June 17, 2003 Verizon Wireless Amp. Virginia, VA A new beginning...a sonic miracle... Someday, we always believed, we would not only vibrate together in sound but also in the visual domain. That day is becoming a reality, that day is today. This is the first time that the sound and lights will be pulsating together in a shared rhythm, interactive as they say. What we play the lights say. It is so exciting to join these two mediums. One pulsating throbbing gristle. We have joined these worlds in the "midi" domain. Midi means musical instrument digital interface. The lights and the images are now triggered from the stage as opposed to someone in the arena directing the flow. The Rhythm Devils now will have a flow and rhythm that is directly related to what is being played from the stage, from Bill and I. The Brotherhood of Light, Peter "Liquid Pete" Rabinowitz and Chris Samardizch, is making this happen for us. The new Meyer PA is a vision fulfilled for both Meyer Sound and the band. A product of John and Helen Meyer, aka, Meyer Sound, does the impossible. We can now play loud or soft and not hear the feared blowback from the speaker columns. Tonight was the first outing for the new MILO Loudspeaker system, which was designed and built in Berkeley, CA. The system is a culmination of research that started many years ago on previous Grateful Dead tours. The sound levels required for stadium shows is so high that previous sound systems, disturbed the band on stage. John designed the MILO system to incorporate unique technology, such as active sound cancellation, which keeps the sound off the stage, with 5000-Watt amplifiers in each cabinet. Every part was optimized for this system and built by hand to very tight specifications. The advantage of hand-built parts over mass produced parts, is the ability to produce very high levels of sound with extremely low distortion so the audience can enjoy the sonic clarity of each performance. Many years in the making, this sound system is nothing short of a sonic miracle. The front line is happy. Tonight Steve Winwood joins the band. He is one amazing guy. He plays B3 organ, guitar, mandolin and sings like an angel. I have known him since 1968 when Garcia, Jack Cassidy, Steve and I played on a flatbed truck in front of the old KSAN studios. After the show we wound up at Lake Tahoe and spent four days together playing ping-pong, exchanging stories, climbing snowy mountains and just enjoying great hang time. He was 20 years old and playing this smart, loud music with his voice shimmering with Traffic. In those days English bands didn't play extended songs, but Traffic did. He is a jammer at heart with a strong feeling for jazz. Garcia loved Traffic as we all did. His band is sparkling. Beautiful percussion and a very Traffic-like feel. His new CD is amazing and it hits the streets today. It's called "About Time". It is truly an honor to share the same stage with him and his band: Walfredo Reyes Jr., Joe Neto, Randall Bramblett and Edison A DaSilva. When he started "Higher Love" the hair on my arms stood straight up. His voice is an original masterpiece, one of a kind. Tonight Steve joined us for a spirited rendition of Loose Lucy. Joan sang soulful versions of Built to Last and It Must Have Been the Roses. I felt Jerry's sweet vibe hovering above the band. "Just the beard and the glasses, and a smile on empty space". We played a couple of rare ones tonight, Mason's Children and Ruben and Cherise. David Lemieux told me this morning that we only played Mason's Children four times, back in the 60's; Ruben and Cherise was a special performance of a Jerry Band favorite. The fan response was truly special! Set two opened with drums in the dark. We wove our way through our new midi lights and then lashed the beast into submission before winding down to a smooth Mountains of the Moon. I spoke to Joe Wilson tonight, (you can find more about Joe in the related links on the previous page) and here is some more of his take on the music of Virginia. (Joe Wilson, Steve Winwood, and Jonathan Adelstein from the FCC) "So what happens when you attach a fret board to a drum? Well, you have a new instrument and what it is depends upon where you are. It can be a rebab or a moon guitar or - if you are in Virginia as I am - a banjo. The banjo came to Virginia from Africa sometime after 'the latter part of October in 1619', according to John Rolfe, husband of Pocahantas. That was when the first Africans came to British America. The banjo became especially popular after drums were banned. Drums banned? Good Lord, a major low point in our national history. That was brought about by the Stono slave rebellion is South Carolina in the 1740s. The rebelling slaves marched to the sound of drums, so the slaveowners who ran the Colony banned drums. Poor solution! So the banjo was combined with a European instrument, the violin, then a new tool in the hands of working people. The main players of fiddle and banjo from the mid-1600s to the early 1800s were black. This was the first American ensemble other than Native American creations. Africa and Europe continue to meet and re-meet in American music, but this was the first meeting, the diversity at the beginning. So here in Virginia we are at the birthplace of the first ensemble that can claim to be American. You ask, did it take the nation nearly 400 years to come up with bluegrass? Well, almost. But of course that tiny black ensemble is also a root of blues, country, jazz, and all the rest. Black folk gave up the banjo after the burnt cork minstrels beat them over the head with it with racist caricatures for some 75 years. One of the great oddities is that banjo and fiddle music of the old style is still very much alive in Virginia. One of the great places to hear it is in and around Galax in the southeastern portion of the state. If you can, stop in at the blue Ridge Music Center, up on the Blue Ridge Parkway, and hear some of this historic music. Here's a website that will guide you to this National Park Service site where there's free music almost every Saturday night."