Furthur | |
|---|---|
 Furthur performing atRed Rocks Amphitheatre in September 2010 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | San Francisco, California, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 2009–2014 |
| Past members | |
Furthur was an American rock band founded in 2009 by formerGrateful Dead membersBob Weir andPhil Lesh. The original lineup also includedJohn Kadlecik ofDark Star Orchestra on lead guitar,RatDog'sJeff Chimenti on keyboards andJay Lane on percussion, andJoe Russo of theBenevento/Russo Duo on drums.[1] Named afterthe famous touring bus used byKen Kesey and theMerry Pranksters in the 1960s, Furthur was an improvisationaljam band that performed music primarily from the extensive Grateful Dead songbook, as well as their own original music and that of several other well-known artists. In addition to the original members (with the exception of Jay Lane, who left the band in March 2010 to rejoin his previous band,Primus), the band's lineup included backup vocalistsSunshine Becker of the a cappella ensembleSoVoSó andJeff Pehrson of the folk rock bandsBox Set andthe Fall Risk.
Four months afterJerry Garcia's death in August 1995, the Grateful Dead officially disbanded.[2] However, band members continued to perform over the subsequent years in other bands such asRatDog,Phil Lesh and Friends, theRhythm Devils,the Other Ones, andthe Dead. After a four-year hiatus following their "Wave That Flag" summer tour in 2004, the Dead performed two 2008 shows supporting theObama campaign, billed as "Deadheads for Obama" and "Change Rocks", as well at one of the Obama inaugural balls in 2009, ultimately giving rise to a 2009 spring tour. During this reunion, Weir and Lesh, who admitted having great fun playing together again, decided to form a new band. In August 2009, the musicians announced that they had formed a new band, Furthur, with Kadlecik, Chimenti, Lane, and Russo.[1][3]
The band was named after the 1939 International Harvesterpsychedelic multicolored bus used by novelistKen Kesey and hisMerry Pranksters to tour America in 1964 when they attended theNew York World's Fair for the debut of Kesey's second novel,Sometimes A Great Notion. "Furthur" was the inscription on the destination placard of the bus and was also the name given to the multicolored bus. "In many ways, the 'Furthur' destination of the bus—piloted byNeal Cassady, inspiration for the character Dean Moriarty inJack Kerouac'sOn the Road, represented the mind-set of the transition fromBeat Generation culture to the more heavily drug-infusedhippie culture and theLSD-basedpsychedelic culture, with Ken Kesey, Neal Cassady, the Merry Pranksters, and the Grateful Dead—all alumni of theAcid Tests—as ambassadors and guides on that cognitive and conceptual journey". The Grateful Dead performed as thehouse band for many of the Acid Tests, which ran from 1965 to 1966.[4]
Furthur retained much of the characteristic style and texture of the Dead. In addition to performing many of the songs regularly played in concert by the Dead, Furthur tried to "keep it fresh" by routinely adding new material to their setlists. This included many songs resurrected from the Grateful Dead's extensive songbook, including several rarely or never performed live, like "Alice D. Millionaire", as well as several cover songs from bands includingthe Beatles,the Rolling Stones,Bob Dylan,the Band,Pink Floyd,Led Zeppelin,Ryan Adams,Van Morrison, andthe Clash. They also regularly performed some new, original material.
