Raising The Dead at the Watermark 8-30-2019

Summertime has come and gone, my, oh, my!  

Our third time at The Watermark featured perfect weather, a throng of deadicated heads, and a band beyond description, ready to melt their faces. We love playing the Watermark for many reasons (including the delicious food), but one of our favorites is the ability to play 3 sets of Grateful tunes.  Usually, Set I and II feature songs with shorter structures, lots of pretty harmonies, and a few jams, and we save our best for the last set.  Last night was no exception.  Set III was a nonstop 100-minute angle bracket festival of f-yeah moments, although the lack of breaks didn't mean the crowd couldn't find places to cheer us on.  But we are getting ahead of ourselves, so back to set I.

We opened with a groovy Althea and a rockin' Brown Eyed Women.  We were excited to debut the first of two new tunes this evening, Mission in the Rain.  Our drummer for the evening was the exceptional Stephen NyQuist, and he took lead vocal duties for the first time on Mission.  The first set concluded with Dire Wolf (a favorite of some of our youngest fans), a super Sugaree, and a lovely Liberty. 

After a short break, Bill's fat bass tones announced Touch of Grey.  Bird Song achieved liftoff, and one of our favorites, the time-shifting Unbroken Chain made another welcome appearance in an RTD show.  Goin' Down The Road Feelin' Bad felt so good, and even though the skies were clear, Looks Like Rain was pretty and soulful.  We ended the set with the second debut of the night, Brokedown Palace, where we showcased our 3-part harmonies and left everyone wanting more.  Little did they know...

Bertha into Dark Star into St. Stephen into The Eleven into Drums into The Other One into Truckin into Eyes of the World into Playin' in the Band into Shakedown Street into Playin' Reprise.  The feeling from the stage as each song began to segue was that the audience was ready for whatever we had to give them, and when they realized what was next, minds were blown.  Ok, here's the song by song shakedown: Bertha rocked.  Dark Star was waaay out there for a loooong time.  St. Stephen brought the raw energy of late 60s Dead.  The Eleven (and the preceding William Tell Bridge) showcased our instrumental and vocal skills.  The intensity of The Other One featured a fan repeatedly shouting "TURN IT UP!"  Stephen owned every corner of his kit (who needs two drummers? Not him!) in Drums.  Truckin featured Jake's bluesy, ballsy, and big guitar. Eyes of the World showcased jazzy keyboard fills from Max's corner on stage left and sensitive vocals from Dave, as well as the '73 ending featuring the 7/8 breaks we love to play. Playin' in the band brought the energy level back up, and just when you thought we were done, it's time for a funky-as-hell Shakedown!  FINALLY, we brought it back to the Playin' reprise, and let ourselves breathe for a second, while the crowd roared for more.  With apologies to all the teachers in the crowd (you know who you are), we ended with a rowdy, rockin' US Blues. 

This summer has been the best season Raising The Dead has yet had the pleasure to play.  From the Psychedelic Shack to Trixie's to Gibraltar, the Michigan Glass Project to Hippies at the Village, Comerica Park, the Taylor Botanical Gardens, and finally back to The Watermark, our band has gotten tighter, our repertoire has expanded, and most importantly, we've met so many amazing people along the way.  If you've been part of our journey this summer, we want to thank you for being kind.  Deadheads are the best!  The contributions of our drummers Stephen NyQuist, Brent Nagy, and Nick Serocki have also been amazing and we are lucky to call them our brothers.  On behalf of Bill, Max, Dave, and Jake, thank you for being a part of our best summer yet.  See you again in the fall! 

8-30-2019 The Watermark Bar and Grill, St. Clair Shores, MI
Set I: Althea, Brown Eyed Women, Mission in the Rain, Dire Wolf, Sugaree, Liberty
Set II: Touch of Grey, Bird Song, Unbroken Chain, Goin' Down The Road Feelin' Bad, Looks Like Rain, Brokedown Palace
Set III: Bertha>Dark Star>St. Stephen>The Eleven>Drums>The Other One>Truckin>Eyes of the World>Playin' In The Band>Shakedown Street>Playin' Reprise
​E: US Blues