Jeez, I've chompin' at the bit to see JRAD and the closest they get to BOS next year is Portland, ME? That's a drag and a half...although Portland's a cool city, I don't see a schlep up there in early March.
You think that's bad? The closest gig to me is L.A. which by road is a mere 387 miles. Your "schlep" up to Portland is similar in distance to when I slip down to Las Vegas for a show.
Meanwhile, "Samson and Delilah" from Boston '77 is full of fire! There's a great Jerry solo on the "Friend of the Devil" that follows as well.
It's not so much miles as it is the time of year. March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb is our saying here downeast. If someone nearby wants to carpool it up there, I could be convinced. Keep in mind that my car CD player ate my favorite GD bonus disc twice (3/22-3/23/72; once because it happened randomly and then again a few days later because I'm a forgetful idiot). So, I'll sing Phil vocals (only worse) all the way up to Portland.
fwiw, Amtrak gets you to within 2 miles of the State Theater in Portland. I just checked. Just found out about the Maine Amtrak line this summer, picked up a friend at the Portland Transportation Center. It actually goes all the way to Freeport. Leave the driving to Amtrak. You can get away with a lot more if you take the train. (Amtrak ought to use that as a slogan.)
I appreciate the info, but my experience with Amtrak, which is not a small sample size, is like throwing away your car keys and throwing away any plans you've ever made. They invent ways to stop and/or breakdown. My take is that Amtrak's slogan should be We suck and we don't know why but we still don't give a crap.
If there's a bar car then who cares about arriving on time? You have two shows. Saturday/Sunday in Portland. Sounds pretty f-ing good to me. Just unplug, let someone else do the driving, and ENJOY. PITB from 4/14/72 Kobenhaven. No Donna wail after the first verse although she's definitely there.
I can't deny that. My friend was supposed to arrive in Freeport, but Amtrak- en route- decided to terminate the trip in Portland and give cab vouchers to everyone with a destination beyond that point. We ended up driving down to Portland to obviate that complication. So, not the most reliable route, there. I've heard more stories about its unreliability than any other Amtrak line, maybe because it's a spur. But in general, I like Amtrak a lot. The actual experience of train travel is like being on a plane that you can walk around in. Not only is there more legroom than the 1st class compartment of an airliner, sometimes there are tables. Moreover, nobody cares if you want to stretch out and sleep on the floor. It isn't a claustrophobic environment, the way that almost all buses and planes are. There's enough room on a train to play a guitar. Etc. Granted, some routes and schedules are more crowded than others. Unscheduled delays occasionally happen. Much of the rail infrastructure is antiquated- or even obsolete, by European or Japanese standards. But come on, Amtrak is imbued with that Terrapin Station resonance. I wish I'd picked up the romance of train travel earlier. Even the delays are a lot more tolerable than being stuck on the tarmac in a passenger jet.
I had a look at other prices - they're way lower than they were until recently. I think the music-only editions going on sale has flooded the market. I bet loads of people bought them up in order to sell them. I didn't - I just wanted to set. As it happens, I fell into the trap of paying a high price for the '68 show a few months ago. Just got an offer on the set of AUD$25. That's about 1/3 of what I paid, including postage...
My favorite show of the first week of May. 1/2 step->River is the stuff, and the set II Wheel is imo the best of the year. What a gig!
Not really the era I hang out in most but I definitely feel like the Summer 90 Eugene shows are deserving of some sort of release. 6/23-24 have much of the magic. The second set of 6/24 is one of the early AUD's I received in 93 and it is ingrained in my psychedelically induced psyche. I've been playing so much mid 70's as of late these Summer 90's concerts are feeling so nice. What are folks opinion of the Cal Expo and Shoreline shows preceding Eugene?
I saw the last lovelight in the states and the only one played at the 72 academy of music shows. It was so great hearing so many pig songs on an average night at those shows. A nice warmup for Europe.
14 November 1972- Oklahoma City. The second set sounds good, the first- not so much. Worth the price of admission just for the transition between He's Gone and Truckin'.
Archtop: just get a ticket & go!! Worth the drive. We drove 3-1/2 hours to philly and it was well worth it. We are seeing 2 of the 3 January Capital Theatre shows and I’ll be trying to nail down Wellmont Theatre tickets for 3/15!!
Same distance for me. I'd like to see JRAD, but driving 400 miles and/or entering Kaliforny isn't worth it.
90 abd 91 are my years - lets do this! The 5 5 90 Cal Expo show is horrible - worst of the year imo (and theres only a handful of poor gigs this year) The entire Shoreline run is spectacular imo and definitely box set worthy
Agree - big difference between 120 miles (if Archtop is in Boston) to Portland, Maine. Can do it and drive home the same night. They really are great enough live to warrant a trip. So much energy and a great positive vibe from the band.
New Haven is not much more of a drive from Boston than Portland ME, depending on where in Greater Boston you be. Two weeks can make all the difference in March and you'd be driving south. I was also going to mention the train, it's only 1 mile from the New haven station to the venue. But yes, Amtrak can suck, it used to be you had to be at the Port Chester station at 7 AM (to get to Stamford in time for the Amtrak) if you wanted to make it to Hartford before 340 PM (because there was no train between Hartford and New Haven from 11AM to 3PM.)