Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros @ Greek Theatre 7/24/21

[Drunk Monk]

I just got booked for RM for this so I'm posting it now. 

JUN 21, 2021
Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros At Greek Theatre At UC Berkeley

Next stop, the Greek Theatre! Catch Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros LIVE at UC Berkeley on July 24. The show will feature Bobby Weir, Don Was, and Jay Lane featuring Jeff Chimenti and Greg Leisz with special guests The Wolfpack. 

I'm excited to get back, but have trepidations about the pandemic and patrons dosing too hard. I don't want to work my ass off chasing trippers or dealing with covid ptsd cases. I got my own covid ptsd.

I've tuned into Bobby's recent stuff. It's a harsh listen. Bobby has this weird off key approach to his vocals - on rare occasions, it worked and was amazing. But most of the time, it was painfully off. But Bobby don't care.

[Drunk Monk]

Micheala has been announced as a special guest. 

Now I’m excited for this show musically. Don’t get me wrong. I luv Bobby. And I’ve seen him nail it solo. But he misses a lot and his sound now is so ... Bobby. I listened to Ace today and was reminded of when he still had his voice so long ago (he did Ace in the late 70s).

I was reminded of a story KB told me about Queen Christina mocking Bobby’s ‘didja ever best the sound of street cats makin love?’ lyric and KB’s amusement about Bobby’s approach to his lyric ‘these are the horns of the dilemma.’ Alas... Bobby.

[Drunk Monk]

To get into the Greek, I need to have the Clear App. I've downloaded the app, but it won't let me take a photo of my vax card. After about a half hour of frustrated attempts with the photo function, I switched entry modes. As much as I did NOT want to, I allowed the app to access my Kaiser records. Now it's waiting for results. It said it may take around 1 minute, but it's been several.

Fuck this app.

[Drunk Monk]

Finally got the damn app to work. I'm still mad that I couldn't get the feckn photo for my vax card to function. I got to that part and it kept saying 'hold still' even when I set it up on a static stand. There was no button to push to get it to snap the image. The weird thing is that it worked to get my ID. I think it just data mined my medical records. Damn bots. 

The app is free if you're just attending an event. Those come up on a pull down menu. But it keeps directing you to buy into it, which is really bothersome. 

I doubt I'll pay into it if I have to fly. I'll just bring my passport from now on. 

A few friends have begun to check in with me, to see if I'll be there. That, and Michaela, will be the best part.

[Drunk Monk]

Soundcheck estimated, ripple

Acoustic band - 3 horns, pedal steel, piano, cello, standing base, drums & Bobby - not bad so far...

$60 posters, $55 tees

NFA to open - sounds good > Cassidy 

No harp to be found

[Drunk Monk]

Back at the bungalow. That got crazy, but it was a good teaching moment. I take back my earlier criticisms of Bobby. He was in fine voice and I rather enjoyed his latest ensemble. 

More to come later... I sleep now.

[Drunk Monk]

The 'official' set list:

1. Set 1:
   
   
2. Not Fade Away
   (The Crickets cover) (>)
   
   
3. Cassidy
   
   
4. She Says
   (Ratdog song) (first time played since 2014 (with Ratdog))
   
   
5. Friend of the Devil
   (Grateful Dead song)
   
   
6. Black-Throated Wind
   
   
7. Tennessee Jed
   (Grateful Dead song)
   
   
8. Mule Skinner Blues
   (Jimmie Rodgers cover) (with Ramblin’ Jack Elliott)
   
   
9. Weather Report Suite
   (Grateful Dead song) (>)
   
   
10. Let It Grow
    (Grateful Dead song)
    
    
11. Set 2 :
    
    
12. You Win Again
    (Hank Williams and His Drifting Cowboys cover) (>)
    
    
13. Scarlet Begonias
    (Grateful Dead song) (>)
    
    
14. Playing in the Band
    (with 'So What' by Miles Davis snippet) (>)
    
    
15. Uncle John's Band
    (Grateful Dead song) (> 'Playing in the Band' reprise >)
    
    
16. Estimated Prophet
    (Grateful Dead song) (>)
    
    
17. The Other One
    (Grateful Dead song) (with 'So What' by Miles Davis snippet)
    
    
18. Standing on the Moon
    (Grateful Dead song)
    
    
19. One More Saturday Night
    
    
20. Encore:
    
21. Ripple
    (Grateful Dead song) (>)
    
22. Not Fade Away
    (The Crickets cover) (reprise)
    

[Greg]

No hell in a bucket? Robbed.