The band debuted with performances on September 18, 19, and 20, 2009, at theFox Theatre inOakland, California. The band Vice (now known as Maiden Lane), featuring Phil's son, Grahame Lesh, opened for Furthur on September 19.[5] They then performed for a single night on November 20 at the 200-person-capacity 19 Broadway inFairfax, California, advertised only by a last-minute announcement, and with tickets available only at the door on a first come, first served basis.[6] The Oakland debut shows were followed by five additional concerts in the Northeast (New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey) in December,[7] as well as live rehearsal sessions[8] and two New Year's shows inMill Valley, California, and San Francisco, respectively. During the New Year's Eve performances, the band introduced backing vocalists Sunshine Becker and Zoe Ellis,[9] who remained in the lineup for the remainder of the winter tour.[10][11]
Additional live rehearsal sessions continued for the first half of January 2010 in Mill Valley. The band then toured the US, primarily on the East Coast, including a few shows inMiami,Chicago,Broomfield, Colorado, andPortland, Oregon) from February 2 through March 8, and performed inSan Francisco on March 12 to celebrate Phil Lesh's upcoming 70th birthday.[12] On March 18, Lesh posted on popular fansite PhilZone.com an announcement that drummer Jay Lane had left Furthur to rejoin his prior group,Primus.[13] Zoe Ellis also left the group at this time to focus on her a cappella ensemble, SoVoSó. Backup vocalist Jeff Pehrson subsequently joined Furthur, debuting on May 24.[14]
In February 2010, official announcements were released that the group would be performing at three music festivals in the summer of 2010, including theNateva Music & Camping Festival inOxford, Maine, on July 4, theAll Good Music Festival inMasontown, West Virginia, on July 9, and theGathering of the Vibes[15] festival inBridgeport, Connecticut, on July 30. Additional stops on the tour, which ran from June 25 until July 30 and included 17 shows, includedRochester, New York,Brooklyn,Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania,Lowell, Massachusetts,Columbus, Ohio, Mohawk, New York,Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, which replaced a canceled show inShelburne, Vermont,[16]),Ottawa,Lewiston, New York,Philadelphia, andNew York City. In addition to the three festivals on the East Coast, Furthur resurrected the "Furthur Festival" at Mountain Aire inAngels Camp, California on Memorial Day weekend May 28-30th, at which they played six of their classic albums live.[17]
Following a performance on August 14 inGolden Gate Park at theOutside Lands Music and Arts Festival, Furthur initiated their first West Coast tour, commencing September 16 inEugene, Oregon, and ending September 26 inMorrison, Colorado, atRed Rocks Amphitheatre. A short Midwest/East Coast tour followed, beginning on November 8 inMinneapolis and ending on November 21 atMadison Square Garden in New York City. Two New Year's shows concluded the year, with Furthur having performed a total of 77 shows and 18 live rehearsal sessions since their September 2009 inception.[5]
Furthur began 2011 with three shows at theOdeum Colorado in February, followed shortly after with a 24-show East Coast tour beginning on March 4 inBoston and ending on April 6 inBoca Raton, Florida. The tour featured several multi-night runs in mid-size venues including five nights atBest Buy Theater in New York, five nights atTower Theater inUpper Darby Township, Pennsylvania, outsidePhiladelphia, and three nights atRadio City Music Hall inNew York City. The 2011 summer tour began on June 3 atShoreline Amphitheatre inMountain View, California, and concluded on July 31 atVerizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park inAlpharetta, Georgia, with the bulk of the shows on theEast Coast.
A 2011 West Coast tour began on September 23 atCuthbert Amphitheatre inEugene, Oregon, and ended on October 8 atMonterey County Fairgrounds inMonterey, California. A 2011 East Coast/Midwest fall tour began November 3 atVerizon Wireless Arena inManchester, New Hampshire,[18] and ended November 21 atOld National Center inIndianapolis.[19] Due to "unforeseen production complications", the November 15 show at theBryce Jordan Center inState College, Pennsylvania, was canceled and replaced with a performance the same day at theTimes Union Center inAlbany, New York.[20] A three-show New Year's Eve run took place on December 29, 30, and 31 atBill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco.[21]
A 2012 East Coast spring tour included three venues, and began on April 5 atWang Theatre inBoston and ended with an eight-night run at theBeacon Theatre inNew York City, including an April 7 show atToyota Presents: The Oakdale Theatre inWallingford, Connecticut.[22] Preceding the spring tour Furthur played two shows at the Wanee Festival inLive Oak, Florida, on April 20–21. The band played a rare single "extended" set show both nights with no set break. A warm up before the summer tour took place at Phil Lesh's Terrapin Crossroads June 27–30. A summer tour of the East and Midwest took place in July. The tour began atMcCoy Stadium inPawtucket, Rhode Island, on July 5 and ended at theMeadow Brook Music Festival inRochester Hills, Michigan, on July 18. A West Coast Tour in September began with a three-night run atRed Rocks Amphitheatre inMorrison, Colorado and ended on October 7 at theSanta Barbara Bowl inSanta Barbara, California.[23] Furthur's traditional New Year's Eve run took place on December 29, 30, and 31 atBill Graham Civic Auditorium.
