The Alligator jam on 2 March has an extra ten minutes and doesn't have the electronic mice that 28 February has...but the jamming on 28 February is arguably even tighter. Choosing between them is a nice dilemma.
Only eleven and a half minutes of GD music for me today. I listened to the "encore" version of "Eyes of the World" from June 26, 1974, in Providence, RI (track 1 from Disc 2 of Dick's Picks 12). It's a really good, tight version, where they are able to distill the essence of the tune, including the outro jam, in less than 12 minutes.
Olympia Theatre, Paris, 5/3/72. I have forgotten this version of "The Other One" was that amazing. I love still being surprised by recordings I have listened to so many times.
Speaking of anger, I remember an interesting The Eleven - Lovelight transition jam from this set where Lesh abruptly tries to cue Lovelight and then drops out, but Garcia and Weir aren't done with the Eleven and continue for a few minutes before agreeing to start Lovelight.
If you click on the youtube logo it takes you to youtube, then to the right click on Play All....you'll get the entire first set, which includes Mick Taylor on West LA and LRR. Pro-Shot video.
Morning Commute: 3/24/74, the Playing>UJB>Dew sammy Of note here is, they launch into Playing and Bob's mike is out. They soldier on for a minute or two, until Garcia finally gives up and starts playing in Wrong Mode, sort of skronk-warping off for a minute or two before they stop and reset. I love it when he does that. Right now, the tasty Scarlet Fire from the Uptown 81 show RCB linked to above.
This might sound like heresy, but I really enjoy a lot of those "let's compress a three disc show into a 2CD highlights release" type of Dick's Picks and vault releases. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know we're getting robbed of hearing yet another MAMU and/or Around&Around, but they make for very consistent, solid releases. For one thing, it's a lot more do-able to listen to a 2.5 hr set of highlights in one sitting, than solder though an entire 3.75 hour concert. Okay, when it comes to 1972, admittedly it's damn worth it to listen to a whole 4 hr. show, but for most other years/tours.....
I haven't listened to that show in a long while. I never liked it that much, mainly because of the recording quality. Anyway, that PITB>UJB>MD>UJB>PITB is really nice.
Last night I gave the Pure Jerry Bay Area '78 release a spin for the first time in a long while. Excellent all around, particularly fierce solo in Catfish John. It's a great compilation, and fun to hear a few relative rarities like Lonesome & A Long Way From Home and McCartney's (insert Forum seal of approval here) Let It Roll.
"Let Me Roll It" and "Sugaree" could have made an interesting medley. McCartney fans might also be intrigued by Garcia's strange fascination with the song "That Would Be Something" in his final years.
Check out the Cryptical > Other One > Cryptical > Death Don't sequence from 4/22/69 for some amazing April material, especially the Death Don't
I bought fifteen Dick's Picks volumes today for $150.00. 2,4,5,6,7,9,10,11,17,18,19,21,22,23,27. Just got home with them. I listened to disc one of volume 11. What a great first set. Taking a break now to have dinner with my wife and then back down to the cave for a marathon session. There are 42 discs in total. It is going to take me a while to get through them. Glen
There's something about the 27th's TIFTOO that is so edgy. They're uncomfortable and rush through it, but it's an excellent performance. The second set...I must listen to it again soon. The Eleven on the 1st is very short, isn't it? Early '68 length? I guess they were trying keep everything no longer than one side of vinyl.
I have to give the Avalon and Ark shows a listen again soon. They were really , really good from January to April '69. It's hard to fathom being that expansive musically, yet so tight and precise within that expansiveness.
http://www.setlists.net/?show_id=1402 My first show. I just looked around and listened with amazement. I felt like a man whose been dying of thirst in the desert and just found a huge clear water lake. I've seen not a ton of concerts before The Dead, but enough to know that I was finally home. These guys were PLAYING, not performing their songs. I knew probably 1/3 to 1/2 of The Grateful Dead's songs. The one song that made me realize Jerry was the captain of the ship was Black Peter. Drums/Space into The Other One made me ponder "How can six people create this much sound?" 04/18/82 Hartford Civic Center - Hartford, CT Set 1: Bertha Promised Land Friend Of The Devil C.C. Rider Ramble On Rose Me And My Uncle Mexicali Blues Althea Looks Like Rain Big Railroad Blues Let It Grow Set 2: Cold Rain And Snow Samson And Delilah Ship Of Fools Playin' In The Band Eyes Of The World Drums Space(Earthquake Space) The Other One Black Peter Sugar Magnolia Playin' In The Band Sunshine Daydream Encore: Don't Ease Me In
I finally broke down and bought Postcards of the Hanging (have been looking for a relatively cheap copy with the bonus disc), so that I can assemble a complete Frankenstein version of 3/24/90 from the official releases in time to do a Spring '90 marathon when that box arrives. This will be an endurance test, as it took me a long time to get through the back end of the first Spring '90 box, and this time I'm planning to go through the whole tour. Because it's there. (Or will be). Anyway, good excuse to a fill a hole in the collection.
Everyone who has never heard them before should check out Phil's Earthquake Space from that show (4/18/82) and Raven Space from the next night in Baltimore. Those 2 shows would make a nice 2-show box as an official release. Probably a good thing that the Phil-spoken-word Space experiment ended there (as far as I know).
Phil's Earthquake Space Spoken Word: "The Barbary Coast 1906 the wickedest place in the world whooahhh...Nothing but sin and no salvation arghh arghh nothin' but whoo whoo Lot's of fun...eh? Yeah San Francisco, The Pearl of the Pacific. The jewel of the ring of fire. Hangin' out and havin' fun....Until!....Until I say...I say I say until that one fateful day....whoooo. San Francisco in ruins."
