See below for videos– the audio quality on the camera was pretty bad so most videos are using audio from chrisdavis’ source available for download here: http://bt.etree.org/details.php?id=586987. Thanks for the audio, chrisdavis!

Here’s an excerpt from the JamBase review:

Grateful Dead members Bill Kreutzmann, Bob Weir and Mickey Hart brought their Dead & Company project featuring John Mayer, Jeff Chimenti and Oteil Burbridge back on the road on Friday night. The six-piece kicked off a 24-date Summer Tour on Friday at PNC Music Pavilion in Charlotte, North Carolina where they worked a debut into the setlist and plenty of lengthy jams…

The late era Garcia/Hunter gem “Liberty” was a Dead & Company debut and was the 100th different song the band has played since first taking the stage back on October 29, 2015 in Albany. Weir handled vocals on the debut as he did on the evening’s opener, “The Music Never Stopped.” Mayer took his first turn fronting the band by leading Dead & Company through “Cold Rain & Snow.” Keyboardist Jeff Chimenti shined on the “Friend Of The Devil” that followed ahead of the aforementioned “They Love Each Other” and “Liberty.” It was “Cassidy” that featured the night and tour’s first expansive improvisational segment. Dead & Company toyed with the tempo throughout a languid jam. Bobby and John showed off impressive interplay, while the drummers and bassist Oteil Burbridge moved the speed from slow to super-slow and back to a more healthy tempo before the sextet nailed re-entry to the end of “Cassidy.” Chimenti stole the show with a rollicking piano solo during a set-closing cover of Chuck Berry’s “The Promised Land.”

“Eyes Of The World” opened the second set and contained plenty of jamming. Once again, Chimenti starred with a frenzied piano solo that was propelled by Oteil’s masterful bass skills. Burbridge displayed a sense of lead bass that is a signature of Phil Lesh’s style throughout the smoking “Eyes.” John Mayer also shined on the 20+ minute “Eyes” by stringing together Jerry-esque leads throughout the song’s second jam. Mayer and Chimenti were then at the forefront for the “Deal” that followed complete with a pair of scorching guitar solos from John and powerful organ solo courtesy of Jeff…

The instrumentalists took the music “out” for a few minutes before connecting on a melody that eventually gave way to “Feel Like A Stranger.” Weir’s chunky rhythms were at the heart of Dead & Company’s version of the tune. From there, the group took on one of Jerry’s ballads as Bobby sang “Black Peter.” At this point it was becoming clear the band was running into the 11 p.m. curfew and they ended the encore-less show with a quick romp through “Turn On Your Lovelight.” Dead & Company now heads to Bonnaroo to headline with two sets on Sunday night.

Dead and Company – Charlotte, NC

Dead and Company – “The Music Never Stopped”

Dead and Company – “Eyes of the World”

Dead and Company – “Estimated Prophet”

Dead and Company – “Turn on Your Love Light”

Audio of full show on Archive.org:

The post Dead and Company – June 10, 2016 – Charlotte, NC Review, Setlist and Videos first appeared on Weekend Blitz.

See below for videos, the audio quality on the camera was pretty bad so most videos are using audio from zmanatl’s source available for download here: http://bt.etree.org/details.php?id=583419. Thanks for the audio, zmanatl!

Here’s an excerpt from the JamBase review:

Dead & Company headed to North Carolina on Saturday night as Grateful Dead members Bob Weir, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann along with John Mayer, Jeff Chimenti and Oteil Burbridge performed at the Greensboro Coliseum. The band continued to add more tunes to their touring repertoire, including a performance of the song the Dead played most during their storied 30-year career.

The tour debuts began right away with the Weir-led “Hell In A Bucket” holding down the opener slot. Just the second Dead & Co. rendition of “Crazy Fingers” was followed by “He’s Gone.”Weir then took lead on “Me And My Uncle” – a John Phillips-penned cover played more than any other song by the Grateful Dead. Next came another tour first for the group as Mayer sang a drawn-out “Ship Of Fools.” The familiar pairing of “Lost Sailor” > “Saint Of Circumstance” rounded out the first set in Greensboro.

Set two started with Weir and Mayer trading verses on “Jack Straw.” Mayer took command of the laid-back take on “Shakedown Street” that followed. “Scarlet Begonias” > “Fire On The Mountain” then provided a hefty amount of group improvisation, particularly in the transition between songs. “The Other One” drove the band out of the intense weirdness of an extended “Drums”/”Space” segment. Weir’s classic was propelled by the inspired fretwork of bassist Burbridge who locked-in with the Rhythm Devils to form a mighty pocket for Mayer to solo over. Bobby sang a passionate “Wharf Rat” before rousing the crowd with the predictable set closer “One More Saturday Night.” Mayer and Weir donned acoustic guitars for the “Friend Of The Devil” that filled the encore role and ended the show.

