Come on out to see some live Grateful Dead at Rock N Rides Royal Oak tonight.  We take the stage in the headliner spot at 9pm.  See you then!

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Joseph Waldecker is not just the skins man for Raising The Dead, he also tubthumps for the great Nina & The Buffalo Riders.  Yesterday, they had a party for the release of their 3rd EP at the Tangent Gallery, and brought Act Casual, The Giving Moon, and Raising The Dead along for the ride.  

It was HOT and Sunny, but a beautiful day for music at the Tangent.  RTD took the stage at 4 and delivered an 80-minute set featuring stand-out versions of every song.  Of note is the inclusion of 2 Phil Lesh rarities, Pride of Cucamonga and Unbroken Chain, both led by Bassman Bill.  We encourage you to check out the whole show, and come out to see us next weekend at Rock n Rides in Royal Oak, headlining Friday night at 9. 

Oh, one more thing - Warren Nelson brought his 360-degree camera and shot the show with amazing detail and some mind-bending footage of fans from the back of the garden to the front.  Check out his video of Stranger!

6-12-2021 Tangent Gallery 

Pride of Cucamonga
Feel Like A Stranger
Throwing Stones>
Not Fade Away>
New Speedway Boogie
Uncle John's Band
Unbroken Chain
​Tangled Up In Blue

The original idea was for Raising The Dead's Matt Cole and Hell in a Bucket's Alex Gauthier to do a set inspired by Holly Bowling and Tom Hamilton.  That expanded to adding drums (Joe), bass (Bill), rhythm guitar (Dave), vocals (Laurie), and what resulted was what we called "Raising Hell."  And we did. 

The warm up gig for Chicago's Terrapin Flyer happened under the big top at Otus, and we made sure to coordinate setlists with TF.  The results, as you can see and hear, were pretty awesome.  Check it out, and return to Otus when we do on June 25, or at the Tangent Gallery on 6/12, or at Rock N Rides in Royal Oak on 6/18. 

Raising Hell, 6-6-2021 Otus Supply, Ferndale, MI 
The Music Never Stopped
The Way You Do The Things You Do
Ramble On Rose
Throwing Stones
Hell in a Bucket
Scarlet Begonias>
Althea>
Fire On The Mountain

It was a warm, wet Sunday, but the action under the tent was super hot!  An all-day triple bill opened the 2021 summer season at the new tent at Otus Supply in Ferndale.  Half Way There performed first, filling the air with the rhythms of reggae music.  Kids Under The Carpet brought the jams next, playing their tribute to current jam band kings Phish.  At about 7:15, Raising The Dead took the stage for two sets of Grateful Dead.  Joe reminded the band that this show was just the *fourth* time the complete lineup of RTD (Bill, Matt, Max, Laurie, Dave, and Joe) had gigged together!  We'd played many more shows than that since our lineup solidified, but COVID, Joe's touring, and other issues meant we'd played quite a few gigs with less than the full lineup.  We made up for it with an energetic, fun show that kept the fans dancing all night long. 

The videos below are audience sound recordings rather than soundboard, but you can get a real sense for the energy of the crowd.  Must-hear highlights include Crazy Fingers into the super energetic Good Lovin, Half Step sandwiched around The Weight, and "Dark Deal Star." 

Our next gig will be on June 18 in Royal Oak - stay tuned for details! 

Set I
Estimated Prophet >Loser, Friend of the Devil*, Sugaree, Crazy Fingers >Good Lovin
Set II
Terrapin Station, Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo > The Weight* > Half-Step Coda > Deal > Dark Star > Deal > Bertha > China Cat Sunflower > Iko Iko > I Know You Rider
*first time played

The gig was scheduled, and it kind of started as a joke in the band group chat.  Joe was still on tour with Nina & The Buffalo Riders in New Orleans.  He'd just fly in, right?  Well, we decided to make it happen after all, especially because the gig was on the 1 year anniversary of the passing of Joe's dad, affectionately known as Pops.  And then we invited Joe's brother and fellow former People Mover guitar man James Waldecker to join us on stage.  The result was some excellent Dead-flavored rock and roll.  Check out the St. Stephen Special - sandwiching Not Fade Away and Ramble On Rose into the Stephen>William Tell>Eleven triptych. 

