No, it wasn’t. This is its first official release. (Yet If the Shoe Fits is still waiting in the wings like a wallflower.)
Nice review! (As usual). IWT, this was my first visit to Red Rocks. If you’re still in the mood for 82, the next two nights are also very good, though I always thought 7/27 was the best of this 3-night run, for all the reasons you elaborated on. If you check out the other two shows don’t miss, on 7/28, the St. Stephen tease before NFA (the crowd begins going bonkers before Jerry realizes what he’s riffing on and quickly shifts into Not Fade). And 7/29 has a plus second set too, starting out with an always welcome Cold Rain, and featuring only the second or third Crazy Fingers since 76 (it had only been dusted off about a week before these RR shows and even in the pre-internet age we were aware of the bust out and were on the prowl for our ears to hear that graceful tune).
Yes, I thought it was great. I also really enjoyed that Providence ‘87 show you recommended, too, over the weekend. I’m not sure if you saw my post on that one? Both shows featured fantastic, unique TOO’s.
Terrapin Station — released 27 July, 1977. “Inspiration move me brightly” . . . 1977 Arista – AL 7001
10.27.79, Cape Cod Coliseum, South Yarmouth, MA Man, this show is excellent all around. Nice first set, everything played really well despite some vocal mistakes. I love the mix, and Brent in particular sounds great. II: Dancin' > Franklin's... Holy disco funk, Batman. This is some serious funk right here, all around with everyone on stage getting into the party. Damn. Then a delicate He's Gone with a gorgeous Caution jam into The Other One. Whew. This was really something else. Already looking forward to the next night!!
Fun show completely screwed up by the way it has been rearranged because "we can't put cover songs on bonus discs"...even though there are bonus discs all over the place with cover songs.
1979-10-27 Cape Cod (30T) This is a great show. I: Excellent Jack Straw;Candyman is a major highlight; not all of the first set goes so smoothly. On Big River, Jerry’s guitar breaks for first part of his last solo; Minglewood is hot until Weir doesn’t let Garcia play the last solo, then sings “T right here in New York City”; very hot one-solo Deal. Dancin’ ITS and Franklin are titanic; then a major He’s Gone with hefty end jam into sort of short but fantastic Other One; NFA and Black Peter are very good versions.
Very excited about this pick. Love the set list. And I absolutely love the end to the second set. I'm going with this audience recording now, seems like the best. Grateful Dead 04/26/83 <b>flac24</b>; Master Audience Recorded By Steve Hill, Transfer By Keo; Unknown Mics > Unknown Number Of Decks Patched Out Of > Sony TC-D5M, Tapes:Maxell XLII-S 90's; Transfer With Nakamichi MR-1 > Korg MR-1000 @ 1 Bit/5.6 MHz; Tracking/Sample Rate Conversion/Flacked With AudioGate V.3.0.4 To 24/96 kHz; Metadata Tagging With Tag&Rename
That show (sound check) is great. I love it. Just as good as a full audience show. And if I remember correctly, I think there was some fans already gathering and camping out, so you could rightfully say it was a "show," in a sense. I haven't listen to it in a while, but when I finish my run through Dave's Picks, I may have to give it another listen.
Listening to 6/26/87 Hartford ... ...and so far, I love the energy. I'm listening to one of the Miller ultramatrix transfers on archive. I'm not sure how the official release sounds in comparison, but I see what people say about the mix being less than perfect (a touch muddy, to my ears, low on treble). The sound is good enough that any imperfection isn't getting in the way of my enjoyment of it. So far, an excellent Bird Song, very high energy China > Rider and a surprisingly good Looks Like Rain, which is a song that can go either way, for me. The crowd and band energy on this one so far, is just off the charts. The band sounds really, really good here; mostrous, big, energetic and really good.
Speaking of records I tend to revisit on specific days of the year... I had just seen him at the Missouri State Fair a month earlier and the date was already stamped on my brain, so of course I went and bought it right away. Good excuse to escape the TV for half an hour. I finished up 5/24/72 yesterday, typical strong E72 show. The Lovelight>The Stranger at the close of the second set was surprising -- not sure I'd heard the latter not as a standalone before. Fantastic Lovelight, and Pigpen's last. As for truly minor highlights, I thought this Rockin' Pneumonia was way better than the one on 5/23. I also started 5/25/72 yesterday. This is an odd show. Way more flubs (both vocal and instrumental) than usual for this tour, and while they certainly mar some of the performances, other times they barely make a dent. Brokedown Palace, for example, transcends its screwups. Also a red-hot Ramble on Rose. Had to pause last night as Uncle John's Band was starting, but I'm looking forward to hearing how this show might come together during the back half.
From what I've read, yes, it was basically a short show, as the three bands all played a bit for the many fans who had arrived early. As for the show the next day for a record setting crowd, it seems that none of the bands were eager to release recordings from it. The Band put out a CD in the 90's (that I have read was prepared around 1974, but cancelled) but their fans found that only a few songs were actually from Watkins Glen (one was from Woodstock!). A few bits of the Allmans set have appeared in various places starting with their Wipe The Windows.. live double album in the mid 70's. From that I'd assume that they had a multitrack recording that presumably ran for the Dead as well, but the Dead's archivists have never mentioned it as far as I know. The bargain bin Pickwick label put out an album to try to fill that gap. Details here: From The Stacks: Kings Road Plays The Heavy Sounds Of The Watkins Glen Concert