Furthur began touring in 2013 with four surprise shows at the tinySweetwater Music Hall inMill Valley, California on January 16, 17, 18, and 19. They later booked a winter tour, on which they played at only two venues: theOgden Theatre inDenver on February 21, and the1stBank Center inBroomfield, Colorado on the 22nd, 23rd, and 24th. In April Furthur began a spring tour with ten nights at theCapitol Theatre inPort Chester, New York between April 15 and 25, a show at theBoardwalk Hall inAtlantic City on the 27th, originally planned to culminate in an appearance at theBottleRock Napa Valley Festival on May 9. The band withdrew from Bottlerock due to injuries Weir sustained after a fall on the final night of the Capitol Theatre run. Furthur also announced a summer/autumn tour, starting at theBarclays Center in Brooklyn on July 11 and ending at theGreek Theatre in Los Angeles on October 6. During this tour Furthur played at All Good music festival in Thornville, Ohio, on July 20 and 21. Furthur also began their early fall tour by headlining three nights at the firstLockn' Music Festival in Arrington Virginia on September 6, 7 and 8. Furthur then played four nights atRed Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison, Colorado, starting on September 19 and concluding on September 22 with guestBranford Marsalis.
Furthur performed four consecutive concerts at the Hard Rock Hotel inRiviera Maya, Mexico between January 20 and 23, 2014.[24][25] The band then began a previously announced hiatus so that Weir and Lesh could work on some solo projects.[25][26]
On April 30, it was announced that Furthur would be playing a set at theLockn' Festival in Virginia. This performance was to feature the original lineup consisting of Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, Jeff Chimenti, John Kadlecik, Jay Lane, and Joe Russo.[27] However, the performance was later cancelled.
On November 4, 2014, it was announced via their website that Furthur had broken up.
On August 9, 2010, theSan Francisco Giants held a Jerry Garcia Tribute Night atAT&T Park, sponsored byBen & Jerry's, theRex Foundation, and the 8th Annual Jerry Day. The Giants played theChicago Cubs, and the national anthem was sung by Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, and Jeff Pehrson.[28][29] Later that season, the Giants played thePhiladelphia Phillies in theNational League Championship Series, and on October 21, 2010 (Game 5 of the NLCS), the national anthem was once again sung by Lesh, Weir, and Pehrson.[30][31] The following year, on August 9, 2011, the Giants celebrated the 2nd annual Grateful Dead Night (on Jerry Day), playing thePittsburgh Pirates. The national anthem was sung by Lesh, Weir, and Giants' 3rd base coach and singer-songwriterTim Flannery, and the7th inning stretch was led byMickey Hart andBill Walton.[32][33]
On June 7, 2011, Furthur performed live atTamalpais Research Institute (a.k.a. TRI Studios) inSan Rafael, California. TRI is a virtual music venue created by Bob Weir.[34][35][36] The event, billed as "Furthur Experiments at TRI", was broadcast in real time over the internet in HD video with stereo sound and was available to those who ordered the pay-per-view event for $19.95. The performance included 13 songs (counting Terrapin Suite as one song), had no break, and lasted about two-and-a-half hours. On December 23, 2011, TRI rebroadcast, without charge, the June 7, 2011 Furthur event, rebilled as "The Night Before the Night Before Christmas".[37] On December 25, 2011, TRI announced that RatDog will reunite for a free webcast on January 25, 2011.[38]
On March 29, 2011, Phil Lesh posted a statement on the Furthur.net site community message board that he was planning to open a new live music venue inMarin County, California, in the near future. Said Lesh, "We're taking the first steps to make a long time dream—a permanent musical home—come true. We are purchasing a building in Marin, and plan on remodeling it to feel like an old barn; we're calling it Terrapin Landing. We will continue with Furthur while making music at Terrapin Landing when we are at home."[39][40][41] On January 2, 2012 Lesh announced that the venue, now known asTerrapin Crossroads, would be located at the current location of the Seafood Peddler in San Rafael. Furthur had done some rehearsal shows in their Palm Ballroom.
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