Warren Haynes 30th Anniversary Christmas Jam – First Night: 12/7/2018

The Christmas Jam has become a holiday tradition for me. Every year since I moved to Asheville, NC, I have attended the Jam, and it is always great. This year, Warren held the Jam over two nights, which was consistent with the 20th and 25th. I, of course, planned on going both nights.

Ticket purchasing has become a challenge, even in the small city of Asheville. Scalpers and bots scoop up tickets and resell them through TicketMaster and scalper sites like Stub Hub, making it tough for fans to acquire tickets. For that reason, I went down early in the morning to the box office and was first in line. This proved advantageous, since the box office opened the window 5 minutes prior to when TicketMaster opened the online sales. I got reserved seats for both nights, and then found to my dismay that many of my friends who tried to buy online got shut out, all reserved seats gone in less than 2 minutes. The bots strike again! Now for my quick PSA—Scalpers are scum. No matter how much you want to see a show, don’t ever buy from a “verified reseller” for more than face value. As long as you do, these bottom feeders will continue to ruin music for all of us.

OK, stepping down from the soapbox and getting on with the show.

First night I went with my wife and daughter. The lineup was pretty solid. The headliners included:

• Dark Side of the Mule
• Grace Potter
• Mike Gordon
• Jamey Johnson
• Marco Benevento

In addition, there were a bunch of guest musicians, including: Audley Freed, Jen Gunderman, Joanne Shaw Taylor, Jimmy Vivino, Kevn Kinney, Mike Barnes, Robert Kearns, Ron Holloway, and Tyler Ramsey. There were others who were not announced. Sorry, but don’t remember them all.

The show went on until after 2:00 am, and I think this was the first time my wife made it to the very end. While the entire show was great, Dark Side of the Mule was by far the highlight. Gov’t Mule performed a long Pink Floyd set, complete with lasers and an incredible light show. It was a great way to end a marathon night of music.

The only negative about this night was Jamey Johnson. He was good, and I liked the music he played, but he was painfully loud. Now I am not one to shy away from loud music, so if I consider a band to be too loud, they are probably too loud. He obviously missed the memo that when playing country music, you do not need to turn the amps up to 11. Leave that setting for Spinal Tap.

I could not find all the setlists, but I found a few. I will add others if I find them. Also, I’m including a few pictures that I snapped. And for those who are interested, here is a video of Dark Side of the Mule, with the full on lasers.

Rock on, and check back soon for my post on the second night.

Setlists:

Marco Benevento

• The Story Of Fred Short (Intro) >
• Seven Twenty Two >
• Walking With Tyrone
• Live A Certain Life
• Stay In Line
• I Can’t See The Light >
• Follow The Arrow
• Band Introductions/Banter
• Greenpoint
• Pepper

Mike Gordon

• Say Something
• Whirlwind
• Peel
• Victim > Sweet Emotion
• Pendulum
• Wild and Blue
• Do You Still Drink About Me
• Crazy Sometimes

Grace Potter

• Gold Dust Woman (w Warren Haynes and Jim James)
• Medicine
• Empty Heart
• Not Fade Away > Stars
• The Lion the Beast the Beat
• Paris (Ooh La La)
• I Shall Be Released

Dark Side of the Mule:

• Pigs on the Wing 2
• Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts I-V)
• Have a Cigar
• Breathe
• On the Run
• Time
• Breathe (Reprise)
• The Great Gig in the Sky
• Money
• Us and Them
• (with Jim James on lead vocals)
• Any Colour You Like
• Welcome to the Machine
• One of These Days
• Fearless
• Echoes, Part 1
• Comfortably Numb

Encore:

• Wish You Were Here

 

Warren kicking off the show

 

Mike Gordon

Grace Potter

Dark Side of the Mule

Roger Waters: 3/13/1985

This was my first time seeing Roger Waters. I had seen David Gilmour solo prior to this, which was very cool, but I was definitely excited to see Roger.

Unfortunately, we were on the second leg of this tour. The first leg, which happened in 1984, featured Eric Clapton on guitar. Instead, we had Jay Stapley. Oh well… such is life.

