Grateful Dead's Bob Weir 'Replaces' Jerry Garcia With Marin Symphony

A lot of work went into this show. My expectations were not that High but I went because I have seen dead material performed in every other way from country to zydeco. The show was great. I could really appriciate the amount of effort that went into putting this together. It is true that if these people, the huge mass of them, performed together over time it would be more concise. But it was plenty concise for me. Rather that getting into what was not perfect about the show, I focused on what was good about the show. The music was my favorite type (Grateful Dead). It was different but good. The band seemed to enjoy it. The mixture of the symphony group and DeadHeads was excellent, I enjoyed the "Down in Front" comments from parts of the croud. One usher actually went into the row to try to get someone to sit down. Entertainment on every level. The Dark Star was my favorite and lent itself perfectly to the blend of instruments. Thank you Bobby and Thank you Marin Symphony Orchestra for a real good time.

were there any tapers????

Very sad to read the comment posted earlier because unlike that person, I absolutely loved the entire show. Thought it was amazing and am so grateful to have had the opportunity to enjoy such a unique experience, just as it was presented (rather than have any prior expectations on how it could've, should've, would've been better). The highlight for me personally was the last two songs which the writer of the negative comment before me unfortunately missed due to incorrectly assuming that there would be an 'exit drama' worth beating. Two wonderfully harmonized versions (minus any instruments) of the classic songs.... 'Ripple' and 'Attics of my Life,' which I might add was the best choice of songs to send us off with because what better songs to have stuck in your head hours afterwards. Thank you Bobby, and all you brilliantly talented musicians for such an incredible evening.

I found both performances very problematic. I wrote what's posted below in a private Dead forum:
----------------
I expect that what you're about to read (if you're bored enough to actually read this!) Will have me coming off like a grumpy bugger. That said, I really wanted to like this performance. Being very intimate with the Grateful Dead's and having been conservatory trained, the prospect of the combination of the Dead's music with symphonic elements was a rather intoxicating prospect; I'd always had very specific ideas about what I would do with certain Dead tunes were I given access to an orchestra or even a big band. So I was very excited. I didn't want to be a miserable tw@. Really, I didn't.
It all started to go a bit strange when I pulled up to the Marin Center. Though I suppose this was really my fault for having certain expectations and making certain assumptions. On arriving at the venue it was a bit of "worlds colliding" for me. Whilst I'm equally comfortable in a Dead related scene as I am at the symphony, I suppose my mood that night was for later: I'd gotten my head into having very detailed thoughts about the Dead's music, counterpoint and orchestration. I wanted sit and listen carefully and hear all the details. Ah well, though no worries. Though still rather strange to see people with raised single index fingers; merchandise being sold; and a van full of heads with a sign asking for gas money help.
Having taken in enough of the small parking lot scene, I went to the box office to collect my ticket and headed inside.
Rather than having a standard program, a numbered book was being sold which detailed all of the history and work that went into putting the performance together. At $10, for a sizable, nicely bound book, it struck me as a very fair price so I got one. I'll look forward to reading it over the next few days and perhaps it will help me digest things a bit better.
The program was broken into two bits:
1) Weir with "Friends", the Quartet San Francisco (string) an additional Cellist, a third (Yikes!) bassist, two trumpets, tuba and clarinet. NOT an ensemble that I would choose for ANYTHING, but ok.
2) Weir with "Friends" and the Marin Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Weir's collaborator Giancarlo Aquilanti.
The "Friends" Were: Jeff Chimenti(Keys), Rob Wasserman (Bass), Robin Sylvester (Bass), Pat Kobas (Bass), Jay Lane (Bass-kidding!, Drums)
There was also a Chorus: Alto, Tenor and Bass (no sopranos which was odd)
I took my seat and was sat next to a nice octogenarian woman who goes to all of the symphony concerts. She seemed a bit uneasy, but when I started talking about recently hearing Pollini playing the late Beethoven Sontatas at the Festival Hall, she seemed to relax. At the end of the day, she seemed to enjoy the experience of the show FAR more than I. Seeing this woman having so much fun with music that she was not familiar with, was probably the best part of the night for me! Since I'm mentioning concern neighbors, I would be remiss if I didn't mention Mr "Standing Air Guitar Sing Along Out of Tune and Shouting 'Bobby I love you' All Night Long" to my left
The show opened up with Cassidy. The first thing I noticed was that Weir's expanded role as leader of a larger ensemble seemed to calm him a bit. For the first time in years, I wasn't annoyed by his singing. He did a really nice vocal job on the tune. The second thing I noticed was something that I feared when I looked at the ensemble list: Three bassists in this context is a BAD idea. Now there is nothing wrong with multiple bassists, orchestras have 3 or more. However, you need to be very careful and the parts need to be very carefully written (or just doubled at the unison or octave) or else you run the risk of very muddy sororities. Counterpoint in the lower registers, due to facts about the overtone series, needs to be handled with more care than the upper registers. Close intervals can be problematic if handled haphazardly. In a situation where the bassists aren't playing written parts, weird, muddy sonorities were happening all over the place. In fact, I think two of the bassists (one electric and one stand up) were playing the role of "rock" bass player (basically left up to them to create a bass line) and one was seated with the other ensemble, presumably playing written parts. This was a problem for me throughout the entire first half of the show
The strange instrumentation of the other bit of the ensemble did not help. I'm sorry, but String Quartet + additional cello and Bass, two trumpets, tuba and clarinet is just NOT a sensible bit of instrumentation. There is NO way I would have done that. In fact, I think the strings were a bad idea altogether, as they got lost in the sheer volume of the rest of the group. The instrumentation was not intelligently