The live stream was hosted by TheFunkShop.com, and is available for streaming still.  While the in-person audience was only 10, the show had almost 2k live views and over 450 comments, and we're loving the size of the audience we're finding online.  Stay tuned for summer gig announcements, coming soon!  We can't wait to see y'all in person. 

Oh, and one more thing - Max has sat out the last couple of gigs, but no worries, he'll be back this summer!

Otus Supply 3.25.2021
Cold Rain & Snow, Saint of Circumstance>Looks Like Rain, Brown Eyed Women, Cassidy*, Deep Elum Blues*, St. Stephen*> Not Fade Away*> St. Stephen*> William Tell Bridge*> Ramble on Rose*> The Eleven*> Morning Dew*
E: Touch of Grey
* w/ James Waldecker on guitar

The news was exciting - Joe was going to be back in town, and we had the opportunity to do a live-streamed gig at our favorite venue for Valentine's Day!  While the whole band wasn't available, Bill, Matt, and Dave were, and we set out to do something special, with help from Otus Supply owners Thom and Yorg.  So on Saturday, February 13, the RTD Quartet met at The Parliament Room at Otus Supply in Ferndale to perform a stripped-down acoustic set of Dead classics.  The guest list was held to 10, we kept our masks on, and we were joined by Chris and Michael of TheFunkShop.com, engineering the sound and webcast.  We made our way through a 2-hour set of stripped down classics, marked by patient jamming and sparkling 3-part harmonies. 

By the end of the night, Facebook had registered over 2000 views, and counting. Here's the setlist, give it watch if you missed it! 

2-13-2021 Raising The Dead Quartet Otus Supply, Ferndale, MI 

Uncle John's Band>
Playin In The Band>
The Wheel>
Terrapin>
Estimated Prophet>
He's Gone>*
Bird Song>
Dark Star>
Wharf Rat>
Throwing Stones
Jack Straw>
Sugar Magnolia>
Ripple

Here's our entry to the yearly Dead Covers Project hosted by Dead.net.  It's our set closer I Know You Rider>Terrapin Station from the 10/1/2020 Livestream from Otus Supply in Ferndale, MI.  Give it a "thumbs up" on YouTube, and it may end up on the Dead.net curated playlist!  

Hey RTDeadheads - despite everything, 2020 was a huge year for our band of merry musical pranksters.  Matt Cole, Joe Waldecker, and Laurie Lester all joined the band.  We played 5 times at Otus supply, live streaming 4 of them, did a set of hits at The Beats Go On in Royal Oak, returned to The Cadieux Cafe and Watermark, and played our first gig at the Tangent Gallery.  Each of the band members has selected a favorite song or sequence from 2020 to share with you once more.  Enjoy these performances until we meet again in 2021.

Bill Butler’s choice for his favorite moment of 2020 comes from our October 17 “Raising Jerry” show, which featured mostly songs from the Jerry Garcia Band repertoire.  In the second set, we played the Hunter/Garcia penned “Gomorroah.”  Listen carefully at the conclusion of the vocal, and you’ll hear the chord changes shift, as the band crescendos into a Joe Cocker style chorus of The Beatles’ “With A Little Help From My Friends.” 

Laurie Lester joined the band in the spring, but her favorite live moment of the year was on the October 1st Otus Supply live streamed show.  The sumptuous series of segues has something for every Deadhead:  Bird Song>The Music Never Stopped>Eyes of the World>I Know You Rider>Terrapin Station. 

Dave Martin’s favorite moment on stage in 2020 was on October 17 at Otus Supply, performing My Sisters and Brothers>Tangled Up In Blue.  As soon as the song began out of the Mississippi Half Step tag, the feeling in the room shifted and everyone began to dance.  It was an amazing feeling - and when the song segued into the Dylan classic, the energy jumped yet another level. 

