Phil & Friends @ the Capitol Theatre, Oct 11, 2021

Phil has played plenty of shows since COVID but when he steps on stage with this band, in this venue and with this crowd, the circle of life and a rebirth of a higher power returns. Dead Air. 

See you there. 

This Will Be FUN Noodler

awesomeness!

hope he saves Cosmic Charlie for his Birthday Shoe..... Halloween night

Enjoy the Q folks!

Pre Game Here   https://archive.org/details/2001-06-29.paf.senn-Sturtevant.boden.6408.sb...

Are Tapers Allowed To Record There ?

That 6/29 Greek show was a smoker.

In for Tour de Couch.

Is this thing on? I wonder if Taperrob is in the house.

I read somewhere 8:20 start.

https://mixlr.com/freakflagflyer--2

someone go meet nick for luch 2mrw :)

Got a 90 minute nap in - Time For Coffee and Green bowls

Where is Gans and that other dude babbling stuff like the D&C free views?

Coffee!

Standing by for Q

LIVE NOW ON YT the above link is fake

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sg97zOV9eGc

The freakflagflyer link works just fine for me 

Thanks slackster

Lots of disjointed weirdness so far

Wasn't talking about Mixir link. 

Mixlr link sounding good here, appreciate it. Long live the almighty Q!!!

 Be a little more specific next time doc.

Gotta watch yer p's + Q's !@

Luv the Mixir stream. Sounds fantastic,

@Ras you know I was talking about the false link posted above by Noodler!

Now I do, you have to really spell it out for us ol' timers,, I can barely figure out what I'm talkin about.

Dead n Co sound great tonight.  These Q lads sound like they need a little more time to jell.

Low spark > so what, sounds awesome!

> Low Spark

They seem pretty crisp to me

She said

High on some Q

> These Q lads sound like they need a little more time to jell.

Ras is looking for things to jell, but the Q came to jam.

Sounds solid.  Listening on headphones and loving the mix!

Jams so sloppy I had to turn on Dead n Co,,,

while watching the Rays Sox game, which is now all tied up 5-5 with TB still batting in the 8th

As GDad used to say, "Places, people".

nice

thanks!!!

Good evening everyone!

So glad to join you for Set 2.

Not Sure what it is But John Molo Has This SERIOUS Look About Him ? Not The Go Lucky Happy Guy I'm Used to.

This No Where Noodling is a Bit Much 

When did Molo become James Carville with a goatee? <<< Spot On

we all got life time here

^ yes, lol   Studious, yet uncomfortable in a sloppy suit.

Go Phil!  of all your pals, these are your BEST friends.

things started heat up with Broken Arrow and preceded to take off

actually things started to heat up with  New Speedway and continued thereafter

Kicking ass

simply

WOW

wait I thought his b day show was gonna be the 31st!? guess it's birthday month at the Cap!

GO PHIL

Forgive my ears, but I heard "Blue Train", not "So What".

Sweet show.

I heard Blue Train also/

The Real Thing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNR5t3h-tQM

So what blue train...either way it was well played.   Got me thinking they should make a jazz septet

A fun night at the Cap. Warren doing much of the heavy lifting. Clunky at times which I suppose was to be expected. The gears should start to lock in a bit better this evening. 

More impressed with the Wall of Sound replica. 

Yeah,  a little clunky in spots, but I was actually surprised at how good it sounded on the free stream.

https://youtu.be/xJzMG5LX9o4
Viola Lee Blues > New Speedway Boogie

Your ears are forgiven, 100% So What.

The show sounds great and I was happy to see multiple copies on Archive this morning. The Doin' That Rag was great and its so fun to have some Phil excitement again. Looking forward to hearing the rest.

Blue Train was recorded September 15, 1957, and released in January 1958. So What was recorded March 2, 1959, and released August 17, 1959. Seems like Coltrane has the edge in this discussion.

