Posts Tagged ‘Jackie Greene’

Test of the Boomerang: Best of the Fests, Part One

Hey gang, welcome back to another edition of Test of the Boomerang.  Happy summer solstice. I hope you all get a chance to enjoy these long summer days with some sweet tunes, either on the road or on your patio. Festival season is in full swing and rather than try and cover everything, we’re going to take a look at a few notable shows from the past month or so. We’ll call it “Best of the Fests” or something clever like that. Pass me a beer and let’s get to the music!

Railroad Earth at DelFest, May 23rd. Allegany County Fairgrounds, Cumberland, MD.

Warhead Boogie>New Jam, Saddle of the Sun, Little Bit O’ Me, Fisherman’s Blues, 1759, Long Way to Go
encore: Railroad Earth

You may have heard about the terrible storm that tore into DelFest on Saturday, May 23rd. It destroyed the stage area and Railroad Earth’s late-night set was moved into a indoor multi-purpose room. The band delivered one solid set the previous day, but after the terrible events of the 23rd, the band played one of their most intimate and heartfelt sets ever.

Highlights include a 25-minute suite of “Warhead Boogie” into “New Jam,” guest appearances by Jason Carter and Ronnie McCoury, and a sweet “Railroad Earth” encore. Tim Carbone wrote over at his blog:

“That night when we encored with Railroad Earth at the late night show, I never meant it more when I sang…. Oh Mama, ain’t it good to be alive! It surely is… it surely is.”

Go check it out HERE. Also here’s some goodness from 5/29/09  — a good chunk of that night’s way cool version of “Like a Buddha.” Enjoy! (more…)

Test of the Boomerang II: Dead Opens for Santa Claus; Clowns Open for Dead

“I would like to thank everybody here for coming, thank you to the clowns for their nice entertainment. They were quite good. Thank you…”

Grateful Dead 12/6/80 Mill Valley Recreation Center, Mill Valley, CA

This is a pretty remarkable and strange little show. Just a couple months after their acoustic residencies at The Warfield and Radio City Music Hall, this great recording finds the band playing a Christmas party at the Mill Valley Rec Center for some kids and their parents. After a lady calls for quiet from the audience, she proceeds to introduce the band to hilarious effect. Before “Cassidy,” a young man can be heard saying “I want rock and roll,” to which Jerry replies, “You do? This is sorta like rock and roll.” Also I’ll be damned if I don’t hear a ping pong ball being volleyed around in the background.

Oh and the “Special Guest” the emcee lady mentions was none other than Santa Claus.

All novelty aside, this is a real solid performance (killer “Jack-A-Roe,” great “Cassady,” and check out that jam in “Bird Song”), and the sound quality is pretty good. Recorded by the famous Betty Cantor, it’s a Betty AUD tape, and when was the last time you came across one of those? And because it’s an AUD recording, you can go ahead and download the sucker!

For more acoustic Dead, check out:

“Phil and Friends” Berkeley Community Theatre 9-24-94

Bob: “I was plugged in, I was just plugged in backwards.”
Jerry: “Just like you always are man…” (more…)