I went to this concert with both of my brothers, one of whom traveled a considerable distance to attend. But that brother has always been a huge Pink Floyd fan, so he was not going to pass on the opportunity to see Waters.

The show was basically broken into two sets: the first set was all Pink Floyd stuff, and the second set was “Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking” in its entirety. Then they did “Brain Damage/Eclipse” as the encore, which was awesome.

The sound was about as good as it could be, considering it was in the Hollywood Sportatorium, notorious for its crappy acoustics. The stage show was very cool. Lots of freaky visuals, props, and theatrics. Basically, everything that you would expect from a Roger Waters concert. High points for me were “Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun,” “If,” “Pigs on the Wing,” and of course, “Brain Damage.” Here is the full setlist. Rock on!!

Set 1:

• Welcome to the Machine
• Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun
• Money
• If
• Wish You Were Here
• Pigs on the Wing 1
• Get Your Filthy Hands Off My Desert
• Southampton Dock
• The Gunner’s Dream
• In the Flesh
• Nobody Home
• Have a Cigar
• Another Brick in the Wall Part 1
• The Happiest Days of Our Lives
• Another Brick in the Wall Part 2

Set 2: (The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking)

• 4:30 AM (Apparently They Were Travelling Abroad)
• 4:33 AM (Running Shoes)
• 4:37 AM (Arabs with Knives and West German Skies)
• 4:39 AM (For the First Time Today, Part 2)
• 4:41 AM (Sexual Revolution)
• 4:47 AM (The Remains of Our Love)
• 4:50 AM (Go Fishing)
• 4:56 AM (For the First Time Today, Part 1)
• 4:58 AM (Dunroamin, Duncarin, Dunlivin)
• 5:01 AM (The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking, Part 10)
• 5:06 AM (Every Stranger’s Eyes)
• 5:11 AM (The Moment of Clarity)

Encore:

• Brain Damage
• Eclipse

Pink Floyd: 4/30/1988

I was living in Miami at this time, but thought nothing of taking a road trip up to Orlando to catch Pink Floyd. A group of us decided to carpool up there together, which led to a problem. I was playing music with a guy named Mitch, who was along for the ride. We stopped at a convenience store for refreshments, and unbeknownst to everyone else, Mitch got in to an argument with the cashier and walked out of the store without paying. The cashier got the license plate and filed a police report. A few weeks after the concert, police contacted the owner of the car, who contacted me, and I passed a message on to Mitch to call the officer and straighten out the dispute. He failed to do so, and after more harassment, I finally provided his name to the police. Needless to say, that ended our musical collaboration.

Anyway, back to the concert.

We made it to the Citrus Bowl, and it was pouring like it can only pour in Florida. But it was not a warm spring Florida rain. Oh no! It was bitter cold. Everyone was huddled together, wearing trash bags, trying to keep warm. I recall shivering uncontrollably, my teeth literally chattering. If it were any band other than Pink Floyd, I would have walked out. And while the lasers looked really cool slicing through the rain, after a while, I didn’t even care.

As a musician, I could not help wondering about the safety of the band members, as well as the equipment. I for one would never want to let my guitar get wet like that. But David Gilmour did not seem to mind, although he did comment about how it always seems to rain in Florida when they perform there. Richard Wright, the keyboardist, was literally covered under a tent of tarps. It was kind of silly that when he was playing a solo, the lights just shone on this brownish mound of plastic.

Having seen Pink Floyd before in Miami, I have to say I was a little disappointed with this show. The set list was shorter, and noticeably missing was “Shine On You Crazy Diamond,” which was what they opened with in Miami. It felt like the band was miserable and just wanted to finish playing and get somewhere warm and dry.

After the concert, we all piled into a hotel room. There were a lot of us, so floor space and bathtub were utilized. Next morning, we headed back to Miami.

Here is the set list…

Set 1:

• Signs of Life
• Learning to Fly
• Yet Another Movie
• Round and Around
• A New Machine (Part 1)
• Terminal Frost
• A New Machine (Part 2)
• Sorrow
• The Dogs of War
• On the Turning Away

Set 2:

• One of These Days
• Time
• On the Run
• The Great Gig in the Sky
• Wish You Were Here
• Us and Them
• Money
• Another Brick in the Wall Part 2
• Comfortably Numb

Encore:

• One Slip
• Run Like Hell

Roger Waters: 7/18/2017

My brother who lives in the Greensboro area is a huge Pink Floyd fan, so when I saw that Roger Waters was playing in Greensboro, I asked him to grab me some tickets. That was about nine months before the show. But finally the day arrived and it was time to take the drive to my brother’s.

