Adam and Heather Mahler live in Maumee, Ohio and are big fans of Raising The Dead.  When planning their 25th anniversary party, their dream was to have us come and play in their back yard for family and friends, and that's just what we did!  The Mahler's really know how to throw a party, with a big selection of beverages, hors d'oeuvres, Grateful Dead stickers, and a food truck.  Making the evening even more special, we were joined by our friend Mickey Toop, a traveling guitarist with a very successful YouTube channel where he demonstrates and teaches the Bob Weir parts of dozens of Grateful Dead songs.  He happened to be in the area, and our lead guitarist, Matthew Cole, invited him to sit in.  Our other guitarist, Dave Martin, was fanboying because Mickey's videos are a must-watch for him.  

We gave the Mahler's a great show, joined by our friend Justin Lee on keyboards.  Check it out, and if you want to wish the Mahler's a happy anniversary in the video comments, go for it! 

9-9-2022 Maumee, OH  Mahler Anniversary Party
I: Truckin > Deep Elum Blues, Second That Emotion, Black Throated Wind, Eyes of the World > When I Paint My Masterpiece*, Tangled Up In Blue, The Music Never Stopped
II: Lady With A Fan > Just A Little Light# > Terrapin Station > Playing In The Band > Drums & Space > Here There and Everywhere, Scarlet Begonias > Sugar Magnolia/Sunshine Daydream, Help On The Way > Slipknot > Franklin's Tower, Shakedown Street#, Uncle John's Band, Ripple

*=Mickey Toop on vocals
​#=Justin Lee on vocals

Raising The Dead made their (public) West Side debut at the Park Theater in Holland on Saturday, September 17.  Grand Rapids based drummer Tom Taylor and RTD rhythm guitarist Dave Martin have looked for an opportunity to bring our band West for some time, and we finally found the perfect venue.  Tom brought his new Joe Cocker tribute, the excellent English Joe and The Mad Dogs to open for us, and we played a 2 hour set that you can see above. 

This gig was a nod to 1971 Dead, a year when they consistently played without a keyboard player, as documented on the Skull & Roses album.  We exclusively played repertoire from that year.  Highlights included Loser, our debuts of Me & Bobby McGee, and Turn On Your Lovelight.  Lovelight was joined by English Joe's Stephen Boersma on Saxophone, and it was an amazing way to cap the evening.  The band and audience were all smiles all night, and that comes through the performance captured.  We will return to the West side of the state in January, stay tuned for details! 

9-17-2022 Holland, Michigan  Park Theater
Chinatown Shuffle, Bertha, Me & My Uncle, Next Time You See Me, Playing in the Band > Uncle John's Band, Loser, Me & Bobby McGee, Cumberland Blues, Mr. Charlie, Truckin > Drums & Space > The Other One > Wharf Rat > Not Fade Away > Going Down the Road Feeling Bad > Not Fade Away, Turn on Your Lovelight.

One year ago, Raising the Dead released our debut album, Terrapin Stations and Other Ones.  The album was an extraordinary performance captured at the Cadieux Cafe on August 21.  Here's what we said about it at the time: 

On August 21, Raising the Dead performed an epic show for the patrons of the Cadieux Cafe in Detroit.  Our second set was so special, we decided it deserved to become our first official album release.  Starting today, “Terrapin Stations & Other Ones: Live at the Cadieux Cafe” is available to stream on all major services (links below), and available for download purchase on platforms that support it (We will actually make some money on this, so please consider purchasing it!)

The album consists of our second set from that night, conceived by our keyboardist Max Katz (with a little help from his friends), who took some of the Dead’s most commonly played song segues and mixed them up inside each other, and then wrapped them in the Terrapin Suite, which we’d premiered Hippies at the Village on July 31, and played again at the Cabbage Patch on August 1st. 

Help>Slip>Frank, Dark Star>St. Stephen>The Eleven, and Cryptical Envelopment>The Other One are all encompassed in this set, but not in the way you might assume a typical Dead tribute would play them.  

We open with Lady With A Fan, and as soon as the first solo section comes in, we segue into Help On the Way.  Help gives way to Slipknot, as you would expect, but we don’t finish the jam, saving the return for later.  Instead, Dave plays the familiar chords of Dark Star, and we take a long detour through space, landing on St. Stephen.  We nest the musical matryoshka once again, and Matt leads us into Cryptical>The Other One.  (If you listen to just one song, we recommend The Other One!)  Next, we slide back into Terrapin Station to finish the song - or so you think.  Once the refrain has built and released (and built and released), Joe stabs his cymbal for the second half of the Suite.  Terrapin Transit and At a Siding are interrupted by Bill's bass bombs harkening “The Eleven” and then, finally, Slipknot finishes, and Laurie's harmonies roll away the dew at Franklin’s Tower.  Our next Terrapin station is the completion of At A Siding and Terrapin Flyer featuring insane drum breaks and frantic back and forth soloing between Max and Matt, finally returning home for the Refrain and the end of a one hour, thirty-nine minute psychedelic voyage.  

Rhythm guitarist Dave Martin took the multitrack soundboard recordings and lovingly mixed and mastered the show, making sure you wouldn’t miss a note of Deadly goodness.  The band is self-financing this release, and has purchased the rights to publish these songs from the copyright holders.  We’re very excited to give you this snapshot of our state of the band, and we hope you’ll be inspired to share it with Deadheads from Detroit and beyond. 

There's a bit of "lore" around the cover art, which you can read about on the comments of our YouTube video of the show.  Celebrate the release anniversary by calling it up on your streaming service of choice or purchasing the download, using the links below.  Happy Anniversary, Hunter!

That's right fans, we're playing Saturday, September 17 at the Park Theater in Holland along with the Joe Cocker tribute, English Joe and The Mad Dogs.  Get your tickets now!