I saw a hot little highschool girl at the mall wearing a Stones Steel Wheels Tour t shirt. I thought, thats BS on every level lol.
Finished up the first night of the Greek 20th anniversary run, 06/14/85. It's, uh, a weird show. And not always in the best way. Healy's really doing his best to do in Bobby's head. Anyway, my brief notes... Set one starts out decent enough with “Dancin” and “West L.A. Fadeaway”, though neither are among the best ever outings. A slower “CC Rider” and a pretty decent “Peggy-O”, follow. Healy is throwing weird sound effects to tease Bobby, particularly kissing sounds and a weird ‘Booooobbbbbyyyy”. “Hell in a Bucket” brings the tempo back up before the debut of “Keep It Growing”, which gets a fine enough first play. The first “Stagger Lee” in a number of years follow, and it’s fun as usual. “Let It Grow” shows some promise, but it never really gels and Jerry struggles to find his feet, a wasted opportunity. But a really hot “Deal” picks things up to end the up and down first set. Healy kicks off second set with a weird sound montage, picking up some of the jabs from earlier and mixing them in with effects and voices. Weird stuff. Even weirder to hear the proper second set kick off with a “Morning Dew”, but it’s a great one for ‘85 and I’m along for the ride. This is followed by “Playing” which keeps up the vibe nicely, though never really launches off like I’m hoping, with Healy back at it again during the jam portion. We slide into a really nice “China Doll” which, to my ears, starts the really meat of the show. As “China Doll” fades, Brent gets to work and slides into a really nice jam between him and the drummers. It’s another nice, unexpected touch before they move into “Drums > Space” proper. Both are fine, though I don’t get taken out in the cosmos as far as I’d like, at least Healy has the sense not to interject throughout this run, as I kinda feared. “Space” eventually resolves into a fine, if brief, “Truckin” and into a “Smokestack Lightning” before a really pretty “Comes A Time”. A spirited “Sugar Mags” ends the second set proper on a high note. Shame about that “Day Job” encore to pull the rug out from under me.
Yeah, that became clear as I listened to more of the show, especially his montage before the second set. That's what I get for reading the comments first, oops. Anyway, I'm really looking forward to the rest of the run, based on what I've heard it gets better from night 1.
Second set from 5/14/78 - werewolf on my mind as they tear into Eyes at a blazing tempo after a wonderous long out jam on Estimated....Jerry turns off the effects @ ~ 11 minutes I think and his interplay with Bobby is sublime. As usual in 77-78 Eyes Jerry’s playing after the second verse reaches a strong peak but here you get extra special Archtoppable genius level stuff similar in brilliance to some of his playing during the long first set ending Let it Grow.
Love the song. Please suggest some good shows with some excellent "West L.A. Fadeaway" excursions. At your leisure.
Oh man, only a couple come immediately to mind, I'm sure others could chime in with theirs. The best I've ever heard is from Alpine Valley '89, Jerry just destroys that one. There's also one, from 1988 I believe, with Clarence Clemons that I always liked. EDIT: It was 07/19/89, for the record. One of the few times Heady Version is absolutely on the money with a best version!
Thanks. I sorta put you on the spot. Just looking for a few shows as a way to start exploring other years. My wife always sings "West L.A. Freeway" because she knows it will bug me.
This has always been my favorite China Doll by far. I LOVE the lick that Jerry plays with for about a minute as the song winds itself down. The first time I heard it I must have replayed it about 10 times....It's really beautiful. I've never heard that lick appear in any other version of China Doll but it's a PERFECT outro. And like you said the little jam with Brent and the drummers is really nice!!
The MSG Rainforest benefit gig features an interesting one with none other than Mick Taylor getting some neck as they say. P.S. Mick, if you're out there - how about a club tour for old times sake?
Holy Cow. A Mick Taylor frolic and detour. I did not know he played/jammed with the Grateful Dead. Exactly why I love this thread and all its denizens. Listening to the July 19, 1989 Alpine Valley show. Hot show (cool "Westy" in the snapshot).
As I said, it was not a great show. It was fun to be there, on a big soccer field in the California sun. These shows were "day time" shows with 2pm start times! They probably took the stage around 2:30... and in any case both sets were played in full daylight. That in itself was fun and somewhat unusual. Good to get some context when listening back. I thought the 5/5 2nd set was solid, but again not a whole lot of X-factor. The 5/6 show on the other hand, totally ON from start to finish. From the Half-Step opener to the (This Could Be) The Last Time encore, nary a weak moment. Even Blow Away didn't disrupt the flow much, an abbreviated version with a hard stop that then "segued" right in to Terrapin. I: Mississippi Half-Step> Feel Like A Stranger, Easy To Love You, West L.A. Fadeaway, When I Paint My Masterpiece, Candyman, Victim Or The Crime> Foolish Heart II: Iko Iko, Samson & Delilah, The Weight, Blow Away, Terrapin Station> Drums> Space> The Other One> Standing On The Moon> Throwing Stones> Turn On Your Lovelight E: The Last Time
Hmm, being dosed may explain the unfocused/disconnected playing on that first day. I could see that being the case. In a "best case" scenario that should have enhanced the performance, the whole group mind thing, or whatever. As it happened, if true, I think it just made Jerry more tentative/confused -- especially the Help>Slip transition... he almost botches the 3rd verse in Franklin's as well, but recovers in time to sing "If you get confused, listen to the music play" although even that line is sung rather unenthusiastically. He really shreds on the Queen Jane that follows though. Once he got over the hump so to speak he found the groove. As mentioned above, the next show is very strong, well worth a listen!
My kids are almost big enough to wear some of my old, now-too-small, t-shirts. Probably a few more years still but I'm saving some of the cooler concert T's for them. They won't be wearing some GAP retro/faded thing, they'll be wearing (if they so choose) old school original shirts. I have a huge t-shirt collection and even ones that are 20+ years old, in some cases, are still in really good shape. I was actually wearing MY Steels Wheels concert T the other day. Bought in the Oakland Coliseum parking lot in late '89... Ragged but Right!
My daughter has raided my old t-shirt drawer. She wears 'em big and is partial to my Camper Van Beethoven tees. This is my 2nd camper van picture post of the day (tee and a Westfalia above).
The Grateful Dead Live at Lakeland Civic Center on 1982-09-12 : Free Streaming : Internet Archive Here's what Ginger says, she talks like she ain't nobody's fool Here's what Ginger says, she tries to live by the golden rule She says you treat people all right, Other people will probably treat you cool
I'm listening to 3/11/93[Rosemont Horizon]on the Grateful Dead Channel on SiriusXM[just finished the part with Ken Nordine guesting].
Listening to RT 2.3 Wall Of Sound last night, strangely enough I hadn't really paid attention to this one. That was a mistake. I certainly understand some disappointment that these 2 shows were curated rather than released in full, but that doesn't change how great this set is. I've got a download of this, and there is some noise in the R channel mostly on disc 1. It sounds like it is coming from the keyboards. Is this a known flaw in the source or is my download messed up? Have these shows gotten a recent Miller upgrade? I'd definitely grab them if the sound is up to par. If for some unknown reason you haven't heard this yet, the WRS/Let It Grow is by far the best I've heard. The jam doesn't go to Dark Star like Dick's 12 (6/28/74) but it is a killer. Summer 74 box please!