Dead and Company – Greensboro, NC

Dead and Company – “Hell in a Bucket”

Dead and Company – “Ship of Fools”

Dead and Company – “Lost Sailer” –> “Saint of Circumstance”

Dead and Company – “Shakedown Street”

Dead and Company – “Friend of the Devil”

Audio of full show on Archive.org:

The post Dead and Company – November 14, 2014 – Greensboro, NC Review, Setlist and Videos first appeared on Weekend Blitz.

The Deal

Fly from Charlotte-CLT to Kauai, Hawaii-LIH for $517.90 from now until June 2015.

Source

How to Get It

1. Head to Google.com/Flights
2. Search for flights from Charlotte-CLT to Kauai-LIH
3. Play around with the calendar to select your desired dates:
   
   
4. From Google Flights you can click to book on Delta directly
5. Booking through Delta.com will allow you to cancel within 24 hours for free

Don’t Forget!

• Book fast! These fares could disappear at any moment.
• Delta’s Risk-Free Cancellation allows you to cancel within 24 hours of your original purchase for free: “Once you’ve bought a qualifying eTicket, you have a day to cancel it for any reason and receive a full refund—including any prepaid fees and Direct Ticketing Charges—with no cancellation fee.”
• If you book a tight connection today and there is a schedule change that makes it even tighter, you can call Delta to change your flights and likely get an even better or more direct itinerary.

BOTTOM LINE: This is a great deal to Hawaii with tons of availability including: Thanksgiving 2014, Christmas 2014, MLK Day weekend 2015, President’s Day weekend 2015 etc…

The post Blitz Deal: Charlotte to Hawaii for $518, availability through June 2015 first appeared on Weekend Blitz.

First in this series is Charlotte, North Carolina-CLT. From my research, appx 30 million people live within a 5-hour drive of the city, making it relatively easy for them to drive and take take advantage of the savings of non-stop flights. I have compiled this map to help assist in visualizing and then planning just how far a British Airways Avios will take you on US Airways:

Legend

Some great values are Charlotte-CLT to:

• Toronto-YYZ for 9k Avios roundtrip in economy.
• Freeport, Bahamas-FPO for 9k Avios roundtrip in economy.
• Any of the Zone 1 destinations are typically a great value.
• These destinations in the Caribbean for 15k Avios roundtrip in economy: Key West-EYW, Nassau-NAS, Bermuda-BDA, Turks and Caicos-PLS, Cancun-CUN, Cozumel-CZM.
• Other destinations in the Caribbean for 20k Avios roundtrip in economy: Belize-BZE, Montego Bay-MBJ, Punta Cana-PUJ, San Juan-SJU, St. Thomas-STT, Saint Croix-STX, Saint Maarten-SXM, St. Kitts-SKB, Antigua-ANU, St. Lucia-UVF, Aruba-AUA.
• A few cities in Europe fall under the 4,000 mile mark, making them only 40k Avios roundtrip in economy: Lisbon-LIS, Dublin-DUB, Manchester-MAN, London-LHR.

When you’re ready to book, follow this guide: How-to: Book US Airways Flights With British Airways Avios. And, don’t forget that you can transfer American Express Membership Rewards Points to British Airways to book flights with Avios.

BOTTOM LINE: This is a great addition for the ~30 million of us that are less than a 5-hour drive from Charlotte-CLT airport.

The post US Airways Flights: Using British Airways Avios out of Charlotte-CLT first appeared on Weekend Blitz.

While the snow has stopped, it sounds like the damage has been done and the frigid temperatures are here to stay. Our suggestion for the weekend? A weekend trip to hit the ski slopes now that they’ve all been coated with feet and feet of fresh powder! Here are the ski slopes that were best affected by the winter weather:

West Virginia fared exceptionally well in this lineup (that’s the first–and last– time I’ll ever say that WV fared well at something). Take a look at the map, at least 3 resorts are less than a 3 hr drive from the Baltimore/DC area. Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and even New York are also within 2-3 hours drive of a resort.