My daughter and I set out on what should have been a two-and-a-half hour drive, but we were beset with rain, hail, accidents, construction, basically everything except an earthquake and a plague of locusts. But eventually we arrived, ate a few slices of pizza, and then piled into two cars to drive to the show (since there were six of us altogether).

We arrived at the coliseum where they were charging a criminal $20 per car to park. As we pulled up to the fee booth, my brother asked the guy working there if we could get a two-for-one deal, since the car behind was with us. And the dude actually said yes! I was kind of shocked, but my brother has always had a touch for finagling things like that.

We parked and headed inside. I went and checked out the shirts, which looked cool, but the cheap ones were $40, and a tie dye shirt was $75! I’m an old timer, and I just couldn’t bring myself around to spending that much money on a tee shirt.

Our seats were straight back, which was great because we got the full visual experience, which was amazing. The concert was heavy on the “Dark Side of the Moon” and “Animals” material, which was fine with me. The earliest piece he played was “One of These Days” from the Meddle album. That song always gives me the chills.

While the music and the stage show were both awesome, there was one big bummer about this concert: we had a screamer in the row behind us. This woman, who was obviously fresh from a trailer park, was raving about all the Xanax she took before the show. Then once the lights went down, she started screaming, and screaming, and screaming, at the top of her lungs. I am all for people getting psyched about a show, but this was ridiculous. About halfway into the second set, I said something to her, to which she nastily responded “Shut the fuck up!” and just screamed even louder. I debated escalating the situation, but decided it was not worth it. We have to choose our rock and roll battles.

Anyway, in spite of that, I had a great time. The show was political, but not overly so (lots of images of Trump as a pig in the second set). Having seen Waters about four times now, I have to say that this was one of his better shows. If you have an opportunity to catch this tour, you definitely should. Here is the setlist for those who are interested.

Set 1:

• Breathe
• One of These Days
• Time
• Breathe (Reprise)
• The Great Gig in the Sky
• Welcome to the Machine
• When We Were Young
• Déjà Vu
• The Last Refugee
• Picture That
• Wish You Were Here
• The Happiest Days of Our Lives
• Another Brick in the Wall Part 2
• Another Brick in the Wall Part 3

Set 2:

• Dogs
• Pigs (Three Different Ones)
• Money
• Us and Them
• Smell the Roses
• Brain Damage
• Eclipse
• Vera
• Bring the Boys Back Home
• Comfortably Numb

David Gilmour: 7/5/1984

Before I would have the opportunity to see Pink Floyd, I was fortunate enough to see David Gilmour solo. He played the Sunrise Musical Theater, which was a small venue in South Florida, and it was mind-blowing. Gilmour’s guitar work is totally cerebral, unlocking areas of the psyche with his rich tones. I left the concert feeling like my mind was expanded. While I wished he would have played a few more Floyd tunes, it was great seeing the legendary guitarist in an intimate setting.

Unfortunately, most of the details have faded. I can’t even recall with whom I went to this show. But, I managed to find the setlist online, so here it is.

• Until We Sleep
• All Lovers Are Deranged
• Love on the Air
• Mihalis
• Cruise
• Short and Sweet
• Money
• Out of the Blue
• Let’s Get Metaphysical
• You Know I’m Right
• Run Like Hell
• Blue Light
• Murder

Encore:

• Comfortably Numb

Roger Waters: 11/18/2010

My older daughter is a huge Pink Floyd fan, so when I saw that Roger Waters was going on tour and performing The Wall in its entirety, I knew I had to make the effort to take her to see it. The closest performance was in Atlanta, about a three-and-a-half hour drive, so I ordered tickets for her and my brother (also a huge Floyd fan) and we made plans to go.

