We drove to Vail and we were right on time for load-in at one of the most
beautiful places I've ever had the pleasure to work, The Ford Ampitheater.
Wow.
For our friends back in Chicago it looks like a small Poplar Creek, or Alpine
Valley with huge rocks on the lawn... all on a smaller scale. This place is
amazing!!! There is a large seating area which is covered by a pavilion and
then a lawn in back of that, with a sound system for the pavilion and delayed
speakers for the lawn... a fantastic backstage area with proper facilities
and security... this is a CONCERT VENUE, maaaaaannnn......
And we were, like, the only rock event there this season... if you don't lump
Ritchie Havens in with us riff-raff...
As we were driving in we heard a DJ plug the show on the radio followed by
(again I can't make this stuff up) an ad for a fishing store some of you may
have heard of... "Master Bait & Tackle"... yeah... I guess it's a franchise.
"It'd be a shame if that was purely local humor" I thought later... probably
thought up by the same brain trust that came up with another Vail favorite,
Beaver Liquors...
Click here to read Beaver Liquors story
We loaded in for our fifth show in five days and we were all beat but in good
spirits... it was Jerry's B-Day and we were gonna have fun, dammit! Gone were
the 70's trappings, replaced with a B3 organ and not one but TWO leslie
speakers onstage, pedals and effects and a thundering Modulous bass, not to
mention what has now been nicknamed the "Mini-Beast"... a sprawling line of
twelve or so concert toms and other drums ringing around the back of
Drumworld...
All on a system that was fairly new to me... "
Delayed lawn speakers? Front fills? What? Run that by me again... this EQ
does WHAT for WHICH speakers? And this over here does what, again? Spin
Cycle?!? Wha-?"
During the setting up and everything we had lost track of time and I didn't
get a full band sound check in before the gates were opened, but that's OK...
it would be just like those afternoon Alpine shows, with the mix coming
together on the first song or two... which was a coincidence because we were
going to perform 7/6/84 from... you guessed it... Alpine Valley.
Welcome to my world.
As the gates opened and people were let in I got a great flash of "Being
Home" from the scene... some folks hurrying in to stake out front row seats
or lawn space (it was general admission), others running into friends and
hugging, talking excitedly about "what (we) would play for Jerry", which I
thought was a beautiful notion... there was just a great feel to the place
and the people and I knew it was going to be a wonderful night.
The band walked out about a half-hour late because people weren't getting in
fast enough... there were over one thousand tickets sold in advance and there
were tons of walk-ups so when the band finally took the stage there was a
concert-style cheer from the crowd as they got to their feet, stretching in
preparation for movement...
"Aiko Aiko" kicked off the first set, and as I listened to the PA
not-kicking-ass I had another flashback... one where I desperately wanted
Healy to pull the mix together and TURN IT UP for Christ' sake... and as this
memory washed over me I pushed the faders up... as far up as they would go,
some of them... until it seemed like we were moving some air... and as I
quickly built the mix I was suddenly aware of movement all around me...
I turned around and looked at the lawn, and there were smiling dancing
people... EVERYWHERE... pulling my shit together, I redoubled my efforts and
in no time the place was hoppin'... "Jack Straw" followed up right on the
heels of "Aiko" and the whole place got lifted on Maraat's powerhouse lyric
delivery, jumping into the air as he shouted "...cut his body down!", coming
down hard on his guitar... "Big RxR Blues" followed and a great "Rooster",
although Scott's B3 volume pedal came apart at the end of his solo cutting
him short... later in the set was a "Birdsong" which was not quite as Outer
Limits as the elective from the first night at Mishawaka but nice and "jammy"
none-the-less and "Let It Grow" to close the first set.
What I Done Learnt During The First Set:
The mix position in this gorgeous facility is the ONLY PLACE I CAN'T HEAR THE
PA CORRECTLY... I asked Greg my house tech friend and he confirmed it.
"It's the cruel little joke to this place. The mix site isn't... this whole
PLACE is just not designed for this sort of amplified presentation."
Now ya tell me.
But I did run up onto the lawn during the first set so I could reference what
was going on, and when I got that top-of-the-lawn perspective combined with
the sound of the delayed speakers I got a total flashback again... this WAS
Alpine Valley, at least for tonight...
The second set got under way with a long-awaited (by me, anyway) "China
Cat>Know You Rider" which built and built followed by the third "Ship of
Fools" in Colorado and the cajun spirit raised it's head again with "Women
Are Smarter" before the stage was surrendered to Dino & Rob to work out their
frustrations on their kits and the Mini-Beast...
I snuck up onto the lawn as often as I could during the first part of the
set, each time getting a thrill from how REAL it looked and felt... and after
"Space" Scott revved the B3 up and lit into "Mr. Fantasy", hammering on the
keys like a climber digging for purchase which eventually morphed into "The
Other One"...
This is where, in a rare case, I will give up some inside information just
because it truely makes a gag... first (and least-important) Hazdra knew
there were no "bombs" during the original concert, but he let loose with a
huge one during our version... second, I used delay on Maraat's voice during
the tune which wasn't strictly accurate, historically... but the THIRD point
is a beaut... there was a short argument as to how the "Around Jam" should
go...
I had listened to the tape with Scott last time we were out in Colorado and
what it is is Jerry starting into "Around N' Round" and Bobby obstinately
refusing to sing and eventually overpowering Jerry with "Sugar Magnolia"'s
intro riff after essentially an instrumental verse... and this sort of thing
drives Maraat crazy, because in his words "we don't HAVE to make the mistakes
on purpose goddammit... it happens NATURALLY and then we're REALLY messed up!"
Sure enough... John blew it.
Right after a soul-stirring "Black Peter" John looked around at Mike and
there was a moment of confusion... John hit the opening to "Around"... Mike
cracked up... classic DSO... Scott, still laughing, kicked up the chug of
"Why Don't We Do It In The Road?" with Hazdra grinning across the stage at
him chiming in on the "intricately crafted lyrics" to quote the Taper's
Compendium... since the "Around Jam" had prematurely emerged Maraat just
kicked into "Sugar Magnolia" and punctuated the end jam with his guitar
cutting through the air like a sythe... the encore of "Touch of Grey" was
fitting as Hell and the whole place sang in unison "We Will Get By - We Will
Survive"...
One thousand seven hundred thirty-three people can't be wrong.
After a brief address from the band, the crowd got a wonderful "Scarlet>Fire"
to drive home with and up came the lights...
This was a great show at a perfect venue and we all packed up to head for
California, everyone agreeing that this was one of the best gigs any of us
had ever been a part of...
Beau drove most of the night and Scott took over for him around 5am as we
drove through Utah... in the middle of the Nevada dessert around high noon we
blew the right tire on the trailer, the explosive nature of which ripped the
entire fender off and left large chunks of rubber and chewed up asphalt in
our wake for about three hundred yards...
So there you have it... we're in Lake Tahoe today, with the day off. I have
some business calls to make but other than that I intend to relax... maybe
get some sleep seeing as how I've been up all night writing this...
Sounds kind of boring but who knows? Things might get weird again...
See you tomorrow...