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While waiting for the second set the sun goes down and directly to our left and low in the sky is the bright Venus shining in the sky foreshadowing something. I point the planet out to Vlad and he nods not sure what I mean. He thinks it’s a star but it ain’t flickering so I know it’s Venus. The band comes out and starts playing. The early part of the set is new music for me. I have never heard the instrumental Sage and Spirit or Bob’s new tune. As the dig in the music really gets moving and when they cut Sugar Mags off before the Sunshine Daydream I was a bit disappointed but figured they would reprise it at the end of the jam and as they swing into Dark Star the crowd is really starting to dig it.

Then the foreshadowing came true. A lyric from Terrapin Station:

Counting stars by candlelight, all are dime but one is bright;
The spiral light of Venus, rising first and shining best.
Oh, from the northwest corner, of a brand new crescent moon,

They then proceeded to play the full Terrapin Station suite. The whole crowd singing along must have reverberated through the hills for miles and miles.

Near the end of Terrapin I turn to Vlad again and tell him that they need to play the Sunshine Daydream finish to Sugar Mags. He nods but I don’t think he realized what I was talking about.

For me the sweetest part of the night was Uncle John’s Band. It’s a favourite for me because I have an Uncle John who passed away far too early in life. Coincidentally, after this concert I would be driving the 60 or 70 miles back to Syracuse to stay in my late Uncle John’s home for the night.

Then the encore which was an easily predictable One More Saturday Night. Additionally what was predicted by me was the finish. They kicked in to the overdue Sunshine Daydream for a kick ass double ending. I was one happy man.

Set 2: Sage And Spirit>
*Seven Hills Of Gold> Althea
Magnolia Mountain> Sugar Magnolia>
No More Do I> Dark Star>
Terrapin Station Suite>
Stella Blue> Uncle John’s Band

E: One More Saturday Night>
Sunshine Daydream

*1st Time Played, New Bobby Song

That pretty much ended the show and night. Vlad and I walked back to the car and as we turned the corner into the field we saw the crescent moon so low in the sky (foreshadowed by the Terrapin lyrics).  We  escaped the traffic, and were briefly questioned at the Sobriety checkpoint and made our way back to the Cafe where my car was parked and off to Denny’s for a 2am breakfast before the trek back to Syracuse where I rolled in at 3am and crawled into bed.

It’s 720pm. Vlad’s still not here. He asked if we should meet at venue but chances of finding him are slim so he agrees to come to the cafe. At this point I am sitting in my truck surfing the web on my bb via a free wifi called collis (from some collision repair centre). Lucky me because roaming charges in the U.S.A. Are disgustingly unfair for canucks.

Ad shows up and I leave my truck at the cafe and after 2 missed turns, a closed road detour and some crazy sticky tar that made his car sound like it had a flat we get to the venue just a few minutes late. But it’s an open air show so we can hear the tunes.

Set 1: The Golden Road To Unlimited Devotion>
Born Cross-Eyed> Alligator> Truckin’>
Feelin’ Alright, New Potato Caboose>
Cream Puff War> Viola Lee Blues

But what was noticeable was the shortness of the set.

After grabbing a couple of pints we were in the thick of it about 20 or so people back from the stage.

To be continued…

Blogged Via Blackberry

I cruised down through Syracuse and across the 90. Vlad has the tickets so we agree to meet at 5pm at the Albany Street Cafe/Pub in Herkimer. I arrive at 430, park and know that I’ll be awhile because Vlad’s let me know he is way behind schedule. I grab a seat and order up a Magic Hat 9 (nice little apricot beer from Vermont), and a French onion soup. I really need to reiterate the beer is pretty darn good with the smell of berries.

While waiting, several other Deadheads come in. One who used to live in Montreal and Hawkesbury, (practically a neighbour) but now residing in Woodstock, NY, sees my tiedye and comes over to say hi. We chat about this iteration of the band for a bit and he let’s me know he has seen them with Warren and now with John Kadlecik and he is impressed with John. Having played with the DSO for 12 years, he is pretty ready to make an attempt at being Jerry 2.0 and 15 years after Jerry’s passing has probably left enough of a gap in fans minds for them to be pretty accepting of him doing Jerry’s part in the new band. I’m pretty stoked by this point.

The soup is piping hot and tasty, the stuffed porkchops even tastier. The Utica Club beer I swish it down with is nice but I go back to the Magic Hat 9 for my third. It’s now 6pm and the concert doors are open. No more tiedyed people are scattered around the place. At this point in time there is still no sign of Vlad and I am ticketless…waiting for a miracle.

To be continued…

(sorry about the mess that was here previously, It looks like this message was scattered in bits and pieces through the internet.)