My brother picked us up and we started the trek down to Atlanta. We were very excited, listening to music, and talking. Then my brother got a call which changed the mood. His wife had gotten some test results back from the doctor and they were not good (thankfully, she is OK now!!). Anyway, I was ready to accept that we would miss the concert. I asked my brother if he wanted to turn around and go home. Ever the pragmatist, he said there is nothing he can do tonight, that we should just go to the concert, and he would drive home through the evening and be home by the morning.

We got to Atlanta and the area around the Philips Arena was swarming with music fans. We went to the Hard Rock Café for dinner, which seemed appropriate. I know the Hard Rock is dubbed TGI Fridays with guitars on the walls, but still, I like it. There’s something cool about being surrounded by rock memorabilia.

We went into the arena, purchased some shirts, and found our seats. Looking down at the floor, there was what looked like a homeless person pushing a shopping cart around and getting hugs and high-fives from people up front. We discovered that he had been a plant outside the venue, begging for money, and that concert goers who were generous with him got upgraded to the front. Nice! Never underestimate the power of being charitable to strangers in need.

The concert started and it was visually stunning. The band sounded fantastic, high-definition images were projected onto the huge wall constructed on the stage, huge inflatable characters came to life, it was everything I expected. Even though I was concerned about my sister-in-law, I managed to enjoy the show. My only criticism is that I wish they would have done an encore, something not on The Wall (Brain Damage/Eclipse would have been perfect). But no, the wall collapsed, debris over the stage, and the show was over.

The drive home was long, especially that late at night, but my brother fueled himself with Red Bull, got me and my daughter home safely, then continued on back to his house.

The other day, I found my shirt from this concert buried in the bottom of my tee shirt drawer. I shook out the wrinkles and wore it. I remembered the concert and how much it meant to me to be sharing the experience of taking my daughter to see one of her favorite musicians. I hope she treasures the memory as much as I do.

Pink Floyd: 11/1/1987

Yes, I paid $20 to see Pink Floyd, row 38. How times have changed in regard to ticket prices.

When it was announced that Pink Floyd had reunited and would be playing at the Miami Orange Bowl, you can imagine that it was a big deal for concertgoers, even if it was Pink Floyd sans Roger Waters. My brother Mike and I made plans to get tickets and go to the show together. Now, this was back before there was the internet to buy tickets and such, so if you wanted to get tickets, you had to go wait in line outside the record store, which for us was Record Land near the 163^rd Street Mall. My brother secured a spot a couple days before the tickets went on sale and we stayed there in shifts, watching as the line grew and grew.

It was the night before the tickets went on sale, and the crowd had swelled exponentially. The line snaked along the sidewalk and I could not see the end, but we were close to the front, so I was psyched, knowing we would get good seats. For the home stretch, it was my brother, his friend Roger, and myself, and we were having fun taking part in the revelry that night. But then it started to rain, that heavy subtropical Miami rain. A torrential downpour. But we were OK because we were under an overhang, so we watched people scrambling and running about in the storm. Now Roger, my brother’s friend, was quite the prankster. One might even say he was a smart-ass. So this poor girl was making a dash to her car and Roger yelled: “Hey! You dropped something!” She stopped in the midst of the deluge and started looking around on the ground. “Where?” she asked. “Right there!” More looking. “Where?” “Right there!” We could not help starting to laugh and she finally realized what was happening. She glared at Roger and said, “You think you’re really fuckin’ funny, huh?” Sadly to say, that only made us laugh more.

Anyway, the next morning we got our tickets. We were going to see the Floyd!

The day of the concert arrived and we went to the Orange Bowl early and got our seat. Unfortunately, we would be paying our karmic debt. It rained, and it rained. So we stood out there with the thousands of others and got drenched while the band played. Thankfully, it was not that cold, and the rain had the bonus of making the lasers all the more visually stunning, as the rain caused the lasers to glimmer like little diamonds that were floating like cosmic stardust within the waves of light. It definitely added to the surreal experience of seeing Pink Floyd.

The show opened with “Shine on You Crazy Diamond,” which was great. The band played two sets, performing a nice balance of old classic tunes and new material from the “Momentary Lapse of Reason” album. They ended the show with “Run Like Hell.”