This band should have never disbanded

A jewel of a show, wow it was good to be there.

"She Said" was sweet.

Blue Train Phil 1999

https://archive.org/details/1999-11-13.paf.akg393.dauria.29873.sbeok.fla...

> "She Said" was sweet.

That was one from my wish list, LLOLLO. Maybe a New Potato Caboose tonight.

Not even my fav set list but so much fun.

Low Spark>So What the high point for me.  She Said strong too. 

Herring is insane.  Strat with Firebird pickup array, sweet.

Best 21st century band.

Not Sure what it is But John Molo Has This SERIOUS Look About Him ? Not The Go Lucky Happy Guy I'm Used to.<<<

Good to see you still with us plf!

It's moot because they didn't "play" 'So What' (or 'Blue Train', or any other standard for that matter); they quoted the theme (of 'So What,' there is no "discussion" about what the theme was) and then did a little modal jamming that barely if at all touched on the signature/head phrase, and then returned to the theme. This is basically the main argument that "jazz" afeciandos leverage when discussing how improv in the hambland world is not really comparable to the improvisatory composition that occurs within the paradigm of "jazz" music. If you can point out how last night's take on Davis' melody refutes that argument, please do so. 

Furthermore, I want to note that both Davis and Coltrane's 50s compositions were deeply, deeply influenced by time spent (by both artists) in or around the bands of Thelonious Monk. Hell, Coltrane was a member of T. Monk's quintet when he recorded 'Blue Train.' The entire discussion occurs within the context of Monk's harmonic experimentation dating back to 1951's 'Well You Needn't,' which features a similar half-step descending melodic phrase. Which, in turn, was covered and reinterpreted numerous times (under different titles), including by Davis and Trane, well into 1958 and beyond. 

This is as funny as when a band like Dead & Co. plunk out the theme for 'My Favorite Things,' and really illuminates the blind spots that a lot of supposed music fans have when it comes to a bonafide American art form such as "jazz." 

Good show, btw. Way too meandering a first set, poor song selection too imo, but fiery and dynamic playing - particularly thru the second set. 

Jazz police are going through my folders.

Just pointing out facts and providing context, aiq. Still probably my favorite lineup of Phil's, and certainly one of the most advanced bands playing Dead music. 

I'm just saying that there are certain prequisites to playing that tradition of music properly; a wedding band take on 'All Blues' ain't it. Hambland fans being confused about what the theme even is, ain't it.

Molo was serious and hard at work!

I enjoyed hearing new embellishments from him because I've only seen him w/ DNB in the last couple of years. 

Barracco, Haynes, and Herring all played the head figure and all improvised over the harmonies.  Stylistically different from MDQ but still a legit rendering.

Like As If Trio at ECZJ3 :)

I've heard many jazz groups twist that tune into near unrecognizability.

Certainly ok for you to not dig it.

(Edited for politeness)

I didn't listen to the whole show but Barracco seemed to hold his own more than in the past as well.   I forgot how much I enjoyed his work compared to some of the alternatives floating our there.   

Molo killin' it all night!

"She Said" was sweet.<<  "Sweet!" was the lady on my left's favorite exclamation all night.  Starting with, "Mason's!  Sa-weet!"

Talk to Sideshow at the bar and waved to Lynn from our perch in the very last row.  Sound was kind of thin up there (high and lows; lack of midrange), but Phil's bass had considerably more OOMPH from Low Spark on.

I did hit the air shaft at set break, but the tabacky smoke was oppressive, so I bailed after making use of the space.

Discovery:  If you look at the wall projections through a one-hitter, it's kinda like a kaleidoscope.

Have fun and stay safe, Phreaks.

I am so confused.  Was it So What, Blue Train, a Monk tune, or a rendering of a wedding band playing All Blues?  Everything I thought I knew about Jazz but was afraid to ask.

>> Was it So What, Blue Train, a Monk tune, or a rendering of a wedding band playing All Blues?  

