Show of the day: 30 November 1973- Boston Music Hall. A few weeks before this show the band were presented with a logistical quandary at a meeting: the PA system and stage set-up the band was using at the time was much wider than the stage at the Boston Music Hall. It was at this meeting that the suggestion was made, and agreed upon, that the PA would be stacked behind the band "like a Wall." This was the first show with the prototype Wall of Sound, which would be refined in early 1974. Oh, the music from this show is excellent (Dick's Picks 14). Playing In The Band is on right now, and is particularly spectacular.
I carry on with my reverse-30 Trips listening with the 2 Sacramento shows from 1986. Anyone have any thoughts on these gigs?
That's what someone else said a bunch of pages back as well. Guess I'll have to see how I enjoy it myself. 5/3/86 - Sacramento A really good, if somewhat chill, CR/S to open things is followed by a spritely and why-was-this-not-played-more The Race Is One. Two good tracks doth not a great gig make, but hey, I'm takin' them.
Dave L. talked over the years about making a possible boxset of this show and 5/10 but fortunately for us the E72 trunk happened!
5/3/86 - Sacramento, CA BIODTL has a THREE count intro tonight. Why did they change it so much/what is the actual count supposed to be?
I just found out that Englishtown '77 is a multitrack. If that's true, then why was it a DP and not a Vault release?
In the liner notes for Dick's Picks 14, it notes that the band had thought that the 11/30/73 show was the following night, so the crowd watched for three hours as the scaffolding, planks, and finally the speakers and amps were set up into what you see above. The stage at the old Boston Music Hall wasn't very big indeed; it's amazing that they were able to pull this one off. For the record, the old Boston Music Hall where the GoGD played from 1971-1978 is now the Wang Theatre, located at 252-272 Tremont Street and not the Orpheum Theatre, which is perhaps a half-mile away on Winter Street. What's confusing is that the Orpheum Theatre used to be known as the Boston Music Hall from 1852-1900. Conversely, the Metropolitan Theatre, which was built in 1925, became the Boston Music Hall in 1962, the Metropolitan Center in 1980, and the Wang Center in 1983. Now it is known as the Wang Theatre. It's hard to imagine anyone actually caring about this, but I found it interesting in a convoluted way.
I have never heard that, and with my penchant for multi-tracks I would have thought I would have run across that at some point. The only DiP I know of that is multi-track is DiP 22 which was 4 Track.
5/3/86 - Sacramento, CA Scar>Fire It's played great, and Jerry is in great voice, but it feels a bit like '94 where you're waiting for Jerry to come in and he just keeps noodling in the background.
I just read it in a GDforum chat with Dick from '98 or so. Dick could've been wrong of course, but knowing him.... Also, I've heard that DP#8 is actually secretly multitrack as well. In one of the Compendium interviews, Jeffrey Norman, I think, all but confirms that.
5/3/86 - Sacramento, CA - 30 Trips Ok, this gig was interesting. It had an excellent first set (imo). The second set came along and was rather lacking. The performances were there, but it felt like they were stuck in first set mode or seomthing. I kept waiting for Jerry to come in, but he seemed contend to mainly play rhythm tonight. That being said, the show did have a very good party/dance/fun vibe about it where you can look past the negatives and just enjoy it as nothing more than "A GOOD GIG". Hard to rate this one.
Yup, that was my post. 5/3/86 is #29 of 30 for me, quality-wise-ahead of only 1993. It starts OK, but then it starts to decline as you go along. Then both guitars "break" (Lesh's excuse). You can definitely hear something amiss towards the end. The Race Is On was reserved for (Kentucky) Derby Day. I heard it the next year-5/2/87, Frost Amphitheater, great show. A well-traveled Head explained it to me. You are correct sir, #8 was M/T, but the electric sets were in mono, and TPTB would not authorize it as a Vault release. As per that Dick L. link a few pages back. My used copy of Dick's Picks 1 arrived over the weekend. Ripping as I type this. Another Big River to add to my collection. This makes 1,387. But HCS and disc 2 are the sht!!!!!!!
IMO, "High Time" sounds horribly under-rehearsed and "Promised Land" is a botch. Nothing really takes off except for "Comes a Time", wisely chosen to represent this show on the highlights set.
I thought The Race Is On, BIODTL>Promised Land, Deal, GDTRFB and the aforementioned Comes a Time were the definite highlights.
5/4/86-Sacramento, CA Well, the opening two tracks are great so far. OMNS was a great opener and this Half Step is pretty awesome as well.
Full moon looming over the stadium that night, and Santana opened as well, although I wasn't able to catch his set. A bit of a Dark Star tease at one point to continue the theme of the tour. Not the best show of the tour, but a very good one and a nice way to go out.
They might have had a little extra motivation that night, considering how the previous show went. I went to the first night of a two show run at the Kaiser in 1979, and it blew donut holes. I girl I knew at college went the 2nd night and they destroyed. Hopefully a good omen for 5/4/86.
I forget the count on the studio version (which I would say is what it is "supposed to be" to the extent that anything could be considered a definitive version in GD-land, which is to say, not really at all). In the later years, at least, they often, but not always, changed it so that it matched the day of the month, hence 3 counts for 5/3. Pretty sure I have heard a 30-count version on the 30th of some month, some year, but can't recall which particular show.