[playingdead]

Playing Jerry, our new 4-piece JGB thing, did a set Monday night.

It was fun ... a little rough (we should have at least rehearsed ONCE before doing a gig) but promising. The material is much sparser than the Dead stuff, so it gives you a chance to stretch a little, drums are more prominent.

Last couple minutes of Like a Road in HD:

http://playingdead.net/pjroad.html

I ran the AxeFX into the E120s because it was a huge stage. Man, I wish my Tiger would come home, playing this Strat is killing me, no volume control, controls are all backwards,22 frets ... ick.

[jdsmodulus]

Very nice! where's the rest? I want that DVD for sure!

[NashvilleMike]

Nice job as always...you looked happier than in other vid's.

Do you have a preference playing with the 4 piece or playin' dead more?

Can you elaborate on this? >

The material is much sparser than the Dead stuff, so it gives you a chance to stretch a little

[playingdead]

Different worlds completely ... two drummers versus one drummer (the JGB guy is excellent), playing primarily off the organ, which is very much a sustain instrument, means you can/should play more percussively, you also wind up playing a lot louder so it sounds fuller onstage. It's a little bit more "on" me as I am singing 90 percent of the tunes instead of 40 percent. And, in a Dead tune like, say, Loser, you're probably going to take it through one time on a guitar solo, whereas with this material you're going to take it 3-4 times (at least). If we hadn't been limited for time because it was a two-band night, we would have stretched stuff a lot more, there were tunes I barely touched with solos just because the clock was ticking. And things are much more structured and song-oriented; outside of the occasional "Don't Let Go" the Garcia Band didn't really go out there or try to transition into other material, which is bread and butter in the Dead band.

I like both, actually ... we did great Dead gigs on Thursday and Saturday, and then this gig on Monday was a blast, too.

We played:

Harder They Come, Waiting For a Miracle, Positively Fourth Street, Tough Mama, That's What Love Will Make You Do, Mission in the Rain, Tangled Up in Blue and Like a Road.

I was actually playing the middle pickup as a double coil for a while, which I've never done before, but it sounds kind of nice (and kind of familiar, maybe Jerry did that occasionally with the JGB to fatten things up).

[jester536]

Once again ... sounds great.
Just a bit surprised about the comment that JGB didn't go "out there". I know what you mean about them not stringing songs together but I always thought that they were always stretching things out. Every tune turned into a major event. I guess I'm thinking back to older ('70's era) stuff. He and Merle could stretch any tune into an epic.
I love your playing and am envious of all your opportunities...to be a part of two amazing bands...Thanks man...I keep considering the purchase of an AxeFX...every one of your postings pushes me a little further.

[Falstaff]

Sounds cool...I "heard" you in Chatham last Saturday night from the house I was staying at. I couldn't figure out where you were (I was not not invited anyway) but it sounded fantastic.