Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Warren Haynes on Double Duty

The Dead surprised some lucky fans on Monday (March 30th) night by playing not one but three New York City venues. Rolling Stone reported that later in the day after Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, and Warren Haynes appeared on ABC's The View, the band set up for their gig at New York's Angel Orensanz Theatre, where Weir joked, "It's just like playing a three-hour show, but it's broken up by cab rides." The band had originally wanted to play a larger open air free show in the city but got bogged down with red tape.

The pared-down trio kicked off the first gig of the night at Angel Orensanz -- a former synagogue on the Lower East Side -- and focused mainly on acoustic-based material from Workingman's Dead, American Beauty and other earlier sets, including such Dead favorites as "Dire Wolf," "Cumberland Blues," "Casey Jones," and an extended 20-minute version of the Jerry Garcia classic "Bird Song."

The 8 p.m. show at the Gramercy Theatre featured the Dead's drummers Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann, as well as keyboardist Jeff Chimenti for an hour-long electric set which included such Dead classics as "Good Lovin,'" "The Wheel," and "Franklin's Tower," along with several extended jams. As with past Dead shows, Haynes has taken most of the leads associated with the previously sung Garcia material.

The third and final gig of the night kicked off at 11 p.m. at the 3,000 capacity club Roseland. The band tackled tracks from throughout their career, including "Althea," the Weir classic "Cassidy," "Eyes Of The World," "St. Stephen," and "Sugar Magnolia," among others.
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The Allman Brothers Band have announced 26 tour dates kicking off on May 19th at L.A.'s Greek Theatre and running through mid-October. Along the way, the Allmans will be sharing the bill at select shows with the Doobie Brothers, the Dead, and Widespread Panic. The Allmans often play new songs in concert, and singer-guitarist Warren Haynes says that the band has always been careful to never let new material take precedent over fan favorites: "We don't wanna give them too many new songs in a night, or the show may suffer a little bit, from an energy perspective. So if you do a new song, and then follow it up with 'Midnight Rider,' or something like that, you know, then you're doing OK. Then three songs later, do another new song, and follow that up with another classic, and try and pepper 'em in there to the extent that the show doesn't suffer."

August 27 - Wantagh, NY - Nikon At Jones Beach Theater

Last month the band wrapped up their "March Madness" residency at New York City's Beacon Theatre where they welcomed such guests as Eric Clapton, the Dead's Phil Lesh and Bob Weir, Levon Helm, Billy Gibbons, Trey Anastasio and Page McConnell of Phish, Sheryl Crow, and Kid Rock.

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