“I’M ON ACID!” a person shouted. He was in a tie-dye shirt in a sea of rainbow colours. The person politely sharing his altered frame of mind was one of many many colourful, great characters to cross paths with at a latest Lifeless & Firm live performance. These summer season excursions are all the time unforgettable, each due to the performances on stage and off.
On the second evening of Lifeless & Firm’s tour cease at Chicago’s Wrigley Subject, the environment of glee was palpable hours earlier than the present started. Outdated and new followers gathered in and across the stadium early, losing no time when it got here to having a very good time. Positive, one or two individuals perhaps partied too exhausting earlier than the actual get together started round 6:45, however largely, everybody was relaxed and prepared when the band—together with guitarists John Mayer and Bob Weir, keyboardist Jeff Chimenti, bassist Oteil Burbridge, and drummers Mickey Hart and Jay Lane—took the stage and rocked the town of Chicago’s socks off.
The band delivered 4 hours of leisure. The present ebbed and flowed with such grace. When Lifeless & Firm hit the stage, they weren’t solely enjoying music; they had been telling a narrative. The band transitions masterfully from one track to the subsequent, tying collectively a plethora of feelings, themes, and protest, rightfully calling out the Supreme Court docket for the disastrous resolution to overturn Roe v. Wade.
The nearly-four hour present zipped alongside whereas taking its candy time. No person was continuously their watch and few individuals had been trying by way of their telephones, besides perhaps to name fellow Deadheads to allow them to hear the present.
“It was voodoo magic, man!” a person exclaimed.
Talking of Deadheads, goddamn they’re pleasant individuals. As somebody comparatively new to Lifeless & Firm experiences, among the kindest music lovers on Earth collect at these exhibits. In distinction, the earlier week, I noticed The Rolling Stones play and, good Lord, these followers aren’t any picnic. Solely talking from what I’ve witnessed, there’s none of that poor, entitled habits on the Lifeless & Firm exhibits, regardless of the notable stage of intoxication.
I hate to match bands and followers, in addition to artists, however having been to sufficient exhibits with questionable etiquette, the audiences at Lifeless & Firm are heavenly. They not solely carry medicine for pals, household, and strangers, however they appear out for each other, virtually all the time with a smile. If a person goes down, individuals get that man again up on his toes. Individuals care about not solely their expertise at a Lifeless & Firm present, but additionally the followers round them. The group alone made me snug to sway to the music with ease.
“I feel he had a coronary heart assault,” a stranger stated. “Perhaps.”
Lifeless & Firm exhibits are the place to let one’s hair down and fly. Once you’re surrounded by so many individuals, particularly in a stadium present, it may well take time to get snug, ditch any insecurities, and dance the evening away. It takes hardly any time to at these live shows. No person is simply too cool for college at Lifeless & Firm gigs. Nevertheless, after the band takes a break in the course of the present and everybody has loosened up much more, that’s when the get together turned up.
Wanting round Wrigley Subject, particularly when the band performed “Casey Jones” and “Assistance on the Means,” the stadium was a large wave to the eyes. Simply fixed motion. Everybody was feeling it, collectively. Even in massive stadiums, Lifeless & Firm have this uncommon, particular expertise to make these experiences intimate, regardless of the place one is seated.
The medicine aren’t creating these energy sensations, however they certain as hell assist. Lifeless & Firm is, no hyperbole, essentially the most stunning smelling live performance. The best air freshener on the planet is all the time current: hashish. It’s in all places.
Not solely that, individuals are beneficiant with their bud, vapes, and gummies. Shoutout to Dave in part R, row 10, for bringing a brigade of well-rolled joints to unwind the encompassing space. Your dad and mom, your grandparents, and your nice grandparents ought to be proud, Dave.
“I want a miracle!” many followers shouted.
Let’s discuss psychedelics. The person who screamed, “I’m on acid!,” clearly was removed from the one particular person partaking in such actions. Across the two-hour mark, a buddy handed me a mushroom. Now, taking a shroom at a Lifeless & Firm live performance, is it a cliche? Perhaps. Is it improbable? Abso–certain-lutley. The lighting at these exhibits encourages the ingestion of psychedelics. Colours had been heat and infectious.
The mushrooms kicked in when Lane and Hart took the gang on a fantastical magical carpet journey with “Drums.” It was 14 or so minutes of overpowering, psychedelic sound accompanied by becoming visuals. It was… intense with the music virtually coursing by way of the veins. It was the precise proper and incorrect time for the shrooms to succeed in their full battery energy; it was otherworldly and overwhelming. The viewers was entranced and had good vibrations throughout. A bit microdose goes a lengthy approach at these live shows.
Though “Drums” virtually whisked the gang right into a land of unexplainable fantasy, what’s nice about Lifeless & Firm exhibits is that they’re grounding. Sounds hippie dippie, nevertheless it’s unattainable to not really feel current at these live shows, not just for the music however the individuals. There’s a way of group at Lifeless & Firm exhibits. Throughout a breezy evening in Chicago and hard instances, four-hours of inspiring habits and music was simply what the physician ordered.