Doesn't matter. What does matter is whether or not it raged, breh. If a nebulous, perfunctory (and plodding) tease of a Miles Davis tune rages for you, then rock on. 

It did not rage for me, breh. 

Them doing a quick tease of a tune by Miles makes their jamming into "jazz" improv about as much as Bobby playing with the SF Orchestra makes him a classical musician. 

Thanks for the explanation.  Sounds like you didn’t enjoy it very much.  What is a breh?

Phil, signing the Shakedown rap towards the end of Shakedown brings a chill. Its great to feel the power of Phil again. This is good stuff.

Darn typos, I'm not sure what it would be like to witness Phil signing a Shakedown but I am glad he sang it.

here you go... upon re-listening, definitely the "So What" bassline. I stand korrekted.

https://archive.org/details/plq2021-10-11.litz.schoepsMK4v.flac16 

I believe that it was relegated to a none issue.  

On relistening I realize I am being obtusely harsh on the mellow of one Philip Chapman and I think for that I should recant some of the radicalism above, as it's really a broader criticism that I'm lodging than is due to PLF. 

What I am saying, and is not really a deviation from my argument above, is that this band excels in spaces like the nearly 20 min. 'Mason's Children' opener (which I did not even realize was that long, in real time) than in those more narrow spaces of say an obligatory, or perfunctory "jazz" tune. They excel in that somewhat southern-fried psychedelic boogie space that, though meandering, has muscle when it jams - even if it would greatly benefit from the experience of more rehearsal, or more shared stage time, or whatever. It is about improving the economy of the language used in their musical conversation. 

Musicians of this caliber should be reaching for that greater economy, because that is how you communicate and execute great ideas.. and it's disappointing to hear them squander opportunities to reach those peaks. 

But, Phil Lesh is 81 years old, and has the right to do what he damn well pleases. So, I say rage on. 

And breh = bruh, brah. C'mon bruv.

I thought it was pretty good overall, considering they haven't played together in a while. A good chunk of the show was kind of noodle-y and not super cohesive. Jimmy was low in the mix at times, and Warren seemed kind of subdued. Molo was loose and jazzy, and Phil sounded great through his Meyer Sound rig, but nothing went off the deep end to my ears. Another night or 2 and 'liftoff' will likely occur.

When words like "prerequisites" and "properly" are being used when talking about improv, that's where it loses me.

IMO there really aren't any prerequisites or a proper way to play improvisational music, it's just musicians roaming.

I didn't listen to that bit last night, but is sounds to me that it was probably a little pre-planned tease in the middle of a jam, and again IMO I don't consider anything that's pre-planned to be improv at all, it's more shtick/entertainment than improvisation, but it can still be used to create an idea on the fly, either going into the tease or out, and while I'm no musician I'd imagine that type of thing is also probably just fun to do. Personally, I'm not really a fan of that sort of thing, but not everything has to be 10,000 miles into space.

Besides, many/most great jazz players over the years have used pre-planned teases in their music, and a little shtick has always been a part of jazz, just as it is in almost any performance style.

I think folks often try to analize this stuff too much. As many people say, and I've heard Phil say it, it's good enough for rock 'n roll.

And as I like to say...

 Just a little rock 'n roll, it's all I ask for.

Enjoy the show folks! 

Man, what a nice break from some of the amateur lineups Phil has been flexing for way too long.

I think this band should be up and running tonight.

Tony Williams was one of John Molo's biggest influences, bred

Enjoying The Video Stream Re Play 

When did Molo become James Carville with a goatee?

My thought was the Dad from That 70s Show after Kitty divorces him.

Then there's this.

https://www.arcamax.com/thefunnies/mutts/s-2577666?ezine=390&r=ueKfSDOX1...

Seemed apropos.

Lots of lulz up in this thread, not to mention the irony of an outbreak of contentiousness about a tune called So What of all things.