Yeah, the entire Closing of Winterland was quite exceptional, really. The Terrapin>Playing was very good. And on Disc 4 the DS>TOO>DS>St. Stephen was pretty darn sweet. Jerry really got crankin' throughout, especially on the first DS. An excellent set! Next up... (probably tomorrow) Stepping Out... Should be good. I really don't have very much from 1972, so this should be a good example of it.
910 is celestial aural splendor a contender for one of the best shows of the year just by having one of the few stars the same can be said for the latter more singular though less cerebral show .There was a recent contest with it being one of the candidates what did the electric college determine?
Just finished Disc 1 of Steppin' Out. It didn't strike me as anything special. Competent, but not especially inspired. BUT... then I got to Playin... and suddenly Jerry just frigg'n EXPLODED onto the scene! His playing and the use of the Wah pedal was the best I've heard him play so far. As I had mentioned before, it doesn't seem like he uses it very much, and when he does only slightly. But, this time he was SMOK'N! Usually his style is very smoothly going up and down the scales fairly rapidly with nice expressions in between, and he is very good at that. But, from all the stuff I've heard so far, this was the first time where he frigg'n ATTACKED the damn thing! Now, THAT is what I like in guitar playing. I mean, don't get me wrong... I very much do like all the beautiful scaling and lovely improvising, especially in some of the truly transcendent Dark Stars and Estimated Jams. Some of those literally transport you to other Realms, believe me. But that works primarily on more of a Spiritual/Cerebral level. This style here, is at the other end of the playing spectrum. Where it literally reaches into your Soul, grabs you both by the heart and by the balls (which with me takes a bit of doing...) Less Jazzy and 'Pretty', but with just pure F'n intensity! This is what I personally am looking for when I want to hear Blues playing. On this rendition, he concentrated on far fewer notes, but MUCH more intensity, where you could really feel it! Quite different from what I normally hear him play. Also, I really thought that his use of the Wah was very effective. He played furiously through it closed for the most part (closed means with the pedal up muting the high frequencies, right...?) which gave it a very strong 'pent-up, ready to burst out' feeling that I really liked. And, then with perfect expression he would open the Wah just at the right moments to heighten the intensity. This song really caught me off guard because up to that point I wasn't really moved much by the rest of the disc. But, WOW, I feel this was one of his very best intensely raw and genuine soloing where there was absolutely NO doubt that he was totally into it. Didn't care much for Disc 2... Going on to Discs 3 & 4...
I've never seen this... Dude, I thought she was THE cutest thing ever! I was so frigg'n in love with her man...
Nice pair of TOO's on Disc 3. Funny, for the life of me I cannot figure out WHAT the hell happened to the El Paso in between them...???
Don't be silly. However, hidden amongst the strange historical tales, some fictional, some bearing a grain of truth, is some genuine spiritual wisdom. It's not as easy to find as in the Pali Canon, or the 3rd door of a Lakota sweat lodge, having been obscured by the layers of craziness, but a few gems are hidden therein.
Clicking when I should be working type stuff here: https://www.vulture.com/2019/10/whhl-andy-cohen-tests-jimmy-fallons-grateful-dead-love.html
If you want some more unhinged, knock your socks off Playing in the Band, check out 11/18/72. Jerry and Phil both on fire. Not the greatest sound quality, but it’s well well worth it. The Charlie Miller transfer is the best imo.
I saw that thing, it was pretty funny how into it the host was, jumping up and hi-fiving when he got a 'tough' one.
Love it when you post these. I find the artwork, venue, the date, and other bands on the bill to be totally fascinating Kind vibes your way...and thanks!!!
1974-09-14 This is a good show, everything is pretty hot although it feels a bit short on the meat (in these regards it reminds me of the Cap Center, 07-29). Everything is a dodgy aud until the end jam of Scarlet, when a good SBD starts up. Excellent Scarlet it is, again almost 12 minutes and Jerry plays twice through the middle solo (which is the most you're going to get in 1974). They play the end riff ten zillion times and then Billy doesn't stop, so they trickle out into a weird ending. Loser is hot. WRS is killer, Jerry is extra here. Tennessee Jed is hot, as is Half Step. The "meat" is a Truckin'>Jam>MLB>Wharf Rat, which is very good but feels a bit brief for what it could have been, although this is somewhat mitigated by throwing in a really good version of Eyes a few songs later. Very good, solid show.
The Pacific NW box I ordered a month-and-a-half ago finally showed up today. Never did receive a reply to any email I sent, nor did I get a shipping notification. However, this thing is stunning, wow what a nicely put together set. I already had the flac rips but I’m really glad I snagged the physical product in this case.
Pathetic. I waited over a month for my July 78 box, even though it said "In Stock." The Grateful Dead should not be stress inducing! Glad you finally got the PNW box - good stuff, should keep you busy