Furthur @ Hampton Coliseum, Hampton VA - 02.12.10

Setlist
Set I: Shakedown Street > Miracle > Til The Morning Comes, Stuck Inside of Mobile, Dire Wolf, Picasso Moon, Big Railroad Blues, Two Dijinn
Set II: Scarlet > West L.A., Mason’s Children > Dark Star > Dear Mr. Fantasy > King Solomon’s Marbles > Days Between > Viola Lee Blues > Dark Star > GDRTFB
E: We Bid You Goodnight

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Graham and I made the short trip from Richmond and Charlottesville on Friday to catch Furthur play Hampton Coliseum. Of course, Hampton is a legendary venue, especially for the Grateful Dead. While Graham and I (combined) have been to every Phish run in Hampton since 1997, neither of us took in a Dead show at the Mothership.

We checked in to the Embassy Suites fairly early on Friday, which is the best place to stay on Coliseum Drive. The rooms are suites (if you couldn’t tell from the name of the joint), it sits right on top of the parking lot, and you get a free hot breakfast. After a few hours, pitchers, wings, and fried pickles at Hooters, we made our way into the venue to meet up with some friends. We waited in a long line for some adult beverages and missed most of the Shakedown Street. The floor was packed, so we made our way up to some seats on the side of the stage, Phil’s side, in time for Miracle.

The first highlight of the night was Til The Morning Comes. It was one of two songs this night that I never thought I would hear. After Bobby butchered the lyrics to Stuck Inside of Mobile (Memphis Blues), the rest of the set was rather non-eventful. John Kadlecik (fake Jerry) delivered some solid chops during Big Railroad Blues, but the set ended with a thud when the boys decided to play Ratdog’s Two Dijinn.

Opening the second set with Scarlet made up for the first set closer. John really began to shine here, and that would continue thru the rest of the night. No Fire though as the boys moved into West L.A. Fadeaway. Bobby sung the Jerry tune, but would begin the lyrics of each verse about a second after everyone in the audience expected. I don’t think this was by accident, and for me this was rather annoying. We hopped out to the concourse during Mason’s Children. I have actually seen Mason’s Children the last two times I’ve seen Bobby and Phil play together (‘09 and ‘03), so the third time was no charm. After sneaking into a beer line that was closing, we moved to the floor right next to the tapers section. We missed most of the Dark Star, but throughly enjoyed the next two selections: Dear Mr. Fantasy and King Solomon’s Marbles. The latter was the second tune I never thought I would ever hear live. I thought the boys might be going into Drums at the beginning as Joe Russo and Jay Lane hammered away, but when the rest of the band didn’t leave the stage, I was excited to hear the opening notes to the instrumental from Blues for Allah.

At this point, the crowd was at its highest, and it was time for another Bobby tune. Unfortunately, the bottom dropped out again as the boys chose Days Between. Vocals were shared on this one, but I never liked it back in 1993-1995, so I definitely wasn’t going to dig it now. Viola Lee Blues picked things back up, especially the climatic jam at the end. A return to the second verse of Dark Star followed, and then GDTRFB, although I swear they were going into The Other One, which would have been a better closer.

I loved the Bid You Goodnight closer. I’m sure we all would have enjoyed the boys strapping on their instruments one more time, but here was another tune I never got to see back in the day so I was satisfied.

Overall, I got what I expected - good, but not great. I think it would have reached greatness if the song selection, specifically the Bob songs, were better. Insert an Estimated, Looks Like Rain, Lazy Lightning > Supplication, or even Brother Esau instead of Picasso Moon, Two Dijinn, and Days Between and I would have been thrilled. Thus, the show contained too many peaks and valleys, which never really enabled me to get into a steady, blissful groove.

Everything else was fantastic. I’ve seen most of the post-Jerry groupings, and this is the closest to the real deal. While I don’t expect it, I would love to see this band tour for as long as Bobby and Phil can keep things going. I think we just got a poor choice of Bobby tunes on this night, which happens sometimes when you follow the Dead around.

Check out all of our Furthur Hampton coverage from the road.