[Drunk Monk]

It's been a while so I must remind you all that these RM tales are DOOM Eyes only. I'm not violating HIPPA to tale my tales here. 

The Greek enforced proof of vaccination using the Clear App. This was for all staff and patrons. The Clear App is cumbersome - it's free but it constantly directs you to invest in their paid app. Many had to try to download it at the gate with no success, but a presented vax card was sufficient for entry. Attendance was limited to 5K (capacity is 8500). The floor was a congested petri dish like always but the lawn was roomy. 

I was the lone psych vol with a crew of less than 2 dozen nooBs and a tiny handful of veterans. 

Word from several sources is that there is clean liquid acid in the mix. Subjective crowd pupillary & behavioral observation affirms this. 

RM's new policy is no physical restraint. We may escort cooperative patients, but all takedowns are delegated to security. It was a new security company for the Greek. The reasoning behind removing takedowns from the RM protocol is the safety of our volunteers in the pandemic PLUS the potential of being videoed by patrons might reflect poorly.  

There was one major IPR, a 300lb linebacker of a dude, right around set break. He was in the worst possible location - front and center of the lawn - making extraction challenging. Not only is it the farthest from RM, it is in clear view of everyone in the venue.We've been watching social media for video of this episode..

When I came up on the scene, security was on top of him. He was oriented X4 but surging towards a peak and making random violent lurches. I convinced security to turn him over on his belly to reduce stimuli, and they complied immediately. If you know the Greek, the lawn is steep. Given the patient's girth, we could not extract him through the wire fence down to the upper concourse. I arranged to have him poseyed to a backboard, and then carried up the hill to a gurney on top. Unfortunately I was the only one who knew how to tie poseys. I got three of them done. Someone else did the fourth improperly and he broke out of that. By the time we got him backboarded, he was raging. We got him on the gurney, then out the side gate but halfway down the very steep access road, he got out of that posey, so we had to stop to re-secure him. Our doc met us there, out of the crowd's sight and he was chemically restrained but given his size, that hardly made a dent. We decided to roll him because we did not have the manpower to do otherwise. The ambulance hit him with Ketamine, and that worked wonders. I'm sold on K's effectiveness for IPRs. 

I'm not sure of how long this all took - it began before set break and went on until after the second set commenced. 

It was a good teaching moment for RM & security. It was personally reaffirming to see that my skills survived the pandemic, and that I can still deliver a flash of JNK magic. The crowd gave us a standing ovation when we finally got him out. 

The crew suffered only one injury - RM director Gordon got a small cut on his hand from the gurney when he helped re-secure that faulty posey tie. Of the RM veterans present, Gordon was the only other one beyond me who can still manage big IPR patients like this. 

August is packed with shows - String Cheese, Cypress Hill, Rebelution, 2 nights of Zedd (EDM) and 2 nights of Crush (also EDM), BottleRock, and more. Most is beyond my bandwidth. Given my performance, BottleRock has made me a very tempting offer. 

Moral of the story - let me poach Bette Davis - "Fasten your seatbelts. It's going to be a bumpy August."

May the force be with me.

[Drunk Monk]

Watched the show on YouTube



Damn, it sounds like shit. It sounded so different live, so much better. Maybe it's the mix. Maybe it was the crowd. It wasn't my state of mind because I was completely sober. But then the Dead experience was always better live. They just don't record well.