(text by Dean Budnick, images by Mike McNamara)

At the end of December the Other Ones returned to the stage for two shows. Given the many projects and passions of the individual members one never knows if/when this roster of performers will take the stage together again. So in commemoration we offer the following photos by Mike Mac taken at the Hartford Other Ones gig this past year. Here are a few brief thoughts from myself in accompaniment...

I can still remember my first Grateful Dead show- the aura, the atmosphere and above all the music. After a number of intense years following the band (there was a time in the early 90's when I was teaching in Cambridge, Mass and they were in the midst of a Nassau run that I drove back and forth from MA to Long Island for 5 days to check out the action). By the end I felt that much of the energy had dissipated although the fan fervor had not (remember Highgate- ouch). At any rate, when the Other Ones first came together a few years back I was still a bit burnt out and skeptical. However, cranky, nit-picky Deadhead friends of mine ended up hitting far more shows than they had ever anticipated. The present incarnation of the Other Ones features a slightly different line-up with Alphonso Johnson taking the stage on bass and Bill Kreutzmann returning to the fold on drums. For me the highlights of the Hartford show took place not in the rearranging of Grateful Dead songs but instead when this estimable line-up decided to explore novel sonic textures and well...go Furthur (in particular the segment that began with Drums and then evolved into a jam that trailed into "St. Thomas...") Anyhow, here are some images...