The feeling at Monday’s show was one of intimacy and nostalgia, as the crowd danced the night away in a setting that is hard to find at Grateful Dead cover bands these days. The Iron Horse helped provide a certain intimate relationship with Donna Jean ‘ the Tricksters that put fans in a similar place that many early Deadheads had discovered in late 60s San Francisco.
Donna Jean ‘ the Tricksters started off the night with the Grateful Dead classic “American Beauty,” which set good vibes for the rest of night. Jeff Mattson, the band’s lead guitarist, prolonged scorching notes in his guitar solo that initiated the crowd blissfully into the night of music.
The band then went into one of their original songs, “So Hard,” which gave new life to the recorded sounds from their debut album.
As the night progressed, the band followed a structure of Dead covers to originals, one after the other. The covers included “Loose Lucy,” “Cosmic Charlie,” “I Want to Tell You,” “Tomorrow is Forever” and “Till the Morning Comes”.
They played originals like “Arise,” which had a hint of reggae in it, “Moments Away” where Donna Jean and Wendy Lanter shared soulful “mmhmms” and “No Better Way” where the band incorporated a “One More Saturday Night” (another popular Grateful Dead song) guitar riff into the jam section of the song.
The crowd’s energy elevated with every guitar lick and vocal note. The band captured the crowd with jams like “I Want to Tell You” and its seamless transition into “A Prisoner Says His Piece,” another original.
Although Mookie Siegel (keyboard) was absent due to the sickness of his father, to whom Donna Jean had given a blessing before starting the show, the band was still able to keep their act together. Every note was as vibrant and perfect as the last.
The Tricksters played more Grateful Dead covers like “Rhapsody in Red” and the heavenly “Mission in the Rain” where Jeff Mattson and Tom Circosta, the band’s rhythm guitarist, exchanged guitar riffs as if they were having a musical conversation.
If those in the crowd had closed their eyes and swayed to the music, it would have been like they were back listening to Grateful Dead again. The constant intense energy of the music and dancing and the intimate setting helped give the show that personal feeling. The crowd was wacky with people yelling out random song requests like the theme song from the Golden Girls and others that the band clearly never even thought to cover.
The recorded versions of the original songs do not do them justice, because it’s not until hearing their live adaptations that one experiences the music on a higher level. A perfect example of this was “A Prisoner Says His Piece.” In the recording one can hear the energy but it feels a bit constricted to its seven minutes. When played live, however, the sound resonates through the bones and heart. It’s during these live performances when the true heartfelt jams come out of the band. This is exactly what happened at Monday night’s performance.
Donna Jean ‘ the Tricksters ended the night with an extraordinary cover of “Samson and Delilah;” when the song’s beginning lyrics “If I had my way!” were sung out loud, the audience went completely wild and sang along for the rest of the song.
Through each note and beat the listeners held on tight and were spun through different themes of Grateful Deadness. The band knew exactly how to please the crowd of mostly Deadheads as well as give them a taste of their new original album, to which the audience reacted well. The performance was one of many talents in improvisation and exceptional musicianship and ultimately kept the Iron Horse echoing with life and music on Monday night.
Coby Kalter can be reached at [email protected]
