Thursday, August 6 saw members of RTD perform as "The Days Between with Matt Cole and Friends". RTD members Matt Cole, Bill Butler, Max Ketz, and Joe Waldecker were joined by vocalist Laurie Lester, to play a full Jerry Garcia Band show. Two hours of Jerry for the Otus Supply live stream gave his kind Jerry vibes for the Day Between.


After one rehearsal to get our bearings straight, we were in heaven playing a 2.5 hour set. The show started with Matt singing The Harder They Come, Stop That Train, and Valerie. Joe slayed us with Mission in the Rain. After Matt sang Waiting for a Miracle. Bill led us through Dear Prudence. For Joe's lead on Suaree, Matt invited Adam Bodeep from the FB page Deadicated Jams to sit in on guitar--Adam's dirt tone with Matt's Jerry tone were sweet! Next was Catfish John sung by Matt. Joe sang Run for the Roses--"all good things in all good time", which was followed by a long Lay Down Sally sang by Matt, complete with Space. Matt's rendering of Like a Road Leading Home gave way to the final song of the streaming set, Tangled Up in Blue, lead vocals by Joe, with Laurie and Matt singing the harmonies. 

After the stream ended, we played three encores for the masked sound and video crew and friends. Joe's interpretation of Gomorrah was stellar. Matt sang My Sisters and Brothers--"keep the faith". A long, jammy, Everybody Needs to Somebody to Love ended the show. 

See ya next week!

One of our favorite venues, Otus Supply in Ferndale, is hosting a series of live-streamed multi-camera performances this summer.  Raising The Dead kicked off Episode 1 back in June, and will be a part of Episodes 7 and 8.  

The Days Between with Matt Cole and Friends will feature Matt Cole, Max Katz, Bill Butler, and Joseph Waldecker from Raising The Dead, along with Laurie Lester, formerly of the People Movers.  They will perform the best of the Jerry Garcia Band.  Show starts at 8. 

Raising The Dead will return on August 13, performing their virtuosic take on the Dead repertoire.  

Use this link (The Parliament Room's Facebook Page) to find the stream for both shows. 

We hope you can join us for both shows!  We miss you, Jerry!

Our first audience-attended gig since the COVID crisis began was a great one.  The Tangent Gallery hosted us on their elevated stage, fans kept their distance, the venue staff provided masked service with a smile (we're pretty sure), and the jams flowed from the stage like honey.  It was so great to elbow-bump fans we've not seen for months, and deliver a 3-and-a-half-hour performance worthy of the day before Jerry's birthday.  

The first set featured a fine medley of Bertha into a psychedelic 69-style Good Lovin', which gave way to a pretty Wheel and an intense Unbroken Chain.  Joe led our debut of To Lay Me Down, followed by an out-there Cassidy, a funky Cumberland, and a rockin' Other One.  We were ready to take a break, but got to do one more, and laid down with the Dire Wolf. 

After a great acoustic set from Kyle, we retook the stage for a two hour second set!  Picasso Moon kicked us off, and we inserted Shakedown into the China>Rider sandwich.  Dark Star received its own filling, with our debut of Pride of Cucamonga.  Throwing Stones ended with Drums, and morphed into our first Brent Mydland tune ever - Blow Away.  It's a good guess that the Dead never played that song as long as we did.  We ended the set with Brown Eyed Women, and encored with Not Fade Away and Brokedown Palace. 

It was so good to see our friends and fans and make some physically present booties shake after all these months.  We'll return with two live-streamed shows from Otus Supply - Thursday, August 6 will be Matt Cole and Friends playing Jerry Garcia Band, and Thursday, August 13 will see the return of Raising The Dead to the Otus stream.  

I: Bertha > Good Lovin'* > The Wheel > Unbroken Chain, To Lay Me Down*, Cassidy, Cumberland Blues*, The Other One, Dire Wolf
II: Picasso Moon, China Cat Sunflower > Shakedown Street > I Know You Rider > Dark Star > Pride of Cucamonga* > Dark Star > Throwing Stones > Drums > Blow Away*, Brown Eyed Women
E: Not Fade Away, Brokedown Palace
* = First time played

Who do you know that needs to see this?  We are booking summer and fall dates now!

Last night, Raising The Dead accepted an invitation from Otus Supply to perform in the Parliment room to a crowd of... almost nobody!  While the venue (and restaurant) is not open for business right now, they are launching a series of performances captured by a 5-camera outfit and streamed live to Facebook.  Last night, we took the stage and performed a live show of killer Dead.  Online tips were accepted, (paypal.me/djmmmartin) and hundreds of shares and comments, and thousands of views prove we made some new fans, and got a chance to play for some veteran RTDeadheads. The band was in top form, the video and audio production were pro, and we're proud to share the result for you to see now. Enjoy!

