricted/low ticket limits, etc. I enjoy listening to this run and think it was afterwards that Jerry said something along the lines of "we are never playing there again - we bring fans to the cops like.sitting ducks." McNally or Phil had to butt in and clarify that "Jerry doesn't make all of the decisions" when I think they were scheduled to play there again (in '91?). Nassau was/is 15K capacity and seemed to have MSG-esque demand.

I don't know how they made those decisions but seemed to cycle through MSG, Meadowlands, and Nassau. My memory was that the Jerry comment was made before the 90 shows and that it was decided by the local authorities that the problems were caused by people not from Long Island and therefore the ticket restriction. Because we all know those Long Island Dead Heads were just all sweet mellow people. 

After the Warlocks Hampton shows I made it a point to go to restricted ticket shows, which worked out in Nassau, I honestly wouldn't have gone otherwise. I never went to Meadowlands for the same reason I avoided Nassau. MSG was great though. It just absorbed whatever the traveling circus threw at it. There was also a restricted ticket show in Hartford that wasn't epic. 

Cool. Thanks for Philling in some gaps and clarifying some Other Onez. I did see '89 Giants and, yea, good shows, but. 

I was not surprised to learn when Adam Katz was killed later that Fall at Meadowlands, likely at the hands of overzealous Yellow Jacket security thugs.