Suggesting Rhythm - Friday Cheers (Brown’s Island RVA) July 9, 2021
The sun was blazing down on Brown's Island in Richmond when the band took the stage on this July evening. After almost two full months and two rained out shows since Suggesting Rhythm last played, the band and the fans both were bursting with pent-up energy and anticipation, and it was all about the music from the first note.
Leading off with the classic trilogy of ‘Help>Slipknot>Franklin's Tower’ it was clear the whole band was thrilled to be back and came to jam. The fans obviously felt the same and the whole island was swaying and swinging despite the heat. Following the opening triplet was "Mississippi Half-step' from the 1973 Wake of the Flood album.
Dave took a second here to introduce the band to the sold out crowd before dropping into 'Birdsong'. Diving up and down, slowing and building, SR took this jam for a hell of a ride before coming back down to wrap it up. Taking just a couple minutes to get ready, they eagerly jumped into the famous 'China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider' pairing. For almost 20 minutes Suggesting Rhythm kept the tempo smoking to close out maybe my favorite SR set ever. The crowd and band were both drenched in sweat and welcomed the set break to cool off and catch their collective breaths.
The sun was finally starting to set when Adam, Dave, Ed, Jeff, Noel and Steve came back to the stage for round two. Dave addressed the crowd referencing the 26th anniversary of Jerry's last show in Soldier field and we were off again. Always a great set opener, 'Feel Like a Stranger' started off the 2nd set. A Barlow-written classic, it stayed in the Dead's repertoire from 1981 until July 5, 1995. This number always came with the possibility of being a short dance number or a long spacy adventure. Tonight SR chose to show off a 13 minute spacy version in what was to be an utterly stellar evening of long introspective killer jams.
It took a couple minutes to get tuned up again with a few more words of thanks from Oakley and then they were off into the Ace album's MVP, 'Playing in the Band'. The whole band was talking and vibing through the sound they were delivering. The crowd was eating up every note that perfectly exemplified the sheer joy everyone was feeling to be free on a Friday night. Around the 15 minute mark they brought it to a close and in no time were off again on Hunter and Garcia's 1988 song 'Foolish Heart'. Finishing up, Adam called an audible, presumably relating to time as the curfew was closing in.
Much to the fans delight the band's huddle resulted in 'Terrapin Station' and we all shouted SUGGESTING RHYTHM when Dave sang the lyrics. Breaking off another almost 15 minute song like it's a Sunday stroll, SR showed everyone in attendance why the crowd keeps growing. By the end, Oakley was running around the stage hyping up the crowd giving every drop of energy and emotion he had to close this amazing jam packed set!
With very little hesitation, and copious cheers and applause, the band came back to perform an encore. Immediately, Jeff and Noel jumped into drums and did their own thing before launching off into 'Shakedown Street', a Suggesting encore favorite. Somehow finding more juice in the squeeze, the guys laid down another perfect dance number to cap the evening while the attendees tried feverishly to keep up with the pace.
Keeping with the average hour and twenty set time, this odd 4 song plus an encore version was definitely a stray from par, but as usual it was spectacular! We all left sticky and hot, but our emotional tanks were full and, luckily, it will be less than a week before we can do it again in Williamsburg.
My highlights are gonna be the opening, Help on the Way > Slipknot > Franklin's Tower and the whole 2nd set. Again 5 songs, almost an hour and twenty minutes...Amazing!
