09/02/07 Zen Tricksters @ South Street Seaport, New York, NY

This free Sunday Seaport show featured veteran local Grateful Dead tribute act, the Zen Tricksters.

02/20/04 Zen Tricksters/Good Rats @ Ramapo Valley Brewery, Suffern, NY

For a brief glorious moment in time, the Ramapo Valley Brewery served their own micro brews and booked some great bands. There wasn't much of a music scene in Rockland besides the community college punk rock and death metal and the stodgy Nyack jazz clubs.

It was a breath of fresh air not having to take an hour drive to any truly captivating music. It was all over before I knew it.

The opening act, Good Rats, was a classic bar band with Irish folk punk flavor and at least one instance of baseball bat/bar stool percussion.

The Zen Tricksters are one of the original Dead cover bands and their members have also played with various post-Jerry incarnations of the Dead.

I remember dropping a conversation to get to the front when they started "Eyes of the World," one of my favorite Dead tunes.