Concert: Furthur in Wallingford, CT
20.05.12
Before the show even began, fans in the Oakdale lobby were chatting about an Easter tradition -- looking for the band to open the show with "Greatest Story Ever Told." And sure enough, with Phil counting them in, the pumping rocker with its shout-out passages was first out of the gate.
Furthur followed up with a couple of songs inspired by a pair of special ladies, an equally hard-driving "Bertha," and the more subtly orchestrated "Althea," a slow funky shuffle that downshifted the whirling dancers churning throughout the Oakdale's aisles and lobby.
Then it was time for a double shot of rootsy rockers as "Mama Tried" turned the spotlight on keyboardist extraordinaire Jeff Chimenti, who administered a blistering honky-tonk piano solo, before"Big River" gave guitarist John Kadlecik a chance to offer up a blistering solo of his own that crescendoed into a trade-off between the two of them.
The only number of the first set that yielded any magical jamming was " Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo," where Lesh took the lead, guiding the band through a trippy zone of syncopated scales and riffs, before easing into "Bird Song." The first set wrapped with the Jerry Garcia standard "Deal," leaving the crowd on a high note to sustain them through the 40-minute intermission.
Source: SoundSpike