6-18-2020 Otus Supply, Ferndale, MI

I: Jack Straw, Victim or the Crime, Ramble On Rose*, El Paso, They Love Each Other*, Looks Like Rain, Scarlet Begonias>The Eleven>Fire On The Mountain
II: Lost Sailor>Saint of Circumstance, China Doll*, Estimated Prophet>Eyes of the World>Weather Report>Let It Grow, Morning Dew*, The Music Never Stopped, I Shall Be Released
E: Feel Like A Stranger#>Franklin's Tower#, Samson and Delilah#, Althea#

*=First Time Played
#=Not on webcast

Raising The Dead will once again take the stage at Otus Supply in Ferndale, playing for a 5-camera live virtual concert, streaming on Facebook.  We'll be joined remotely by Dead biographer and Tales From The Golden Road host David Gans, who will perform from 7-8pm.  RTD takes the stage at 8 and will play a long set of live Dead.  All tips collected during this free event will benefit workers at Otus Supply. Join us!

RTD 2.0 played our second half of our East Side takeover at the Watermark Bar and Grill.  Having torn down the Cadieux Cafe the night before, we were ready to lay a second night of gooey Grateful goodness on our fans.  

The evening (birthday-eve for our super fan Stephanie, with cake for everyone) began at 8 with Althea, featuring tasty licks and vocals from our new man on stage right, Matt Cole.  Bill took over vocals for Black-Throated Wind, handed them back to Matt for a beautiful So Many Roads, and Dave took us to the Promised Land to end the short, lower-volume set. 

The second set began with Sugaree, and featured the first medley of the evening, Dear Prudence into The Wheel into Unbroken Chain.  After we'd finished, we'd played about 90 minutes of music, which was just 10 minutes short of what we'd play in the epic third set. 

A "sandwich of sandwiches" set, we played Truckin' and He's Gone inside The Other One, which was, of course, inside Crpytical Envelopment.  But rather than stop for a breather, we took it furthur into Eyes of the World, played with the 73 ending (as we always do!).  Eyes melted into ANOTHER sandwich, built around Playin'.  We were so giddy with excitement in Shakedown, we teased both Stayin' Alive and Another One Bites The Dust - both un-rehearsed and un-planned.  Another segue into Uncle John's Band brought us back home to the end of Playin'.  We ended the evening with OMSN, because it was.  

This two show run has shown us the potential our new lineup has to present sparkling 4-part harmonies, dig deep into improvisation, and present composed songs with expertise and an element of surprise.  We can't wait to see what we get into next - and we're glad you're on the bus with us.  Until next time!

2-29-2020 Watermark Bar and Grill, St. Clair Shores, MI
I: Althea, Black-Throated Wind, Row Jimmy, So Many Roads, Promised Land
II: Sugaree, Dear Prudence>The Wheel>Unbroken Chain
III: Cryptical Envelopment>The Other One>Truckin'>He's Gone>The Other One>Cryptical Envelopment>Eyes of the World> Playin' In The Band>Shakedown Street*>Uncle John's Band>Playin' In The Band
E: One More Saturday Night
* Stayin' Alive and Another One Bites The Dust teased

It was an auspicious debut for Raising The Dead 2.0.  The new crew, featuring original members Bill Butler, Max Katz, and Dave Martin were joined by Detroit jam band veterans Matt Cole (formerly of Deadicated) and Joseph Waldecker (formerly of People Movers).  This supergroup weaved its way through two sets of jam-filled goodness, including a 35-minute Liberty>Scarlet>Fire, and a second set Dark Star>St. Stephen>The Eleven>Drums>Samson that went EVERYWEIR. A hundred or so of our friends came along for the ride, and the reviews were unanimous. 

One strength of our new lineup is the ability to feature 4 lead singers.  In the first set alone, we shifted the lead around the band constantly: Dave (Stranger), Bill (Candyman), Matt (Dire Wolf), Joe (Mission), Bill (LL Rain), Matt (Liberty), Scarlet (Dave & Matt), and Fire (Joe).  The harmonies really shined on Candyman, Dire Wolf, Fire, Samson, and Franklin's Tower.  

It's hard to pick a favorite moment of the show, so we won't - the entire show will be published here soon.  But first, join us at The Watermark in St. Clair Shores tonight (February 29) as we complete our leap weekend East side shakedown with a totally different show.  More gigs will be announced very soon!

Cadieux Cafe, Detroit, MI 2/28/2020
I: Feel Like A Stranger, Candyman, Dire Wolf, Mission in the Rain, Looks Like Rain, Liberty>Scarlet Begonias>Fire On The Mountain
II: The Music Never Stopped>Dark Star>St. Stephen>The Eleven>Drums>Samson and Delilah, Help On The Way>Slipknot!>Franklin's Tower, Bird Song, Don't Ease Me In
E: Bertha

These Men in Black will be stealing your face very soon - coming to the Cadieux Cafe on February 28, the Watermark Cafe on February 29 - and lots more to come! Save the date for these soon-to-be-announced shows - March 27, April 4, April 20, and May 9. We can't wait to show off what this new cocktail of musicians has mixed up for you!