It Was 20 Years Ago Today GD 3/17/93 Cap Centre, Landover, MD

     Greetings everyone. Hope you are doing well as I delve into an installment of my award waiting series, “It was 20 years ago today”, in which I revisit a show I saw. Today, we visit the Grateful Dead at the good old Capital Centre in Landover, MD. on March 17, 1993.

     You can stream the show here

http://archive.org/details/gd1993-03-17.dsbd.miller.79050.sbeok.flac16

     I was attending Penn State at the time. Our spring break was the week before this wed.  show. My roommate Eric had a car so it would be no big deal for us to drive down the day of the show. This was a fine plan until the Blizzard of 1993 hit us the weekend before the shows. Hanover got more than 20 inches of snow and most of the state was shutdown. Roads were impassible and I didn’t make it up to State College until Tues.

     Scored what we needed to get while in town and headed back down south Wed morning.  No traffic issues and we got to the show with plenty of time to enjoy the Lot. My friend Kristian  was in Ohio for the shows on March 12 and 13. The 12^th got cancelled because of the snow but the 13^th went on. He said the roads were clear until he hit the PA line and the Turnpike was closed. See kids, Tour is tough. 

The Cap Centre being assembled

    

03-17-93 Capital Centre, Landover, Md. (Wed)

1: Shakedown, Wang Dang Doodle, Lazy River Road, Desolation Row, Ramble On, Eternity, Liberty

2: Picasso Moon, Crazy Fingers> Playin> Jam> Dark Star> Drumz> Two Soldiers Jam> Other One> Days Between> Good Lovin E: Lucy In The Sky

"Dark Star" is first verse only - final/last "Two Soldiers Jam": 09-12-90 [172] - first "Lucy In The Sky"

   The Shakedown opener was all high energy. We were up in the rafters on Phil’s side and were looking right down on the stage. In addition to their usual rugs on stage, they had a long fiber optic cable snaked across the stage that was lit up and pulsed in time with the music. There were even some Mother Popcorn by James Brown teases at the end of Shakedown.

     Desolation Row is one of my favorite Dylan covers they do and Bobby even changed the lyrics to mention Bill and Mickey. Eternity was a newer song co- written with blues legend Willie Dixon. He played bass on many of Chess records’ gold plated blues standards. This song is almost like Bobby’s Bird Song. It was always played towards the end of the first set and has a spacey jam at the end. 

     This show was also my first encounter with the “Kind”. I had read about it in High Times but had never tried it. Let’s just say it REALLY blew away the shwag that was our normal sacrament. The second set started out slow but really took off with the Playin’>Dark Star. Deep space was the order of the day.

     I didn’t know the Jam out of space but it was a jaunty little tune. The Other One built up nicely out of the Lonesome Cabin Boy Jam until Phil announced its arrival in the only way he can. Good Lovin was a great ending but everyone was blown away by the Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds encore. The Vince influence on the band can be seen in all the Beatles covers they introduced in the 90’s. ( I have to give credit to Miah for coming up with this theory).

     I hope everyone has a safe St. Patty’s day this year. Maybe it will even hit the 60’s like it did in 2012

Dave Kemp

BA American Studies

Ph.d Rock and roll

Winter House Band, 2/2/13 Winner's Circle, Hanover, PA

      Feb 2002. Andy Miller decided he’d had enough of playing in smoky bars, setting up and tearing down, and all the other issues bands have to deal with when touring at the level Devolver was at.  He quit Devolver before I signed a loan to purchase a van. I jokingly told him he needs to form a band that played nothing but Bob Dylan, circa 1965-’66. I didn’t say an all Dead band because that would be hoping for way too much. Like having Devolver and Phish cover Monkeyman by the Stones. It’s so pie in the sky it would never happen………….

