Reprinted from Views Skewed
Dsclaimer: I grew up within 40 minutes of the Connecticut casinos. I like to gamble (craps, preferred). I know Mohegan Sun well, but I never have seen a show there. To see my hometown casino filled with deadheads was, as my friend so eloquently put it, “like two worlds colliding”. Yes, it was, to say the least.
Preshow: Gamble (video poker, craps, up $57 bucks). My friends and I split up, they go off to section 16, I’m in 112– nosebleeds. Had a full on view of the stage, reminding me Radio City, but… not quite. Mohegan Sun holds about 9500 people, compared to about 6,000 at Radio City.
Set 1: I was wandering around, seat jumping, wanting to get down to my buddies. Did the side-step with the security guards for most of the first set. My friends were seated down where a Security-Nazi was on the loose, and kinda killin’ the vibe for me a bit.
They teased the Other One again. I’m sensing a theme here. Tennessee Jed was fun, good, solid, but Memphis Blues twisted into some sweet reggae grooves. It was nice to hear them expand the jam repertoire. Pride of Cucamonga, I love that song, makes me do a little jig with a smile on my face. It was a good one, nicely done Phil
Set Break: My friend told me we could go out and gamble if we brought our ticket out to get scanned. Um, gamble? Me? Heh, I led us out the doors. Walked through the maze that is Mohegan to find a craps table. Once we found it, it proceeded to suck us dry and fast. Said “enough, mercy!”, and we went back into the arena.
Assessment: First set was ok. I feel a bit biased from RCMH but the first set was solid. Felt like they could’ve picked up the pace more for my tastes, but a great time was had by all. The crowd was happy, smiling, dancing and singing. The place was packed, considering the weather and the snow.
Author’s note: Bobby wore his man-pris again. Same color too as at Radio City. I also saw him sporting them at a Scaring the Children show last October. They look comfortable enough. As I said to my friends, “It’s all good Bobby – the dukes shouldn’t come out before May.”
The Man to Woman ratio at Mohegan: 6:1 Compared to Wednesday’s 8:1, I can’t find an analysis to come up with discrepancy. More chicks in CT, I guess.
Set 2: Bertha. Love that song. Place erupted in song. It’s kind of cool to look around and see around you clapping and dancing. We slid into a really beautiful He’s Gone. Mississippi was great, John was noodling.
Then…there…was…drums. I haven’t heard a drums from Furthur, at all. Not at Hammerstein, not at Radio City. I hadn’t seen it posted anywhere before but.. there it was. I totally perked up from my bouncy Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo mode. This and the reggae stuff excited me for more shows to come. Summer tour dates were released that morning. Killer.
They also did a mini-space. It was right at that time when I was saying to myself, “wow this is really spacey — could it be…?” when they went into King Solomon’s Marbles. Yeah, it was good. Jeff and those keys. Yeah. Good stuff. They teased the Other One again, but I am now onto their teasing scheme, so I didn’t get too excited. I held back. A roaring U. S. Blues ended the first night of a casino run, and my checkbook thanks you greatly. As do I. Solid show. Definitely.
Set 1:
Other One (Verse 1), Alligator, Tennessee Jed
Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again
Pride of Cucamonga, El Paso, Foolish Heart
Women Are Smarter
Set 2:
Bertha, Good Lovin’, He’s Gone
Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo
Drums, King Solomon’s Marbles
Standing On The Moon, Other One (Verse 2)
The Eleven, Sugar Magnolia
Encore: U.S. Blues