Sixteen years ago tonight I saw my first Furthur show at the Portland Coliseum. If I’m honest, Furthur was my favorite of all the post-Grateful Dead iterations. Dead & Co. was fun and I’m a huge fan of John Mayer, but Further’s sound was the closest to the Dead’s to my ear. John Kadlecik was both a great ‘Jerry’ on guitar and I liked his voice, too. I sure hope he made some cash during Furthur’s multi-year run since he sort of got dropped like a hot rock when the band broke up.

Furthur shows were especially fun because the set lists veered away from what a typical Dead set was like (at least during the years I saw the Dead). This show featured the first Dupree’s Diamond Blues that I ever saw (an old Dead song that they hardly ever played). The second set also had a nice, unusual placement of Hell in a Bucket and West LA Fadeaway. Ending the second set with China > Rider instead of starting the set with it was also enjoyable. Another highlight was the cover of Ryan Adams' Peaceful Valley.