Let's not let the Earth just Fade Away!

Mickey Hart's Mass Drums April 20, 2008 - Earth Day Speedway Meadow Golden Gate Park, San Francisco

Mickey Hart & Bob Weir, Michael Kang & Ben Kaufmann

intro/tuning...
Blackbird-»
Peggy-O
Friend Of The Devil
Not Fade Away Jam-»
drumming-» *
drumming and chanting-» **
Not Fade Away **
Not Fade Away (kind of a Reprise) #

* w/ Sikiru Adepoju, Bobi Cespedes, Rebeca Mauleon, Rhythm Village & Loco Bloco
** All the above + Jon Fishman, Tommy Lee, Ludacris, others...
# All the above + Joan Baez!

Okay, so I don't really have a lot to say about this here show... but I wanted to be sure to include some of my favorite images that I've found.

The Blackbird-> into Peggy-O is something I've never heard before. Bobby does a beautiful job playing his acoustic geetar while he's backed on bass by Yonder Mountain String Band's Ben Kaufmann. Mickey plays subtly along and Michael Kang, of String Cheese Incident, adds nicely on mandolin, primarily during Peggy-O. I'm getting such a smile from this, it's so nice!

Mickey kicks up his drumming a notch as Bobby turns in a fantastic Friend Of The Devil. Kaufmann lays kinda low on bass but Kang on mandolin really helps bring out such beauty in this version. Dare I say this but who needs Jerry?! HA!! Jerry always did FOTD so nicely but Bob here does a wonderful job in his honor.

Not Fade Away already? Short set, guys! Ahhh, but this is not your average NFA! Bob must've switched out geetars 'cause, unless an unidentified guitarist is on stage, he's definitely playin' electric now. It's not blistering lead like Garcia might provide but it's nice. Mickey picks up the beat even more and Kaufmann plays along perfectly. They get a swell jam going... seriously, it's pretty nifty and swell, and without ever once singing a line of the NFA lyrics... that I'm sure many people in attendance were expecting any minute now.

Abruptly the electric guys head off stage (NFA-> Drums) and it's Mickey's spotlight. A whole slew of people come out and join in for one serious Earth Day drum circle. I LOVE this stuff!!!! Reminds me of any of the hundreds of drum circles that I was happily apart of back when I spent my days roaming the land in what was supposed to be a never-ending quest for the next Grateful Dead show. Drum circles were a serious part of all that, man, and the one in this recording, if I was there, I'd've dug without any reservations what-so-ever.

They go for quite awhile allowing you at home to crank it up and lose some calories dancing around your living room for awhile. Who needs Calgon?! Let the percussion take you away!!! If you're not a fan of drum circles and/or you've been known to press SKIP to move onto Space when you're listening to a Dead show, then this might not be for you. I totally dig it. This is sooo good that the thoughts of Billy K. not bein' there have not been able to erase the HUGE smile that has lit up my face from how funkin' groovy this drumming is. It's not just the drumming, though, as after about the 20 minute mark we get a lot of chanting/singing which is being led, I'm guessing, by Mickey's sometime percussion partner Sikiru Adepoju (Planet Drum, Global Drum Project.) A fierce African-type of rhythm ensues before it comes for another left turn and the reintroduction of them new-fangled electric instruments to finish up the show.

The NFA rhythm resumes in earnest for awhile, the crowd's all enjoyin' it, and then it would appear the show comes to an end. They stop the song completely and it might be then when they bring Joan Baez out. A little awkward there, with the stoppage and Bobby says along the lines of, "Uh, we're gonna pick this back up again." And they do, now with the Matriarch of Modern Folk Music singing along. She has a few lines of improv and they are priceless:

"Grateful Dead, they won't fade away,
woooo, never fade away, whoa-oh-oh.
There's Mickey. There's Bobby. Woooooo."

This is wonderful stuff! It does kind of just peter out so maybe the end isn't ultimately as tremendous as the pre-Drums jamming but here the lyrics are and the crowd's really appreciating the finale, especially Joan's bit.

Joan, Bob, Michael Kang

Okay, maybe I did have a few things to say about this neat little show. I really dug this! I should finally say that the images here are from a few places on the intertubes and if you'd like to see more, check out these from SonomaPicMan on Flickr, K.'s gallery on Picasa and several wonderful shots here by both Susana Millman and Susan J. Weiand.

backstage: Bob & John Barlow!

(click all images to see bigger)

As of April 22, 2009, this show is not @ the Live Music Archive

Download It Here Audio Quality: Source: Front of Board (Audience) -» Neumann KM140 mics -» Oade W+mod UA-5 (16/44) -» MT -» PC -» CDwave(tracking) -» FLAC(8) . . . (Thanks Chucky!) Earth Day 2008 - Mickey Hart's Mass Drums - Part 1 Part 2 - Mickey, Bob, etc - 4/20/08

4-20-08 aka 04-20-08 aka 4/20/08 aka 04/20/08 aka 08-04-20 Earth Day!