3/9/81 Stella is perfect rainy evening music. Great, high energy show, but strangely, this glacial Stella feels like the natural climax of the whole thing. It's a quiet moment to catch a breath before a high octane Good Lovin', the juxtaposition of which makes for a grand finale.
I'd like to see the full Frankfurt 100 year hall show with box set art and a hundred year hall art insert
I've meant to respond to this sooner, but I wondered if I'd sound like a broken record. I've concluded that I don't care, and for the benefit of folks who haven't read this, I've got a great example of the rotation that Phil refers to. Now, I'm not sure exactly what Jerry was getting at by saying that they do "that" all the time (probably something more general than the example I'll articulate below) and Phil was probably referring more to the theme of the music moving from instrument to instrument in real time (maybe this is what Jerry meant), but the term "rotation" really caught my eye. A ridiculously fabulous example is the Playin' jam from 2/26/77 on DaP 29. At 8:21, it's most likely Mickey who starts hammering a pang cymbal (so postulates axiomacoustics) and it sets the band off, like a signal to enter the wormhole to another plane of existence. It induces a Jerry single-note scrub at 8:25 that sends the music into a vortex that I can not only hear and feel, but also "see" in my mind's eye (it's most decidedly rotating counter-clockwise, but that may be the result of a weather-related bias on my part). It's a slow rotation but a very intense one and drags all who listen into the wormhole for a brief period. Everything spirals down as Jerry squeezes his notes out of a virtual toothpaste tube until 9:55, when Phil decides that's enough of a glimpse of the other plane and slams the wormhole shut with a triple-stop. 1977 may not be my favorite year, but this segment is absolutely top-shelf GoGD improv.
This arvo’s listening is Community War Memorial, Rochester, NY, 27/09/76. I always forget this show, as it gets seemingly lost between DaP’s #4 (Williamsburg) and DP’s #20 (Landover and Syracuse). I think it’s overlooked, which is a shame, as it’s really quite beautiful throughout, and arguably better than those released Picks. It’s got that slow and languid, measured sound, and is chock-full of those mellow-smooth and dreamy, chilled ‘76 vibes—and, it features another of what seems the usual crazy inventive, exploratory and experimental 1976 2nd set sequence of searching improvisation, this time woven around a huge H>S>F (broken up for the first time in one-long jam), which is the show standout. Are you kidding me?! Well, that mega-long non-stop jam-fest is brain-bleeding brilliant. It takes you on a wild ride as it twists and turns thisaway and thataway through various tempos and movements, all topped off with a monster Franklin’s which includes some deliciously tasty China Cat teases—wow, it’s a truly astonishing one-off treat. This is a mighty swell show. I: Promised Land, They Love Each Other, El Paso, Deal, Looks Like Rain, Row Jimmy, It’s All Over Now, Loser, Lazy Lightning > Supplication, Brown-Eyed Women, The Music Never Stopped. II: Might As Well, Samson And Delilah, Help On The Way > Slipknot! > Drums > The Other One > Wharf Rat > Slipknot! > Franklin’s Tower > Around And Around. E: U.S. Blues.
The Rochester '76 tapes are water damaged, otherwise that show would have been in the Pick instead of Cap Center, IIRC. i remember seeing this in an interview with Dick back in the day. This is a special show, we had a low gen copy of a Sennheiser /Nak550 aud back in the day. Wharf Rat is a favorite here.
A very, very fine Wharf Rat, 4-26-71 Fillmore Easr, NYC Last 2 minutes is very interesting and captivating.
I have always liked the 1980 poster/art style. Never saw this version before. The Bill Graham quote is a great touch.
27 September 1972- Stanley Cup, er, Theater (can you tell hockey pre-season has begun?) Giving it the whole show listen, because it's just so darn good. np: Birdsong
A rare case where the album version is my go to. I don't think I've ever heard one that transports me quite like this one. It doesn't just have the focused melody, it has the breezy, cloudy vibe.
For those doing their assigned 9/27/72 anniversary homework, yes, it does take Jer a while to get to the first verse of Dark Star. This is the longest Dark Star intro on record, over 23 min IIRC. 12/6/73 is a close competitor, depending on where you start the clock. Documentation? Grateful Dead Guide: Dark Star Graph