Jackie Greene Band at The Gothic Theatre in Englewood, CO, 3.10.16

So there I was at Red Rocks on a warm late September day in 2007 waiting for Phil Lesh & Friends to come out and satisfy my jones for some Grateful Dead music. I was tremendously excited for a lineup that included Larry Campbell, who I had seen many times, in what I and many others considered to be Bob Dylan’s best outfit since The Band; yet I knew nothing of what to expect from some kid named “Jackie Greene.” Jackie rocked my world that day, making those classic Dead songs, much like every cover he performs, uniquely his own while still retaining their authenticity and emotional content. And now here I am nine years later, a total Jackie Greene fan who has attended numerous Jackie shows in many different states, geographical and otherwise, and owns every one of his albums as well as a hard drive filled with his live performances. So I was absolutely giddy when it was announced that he was playing close to home at the Gothic Theatre in Englewood, CO.

Jackie’s visit to Englewood began with a pre-show meet and greet with his whole band and two acoustic songs performed in the lobby of the theater. Attendees received a signed copy of Jackie’s new CD Back to Birth, which in my opinion is one of his best to date. The title holds the key to the disc’s central themes of cycles and renewal, hinting at both death and the beginning of life. In “Now I Can See for Miles” Greene writes, “like circles spinning around the sun, I’m right back where I started from.” In “Trust Somebody” he addresses the karmic notion that “you will have everything when you give everything away.”

Don’t let the profundity scare you though, there’s plenty of lightheartedness there too, probably reaching its peak on “Motorhome,” which proclaims “I can play music and I can get stoned, in my motorhome.” The Gothic show leaned heavily on the new album with “The King is Dead,” the wonderfully slide guitar-heavy “Silver Lining,” “Light Up Your Window,” “Now I Can See for Miles” and a gorgeous and very crowd-pleasing rendition of his gospel-tinged “Hallelujah.” But following the second tune of the night, “I’m So Gone,” Jackie informed the audience that there was some very special “fun stuff” in store.

After the quick duo of “A Moment of Temporary Color” into “Medicine,” the special offerings came fast and furious. The first surprise was a song that first appeared on Rusty Nails in a stripped-down guitar and harp version and subsequently on American Myth in its present form; a beautifully mellow yet driving “Never Satisfied” (that I would later learn was not even on the setlist). Next up came the crowd-pleasing “Closer to You,” which Jackie introduced by saying “here’s a song we probably haven’t done in about a year.” I love the way Jackie begins the song on guitar, and then transitions half way through it to the Hammond B3 — a nice segue to the four songs that Greene would then play entirely on keys.

“Shaken” is one I’ve heard at nearly every Jackie show since Giving Up the Ghost came out and yet I never tire of it – it’s a lyrical masterpiece that takes me out to California in my mind every time I hear it. After Shaken I heard some notes of Hallelujah and thought that was up next, and it did appear, but after a quick “So Hard to Find My Way.” Hallelujah is such a gorgeous song, beginning as a slow and sweet gospel spiritual with hints of Back to Birth’s ever-present themes of cycles and renewal – “but closer to the end is nearer the beginning and what goes down comes back around, Hallelujah” and it ends as a rollicking blues/rock/gospel rave-up.

The next tune was the only one of the night I did not immediately recognize, an instrumental that had the tight rhythm section of Fitz Harris and Jon Cornell playing a funky jazzy beat and Jackie and Nathan Dale in turn taking killer keyboard and guitar solos over it. The whole place was dancing and rocking, myself included, while also wondering whether it was an original jam or a cover. Jackie gave us the answer at the tune’s end, “Did you recognize that? It was fuckin’ Snoop Dogg y’all!” An unbelievable break-out – unbelievably great.

Next up was “Now I Can See for Miles” and then another first, U2’s “Where the Streets Have No Name.” Ok, I’ll admit I’m not the biggest U2 fan but this song just crushed the room and somehow Jackie’s outstanding touring band achieved the big, enveloping sound that’s a trademark of U2. It was just fantastic. A quick rocking “Ball and Chain” came next to close the show and at the song’s end left me realizing that I’d just seen a Jackie show with no Grateful Dead covers — which is kind of a rarity. I figured the show might stay that way, but if any Dead covers were to be played in the encore slot, I expected “Sugaree,” “New Speedway Boogie,” “Scarlet Begonias,” “Deal,” or the rarer “China Cat Sunflower” or “So Many Roads.” You might notice that all of these are Jerry Garcia tunes, and when the slow strumming began to start the encore, I was shocked to realize I was hearing what I believe was another first for the Jackie Greene Band, the Bob Weir-Robert Hunter classic, “Jack Straw.” It was a great version with Nathan Dale ably handling the “I just jumped the watchman” and “gotta go to Tulsa” lines and Jackie channeling his Uncle Bob’s lead vocal parts.

It was a jammy near-nine minute version, nice and long for an encore song, but the show didn’t end there as Jack Straw rolled seamlessly into another jammed-out near 9-minute song, The Beatles’ “Don’t Let Me Down.” No Jackie, Nate, Fitz and Jon, you didn’t let me down! Quite the opposite! With that, I left the Gothic Theatre satisfied and satiated by another Jackie Greene Band show; the smiles on the faces of friends old and new around me serving as the real, unwritten reviews of the night.

— By David Tracer. Denver, CO

Jackie Greene Band @ The Gothic Theatre Englewood, CO 3/10/2016

The King is Dead

I’m So Gone

Silver Lining

A Moment of Temporary Color>

Medicine

Light Up Your Window

Never Satisfied

Closer to You

Shaken

So Hard to Find My Way

Hallelujah

Snoop G Jam (Snoop Dogg cover)

Now I Can See for Miles

Where the Streets Have No Name (U2 cover)

Like a Ball and Chain

Encore:

Jack Straw (Grateful Dead cover)>

Don’t Let Me Down (The Beatles cover)