Dead & Company brought music back to Boulder’s Folsom field for the first time in decades, but they weren’t the only (or best) jamband in town this past weekend.
was back at Red Rocks Amphitheatre on Saturday and Sunday night for their annual pre-Fourth of July celebration.
The two-night run hosted a diverse group of opening acts, from the progressive weirdness of Dweezil Zappa and his large backing band on Saturday (at one point the band played a medley of 50+ songs from the eighties in ten minutes) to the soulful rock of The Main Squeeze.
But it was Joe Russo’s Almost Dead that stood out among the supporting cast with their evening set on Sunday.
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Driven by the drums of Joe Russo (Further) and the one-two punch of guitarists Scott Metzger and Tommy Hamilton, the Grateful Dead cover band put their upbeat twist on a handful of classics (“China Cat” > “I Know You Rider,” “Truckin’,” “Throwing Stones.”) It wasn’t the real thing, but the consensus was that the chops and speed of the supergroup took the tunes to a whole new level.
There may not be another band on the scene as technically sound and collectively dialed in as Umphrey’s McGee. This weekend was no exception. Moments of muddled confusion, usually a necessary side effect of the freewheeling jams and prolonged complexity of the band, were all but non-existent. Instead, the six-piece band and lighting director Jefferson Waful provided a dynamic emotional roller coaster of light and sound.
Saturday, they wasted no time giving people what they wanted, opening with the heartfelt fan-favorite “Glory.” Dweezil Zappa joined the band on guitar for the reggae-tinged “Utopian Fir” (which drifted into a tease of Motley Crue’s “Dr. Feelgood”) and his dad Frank’s tune “Muffin Man.” Things got funkier in a second set sandwiched by “Bridgeless,” including a memorable jam in “Bright Lights, Big City,” the syncopated groove of the bust out “Day Nurse,” and an encore of the smooth dance jam “Booth Love.”
Sunday’s show started slower, with a first set that focused largely on unfamiliar newer material (“Gone For Good”, “Thatap The Way”) and frontman Brendan Bayliss opting for an acoustic guitar. The set-saver would prove to be the hit “All In Time,” which ran upwards of a half hour as the band explored some of their most creative jams of the weekend.
“The Triple Wide” brought a dance party and head-spinning light display in the second set which also let guitarist Jake Cinninger tap into his metal roots for the ragers “Hindsight” and “Puppet String.” In a weekend largely void of covers, the whole thing came to an end with an encore of The Who’s “Join Together.”
Setlist: 07/2/16
Set 1: Glory > In The Kitchen >Roctopus, Speak Up > Water >Utopian Fir > Muffin Man
Set 2: Bridgeless > 2×2 > Bright Lights Big City, Der Bluten Kat > I’m On Fire > Der Bluten Kat, Day Nurse, Bridgeless
Encore: Booth Love > Miss Tinkle’s Overture
Setlist: 07/3/16
Set 1: Attachments, Kabump, In The Black, Example 1, Gone for Good, Thatap the Way, Out of Order > All In Time
Set 2: Preamble > Mantis >Make It Right, The Triple Wide > Puppet String, Hindsight, August > Hurt Bird Bath
Encore: Much Obliged > Join Together
