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It's been ten years since The Grateful Dead played their last New Year's show. Following Bill Graham's untimely death in 1991, The Dead hung it up for the final four New Year's they existed, and since then, only two RatDog NYE's have been there to quench Deadheads' thirst. This year, that changes with a vengance: 'Heads have their choice of two shows featuring former Dead members, both in Oakland, in addition to a multitude of other concerts, many in the Bay Area.
The Other Ones head up the bill at The Arena in Oakland (formerly
Oakland Coliseum Arena), the site of that 1990-91 New Year's blowout
that included guest appearances by Branford Marsalis and Hamza El-Din.
The band this time will be composed of Bobby Weir, Bruce Hornsby, Mickey
Hart, Billy Kreutzmann, Mark Karan, and Alphonso Johnson. Steve Kimock
won't be a member of the band, but the Steve Kimock Band, joined by George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic, will open, and one can only
assume Steve will sit in with The Other Ones for a little bit. The show
kicks off at 7:00 and promises to be one for the ages. The Other Ones
also play the night before in L.A.
Just down the street from The Arena, Phil Lesh and Friends will play a
three-set show at Kaiser Auditorium, which also hosted its share of Dead
New Year's Eves. Phil's band will be the same as for his stellar fall
tour: Jimmy Herring, Warren Haynes, Rob Barraco, and John Molo. Mail
order is already sold out, but tickets are still available through
outlets. Phil n Friends will also play a warm-up gig the night before
for Unbroken Chain Foundation.
Phil had been hoping to play a warm New Year's in Florida, but plans
fell through, forcing him to join the crowded Bay Area New Year's
scene. And now 'Heads face quite a dilemma: the two best post-Dead
formations, each with members deserving of much love, playing huge shows
on the same night. "I don't guess that's great for the fans out there,"
Bobby said in an online chat Tuesday. "But our show's going to go on
for a while and so is his. They're not that far apart that you can't
catch both of them. That's the best I can offer. There'll be plenty of
music for everybody out there."
Plenty is an understatement. In the Bay Area alone, Charlie Hunter
(also in Oakland, at Yoshi's), Karl Denson's Tiny Universe, Galactic,
Les Claypool's Fearless Flying Frog Brigade, and countless others put on
New Year's bashes. And outside the Bay Area, virtually every jam band
outside of Phish is playing. Tough decision to have to make, but can
you think of a better dilemma?
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