CRUSADER RABBIT STEALTH BAND | 06.10.01

About six hours later, after waiting in line for about 4 and a half hours, we entered Sweetwater, passing the posters that announced "Crusader Rabbit Stealth Band with Phriends and Bobby Peir." Right as John Molo, Rob Barraco, Jimmy Herring, Bob Weir and Phil Lesh took the tiny stage in the 150 person capacity legendary club, I glanced out the door and felt for the good sixty souls still hoping to get in.

They kicked off with a mellow jam that reminded a few of us of "Bird Song." We had been speculating all afternoon what songs they were going to play, but when they ripped into "Truckin’," I couldn’t have agreed more with the decision. Everyone’s arms in the club were raised with much hootin’ and hollerin’ as Phil and Bobby exchanged appreciative glances and belted out "What a loooooong strange trip it’s been!"

At this point, we knew beyond any shadow of a doubt that this show was going to be rippin’. The sound was perfect; everyone’s instruments and voices were very clear, and the subwoofer speaker above the stage and directly behind Phil shook the room ever so gently. Jimmy stepped up for the post-"Truckin’" rockin’ blues jam and he sounded absolutely terrific. He led the way for a short time, and then Phil stepped up and slowed it down to the nice grinding blues of "Smokestack Lightning." Bobby’s vocals were a wee bit shoddy, but he hit the high notes perfectly and with the Bob Weir aplomb; the crowd responded with glee. Things got pretty down and dirty for a while, with Barraco playing some great blues trills and Jimmy starting to really warm up and cut loose.

Molo, Jimmy, and Phil started speeding things up a bit and Rob and Bobby were right in step. At this point I realized how much I had missed Bobby’s rhythm playing. His graceful chords were the perfect backdrop to this jam that was unfolding as a spirited countryish two-step. They were on fire: all five on stage weaved and darted together, exploring all of the different pockets that this jam had to offer. It segued perfectly into a delightfully uptempo "Friend of the Devil." They would return to the previous jam every now and then, cross-referencing it with a riff every head in the house knew very well: "China Cat!" Bobby sang both of these tunes and his voice was really starting to warm up. He was obviously enjoying himself, especially when he stepped up and took a nice chordal, melodic solo at the end.

All the boys were smiling ear to ear when they seamlessly headed into the riff for "The Eleven." Molo and Jimmy had a great time trading off in rhythmic playfulness as they settled into the groove. I have never heard vocals for the Eleven sound this good! They did the full tune, and I couldn’t stop watching Phil and Bobby grinning at each other as Bobby kept repeating at the end "This is the season for change, this is the season for change..."

They took off into a head spinning jam that was the high point of the first set. Anyone who was lamenting Warren’s absence at the beginning of the show I hope would have changed their minds at this point. Jimmy Herring kept challenging himself and the band with increasing intensity and the results were earth-shattering. He completely floored me with his constant flow of ideas and willingness to change gears in his leads at the drop of a dime. They spiralled out for a while, and came in for a landing for "Brown Eyed Women." Barraco sang the tune beautifully and my heart swelled when Phil took the end of every chorus himself as the band got very quiet, "And it looks like the old man is getting on."

The crowd at Sweetwater was very happy. Old family members mingled with younger kids such as myself during set break and we all whooped when the band began second set with Music Never Stopped. This was the first genuine Bobby tune of the night and it was extremely tight. Despite the cramped space in the club everyone was shakin’. "A band beyond description" indeed!

They took off into a very long, rockin’ jam, complete with a full-on "Watchtower" fly-by before they settled down into a cover tune "Get Together" (by the Youngbloods??). Bobby and Phil swapped verses and joined together on the chorus with a lot of heart and emotion. This is a song that obviously meant a lot to some of the older family members in the audience and it was downright beautiful.

They winded the tune down, took a little break and tore into the second full Bobby tune of the evening, "Cassidy." Things began to heat up again, and Barraco consistently stepped up during the jam, which was very powerful and heady. At one point, one of the tightest moments of the evening, they took the music way out there, heading towards space with increasing vigor and determination when WHAM before you knew it they were playing the "Cassidy" riff again to the amazement of everyone there. Phil has over the years emerged as an incredible, very able band leader and his hard work has certainly paid off – everyone’s jaw dropped as they ripped back in and the temperature in the room, unbelievably, went up a few degrees as the crowd danced with renewed vitality.

"Mason’s Children" came up next and the vocals were impeccable. I could be mistaken, but it seemed to me that Jerry was on everyone’s minds as Bobby and Phil sang the lyrics to this legendary collaborative Dead tune. If he was watching, he would have been very proud indeed.

I’ll never forget the way Phil took over the jam coming out of Mason’s. Things got a bit quiet, and Phil masterfully brought it back up as he and Molo started swingin’ furiously, with Mr. Lesh thumpin’ double-time jazz walking with amazing dexterity and speed. I have never seen Phil play this fast! I was bowled over by his musicianship. Phil is always pushing the envelope and is so obviously working very hard one can't help but be impressed by his obvious devotion and love for music. "Second wind" is an understatement for this man who is over sixty years old and blessed enough to have a new liver.

They launched into a modal jazz standard that I am not familiar with but someone said was a Coltrane tune. It was fairly short, with a fiery segue jam into the one and only "Viola Lee Blues," increasingly one of my favorite songs in the Phil and Friends repertoire. They nailed it, with Rob sitting the high notes perfectly and Jimmy again knocking me down with his extrememly fast, highly melodic and rhythmic bursts of light. They went on into a very choppy, not so tight "Maggie’s Farm" and then back into the last verse of "Viola Lee." They pulled another show stopper coming out of "Maggie’s Farm"; one similar to the Cassidy jam described above, but a lot more bluesy and not so spacey. But, once again, as they ripped back into Viola Lee people were looking at each other with amazement, "how did they do that?"

They left the stage and the crowd was buzzing with much speculation as there was another amplifier and microphone set up. We heard everything from Jorma Kaukonen to Junior Brown to Warren Haynes. Much to our unbelievable delight, it turned out be Warren indeed, tearing out of the gate with some Chuck Berry licks as Bobby led the band into "Promised Land," a perfect choice considering that Warren had JUST stepped off the plane after recording for the new Gov't Mule album on the East Coast all day. During the segue jam into "I Know You Rider" he pulled out the slide and the audience had a collective shiver of bliss as Warren’s slide work pierced our souls. This tune capped off the evening perfectly, reminding us of the amazing "China Cat" first set as Warren, Phil, and Bobby all swapped verses.

I was lucky enough to chat it up with some of the band members after the show and Jimmy revealed to me some plans they have for summer tour. They are rehearsing ten to twelve hour days for the next three days. I’ll keep quiet on the details but I think Bobby summed it up when he was walking to his car with a young child sleeping in his arms, "Bye guys, that was great! I’m excited to see what happens next!"

Brian Mundy
JamBase Bay Area Correspondent
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Check out pictures of the event at Walfredo.com!