Grateful Dudes, Portland Arms, Cambridge, 15/11/24

 Cambridge! A new (excellent) venue for the band, a new city for me, and a place to meet some new friends. (And to talk about the Dark Star Orchestra gigs with existing friends.)

8pm and the Dudes kick off with a high-energy Bertha followed by an equally intense Greatest Story with a sweet jam (with hints of St S?) which imho goes places the Dead never took it to. Round about now a stupid grin appears on my face which has nothing to do with any kind of intoxicant it’s simply pleasure and it stays more or less for the next 3 hours.

Bill dons his Pigpen hat and comes to the mike for Mr Charlie. And I don’t think you’d want to mess with this particular henchman! After Dire Wolf we’re treated to two new Dudes songs: On the Road Again followed by a staggeringly beautiful - both in the singing and playing - To Lay Me Down. Then a strident “Minglewood” complete with a shout out to Cambridge and some very tasty slide from Sean.

Next up is a Bird Song and here the jamming really hits its stride, bar structure of the song stripped back to a pulse, each musician putting his heart into making something unique. I’m minded of Lesh’s reference to Theodore Surgeon's novel ‘More Than Human’, in which a special group of people together become  a gestalt, something greater than the sum of their parts. 

After this high, I’m sorry to say, …the god-awful disco version of Dancing in the Streets! I never liked to hear the Dead play this song this way and I don’t feel any different about the Dudes doing it! The best thing I can say about it was that the girls who are dancing in front of me just love it! (No disrespect intended - even my wife’s friends, all aged around 70 are “The Girls”!)

After a really short break (the curfew is a perilously close 90 minutes away!) the band kick off with I Need a Miracle and then it’s straight into one of my favourites - China Cat Sunflower>Rider  - exuberant ecstasy! From way back when, I know well the excitement of the mosh pit (thank you Stranglers, thank you Adverts) - excitement yes, but none of the elation and sheer joy we have here tonight, dancing in this place to this music with these fellow Deadheads! It was sometime around now that, brimming with gratitude (we’re so lucky to have fine musicians playing this fine music) a door opens and I realise that, much though I loved and love the Grateful Dead… the music is actually bigger than the band! 

Rider gives way to Playing which winds down to a contemplative jam section interspersed with intense moments from which emerges the opening bars of Terrapin Station.

(I first heard a live Terrapin at the Bottom Line in London in 1995 when the Charlies supported Jefferson Starship. I knew from the album that it was a superb piece of music but at the time I was disappointed  - much of Terrapin is a set piece with little room for the musicians to stretch out and just play (come on, at least one section positively plods!) but I wasn’t entirely right and it does have its moments; and I’m sure it’s fun to play.)

From Terrapin the band goes into Drums and then into brief a Space then …a glorious St Stephen with a roaring soaring jam before the final verse but what’s next …an Eleven?, no it’s a very fine version of Throwing Stones which winds down to a very beautiful, sensitive “China Doll” (another Dudes first) with a consummate transition back into Playing. No time for an encore as it’s now 11pm, just some thank-you notices.

Listening back to the (2-track) recording of this gig on Bandcamp Andy (lead guitar) and Richard (bass) are a bit lost at times but Bill’s piano contributions, e.g. on Bird Song and St Stephen, are particularly clear and awesome. I think the vocals now are spot on now, not just whoever is taking lead on a particular song but the back-up vocals too. As always I struggle to hear Sean (rhythm guitar) properly and my untrained ear doesn’t fully appreciate the individual drummers. But in a band like this each individual is greater than their own part and each is a key piece of the jigsaw. Vive la gestalt!

Finally let’s hear it for Charlotte, who set up the gig, and also a huge thanks to Andy, Bill, Bob, Paul, Richard and Sean and to everyone else who helped to make this gig happen. 

…And the bad news - the Portland is fully booked through 2025, so no Dudes gig there before 2026! (Best get saving up for Fiddlers, Sheffield, Birmingham, Cirencester………….)

...and, I guess, the next Dark Star Orchestra tour.

Set 1:  Bertha > Greatest Story Ever Told, Mr Charlie, Dire Wolf > On the Road Again, To Lay Me Down, New Minglewood Blues, Bird Song > Dancing in the Street

Set 2:  I Need a Miracle > China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider > Playing in the Band > Terrapin Station > Drums > St Stephen > Throwing Stones > China Doll > Playing in the Band reprise