   April 19^th, 2012. I was posting on FB my appreciation for what Mr. Albert Hoffman did for the human race way back in 1943. As I was killing time, someone messaged me and asked if Kclinger’s was closing. After some sleuthing, I confirmed that Kclinger’s was in fact shutting down. Needless to say, I was bumming. The only venue in town for music was done.  The Winner’s Circle has had acoustic acts but not full on bands. The future looked bleak.

     But then Josh Perkins and Eyedeal Productions started booking bands at the Circle on a regular basis. The Circle announced they were going ahead with the long gestating plans to expand. And Andy Miller had been practicing with the Winter House Band. Oh the times they are a changin’.

     Last night, for the first time in over three years, the Winter House Band played in public and absolutely destroyed it. From start to end, they made the Dead’s catalog their own. With Ben Hockensmith playing rhythm, Andy had the freedom to let the beast out of the cage and ripped it up on his ax. Sean Wolfe’s bass held down the bottom while Craig Walker and Travis Laurence kept the time right on time.

Winter House Band, 2/2/13, Winner’s Circle, Hanover, PA

Set 1

Bertha, Althea, Cold Rain and Snow, Jack A Roe, Railroad Blues, Jack Straw, Row Jimmy, Tomorrow id Forever, Limbo, Shakedown St.

Set 2

Half Step, Tangled up in Blue, Loser, Cassidy, Dark Star> GDTRFB 

Encore:  Eyes of the World

NOTE: Watchtower was played, just not sure when.

     Andy’s been rehearsing with the WHB for well over a year. I did not attend any of the practices because I wanted the finished, final product. That and the fact that I really do not like band practices. I attended 1 Devolver practice and that was enough.

     It was totally an old school night. I was able to walk to a show, harking back to my daze at Penn State. T -roy was out and about (old school Hanover Head. He was forgetting tixs for shows before you were out of high school. Even met Bear at a show). Someone was even partying like it was 2001! I wrote the setlist down on paper, something I haven’t done in probably close to ten years. More people smoking cigs INSIDE than at a Marlboro Man look-alike contest. Jake being Johnny on the spot in diagnosing what was wrong with Andy’s mission control board.

     Oh yeah, and the music. Andy seemed to be having the time of his life. It’s been way, way too long since he’s been able to rip it up on an electric guitar. The Cold Rain and Snow were perfect for the weather and Andy nailed down the challenging vocals.

      They tweaked the arrangement of Jack Straw and it was outstanding. As they started it, I wasn’t sure if it was Black Throated Wind or maybe Looks Like Rain. But when they went into it, get out of the way!!  I was just talking last weekend about how Jack Straw is one of my favorite Dead tunes. It has Jerry and Bobby singing; it’s mid tempo and then rocks out; it is full of cowboy, train, and wide open visuals that are the Americana that the boys know so well.  But it easily could be about a deal going down badly in some Lot today. It has all the elements that make the Dead what they are. And then Shakedown Street to end the first set. Andy’s been playing that tune for over 13 years between Devolver and now the WHB. And they killed it. Set break arrives not a moment too soon.

   Second set was all killer, no filler. With apologizes to Bobby D, Andy owns Tangled up in Blue. Cassidy had a great jam after the verses. Dark Star was the highlight of the second set. They perform it in a structural style similar to Furthur. A killer jam leading to the verses and then another killer jam. Check out this Dark Star for an example.

        http://archive.org/details/furthur2012-07-07.mk4v.taraszki.flac24

And these jams were ferocious. The interplay between the band members was exceptional. The angry second jam led into that Woody Guthrie classic, Going Down the Road Feeling Bad, or GDTRFB for those of you old enough to have to write it down on J cards. The Eyes encore was the icing on the cake. While they didn’t do the classic ’73 –’74 ending, I look to the wisdom of one of my favorite British philosophers; ” You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you get what you need”. And Hanover got what they needed BIG TIME last night. Support local live music. The Winner’s Circle has live music every Sat night, with Husky Pants and the Rail next Sat night at 9pm.

 Love live Rock!

Dave Kemp

BA American Studies

Phd Rock and Roll