, attached to 2023-08-26

Review by Astral_clown

Astral_clown Last night was only my 21st show so I'm still working on getting my apprenticeship, but even I can recognize the fabulous musicianship on display this weekend.

Friday was extremely solid, the band was clearly rested and loose. Trey was on from the first note and it was evident from how tight the harmonies were that they were ready to rumble all weekend. Page and Fish locked in immediately and Mike was playing his fool head off.

Jumping to last night's show, it was the same thing. They came out strong and immediately amped the energy up with 'Free' and didn't look back. While speaking with my wife who has been attending since '98, we were both slightly surprised by the decision to go directly from the pandemic song to Pillow Jets (the only song this weekend that I hadn't seen previously) as the energy immediately dropped but they closed it out with a solid Tube > Twist > Hood which excited our 12 year old who was at his 3rd show and chasing glow sticks.

Going into the second half, they started off with a lively DWD and I had called a Ghost after Maze came out in the 1st set so that was fun. When ASZ started going you could see the crowd buzz building as everyone could feel the momentum starting to grow. Then Golden Age started up and the rest of the show blasted into the stratosphere for the remainder of the night.

At the end of the first set, I had texted our friend to check in since he couldn't make the shows and explained that everything so far had been tight but we were surprised by how close the song gap was with no real surprises.

When Derek Trucks hit the stage, none of that mattered any longer. The Allman Brothers are one of my all-time favorite bands, and to see DT join them on stage for the last quarter was truly a gift. When he started riffing the solo from Ramblin Man, I just about lost it.

We're grateful to the band for the opportunity to attend a wonderful charity event, as they had skipped the Midwest this summer and we decided to take a chance on getting tickets for SPAC in the lottery. Beautiful venue, great crowd and great vibes. Oh, and if you're looking for entertainment/food outside of the shows, Dock's Seaside Bar has PHENOMENAL lobster rolls.

Looking forward to listening to this one over and over on LP, we'll be there again in October at the Chicago shows. Furthur!


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