CRUSADER RABBIT STEALTH BAND
Sweetwater, Mill Valley, CA
By: Brain Mundy Bay Area Correspondent
JamBase - Published June 11, 2001  

I got the call around 3pm Sunday afternoon from my friend Eric, "Phil and  Friends are playing a secret show at The Sweetwater tonight, and Bobby may  show up!"

About six hours later, after waiting in line for about 4 and a half hours, we  entered Sweetwater, passing the posters that announced "Crusader Rabbit  Stealth Band with Phriends and Bobby Peir." Right as John Molo, Rob Barraco,  Jimmy Herring, Bob Weir and Phil Lesh took the tiny stage in the 150 person  capacity legendary club, I glanced out the door and felt for the good sixty  souls still hoping to get in.  

They kicked off with a mellow jam that reminded a few of us of "Bird Song."  We had been speculating all afternoon what songs they were going to play, but  when they ripped into "Truckin'," I couldn't have agreed more with the  decision. Everyone's arms in the club were raised with much hootin' and  hollerin' as Phil and Bobby exchanged appreciative glances and belted out  "What a loooooong strange trip it's been!"  

At this point, we knew beyond any shadow of a doubt that this show was going  to be rippin'. The sound was perfect; everyone's instruments and voices were  very clear, and the subwoofer speaker above the stage and directly behind  Phil shook the room ever so gently. Jimmy stepped up for the post-"Truckin'"  rockin' blues jam and he sounded absolutely terrific. He led the way for a  short time, and then Phil stepped up and slowed it down to the nice grinding  blues of "Smokestack Lightning." Bobby's vocals were a wee bit shoddy, but he  hit the high notes perfectly and with the Bob Weir aplomb; the crowd  responded with glee. Things got pretty down and dirty for a while, with  Barraco playing some great blues trills and Jimmy starting to really warm up  and cut loose.  

Molo, Jimmy, and Phil started speeding things up a bit and Rob and Bobby were  right in step. At this point I realized how much I had missed Bobby's rhythm  playing. His graceful chords were the perfect backdrop to this jam that was  unfolding as a spirited countryish two-step. They were on fire: all five on  stage weaved and darted together, exploring all of the different pockets that  this jam had to offer. It segued perfectly into a delightfully up-tempo  "Friend of the Devil." They would return to the previous jam every now and  then, cross-referencing it with a riff every head in the house knew very  well: "China Cat!" Bobby sang both of these tunes and his voice was really  starting to warm up. He was obviously enjoying himself, especially when he  stepped up and took a nice chordal, melodic solo at the end.  

All the boys were smiling ear to ear when they seamlessly headed into the  riff for "The Eleven." Molo and Jimmy had a great time trading off in  rhythmic playfulness as they settled into the groove. I have never heard  vocals for the Eleven sound this good! They did the full tune, and I couldn't  stop watching Phil and Bobby grinning at each other as Bobby kept repeating  at the end "This is the season for change, this is the season for change..."  

They took off into a head spinning jam that was the high point of the first  set. Anyone who was lamenting Warren's absence at the beginning of the show I  hope would have changed their minds at this point. Jimmy Herring kept  challenging himself and the band with increasing intensity and the results  were earth shattering. He completely floored me with his constant flow of  ideas and willingness to change gears in his leads at the drop of a dime.  They spiraled out for a while, and came in for a landing for "Brown Eyed  Women." Barraco sang the tune beautifully and my heart swelled when Phil took  the end of every chorus himself as the band got very quiet, "And it looks  like the old man is getting on."  

The crowd at Sweetwater was very happy. Old family members mingled with  younger kids such as myself during set break and we all whooped when the band  began second set with Music Never Stopped. This was the first genuine Bobby  tune of the night and it was extremely tight. Despite the cramped space in  the club everyone was shakin'. "A band beyond description" indeed!   

They took off into a very long, rockin' jam, complete with a full-on  "Watchtower" fly-by before they settled down into a cover tune "Get Together"  (by the Youngbloods??). Bobby and Phil swapped verses and joined together on  the chorus with a lot of heart and emotion. This is a song that obviously  meant a lot to some of the older family members in the audience and it was  downright beautiful.  

They winded the tune down, took a little break and tore into the second full  Bobby tune of the evening, "Cassidy." Things began to heat up again, and  Barraco consistently stepped up during the jam, which was very powerful and  heady. At one point, one of the tightest moments of the evening, they took  the music way out there, heading towards space with increasing vigor and  determination when WHAM before you knew it they were playing the "Cassidy"  riff again to the amazement of everyone there. Phil has over the years  emerged as an incredible, very able band leader and his hard work has  certainly paid off everyone's jaw dropped as they ripped back in and the  temperature in the room, unbelievably, went up a few degrees as the crowd  danced with renewed vitality.

"Masons Children" came up next and the vocals were impeccable. I could be  mistaken, but it seemed to me that Jerry was on everyone's minds as Bobby and  Phil sang the lyrics to this legendary collaborative Dead tune. If he was  watching, he would have been very proud indeed.  

Ill never forget the way Phil took over the jam coming out of Masons. Things  got a bit quiet, and Phil masterfully brought it back up as he and Molo  started swingin' furiously, with Mr. Lesh thumpin' double-time jazz walking  with amazing dexterity and speed. I have never seen Phil play this fast! I  was bowled over by his musicianship. Phil is always pushing the envelope and  is so obviously working very hard one can't help but be impressed by his  obvious devotion and love for music. "Second wind" is an understatement for  this man who is over sixty years old and blessed enough to have a new liver.  

They launched into a modal jazz standard that I am not familiar with but  someone said was a Coltrane tune. It was fairly short; with a fiery segue jam  into the one and only "Viola Lee Blues," increasingly one of my favorite  songs in the Phil and Friends repertoire. They nailed it, with Rob sitting  the high notes perfectly and Jimmy again knocking me down with his extremely  fast, highly melodic and rhythmic bursts of light. They went on into a very  choppy, not so tight "Maggies Farm" and then back into the last verse of  "Viola Lee." They pulled another showstopper coming out of "Maggie's Farm";  one similar to the Cassidy jam described above, but a lot more bluesy and not  so spacey. But, once again, as they ripped back into Viola Lee people were  looking at each other with amazement, "how did they do that?"  

They left the stage and the crowd was buzzing with much speculation, as there  was another amplifier and microphone set up. We heard everything from Jorma  Kaukonen to Junior Brown to Warren Haynes. Much to our unbelievable delight,  it turned out be Warren indeed, tearing out of the gate with some Chuck Berry  licks as Bobby led the band into "Promised Land," a perfect choice  considering that Warren had JUST stepped off the plane after recording for  the new Gov't Mule album on the East Coast all day. During the segue jam into  "I Know You Rider" he pulled out the slide and the audience had a collective  shiver of bliss as Warrens slide work pierced our souls. This tune capped off  the evening perfectly, reminding us of the amazing "China Cat" first set as  Warren, Phil, and Bobby all swapped verses.  

I was lucky enough to chat it up with some of the band members after the show  and Jimmy revealed to me some plans they have for summer tour. They are  rehearsing ten to twelve hour days for the next three days. Ill keep quiet on  the details but I think Bobby summed it up when he was walking to his car  with a young child sleeping in his arms, "Bye guys, that was great! I'm  excited to see what happens next!"  

Brian Mundy

JamBase Bay Area Correspondent

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