Max Katz’s choice for the best of 2020 is the Crazy Fingers>Uncle John’s Band from our outdoor Cadieux Cafe performance on September 19, just as a chilly fall weather began to set in.  This was our first time tackling Crazy Fingers, a harmonically challenging tune that led to some great soloing and an energetic climax and a seamless segue into UJB.  The jam in Uncle John goes into deep space and returns triumphantly. 
​

Joe Waldecker chose a moment from our very first show of 2020, February 28 at The Cadieux Cafe.  Here’s what he has to say about that gig: “It was hard to pick just one moment of this year but I'm going to go back to the very beginning for this choice. I'm going with the first set closer segue of Liberty>Scarlet>Fire from my first gig with RTD. Truth be told, it took multiple people reaching out several times before I was willing to try and play this music again. I probably hadn't played a Dead tune since September and hadn't picked up a pair of sticks since November. I just wasn't sure that I wanted to play music anymore, but Dave and Sydne and Laurie and the rest of gang were quite persistent. I agreed to try out and got the gig! I was anxious to play, as you can tell by some of these tempos, but it was pretty tight. I remember looking out at all of these familiar faces and falling in love with playing live music all over again. Liberty was a nice way to kick this off and find our groove. Scarlet was bouncy, really a lot of fun the whole way through. The jam into Fire was a hoot, as we were really starting to figure out each others playing in real time. FOTM has always meant a lot to me, and to get to play and sing it again infront of my friends (old and new) and family was bringing me close to tears. Laurie isn't on stage for this one, but she is in the building smiling back at us. What a Night!”

One more Halloween night, the Otus tent was filled with the Greatest of the Grateful.  As costumed revelers twirled between the vibrations, Raising The Dead spun another web of sonic bliss, this time with a strong Halloween theme: Werewolves, Hell in a Bucket, Candyman.  We debuted our first Phish tune, Wolfman's Brother, and gave our first performances of Bucket and the Laurie-led anthem presciently written for 2020: New Speedway Boogie ("This darkness got to give!").  Stephen NyQuist once again joined us on the Waldecker throne, to much acclaim.  We must get those two on the same stage, someday...

Asked for a show review, RTD superfan Sydne Kasle says: "Thom Bloom knows how to throw a party. The chill to the air was hardly a concern with the hot melty jams coming from inside the tent. The vocals were sublime. And the band played on!"

10-31-20 Otus Supply Ferndale, MI
I: Werewolves of London, Hell in a Bucket*, Candyman, Cassidy, Shakedown Street > Good Lovin', Althea, Picasso Moon
II: Pride of Cucamonga, Lost Sailor > Estimated Prophet > Crazy Fingers > The Other One > The Eleven > New Speedway Boogie* > Saint of Circumstance, Wolfman's Brother*
E: Bertha, Feel Like a Stranger, Franklin's Tower
*1st time played

We were prepared for a chilly October evening - layers of clothing, fingerless gloves, and hats - but despite temps in the low 50s, the tent at Otus Supply in Ferndale was cozy and comfy - and perfect for an evening of "Raising Jerry." We had prepared an evening of music consisting mostly of Jerry Garcia Band songs, and had an awesome time sharing it with our socially-distanced capacity crowd.

We were joined by frequent RTD guest drummer Stephen NyQuist, who held down the upstage throne with skill and style. He'll be with us for our shows at Tangent Gallery on October 30 and back at Otus on Halloween. For the first time, Dave played acoustic guitar with the band, adding a rhythm guitar to material Jerry mostly played without one. Lead vocals were swapped among Dave, Matt, Bill, and Stephen, and Laurie led the sparkling harmonies that RTD is becoming known for.

The show was live-streamed by the outstanding Restream team, and resident Otus sound engineer Chris made sure the sound was crisp and clear for the musicians (all wearing in-ear monitors), the audience, and the online streamers.

We're sorry to see the weather start to change and the relative safety of outdoor shows start to go away, but we're not quite done yet. See you Halloween weekend!

10-17-2020 "Raising Jerry" Otus Supply, Ferndale, MI
I: The Way You Do The Things You Do*, They Love Each Other, Mission in the Rain, Cumberland Blues, Uncle John's Band, Everybody Needs Somebody*
II: Catfish John*, Gomorrah+, Keep Your Day Job, Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo>My Sisters and Brothers*, Tangled Up In Blue*, Touch of Grey, Ripple
E: Iko Iko
*=first time played
+=with With A Little Help From My Friends tag