But the adventure did not end when the lights came up. We still had to drive home, and I was the one who had to drive, in the rain, and feeling dazed from the show. So we piled into the car and started out. It was dark, raining hard, and very few streetlights. I was driving carefully when all of a sudden I saw someone standing in the middle of the road, right in front of me! I hit the brakes and skidded to a stop, maybe a foot away from the police officer standing in the middle of the intersection trying to direct traffic. He stepped forward and slammed his fist on the hood of my car, screaming things at me that I could not understand. My heart raced as I sat there. Still, I could not help but wonder at the logic of this officer standing in the middle of the intersection, at night, in the rain, with no flashlight or reflective clothing. I waited, trying to calm my nerves, and then witnessed another vehicle driving on the cross street fly through the intersection and almost hit the cop. The officer literally had to dive out of the way of the vehicle. I really felt scared for the officer, but still wondered why he did not use his flashlight. Finally, he waved us through and I carefully navigated us home without any further incident.

While this was the first time I saw Pink Floyd, it would not be the last. I ended up seeing them two more times, and each time it was an experience. But those are other stubs and other stories, which I will share in the future.

Shine on!

Warren Haynes’ Christmas Jam: 12/12/2015

Warren Haynes, former guitarist with the Allman Brothers and currently with Gov’t Mule, has been hosting the Christmas Jam in Asheville for 27 years now. The Jam is a benefit concert that raises money for Habitat for Humanity and Warren invites a slew of artists to participate in the marathon event. I’ve been attending this show every year since moving to Asheville, so if my fuzzy math serves me well, that makes 13 years that I have been going to the Jam.

This year’s show sold out fast, boasting a solid lineup. Unfortunately, one of the performers who I was REALLY looking forward to seeing—Joe Bonamassa—had to cancel. In spite of that, it was a great show.

I went with my wife and we met a group of friends (Perry, Philip, Devorah, Mike, and Bob) and we secured a row for ourselves on the left side of the stage, which afforded us a great view.

The show began promptly at 6:45 with Love Canon, a fun bluegrass act who plays bluegrass versions of 80’s pop hits. They played between acts while the crew was setting up and breaking down equipment. After a few songs, Warren came out and played a great acoustic version of George Harrison’s “Give Me Love.”

After Warren, we had an electric set from Hot Tuna, one of my favorite bands. Hot Tuna was formed by Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady, the guitarist and bass player from the Jefferson Airplane. They were great, but too short, playing a mere five songs if memory serves me well.

After Hot Tuna, Bruce Hornsby played an acoustic set. It was good, but strange. I had seen Hornsby several times and this was the first time I had seen him that he did not play any piano, playing dulcimer for the entire set. It was not what I expected, but I feel like I got to see something that most people will never have the opportunity to experience.

Next up was the Tedeschi Trucks Band, who were the highlight of the evening in my opinion. They were incredible! The energy was so high and the musicianship was so impressive, I was kind of dumbstruck. If you have never seen this band and have the opportunity, do not pass it up.

Following TTB was Dawes. I was not too familiar with them, but I knew they were somewhat popular. They were OK in my opinion, but not great. They also seemed less interesting following such an outstanding performance. They did a nice version of Pink Floyd’s “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” to close their set, which was fun.

The next act to perform was Blackberry Smoke. Personally, I was not impressed with this band, at all. I know they are very popular, but they were not my thing and their sound was wretched, which did not make things any better. My friend Bill texted me during their performance and called them Black Pickup Exhaust, which caused a chuckle.

It was now getting late in the evening, and the Doobie Brothers took the stage. They opened with “Jesus is Just Alright” and played one hit after another. I loved their show! You knew every song and the crowd was singing along. It was fun and brought back lots of memories for me. The Doobies were huge when I was growing up, and I listened to “Black Water” over and over as a kid. They were a close second to Tedeschi Trucks, in my humble opinion.

The Doobies finished about 1:30 am. Warren’s band was still scheduled to play, but by this time I was tired. Since I have seen Warren more times than I can count, I decided to skip the last set and get some much-needed sleep. I heard it was good, but looking at the set list, I could tell I didn’t miss anything special.

Just to give you all a taste of the Christmas Jam, here is a video that my good friend Robert made: Tedeschi Trucks Band with Warren Haynes joining them on guitar. Enjoy!