Furthur featuring Phil Lesh and Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead performed at Gelston Castle in Herkimer, NY last weekend and the event echoed old school Grateful Dead concerts not only musically but also in terms of the massive traffic and utter disorganization surrounding venu. Gelston Castle is an ideal concert venue- miles of rolling, grassy hills, great, full sound for an outdoor venue, gorgeous views of the Mohawk Valley, and perfect weather. Unfortunately, the venue made absolutely no preparations for the concert, the police decided to close all the roads to the venue except for one, and as a result all fans spent hours in their cars driving the final few miles to the parking lot. Myself and others parked on a guy’s farm five miles away, and walked to the show so we could make it on time. While the fans were trying in vain to get into the show, the band was having problems of it’s own, as the stage was sinking and had to be relocated at the last minute, forcing the band to forgo a soundcheck. But as things tend to go at Grateful Dead concerts, all the trouble was forgotten when the band took the stage and launched into “The Golden Road.” 
“Golden Road” is the opening track of the Grateful Dead’s debut album, released way back in 1967, and was never played live by the band, but has fortunately been brought back by Furthur and other post-Jerry Garcia Grateful Dead projects. With the chorus of “Come and join the party everyday” and a catchy guitar riff, the song is the perfect show opener and had the crowd dancing and singing along right away. The first set consisted of more material from the “Golden Road” era, as the set mirrored a 1968 setlist except for the inclusion of “Truckin’,” which was written in 1970, and “Feelin’ Alright,” a Traffic song from 1968 that Furthur covered for the first time on this summer tour. Those songs were probably two of the weaker moments of the set, as Weir forgot two full verses of “Truckin’” and their cover of “Feelin’ Alright” was a little lacking in the vocal department. However, musically both songs were fantastic, as “Truckin’” exploded into a stunning climax and Weir’s priceless reactions to his vocal flubs made his mistakes endearing and funny, not annoying. The cover of “Feelin’ Alright” had a couple of clunky moments (to be expected for second time ever played), but Jeff Chimenti rescued the song with some lightning fast piano playing. 
But the true highlight of the first set came at the end, with great renditions of “Cream Puff War” and “Viola Lee Blues,” two more songs from the Grateful Dead’s very first album. The fast-paced psychedelic rock of “Cream Puff War” had the whole crowd dancing and the band slammed right into “Viola Lee Blues” which allowed them some space to stretch out and explore. This version was on the shorter side as far as “Viola Lee Blues” go, at only eight minutes, but featured some manic strumming from Kadlicek and Weir and thundering bass playing from Phil as the band finished out the set with an explosive jam that rivaled primal Grateful Dead versions of the song.
The first set featured almost all material from the Grateful Dead’s first two albums, Grateful Dead, and Anthem Of The Sun, but from the first notes of the second set, it was clear that set two would be completely different. A minute of tuning evolved into “Sage & Spirit,” Bob Weir’s gorgeous and seldom played instrumental from Blues For Allah. “Sage & Spirit” flowed into a brand new Bob Weir/Robert Hunter collaboration, which musically echoed Weir classics like “Jack Straw” and “Weather Report Suite.” With great Hunter lyrics delivered confidently and emotionally by Weir and spine-tingling, flowing and swirling slide guitar from John Kadlicek, this song felt like an immediate masterpiece. 
In the second set, Furthur mixed in some more surprises more familiar classics, and everything managed to flow just perfectly. “Althea” drew huge cheers as Kadlicek hauntingly evoked Garcia with his vocals, and he and Chimenti traded explosive solos as Weir’s screeching rhythm work pushed things along. The band rotated between something new or unusual and Grateful Dead classics, such as when they paired Ryan Adams mournful country rock ballad “Magnolia Mountain” with the jubilant Grateful Dead classic “Sugar Magnolia.” “Sugar Magnolia” featured a fantastic rollicking jam until the band abruptly transitioned into Phil Lesh & Friends’ “No More Do I” instead of “Sugar Magnolia’s” traditional “Sunshine Daydream” coda.
In a recent interview, Phil Lesh explained that his wife Jill generally writes the band’s setlist because “she has a knack for telling a story with the songs.” The story that setlist told tonight is that this band is determined to try new things with the music and not afraid to take experimental chances that may not work. The segueing of “Sugar Magnolia” into “No More Do I” was a total trainwreck that left quite a few fans flocking for the bathrooms. But some of their other experiments- new songs “Magnolia Mountain” and “Seven Hills Of Gold” were masterpieces, and the band flawlessly dusted off rarely played Grateful Dead tunes “Sage & Spirit,” “Terrapin Flyer,” and “Cream Puff War.” 
As great as it was to see Weir and Lesh take the music further and try some new things, the highlight of the show was one of Jerry Garcia’s ultimate and most defining ballads, “Stella Blue.” Kadlicek’s tender vocals emotionally evoked Jerry and during his solo, the music was playing the band and each note he hit was magical. The encore of “One More Saturday Night” and “Sunshine Daydream” was dreadfully predictable, but energetically performed and couldn’t ruin a fantastic night of music. Furthur is the most inspired post-Garcia Grateful Dead project and it’s a true treat to see them still creating magic with this music.
Set 1:
The Golden Road to Unlimited Devotion ->
Born Cross Eyed ->
Alligator ->
Truckin ->
Feelin’ Alright
New Potato Caboose ->
Cream Puff War ->
Viola Lee Blues
Set 2
Sage & Spirit ->
Seven Hills Of Gold ->
Althea
Magnolia Mountain
Sugar Magnolia ->
No More Do I ->
Dark Star ->
Lady With A Fan ->
Terrapin Station ->
Terrapin Flyer ->
Stella Blue
Uncle John’s Band
Donor rap
E: One More Saturday Night ->
Sunshine Daydream
Audience Recording- http://www.archive.org/details/Furthur2010-07-03.AKG481
