070515 David Grisman Sextet, Chicago, IL

I’m not a huge proponent of aftershows, at least not ones that follow what is expected to be a great concert.  Going to see Kevin Breit after Paul McCartney is one thing – that’s just going from one type of mind-blowing experience to another – but going to see something like Particle after a show like Ween for example…well, it’s kind of like being offered a slice of frozen pizza after feasting on filet mignon; no thanks, I’d rather savour the flavour.

(Not that I haven’t been to – indeed even booked – many such aftershows, but I generally use them as a backdrop for winding down and chatting with friends.)

Of course my expectations were high for the Fare Thee Well Chicago run so I shunned the vast plethora of aftershows that were booked throughout the city, but a pre-show?  That was a whole different story.

And so it was with relish that I enjoyed a pre-show buffet brunch featuring a set of music from David Grisman and his merry band of pickers on July 5th, 2015.

It all went down in the fancy downtown Hilton.  Like every other hotel in the city the lobby was crawling with tie-dyed Deadheads.  I ran in to several that I knew (most for the first and only time of the run) and we all entered the great hall together where a thousand hungry people sat around hundreds of round tables and feasted on scrambled eggs, bacon, French toast and fruit.

After several leisurely coffees we made our way into the concert salon where m’lady and I were seated up front, off to the right.  From the first downbeat it was obvious that attending this show had been a good decision.  Grisman and his band are consummate professionals and we were treated to a very ear-pleasing ninety minutes of monstrous bluegrass playing at the hands of some of the best in the business.  Eyes closed, cushy chairs, lilting trickles of major-key earthiness pouring out of every instrument.  There was even a flautist.  

Now, who doesn’t like a little bluegrass fluting on a Sunday afternoon?

I had never seen Grisman before and I’m happy I did.  Of course there was no question on whether or not it was going to be a good show – the guy is just too experienced for that – but more a question of whether or not I would have the wherewithal to enjoy such a show squeezed as it was between a string of such standout concerts.

I did, and I did.  And then a couple of hours later I went to the final Fare Thee Well show.