Phil Lesh and Friends

November 12, 2001

Promo West Pavilion

Columbus, OH

My review from DNC:

Ok, I wish I was asleep, but I am at work. I have time for a quick review. I drove to Columbus from Ypsilanti, MI yesterday afternoon and made it to the Promo West pavillion in about 3 hours. This is a brand new venue that is actually a dual indoor/outdoor place. This show was indoors luckily since it was a bit chilly last night. Supposedly the place holds about 2,500 people and it was pretty packed by showtime. I grabbed a great spot on the railing of the second level.

First set started out with a jazzy jam that wound into a soulful "Comes a Time". Warren is a great guitar player and everything, but I think his soulful vocals are his number one strength. He really does a great job on the slow Jerry tunes. I never really couldn't imagine anybody else handling songs like "Stella Blue" and "Comes a Time" until I heard Warren sing them. I am one of the "weird" people who actually likes Phil's vocals, but not on songs like "Days Between" and "Morning Dew". Let Warren sing the slow ones.

Anyway, "Blue Sky" and "Just a Little Light" were really rockin' and the crowd was into it. I like the way Warren, Rob and Phil share vocals on "Blue Sky". "Just a Little Light" had an huge jam. Not huge like "long", but huge like "Intense".

"Mirror of Thalassa" is still a mystery to me. I saw it in Chicago last year too and I still don't really have a handle on it. It is really hard to hear what Phil is singing and there are a lot of changes in it. I think the band is till trying to find the right sound and arrangement too. The crowd was mostly baffled and underwhelmed by this one.

"Dear Mr. Fantasy" was back to the rockin' vibe and the crowd loved this one. This is just a great song and these guys do it justice.

A long jam with a few "Mountain Jam" quotes thrown in by Warren. This band's jams are long and for the most part, very focused. I sometimes wish they had more variety when they go free form, but I think think they have improved in this area. Warren was also throwing out "Tears of a Clown" quotes all night.

The jam led into the fastest "Fire on the Mountain" I have ever heard. It makes Mickey's version seem slow. It was cool, but not my favorite choice for this band to cover.

Second set started with a jam that built into a great "Wharf Rat". See my comments for "Comes a Time" for my feelings on Warren's singing.

The jam out of "Wharf Rat" somehow became "Slipknot" and I think that was my favorite tune of the night. They palyed it so precisely and aggressively (Molo was incredible). It is a perfect vehicle for this band to stretch out on. Nice interaction By Jimmy, Warren and Rob. Phil's bass was booming and shaking the building by this point.

"Slipkot" slipped into a surprise "Night of a 1000 Stars". I have a recording of this, but I found this version to be much more compelling. Probably my favorite of the new tunes.

Next up was that "Dark Star">"Mtns">"TNK">"Dark Star" sandwich. I am not sure what to say about this except that it was out of this world, literally. Very spacey and it seemed to tell a story. Was Warren quoting someother Beatles tune during "TNK"? Did anybody else hear that?

"St. Stephen" rocked and drove the crowd into a final frenzy which led into the surprise of the night which was a mostly accapella version of the traditional gospel tune "Angel Band". Great harmonies and a perfect way to end a great, great set.

The encore was a fun "Tom Thumb's Blues". I have always loved Phil's take on this one.

Then it was off into the night for the drive home (Thank God for Mountain Dew)

This was the capper on a crazy week of concert going for me that included Oysterhead and 2 Dylan shows in addition to this one. I don't regret it though.