A Bear’s Choice | 2018-01-12 | Be On Key Psychedelic Ripple, Denver, CO [SBD/AUD Matrix]

#FreeMusicFriday is here and I got a few for you! Let’s start with A Bear’s Choice at Be On Key Psychedelic Ripple!

With a solid mix of Grateful Dead, Steely Dan and even some original tunes, A Bear’s Choice provided a solid set of music befitting Denver’s best Grateful Dead bar. From the start of “They Love Each Other” you can hear Dave ABear’s masterful tribute to Garcia’s classic tone. His chord phrasing and guitar solos pay respectful homage to the jam god who’s face adorns every single corner of the bar. The band also found some time to play some Steely Dan tunes in “Show Biz Kids” and “Reelin’ In The Years”, which when viewed through the lens of a Garcia tribute, you realize how much Steely Dan’s music lends itself to the americana rock roots sound of the Dead. They even performed a mash-up of sorts, sandwiching “Reelin’ In The Years” in between “Deal” which highlighted the similar progression and melody between the two songs. The band certainly found space to jam throughout their set but the psychedelic centerpiece of the set was their rendition of “Shakedown Street”. The band was very much locked-in at this point in the set, shifting as a well trained unit following Dave’s floating guitar solos, revving themselves up through various peaks and valleys before eventually landing on the final chords in a triumphant strum. A bit later in the set I was digging their tone so much I thought “I’d love to hear them do ‘Feel Like A Stranger'”. Not usually one to shout out a tune request knowing they have a set list but having had a few beers already I yelled out my request to a big laugh on stage…it was next up on the set list! Serendipitous.

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