u/Dramatic_Hearing_285

video here

Good show! They were pretty quiet during the first set, and Gillian mentioned they were getting their space together playing again after the Grateful Dead shows. Dave made a “take a step back joke” which got a laugh from all three other Deadheads in the room. This is the first time in a couple of years I’ve seen them without the great Paul Kowert on bass. I love the three of them together, and it’s also good to hear them playing as a duo again.

During the second set Gill talked about the New York Times list of best living songwriters. She started by saying “I’m not sure if you take the New York Times…” and you could have heard a pin drop. Not many Wordle fans in Mississippi? She talked about the backlist from the original list of 30 and how pissed everyone was until they released the longer list of 100. She mentioned they ended up 47th, and the video starts are her describing not loving being left off. They played Hard Times and then Dave talked about writing the song. He shared that it took a couple of years and playing it in writers circles to really finish it. (Gill mentioned chiseling things away from the song, which I thought was a beautiful metaphor.) He joked that they tend to find the best part and just repeat it, and said he might be giving too much of their technique away before illustrating his point with Hashtag. 

Excited for Birmingham tonight!