SHARING THE SHOWS
Today was Singles Empowerment Day, which I renamed from Singles Awareness Day because the acronym for the latter just isn’t cool. So after a day of grading and writing, I picked Maggie up at 5:00, and we stopped at our new hot spot, NY Deli in Williamsburg. Maggie got her usual Italian sub with a couple of nice pastries (I took a bite of her chocolate chunk cookie, and it was heavenly), while I experimented with a hot dog platter; they use Nathan’s hot dogs, a nice taste of New York for me. When we pulled off 64/95 to get to Richmond, we looked for a place to answer nature’s call, and instead of a gas station, we found a spot called Sugar Shack Donuts. I knew I was going to have to spend a few dollars in order to justify using their facilities. And that was the, uhhh, only reason. (Looks around). Yeahhhhh… I was elated to see their variety, which reminded me of Portland, Oregon’s Voodoo Donuts. I was even more stoked to hear they were selling them for $1.64 each, down from $3, due to closing time. I set my limit at six, though only five made it to the freezer below. When I used the bathroom, I saw Maggie had written this little gem on the blackboard on the left side. I saw the board on the right side was empty. Somehow, when I left, this message magically appeared. (Looks around). Uhhhhh, yeahhhhh... We were able to find parking on Broad Street pretty easily, just .2 miles from the venue. We probably could have parked closer, but it’s always good to walk off carbs. The concert hall was relatively small, although not as tiny as Cogan’s or Cary Street Café. I was happy to see there was a water station so we wouldn’t have to keep asking the bartender. The place was near empty, so we were able to place our coats on the benches against the wall. We ran into Bert and Eve, as well as Eve’s friend Debra. Salsa music graced the speakers, which brought me back to my El Paso days. We also saw an awesomely progressive Gender-Neutral bathroom sign. The room got packed pretty quickly, and the band took the stage at five after 8. They opened with a Jerry Garcia Band (JGB) tune I had never heard, but it got me moving quickly. “I Need a Miracle” followed, and although “They Love Each Other” is my least favorite of the GD repertoire, this group managed to jam the hell out of it. In a nice Valentine’s Day candy metaphor, the singer said, “We’re gonna give you a nice Whitman’s Sampler of Dead and JGB tunes.” “Box of Rain” was nice, and then “Crazy Fingers” came. I think it’s a beautiful tune, but I got annoyed because everybody seemed to use that as an excuse to start conversing. Maggie had to leave the room. I wish I had that “Stop Talking” card I had gotten at Phish a couple of months ago. Oh well… Maggie and I jumped up on the benches, where we got a nice view of the crowd AND the stage, not to mention a nice light show on the ceiling (see above). A couple of JGB tunes followed, and then “The Greatest Story Ever Told” was told. In V-Day spirit, JGB’s “That’s What Love Will Make You Do” was next. During that song, a young lady who looked exactly like this gal Valerie I dated briefly walked by (cue the horror music). It wasn’t her though; Valerie wouldn’t be caught dead with us Deadhead types. “Samson and Delilah” closed the set.
I started to fade a little during the setbreak, but when “How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You” opened the second set, I woke up. This dude named Odie, whom we met at Stringdusters on NYE, talked to us, and I gave them the URL for my blog. Odie, if you’re reading, you seem like a cool dude; hope to see you at more shows. “Good Lovin’” and “Gimme Some Lovin” closed the love/romance trifecta. I do love hearing the Dead and Dead-related bands do that old Spencer Davis tune, and while I am on the aro spectrum (this is Aromantic Awareness Week), I do like that song a lot. It’s just got a good beat. A few of us Deadheads expressed our love for each other by high-fiving each other. Love takes many forms, indeed, not just romantic. But that’s just my humble opinion. SPOILER ALERT IF YOU’VE NEVER SEEN BREAKING BAD: “It’s All Over Now Baby Blue” was next, which I would have loved to close Breaking Bad, as opposed to Badfinger’s version (which rocks too). “Help-Slipknot-Franklin’s” was next, and they jammed the fuck out of “Slipknot.” At that point, I decided Suggesting Rhythm is now my favorite local area Dead tribute. No disrespect to Last Fair Deal, Blind and Dirty, the Deadbeats (upstate NY), Reckoning (NYC and Long Island), and Uncle John’s Band (Tampa), but these guys just rocked. And I like this venue too; the young crowd from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) and the Richmond hipsters give this place an edge that reminded me of Monopole’s (Plattsburgh, NY) and The Oasis (New Paltz, NY), places I frequented in my college and post-college years, respectively. “Passenger,” my favorite Dead tune, came next, followed by “Man Smart, Woman Smarter,” a good song because the message is based in science. I also sang it a little in my best Boston (Bahstan) accent: “That’s right, the women ahhhh, smahhhhtaaaaa!” “Estimated Prophet” and “Shakedown Street” led to a rousing finale with Smokey Robinson’s “Second That Emotion.” On our way out, we stopped at a gas station to grab caffeine, and I tried Blue Cheese Combos. They were pretty good. I had also gotten some Lindor’s chocolates at half-price earlier this morning, which we munched on during the ride home. The Fox played some loud classic rock tunes to keep us awake. I dropped Maggie off at around 1, got home, and fell asleep to an episode from Season 4 of Better Call Saul (just released this week). All in all, a great night!
3 Comments
2/16/2020 09:38:14 am
Thanks for the review! That opening song was “Who Was John?”... played a bunch in 76 by JGB. We did it as a nod to John K who we had just recently performed with. 😬
Reply
Craig
2/16/2020 09:39:38 am
Thanks, Adam! I don't know JGB's repertoire that well; good to know for the future. Thanks for reading!
Reply
Steve k
2/16/2020 09:59:36 am
Would love to see Tennessee jed done by a band..
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
February 2024
Categories |