|  |  | December 25, 2000 Dear Friends, As another year comes to a close, we'd like to thank everyone that donated blood these past three weekends: at the Blood Centers of the Pacific in Marin and San Francisco, and at the American Red Cross Blood Center in Oakland. It was a pleasure to meet all of you that turned out. These blood drives will continue to run through January 15, 2001. We urge all to visit their local community blood centers to donate blood and to complete organ donor cards during this critical season. We are also planning a national blood and organ donor drive shortly so please visit our website at www.phillesh.net for updates. So much has happened during the past two years since Phil's recovery; even so, we pause every day to offer thanks for the gift of life given so generously by another human being. We are also pleased to announce that Mike Gordon will be taking part in the Unbroken Chain Benefit on December 30, as well as our New Years Eve show the following evening. We can't tell you how excited we are to be presenting this version of Phil Lesh & Friends for our hometown family at Henry J. Kaiser Auditorium in Oakland. The New Years Eve show will be full of surprises; however, we can tell you that the evening will open with a rare acoustic performance by our friends Gov't Mule and will be followed by at least three full sets by Phil Lesh & Friends. May the music never stop. This past year was marked by many musical adventures with a variety of wonderful friends, and the coming year will continue to offer new and exciting growth. We are also continuing our presentation of complete soundboard recordings for free download at www.phillesh.net. Please share this music with your friends. We wish everyone a happy and healthy holiday season. Ars Longa, Vita Breve, Phil Lesh & Friends |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  | Concert Review For Deadheads, 2001 is filled with promise By: Jim Harrington, Correspondent Oakland Tribune Published January 2, 2001 There hasn't been a better year to be a Deadhead since before the beloved Jerry Garcia died in 1995. This year, the extended Grateful Dead family gave us a true cornucopia of musical offerings. Original members Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann and Bob Weir formed the most potent version yet of the Other Ones and headlined the Furthur Festival. Weir released a well-received new album with Ratdog and took that band on the road. Dead bassist Phil Lesh continued to establish his Phil and Friends project as a legitimate touring entity with two great lineups. Everywhere a Deadhead looked, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band's music was being performed. It wasn't the Dead, but finally, it was feeling like truly the next best thing. The party climaxed in fine fashion at two different venues- just a few miles apart- in Oakland on New Year's Eve. The Other Ones brought funk -monster George Clinton and local fave Steve Kimock to the spacey party at the New Arena at Oakland. The Henry J. Kaiser Auditorium was taken over by Lesh and his very talented friends. The choice of which show to attend was fairly simple: Do you want the maximum number of Dead members or the maximum amount of Dead music? The Other Ones offered four former members of the Dead crew (counting Bruce Hornsby) but had two opening acts. Phil had only Phil, but he was promising three, maybe four, sets of Dead material. Spirit of Jerry Looking to connect with the spirit of Jerry as we enter the real new millennium, this critic decided to go with the maximum amount of jamming and Dead tunes. Plus, as a music writer that is not afraid to admit to owning Terrapin Station, I have always felt the spirit of the Dead more strongly at the Phil shows that any of the post-Jerry gatherings. Both concerts marked welcome returns to an important tradition. For decades the Dead's annual Dec 31 show in Oakland was the miracle ticket of all miracle tickets. Since 1992, the band's final NYE gig, the Deadhead crew was without a home base on the last day of the year. At Lesh's party, the fans got their first glance at the latest Phil and Friends gathering. And they certainly weren't disappointed. This is certainly one of the strongest lineups of the band. The group that toured this summer with Bob Dylan as an opening act and who played the Kaiser for Phil's 60th birthday party was great. But this one might have been the best. The latest model included gritty guitarist-vocalist Warren Haynes, guitarist Jimmy Herring, sturdy drummer John Molo, keyboardist Rob Barraco and Phish bassist Mike Gordon. With the exception of Gordon, who was really a special guest, this is the lineup that Lesh has been performing with since September. It was the first time that this band has played the Bay Area. Lesh is continuing to improve as a band leader and looked at ease as he directed his mates through stretched out versions of Dead classics such as "Uncle John's Band," "Sugeree," and "Bertha." Evening's Highlight The highlight of the evening was watching the interaction between Lesh and Gordon. This is not the first time that the two bass greats have worked together. Gordon performed a few songs with the older master at Lesh's birthday party at the Kaiser back in March. Lesh also sat in with Phish at the Shoreline back in 1999. Haynes (Gov't Mule, Allman Brothers) simply blistered on guitar. The bluesy Southern man soared through galactic jams of Traffic's "Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys," and the Dead standard "Dark Star." Other highlights included a particularly trippy version of "Mountains of the Moon," starting the third set, and a funky "Midnight Hour," which ended the second set and "2000." The encore was basically a forth set in itself and included "Just a Little Light," and "Stella Blue." It was a fitting end to what had been a good year to be a Deadhead. |