I went to see Phil and Friends on Saturday at the Tweenter Center in Mansfield, MA. Don and I headed down to the show around 1:30 as it was a 4PM show and the lots would be open by 1.
This show was very badly planned for Don and I, since I was up in the air about going. Normally we are very prepared for shows and have a full list of things we want to have. This time, we actually had to stop in the store in Mansfield to get some more supplies.
Once we got to the lot, we set up our chairs and our cooler. The side of the lot we were in was rather slow. There were some people, but nowhere near as crowded as I would have assumed. I think maybe some people went in early to catch the opening acts. The opening acts were Mickey Hart's world music band and Robert Hunter. We decided to skip them and enjoy the lot. The lot was pretty slow, but it seemed like a pretty good crowd. We made a friend who came over and sat with us for a while, since he was waiting for his friends to show up. We chatted music and other such stuff. He eventually went to find his friends and Don and I went out in search of tickets.
Yes, in search of tickets, we decided to do this show a little different than normal and try and skip the Ticketmaster fees. We headed to the front of the venue and found no one offering tickets. We headed down to Shakedown, and there were people selling a lot of what you would expect at a Dead-like show, but still no tickets. So, we headed over to the box office. We asked the guy if he had tickets in the shed, he said, sure, and pointed to them on the seating chart. They were dead center, 20 rows back. Sweet! That worked out rather well.
We headed in to the show about 6:30 and wandered around for a bit. We checked out the merchadise. I actually went and bought a $30 t-shirt, but I liked it. I don't have a lot of "hippe-wear", so getting an additional tie dye every once in a while isn't a bad thing.
When we got to the seats, we found we were in with the lifers. I think I was the youngest person in the area by at least 10 years (not including Don). I get a kick out of these people, since they seem like nice older people, but are sitting and smoking weed and dancing away once the band comes on. Very amusing, but I totally dig them.
The show itself was ok. Mickey Hart played the first 30 minutes or so with them (I guess Phil also came out for the last 2 songs with Mickey). That part of the show was quite possibly the best of the show for me. Some of the newer stuff does not lend itself as well to dancing around and is kind of slow. The second set was very much a spacey jam for a lot of it and the band seemed to lose itself a few times over the course of it. Though I could appreciate the muscianship up there, I didn't dig the show as much as I have in the past.
After the show, Don and I just headed to our respective houses. I was exhausted from a long night the night before and then a full day.
The setlist was:
Set 1: *Jam>
*Crazy Fingers>
*Uncle John's Band> *China Cat Sunflower>
*I Know You Rider
Patchwork Quilt
The Wheel>
The Real Thing
*with Mickey Hart
Set 2: Jam>
Darkstar V1>
Again and Again>
Spacey Jam>
The Eleven>
Darkstar V2>
Spanishy Jam>
Lady With A Fan> Jam>
Morning Dew>
Terrapin Station> Jam
She Said, She Said
E: Box of Rain
