The Dead - Live at The Gorge 9/21/2003
Still Dead After All These Years
By Patrick Ferris

Once again, out of the ashes of death, The Grateful Dead have evolved to a new era. Following Jerry Garcia's death in 1995, the surviving members went on to perform festivals such as The Further Fest, as well as performing under the name of The Other One's. This year with the addition of guitarist Jimmy Herring, two keyboardists: Rob Barraco and Jeff Chimenti, and vocalist Joan Osborne, they toured under the nickname they had for years; The Dead, and have come into their sound as strong as they ever were. They performed last Sunday at The Gorge Amphitheater, located about 2 1/2 hours east of Seattle.

Not being one to enjoy fighting traffic, it was the first time I had seen a concert at The Gorge. Very similar to images you may have seen of The Grand Canyon, the view is magnificent...a large stage set at the bottom of a rocky bowl with the backdrop of the Columbia River. I've not seen a stage anywhere in the world that can compare.

I went to the show for the carnival as much as the performance itself. I spent the day walking through tent city...a campground across the meadow from the stage where thousands of 'dead-icated' fans spent the afternoon partying, vending everything from tye-dye t-shirts to food. I ended up jamming on mandolin for a few hours with a half dozen other acoustic players, covering every Grateful Dead song we could think of, as well as a few traditional bluegrass songs.

Showtime was 7pm, about 15 minutes before sunset, so the view was absolutely breathtaking for the first 45 minutes of the show. Although the show wasn't sold out, it had to be close because the amphitheater was absolutely packed! The Dead started with a jam intro into 'Truckin', followed up by an incredible cover of The Beatle's 'Tomorrow Never Knows'. A new fad I hadn't seen before was people throwing corn tortilla shells. Literally hundreds of tortilla shells were flying through the air throughout the first couple of songs.

As darkness set in, the temperature dropped dramatically, and even though I had a sweats and a flannel shirt, it was still uncomfortably cold if you sat still for any length of time, but most of the crowd were on their feet dancing; completely oblivious to the temperature change. The band played a 90-minute first set, finishing with Fire on the Mountain to an ecstatic audience packed onto the hillside. We hung in the beer garden during intermission, unsuccessfully attempting to find warmth in a bottle of booze.

The second set was the better of the two musically, but I just couldn't keep warm which made my personal experience slightly unpleasant. By this time, the temperature had really dropped, and the 2 goo-balls I had eaten were getting the best of me, and I floated in and out of reality for about an hour. The drum jam between Micky Hart and Bill Kreutzmann was the best I had heard of any of the previous shows I had seen. Lying on my back as the drum jam turned into a space jam, I was taken to other worlds by their sounds. One of the most incredible sounds was produced when Mickey Hart hit a long cable with a metal pipe, producing ultra-low frequencies that shook the very ground, similar to the spacecraft scene on Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

Guitarist Jimmy Herring did an excellent job of filling the void left by Jerry Garcia. His guitar sound was so close to Jerry's that only the most trained ear would be able to discern any difference. Joan Osborne also added a great dimension to the band! Performing many songs of the Keith & Donna Jean Godchaux period, The Dead never sounded better or tighter, and it was nice to hear somebody in the band finally sing in tune on every song!

The Dead is what I would call the grandfather of jam bands. They have set the precedence for independent artists and touring jam bands by creating an underground network of people trading their music. In the day of digital music, they have again broken new ground by creating 'official bootlegs' of each performance which are made available by pre-order immediately after that evening's show.

For information on The Dead, their official website is http://www.dead.net

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