Furthur 2000 with Ziggy and Marley & the Melody Makers and The Other Ones

September 7, 2000

Blossom Music Center

Cuyahoga Falls, OH

Last night I drove from Ypsilanti, Mi down to Cuyohoga Falls to see my second and sadly last Furthur 2000 show with the Other Ones and Ziggy Marley. It was a nice warm sunny day and the drive was uneventful and pleasant. I had left work around lunchtime and the drive from door to door was about three hours. Right as I got off highway 8, I saw a hitchhiker with a sign that said "Blossom-Other Ones". I had room so I pulled over and gave my new friend Mike a ride to the show with a quick stop at the drive-thru beer store for a six of Mickey's Bigmouth. Got into the parking lot and checked out the scene for awhile, eventually making my way inside.

I was blessed with second row seats, but off to Bruce's side a bit. The view turned out to be great, but the sound was way to echoey and bassy so I moved closer to the center to dance in the aisle for most of the show.

Local act Ekoostic Hookah opened the show at around 5:30. There was a very enthusiastic crowd up front who were loving every minute of their short set. I was left feeling that they were not really my cup of tea. They seemed a bit bland to me during this small sampling.

Next up Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers took the stage and played a very nice set of classic reggae including tunes made famous by Ziggy's father like "Africa Unite" and "Jammin".

The crowd in the pavilion started to build as the starting time for the Other Ones drew nearer and before long the band strode on stage and picked up their instruments. Everyone looked to be in good spirits and they started to noodle around on a jam that eventually led into the end of "Sugar Magnolia" and into "Sunshine Daydream". They picked up the song at the "Sometimes when the cuckoos calling…" verse and went from there. This was a surprise opener since they had closed out the last show at Pine Knob with a full "Sugar Magnolia", but I think it was the bands way showing the continuity between shows and it worked. Steve Kimock played steel guitar on this tune.

Next up was a slow jamming "Sugaree" sung by Bruce who really puts his own spin on this Garcia/Hunter tune. Both Karan and Kimock had some great soloing here.

The next song was an unexpected "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl" which was surprisingly hot I thought. This was the fast version that the Dead played a few times in the later years and Bobby really growled out the lyrics and even did some vocal ad-libbing at the end.

Next up the band eased into a version of "Playing in the Band" that was nicely jammed out. Bruce had some cool playing on this one. "Playin'" led into "Scarlet Begonias" sung by Bruce which took a while to get into the groove, but Kimock really saved the day with some ferocious soloing. The band wound down the ending coda and eventually stopped cold in time for Bruce to grunt, "HUH!" before launching into "Fire on the Mountain". Again this one started a little shakey with some vocal miscues, but the guitar players stepped up and delivered some playing that made this one of the hottest "Fires" I have ever heard. Both Kimock and Karan were awesome on this song while playing to together and separately. Near the end, Mickey signaled for Bruce to take a solo and Bruce responded by taking the most far out piano solo of the night. Very discordant and strange, but cool. Mickey loved it and as the band slammed back into the next verse and chorus Mickey was literally glowing and jumping up and down as he sang and pointed at Bruce. As soon as the song ended, everyone, but the drummers left the stage for "Drums" which was very long and cool with lots of Gyuto Monks sampling and some clowning by Billy. I was totally in the "zone" by the time the Rythym Devils were done and the rest of the band came back.

After a little bit of spacey jamming, Bruce led the band into a jazzy version of his tune, "Long Tall Cool One". This is a good song, but it didn't afford that much room for jamming. That might be because the band is still kind of unfamiliar with it though. Bruce did give space for Billy to take a nice drum solo and for Kimock to play a little meltdown on guitar.

Next Bobby and Mark strapped on their acoustic and Alphonso picked up his acoustic stand up bass and they started playing the intro to "Lady with a Fan", the first part of Terrapin Station. Bruce soon joined them on accordion and I couldn't believe we were seeing an acoustic "Lady with a Fan". Bobby's acoustic guitar worked really shined here as he and Bruce traded off verses. Instead of going into the main part of Terrapin Station, the band segued into a nice bright version on "Uncle John's Band" with Bobby and Mark remaining on their acoustics. This has always been one of my favorite songs and this was a nice arrangement of the song with some nice acoustic licks by Mark. I was still hoping for them to complete "Terrapin", but they jammed around a lot eventually ending up playing a loose, but cool version of "Banyan Tree". This was my first time seeing this song live and I liked it. I really like the Hunter lyrics and Steve did some crazy soloing here.

"Banyan Tree" led into a nice "Playin' in the Band reprise" which was played very tightly to perfection. "Playin'" came to a end and Bobby started playing his little lead soloing on "China Cat Sunflower" which caused the crowd to go nuts. Bobby really nailed the singing and guitar playing on this one and again Mark and Steve really shined on guitars. The jam into "I Know You Rider" was very intense with all three guitarists adding a lot. "I Know You Rider" was a great way to end the set. Bobby took really got the crowd going with his "Sun is going to shine verse" and Bruce took the "I wish I was a headlight" verse with great results. Steve and Bruce also had great solo breaks here. All to soon, the song ended and the band left the stage. They quickly returned for a nice "Good Lovin' " complete with Bruce playing organ and Bobby ad-libbing a little rap at the end. Mark was playing some nice "La Bamba" licks during the whole song.

The crowd was tired and happy by the end of the show. The show was looser and not as intense as Monday's Pine Knob show, but it still surpassed my expectations by far. I really wish I had the time and money to follow these guys farther along the tour. The shows are great, the playing is inventive and the vibes are good. I really hope this band stays together and becomes a functioning band rather than just a once a year tour. They have so much talent and they will only improve with more experience playing together. They have talked about new material, a live album, more tours and even a studio album so hopefully we haven't heard the last of the Other Ones.