Ice Petal Flowers

the Grateful Dead that is anyway. On June 1, 2017 – marking exactly 50 years ago to the day – the Grateful Dead Tribute Band (Ice Petal Flowers) brought along some speakers and decorated the area with tapestries hung from the fence. It was June 1, 1967 that marked the start of a relationship between NYC and The Grateful Dead. They played their very first (free) show at Tompkins Square Park.

So at the beginning of this month the music from that time came alive again. Passersby checked out what was happening and then just stuck around because the band was great. Official NYC Grateful Dead Family DJ Matt Lilly said he was “pleasantly surprised” by the quality of the music; they knew what they were doing. They were clearly true fans.

The event lasted around four hours and was thoroughly enjoyed by fans young and old, putting out “good vibes and great music.” -

Even Matt Lilly, the official DJ for the NYC Grateful Dead Family (the event’s organizers), was “pleasantly surprised” by the caliber of the music of the band, who weren’t just slavishly imitating the original, but adding something of their own to the mix.

When asked why he was in a Grateful Dead tribute band, guitarist “Grateful Dave” Fuller had stop to think for a moment.

“No one has ever asked me that,” he said. “I guess it’s because it’s just fun as hell”


“Festival Jim,” right, was truckin’ like the doo dah man in Tompkins. He got his nickname, he explained, because he goes to a lot of festivals.
For many, the eternal appeal of the Dead is unfathomable. But to the faithful, it’s a no-brainer (go ahead, insert Deadhead joke here). Although Lilly is now a diehard fan, it wasn’t always that way.

“I grew up hating them,” he confessed. “I spent a lot of time listening to punk and metal. But I’ve been listening to the Dead secretly for years.”

Taking a minute away from choosing between-set tunes from his collection of official and unofficial live LP’s (yes, he was spinning vinyl), he pulled out the album cover and let us know what was playing.

“It’s “Alligator” from the Shrine Auditorium, 11/10/67,” he said. “It’s 11 minutes and one second long.”


Lori boogieing to the music with her 5-year-old daughter, Zariah Maya Sappphire.
The celebration, about four hours long, was a perfect day for Susie Farmer, a co-founder of the NYCGD Family, who has been a fan since she was 12. Surrounded by good people, good vibes and great music, it was hard not to enjoy.

Dave, a chef from Greenpoint, felt the band and the park was a recipe for pure grooviness.

“You lean back on the tree and close your eyes,” he said. “You know it’s not the Dead, but you feel the energy and the reverence. And you feel life — and love.”


Grateful Dead fans just keep on getting younger.
Ice Petal Flowers will be doing their thing again at Lovecraft, 50 Avenue B, on Sat. June 17 - AM New York

Strangers Stopping Strangers

When I first got on Facebook, I probably did what many others before me had done – reconnect with people from my past. Some were by my reaching out; some were by theirs. Some looked the same; some almost like strangers – a safe bet I had no idea how I looked to them! In time though, I thought I might like to “meet” some new friends…different friends and certainly friends of their friends.

One such connection cycle led me to Dave Fuller, lead guitarist for the relatively new (founded Spring 2015) Grateful Dead tribute band Ice Petal Flowers. Regarding the term “tribute” – I don’t care for it much. These bands interpret their chosen music no differently than symphony orchestras take on Beethoven or Mozart.

With old friend and newest member Lane Steinberg on rhythm guitar and vocals, Chris Van Ophuijsen on bass, Kevin Uehlinger on keyboard and youngest member Adrian Mullins on drums, the band performed at The Klub 45 Room at Connolly’s Times Square this past Friday night.

Before the show, I had the opportunity to talk with the boys about what led them all to this place. Some things you should know about Ice Petal Flowers:

Dave takes the nuts and bolts – the technical aspects of how the Dead created their sound, and balances it with a desire to emulate, but NOT perfectly recreate note for note what came before. Kevin added, improvisation WAS the Dead – they never played the same song, the same way, twice.
A 14-year-old Lane heard “Dark Star” and it was reminiscent of the first time he heard the Beatles – a seismic shift away from what was.
Adrian articulated on the concept of the jam band formula – there is no right or wrong.
Chris started playing the bass in his 20’s, went on hiatus for another 20 years only recently picking it up again for this project.
The band opened up with the earliest of Dead songs, “Beat it On Down the Line”. The nearly 2 hour set didn’t get much past 1975’s Blues for Allah, with a fine rendition of “Franklin’s Tower” followed by “Promised Land”. An excellent “China>Rider” with a bridge that reminded me of my first Dead show in ’79, led into “Truckin'” and a beautiful “Eyes of the World”. While my friend was busy taking pictures, I tapped her and said you’re missing the best shot – my smile!

The “Playing in the Band” hit all the jam markers of the original studio and live versions. “Tennessee Jed”, “Not Fade Away” and “US Blues” rounded out the night’s pre-encore selections.

But as the clock went past midnight, and the band was still on fire, and the small but Dead-loyal crowd kept begging for more, Ice Petal Flowers went deep into the proverbial vault and delivered a stunning Dark Star > The Other One > Morning Dew. This triple was a bases-loaded home run (hey – it’s still baseball season!).

Back to the whole friends of friend’s concept…imagine strangers stopping strangers, just to shake their hand, and Ice Petal Flowers keeps on playing in their band! - Live Music News and Review