Dead keep on truckin' at Allstate Arena show

First, the caveat.

I am not a Grateful Dead "fan."

I have been known to poke fun at the 20-minute guitar solo.

And there is a certain breed of Deadhead, let's call him "The Evangelist," whose overblown, fervent defense of the band somehow makes them less palatable.

But for Monday's Dead show at the Allstate Arena, their first of two in Chicago, I promised to leave the sarcastic hipster at the door.

In the spirit of the completely unironic enthusiasm with which most Dead fans enjoy their music, I vowed to keep an open mind. And seriously, the music was actually pretty good.

The Dead, remnants of seminal jam band The Grateful Dead, offer an experience that won't disappoint serious fans but doesn't totally alienate the novice, either. Without guitarist Jerry Garcia, who died in 1995, remaining members Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart regrouped and tour under the shortened "Dead" name.

Joining them are Warren Haynes, guitarist for the Allman Brothers Band, and keyboardist Jeff Chimenti of Ratdog,

At Monday night's show, The Dead were better when they were bluesy or rock-centric and less interesting to the uninitiated (me) when they got psychadelic, like on "West LA Fadeaway."

"Wang Dang Doodle" got a funky and playful treatment and as far as "All Along The Watchtower" went?

Y'all, they kind of tore it up.

Mostly thanks to Haynes' blistering guitar work, the Jimi Hendrix standard turned into a spectacle of '60s celebration.

Haynes clearly can't ape Garcia's raindrops-on-rooftops style of play, but the good news is he doesn't try. Instead, he lets his skill win over audiences.

And honestly, don't kill me here, Deadheads, but I think his voice sounds way better than Garcia's.

The Dead play the second of their two shows tonight and if it's anything like Monday's show, there will be plenty of tie-dyed shirts and patchouli in the audience, plenty of barefoot Deadheads and an overabundance of blond girls with dredlocks.

You might even run into the evangelist who approached me, suggesting I quote him, then advising me I had just been witness to "the sound of freedom."

But at The Dead show, no one will blame you if you exercise that freedom by ignoring the Dead circus around you, kicking back and just basking in the music.