A Great Night of Music

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Although Vermont pulled out of the opportunity, Stroudsburg, PA kindly accepted the offer to take it Furthur on July 5th 2010. This would be the smallest venue the band would play besides rehearsal shows in California in the bands existence. If the intensity didn't put you in a haze, the heat definitely did. It felt as though it was 100 degrees in the theater, and it may have well been, but that did not stop the jam packed show from levitating above expectation.

From the beginning you could safely make the assumption that the whole band was locked in tightly, and completely rehearsed. "Scarlet Begonias" sent off the introduction to a unbelievable night of music in the right direction. A deep jam towards the end evolved into a funky endeavor by the name of "Shakedown Street", where Bob Weir shown threw with genius rhythm guitar, as John Kadlecik laid down undoubtedly astounding guitar work. Jeff Pehrson and Sunshine Becker Garcia injected gorgeous vocals that sat lightly ontop of a deep and disco-funk filled Shakedown. The final segue jam flowed into a period tempo dropping where an abrupt stop came, Bob Weir signaled, and started the "Promised Land". Of course being Bob Weir especially, no one is perfect, and when he flubbed a few of the lyrics, the crowd cheered in his obvious acknoledgement of his mistake. However, his courageous vocals over shadowed the usual embarrassment for a musician when forgetting lyrics.

"Candy Man" was a beautiful rendition, which is when John Kadleciks singing shines through the best. "Playin In The Band" rose above the previous jams played, with all around meritable playing. "The Eleven" was a first set highlight for me, especially John Kadlecik's picking. "Colors Of The Rain" put the crowd into...

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...nsity with every melody variation. Jeff Chimenti was on fire all throughout. The last song break in the second set led to "The Music Never Stops" which reintroduced a funk atmosphere, with a huge portion of the funk being played by Bob Weir's genius rhythm guitar. The banter was on the verge of one of the best post Grateful Dead I've heard, where Bobby went off into his usual crazy vocals. This transitioned into a lively "China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider", both appropriately humble, and energetic beyond belief.

When Phil Lesh came on for his donor rap, the crowd was on the verge of tearing the building down with the amount of volume. And to end the night, "Box Of Rain" was beautiful, well structured, and smooth.

This was certainly a great night of music, in an intimate venue, where the band didn't lay low, but rather experimented with taking it Furthur.

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