• Timberline Four Seasons – West Virginia – 7″+ past 3 days
• Snowshoe Mountain Resort – West Virginia – 18″+ past 3 days
• Canaan Valley Resort – West Virginia – 12″+ past 3 days
• Wisp Resort – Maryland – 10″+ past 3 days
• Kissing Bridge – New York – 9″+ past 3 days
• Sugar Mountain – North Carolina – 8″+ past 3 days
• Beech Mountain – North Carolina – 7″+ past 3 days
• Bryce Resort – Virginia – 8″+ past 3 days
• Whitetail Resort – Pennsylvania – 7″+ past 3 days
• Roundtop Mountain Resort – Pennsylvania – 8″+ past 3 days
• Get latest data and conditions of other resorts here: http://www.onthesnow.com/skireport.html

BOTTOM LINE: Get out this weekend and hit the slopes! I just wouldn’t suggest drinking the water if you find yourself in WV:

The post Weekend Pick: The Best Way to Escape the Winter Storm first appeared on Weekend Blitz.

gcmap.com

The grand total equates to 50+ flights per day and 380+ flights per week.

There’s some pretty good award availability out there, too:

Good non-stop flight options for a weekend ski trip to Salt Lake City

Interested in other carriers/destinations, I found that American Airlines has a non-stop from Raleigh-RDU to London-LHR. Even better, the route is 3,872 miles, which falls under the 40k economy roundtrip category for British Airways Avios redemptions!

Time to find award space:

This flight (which I assume only costs 32k Avios because there are very frequent AMEX –> Avios transfer bonuses worth at least 20%) yields a return of 2+ cents/mile on your British Airways Avios or AMEX points — a pretty good return.

The post Unlikely Award Space from Raleigh-Durham-RDU on Delta and AA first appeared on Weekend Blitz.

Starwood

The official policy at Starwood is “guaranteed room availability when your room is booked by 3 p.m., 72+ hours prior to arrival” with the caveats of:

• “Applicable to one standard room booked by 3 p.m. local time 72+ hours before day of arrival at participating hotels.”
• “Member must pay regular RACK rate.”
• “Black out dates apply.”
• “Not available at resorts.”
• “Room upgrade and Free Night Award redemption do not apply when this benefit is utilized.”
• “Minimum length-of-stay requirement must be met.”

When contacting Starwood, I prefer to use their chat feature. It generally allows quick and easy access to a customer service rep and leaves a paper trail so there will never be any dispute in what was promised/offered to you. Before contacting Starwood, I did a search to see how other members have fared by using this amenity and it was clear that Starwood had written the terms and conditions in such a way that it would be virtually impossible to ever make use of the “guarantee.” I mean, they have so many outs that it is almost designed to NOT ever work. To have success, you’ll have to request space in a “participating hotel” that has not blocked the guarantee by applying a “black out date” and must meet the “minimum length-of-stay requirement” which could be 30+ days if the property wanted it to be.

So the chat went a little something like this:

-ME: Hi, I need a room for Nov 18-19 at The Westin Charlotte, NC.
-SPG: Unfortunately the hotel is completely booked.
-ME: Yes, I understand that, the reason I am contacting you is to exercise the “guaranteed room availability” amenity that I have as a Platinum member.
-SPG: Sorry, that property has a black out date for that night and I see that your account already has a stay at that property for that night.
-ME: Yes, I made a reservation for my co-worker a long time ago but now I need a room for myself at that property.
-SPG: Sorry, there is nothing I can do to help.
-ME: Hmmm, ok. What about another property in the area?
-SPG: Sorry, I am not seeing availability at any other property in the area, they are all sold out.
-ME: All 9 properties in Charlotte have blocked “guaranteed room availability” for Platinum members?!
-SPG: Yes, that is correct.
-ME: Well what do you suggest I do, I need a room in Charlotte on Nov 18-19. I already have a reservation at the Westin Charlotte for Nov 19-21. I am just missing the first night.
-SPG: Hang on, I do see that there is availability at the Aloft Charlotte Uptown at the EpiCentre for Nov 19.
-ME: Great, that’s perfect! What is the rate?
-SPG: Well, they have instituted a minimum stay of 3 nights and would require that you check-in on Sunday Nov 17.
-ME: That won’t work. I don’t need a Sunday night stay, and already have rooms booked at the property I need for Tues/Wed nights. I just need a room for Monday night.
-SPG: Would you like for me to book the Aloft Charlotte for you?
-ME: No!

Truly exhausting getting the runaround for so long.

