JB1

jones beach really is a beautiful venue. situated right on the beach, it provides a wonderful setting to see a concert in. i also liked the setup with the grandstand rising in front of the stage instead of the traditional shed/hill setup of most outdoor amphitehaters. the increased elevation of the grandstand makes for a more intimate show.

the show itself was, IMO, MUCH better than fenway. the sound was certainly better and i was much closer to the action, which i think had a large part to do with it. but the music...the music was phenominal. a stand-alone, first set timber? are you kidding me? a cities (for the dude on the train who was singing it). reba. i thought possum would end the set...then i thought farmhouse would end it...but apparently, if i could was the closer! as great as it was to get if i could, i think they kinda lost the impact of the song, placing it where they did. the set was over, for all intents and purposes. if i could would have been much better placed before possum or somewhere else in the set where it could have fit the flow better, but whatever. im not complaining. i also wished they had done the more powerful "if i could i would" ending.

second set was great too. i thought the segue from wolfman>weekapaug was a little weird. for a moment i thought fishman was trying to get brother started, but it was weekapaug. harry was great. really went out there for a bit in the middle. the entire crowd actually stopped dancing and sat (stood) transfixed looking at the stage. it was a pretty cool moment. i would also have to say that fishman was really setting some great beats throughout the show. he created some really great grooves.

the two new songs were great. both have a great & approachable rock and roll vibe. and, as like some others have written, there is a new, more jerry-ish sound to some of these songs and trey's tone at points. my one criticism would be that the kill devil falls jam was a little too much like birds, and by that i mean the kill devil falls jam sounded EXACTLY like a birds jam. hopefully that will get worked out.

another thing about jones beach: best bathrooms ever. as great as the show was, the bathrooms were better. wide. clean. TONS of stalls. very well designed. really exceptional!