I've been meaning to dive back into the box but this respiratory infection ain't gonna allow it for a while. 5/5 was my favorite the first time through. Something less polished about Jerry's tone that evening. And he shreds.
IWT in Albany '91, a great venue in terms of both sound and, maybe not unrelatedly, performances. I believe I saw every GD show there and also JGB in '93 (great show where Garcia played Freight Train while John Kahn's bass was being fixed).
3-29-83 - I mentioned, but it bears repeating. This was the best show of 83 so far, I think. A really solid first set as mentioned, and set 2 lived up to the Help>Slip>Franklin's opener. For a minute in Slipknot! it sounds like it's going to slide off the face of the earth, but they bring it back just in time for the Slipknot! riff and on into a rambling Franklin's Tower - followed directly by a muscular Estimated. It sounds like they hint at Eyes of the World, but the drums take over instead. Space is mostly on the Spanish Jam theme, before it's blown apart by some insistent major chords that quickly turn into the Wheel, which is always welcome to me. (One of the unabashed, absolute, without reservation 'pros' in the post-hiatus column.) Throwing Stones again? OK, it's Bobby. And I usually like Throwing Stones, though we'll see after I hear it 47 times over the next month or so. And looking at Deadbase, they don't go more than 3 shows in a row without playing it for the entire year. (And since I'm mentioning it, the longest they ever went in a row without Throwing Stones was 7 shows, and that wasn't until 92!) So, it's very much a hallmark of 80s Grateful Dead, for good or ill. (And mostly good from my POV.) Throwing Stones in this case is kind of a catching of the breath, before they unleash the complete rock-out ending for this show - Not Fade Away>GDTRFB (pronounced just like it's spelt,)>Johnny B. Goode. Plenty of organ, blistering guitar from Garcia and Weir, etc. None of this 'bop bop bop' crap, just the goods, the old-timey 'We Bid you Goodnight' ending on GDTRFB, and if that wasn't enough, Johnny B. Goode for good measure. 'IAONBB' is my favorite encore ever - Garcia musses a few words, but no harm done. Spoiler It's All Over Now, Baby Blue Speaking of tight and rocking first sets, I now have on 4-19-78, Veterans memorial hall in Columbus OH. This is an FOB AUD, very good sound, though sadly it seems not to be in the Phil Zone. (You can hear him, but there's not a ton of low end.) A fun Bertha opener sets the tone, and the rest of the set, though typical for 78, is also very well done. There's a version of Peggy-o here that on first listen sounds like it deserves to be in the conversation with 4-12, 4-16, and other great 78 renditions, and they really nail the not-always-notable Me and My Uncle.
here you go: A pretty good study in how mindset, mood, etc. can affect the evaluation of a performance. I enjoyed it, for the most part. Though it may not have been the best show ever, and the back half of set 2 (frequently the soft underbelly of late period GD shows,) was nothing earth-shattering, it compared very favorably to the 83 show I had just finished listening to, and I thought set 1 was very well done. When I looked at the songs in set 1 I thought it looked like about as good a set 1 as I'd expect in that era. I think Dr. Crispy and I both would prescribe checking it out again sometime. Have you come around on Black Peter at all? I used to be kind of the same way for 80s and 90s renditions, but listening to all those late 69 versions got me hooked on the song, and I like it in all eras now. I agree with Rob that this show was stronger than 3-23 for me, though IMO the closing of set 2 of that show was better.