Hyatt

The policy at Hyatt is similar to Starwood’s but with noticeably fewer restrictions:  “Ensure a room is always available with our 48-hour guarantee” with the caveats:

1. “Guarantee valid for one standard guest room when paying the hotel’s Hyatt Daily Rate.”
2. “Not valid at Hyatt resorts, Hyatt Residence Club resorts.”
3. “Not valid during extraordinary room demand.”

My call to Hyatt went A LOT smoother:

-ME: Hi, I need to book a room in Charlotte on for Mon., Nov. 18, just a 1-night stay at either the Hyatt Place Charlotte Downtown or Hyatt House Charlotte/City Center.
-HYATT: Ok, I am seeing that both of those properties are sold out for your desired dates.
-ME: Right, I understand that, I was calling to make use of the guaranteed availability feature of being a Hyatt Diamond. Here’s my Diamond number.
-HYATT: Oh ok, great. Thanks for your loyalty etc… I can book you into either property which would you prefer?
-ME: The cheaper of the 2, please.
-HYATT: Ok, all set I’ve got a rate of $xx at the Hyatt Place Charlotte Downtown for 1-night. Ready to book?
-ME: YES! Perfect, thanks for much!

Smooth and painless. Hyatt really came through on this one and honored what they advertise to their members. They didn’t use any loopholes to wiggle out of what they promised and left this customer much more satisfied than Starwood.

I find that making a promise that you have no plans to deliver on is much worse than simply not making the offer in the first place. I would probably still be pleased with Starwood Platinum features if they did not even offer “guaranteed room availability,” but, instead, they’ve offered it, made it virtually impossible to use and now have an unhappy customer.

BOTTOM LINE: While both Hyatt and Starwood loyalty programs have written the T&Cs to protect their interests, in my (limited) experience, Starwood went out of their way to not honor the basic pledge whereas Hyatt did the right thing and stood by their guarantee. The value I place on Hyatt Diamond status has gone up as much as Starwood’s value has gone down in my book.

The post Guaranteed room availability elite benefit: Hyatt vs Starwood first appeared on Weekend Blitz.

See below for videos, the audio quality on the camera was pretty bad so most videos are using audio from Z-Man’s source available for download here: http://bt.etree.org/details.php?id=568152. Thanks for the audio, Z-Man!

Widespread Panic – Saturday (Night 2)

The post Widespread Panic – November 9, 2013 – Asheville, SC Night 2 Review first appeared on Weekend Blitz.

Update 9/10: Finally got the STS9 videos up! See below.

Following a 20-30 minute set from the opening DJ, Umphrey’s took the stage right at 7pm starting their 1hr 45min set. Mixing in a few awesome covers (JJ Cale’s “Cocaine”) along with the classics, the band put on an awesome show–albeit the crowd was still rather sparse.

By 9:25pm, STS9 took the stage with an electric opener–the pit section was packed by this point! Review from Jambands.com:

Last evening Umphrey’s McGee and STS9 resumed their co-headlining tour at the Time Warner Amphitheater in Charlotte, NC. Umphrey’s came on first, opening with “Domino Theory” and offering a set that saw “Raymond” sandwiched within “Great American,” and a verse of the Rolling Stones “Miss You” contained within “Sociable Jimmy.” STS9’s set began with “Hidden Hand” and included versions of “4 Year Puma.” “Moon Socket” and “When The Dust Settles.” In addition, during “Frequencies 2 > 3” the group was joined by Mike Dillon on Vibraphone.

Umphrey’s McGee

The post STS9 & Umphrey’s McGee – August 28, 2013 – Charlotte, NC Review first appeared on Weekend Blitz.

From JamBands.com:

After a night off, Tedeschi Trucks Band’s co-headlining tour with The Black Crowes resumes at Raleigh, NC’s Red Hat Amphitheatre yesterday. The members of Tedeschi Trucks Band have regularly joined The Black Crowes for their encore this tour, but last night Chris Robinson also sat in with Tedeschi Trucks Band. The Crowes singer emerged for takes on the Sly and the Family Stone classics “Sing A Simple Song” and “I Want to Take You Higher.”

The members of Tedeschi Trucks Band returned the favor during The Black Crowes’ encore. They emerged for a series of covers that included Eric Clapton’s “Don’t Know Why,” Joe Tex’s “Show Me” and Bobby Bland’s “Turn on Your Lovelight.” The Black Crowes also debuted a version of Humble Pie’s “99 LBS” during main portion of their set.

Tedeschi Trucks Band – 6:30pm

The post The Black Crowes & Tedeschi Trucks Band – July 23, 2013 – Raleigh, NC first appeared on Weekend Blitz.