I think that Hornsby was the biggest barrier to Vinces' success in the keyboard chair, it was too easy for him to hold back. It was the nights Bruce wasn't there and after he left that Vince really blossomed
Couldn't find it on the archives deadhead app so I'm listening to another acid test... www.archive.org/details/gd1966-01-08.sbd.bershaw.5410.shnf King Bee sounds pretty good with some cool psych/blues playing from Jer
1966-02-25. Very good sound on this one. Schoolgirl>You Don't Love Me >Schoolgirl 20 min long. Love this! Although it's probably from mid to late '66 according to the archive posts www.archive.org/details/gd1966-02-25.sbd.unknown.20346.sbeok.shnf Garcia sings You don't love me by the way. Yes, the same song that The Allman Brothers Band included on Fillmore East '71
Starting off the morning with Live/Dead on vinyl. Recently picked up all the Rhino reissues (including Europe 72 in the dead.net Christmas sale and the RSD box) and I’m going through them all in order
The "bop, bop, bop" crap starts a couple of weeks later in Binghamton (12 April 1983), which was the first show to have set 2 end with Not Fade Away. That night the audience clapping and singing was spontaneous and a genuine thrill- a special moment; later on it became rote and predictable. 19 April 1978 circulates on a very nice SBD, although I remember hearing the AUD back in late '78 when I started college. The second set transition from Estimated Prophet > He's Gone is very much worthy of your attention.
Bwahahaha!! Ive gotta relisten and see what i think now lol. Thanks. Currently almost to Michigan in northern Ohio. Its dreary, freezing and of course windy. Awesome. For no particular reason i put on Daves 15, 4 22 78 for the first time. Just into Eyes. Pretty good stuff so far! Donna sounds really great on this show.
Over the weekend, I made my first foray into '90s Dead via Dozin' At The Knick. I was pleasantly surprised by how much they rock out in spots, but I'm having trouble getting past the sparkly digital keyboard sounds (and "Space," which I usually love, sounds like someone in a music store running through the presets of a DX7). Are the keyboards an impediment for others? Are these shows typical of early '90s Dead?
Listened to 1/23/68 earlier this morning. Just finishing up 1/23/70. Going to listen to 5/22/77 next. The new Miller transfer.
You're right, and there are Charlie Miller transfers of both the FOB I heard and the SBD. I went with the FOB for change of pace, since most of 78 has been covered by SBD. The transition I made a note of, because Weir is tilting at Eyes of the World, but Garcia vetoes him and starts up He's Gone instead, prompting what sounds like a grumpy bit of feedback from Bob before he starts playing his usual He's Gone part. Drums was actually a nice welcome contrast to the deliberate pace of He's Gone, they did some kind of uptempo steel drum jam for a while. The encore debut of Werewolves of London is fun, with a lot of unbridled enthusiasm, especially from Weir on the slide. Regarding bops, though I appreciate the concept of an audience/band interaction element, I'm that jerk who purposely claps off-time when any clapalong gets going.
I thought that corny yellow dog joke sounded familiar. I listened to the Conner transfer of 1/23/70 earlier today. I had listened to the Dave's in order a couple months back. I'm pretty sure I've heard Bob tell that joke at other shows too. Either that or I've listened to Dave's 19 too many times and keep forgetting. I've got so much Dead it should be years before I repeat a show. Listening to the new Miller transfer of 5/22/77 now. This Peggy-O is starting off really nice.
The above is my biggest issue with 89-90 Dead. The tinkly overplayed fake piano sounds especially. Hard to get past. I like 10/16/89 Nightfall of Diamonds but not enough for me to listen to any more 89-90 shows.
He tells the yellow dog joke on a lot of 69-70 shows. I forget which it was, but there's one where Pigpen steps in and says the punchline, which is my favorite. more rare is Bob's telling us about George Washington's false teeth. Again I forget the date, but there's a show where he says 'let me take the time to hip you to George Washington's false teeth.' to which Garcia replies 'Hey man, **** the teeth, let's play.'
"Space" is Garcia, Weir and Lesh on MIDI guitars, along with Brent. Yes, that is typical of the era although I think the MIDI use declined over the 90's.
Listening to April 6, 1978 on the archive (Relisten App) while writing a couple of memos as work. Chose Bob Wagner's soundboard (65%) / audience (35%) matrix. Just about through the first set of a (so far) enjoyable show. Wasn't sure about the matrix at first, but it sure does make you feel like you're there.
