IWT. This is one of my three favorite shows from ‘88, the others being 6/23 at Alpine and 12/28 in Oakland.
I get the idea that A+A, etc can be a little off-putting at the end of a mellow Jerry tune post-Space, but there is a setlist problem there. They rarely had the same lead singer back-to-back and there was pretty much always a Garcia ballad in that slot. Unless they closed the set with Morning Dew, Bobby usually played the set 2 closer. Something had to be played next, so what choices were there? A+A, JBG, Sugar Mag, Good Lovin, Lovelight. What else?
Question—years ago a friend gave me a boot of Venetta. I know it has a lot of stage chatter on it especially at the end. At least that’s what his note on the CD-Rs sleeve says. Is the official release a very big improvement on sound etc from boots that circulated back years ago? ( I don’t care about the video). Just wondering if upgrade is needed. Thx!
This won't be a popular post but............... I think "Throwing Stones" was one of the best Bobby 2nd set choices to come after the Jerry ballad..........good tune, more serious matter, at was a great non-jarring way to make the show more active before going to the set closing song. Of course.....since the 2nd version of "Wharf Rat" was played between "The Other One" and "Sugar Magnolia".........they came up with a great 3 song combination that was played many times. "Whart Rat>Sugar Magnolia" was a great pairing that didn't have the jarring start of "Again & Again."
Watching the 7/2/89 Shakedown Stream today. First time watch/listen. Holy smokes! Opening with PITB> Crazy Fingers??
Clearly the correct answer. I had forgotten about Throwing Stones - NFA as another standard closer. Personally, I’m not bothered by A+A and its somewhat abrupt start.
To these ears, the problem with Around and Around is mostly that it's monotonous, repetitive, and predictable. Don't get me wrong, sometimes it's also great -- but at this point, when I hear those opening notes come in, it just kills my enthusiasm. The show may as well be over. It's exactly the opposite of how I feel about Sugar Magnolia -- sometimes it's just okay, but I'm always happy to hear it starting up, and there's always the pre-Sunshine Daydream solo to look forward to. Around and Around with its transition into double time just increasingly feels like a "bit." This is ultimately just another frustrating manifestation of Weir not varying his repertoire. I'm at the midpoint of 1978 (listening to 7/3 today, a show without Around and Around, praise be), and would basically weep with joy if he'd do Good Lovin' or Truckin' or something like that at the end of a show every now and then. Christ, he could've even learned another Chuck Berry song! Little Queenie could've worked!
Its a slight improvement I'd say over the circulating sources. Main difference is the mix being better as the official works with the multitracks, And the circulating sources (I believe don't quote me) are just mixed down to 2 track. The mix is slightly different and a bit "wider" if that makes sense. Though it could just come down to personal preference
I agree on Throwing Stones. It's got a lot of energy and the lyrics are great. I could see Dylan doing it. Sugar Mags is the perfect closer but it gets a bit tedious so it's nice to switch it up. Around would work better as an encore.
I agree that Throwing Stones is a good set closer, especially after Jerry's solo evolved into a repetitive chord structure as opposed to a single, rather harmonically ambiguous chord. But to me, the ideal 2nd set closer from Bob would be Midnight Hour.
Truckin’ would have been a good closer. Let It Grow and Music Never Stopped tended to be in the first sets. Bob wasn’t going to get the post-space ballad slot (LLR, Lost Sailor?), and Jerry didn’t do a lot of closers. Some new up-beat covers would have been the only logical choice.
Another good option would have been to move One More Saturday Night out of the encore slot, close with it and have It's All Over Now Baby Blue be the encore. I think they may have actually done this, at least a few times.
I think my biggest problem with "Around & Around" in the show-closer or penultimate slot is that it's hard to dance to. That "bump-bump, bump-ba-dump, bump" rhythm. If you're coming out of the ballad, you want to boogie. "Sugar Magnolia," "Good Lovin," "Lovelight" can all get your butt shaking but "Around & Around" feels like you're doing the Hokey Pokey.
5/19/74 China>Rider! The feeling groovy jam is sublime and I’m not sure there’s a better transition into Rider. Throw in an all-timer in Truckin’ and you get a top tier show from the era.
Also Phil seemed to forget all about the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, until the late summer’83 Western tour which he drove in a car with Jill. Possibly due to the green bottles. But it would’ve been nice if he had more retrospective thoughts about the music from that period.
Godchaux 79 is pretty unfamiliar to me. Very similar to 78 though and that's a good thing. I like the addition of Donna on Iko.
Billy fills in that era decently. It's nice to piece together the GD story from 2 perspectives. So far their stories have corroborated well too which is nice. Phil speaks very kindly of Mickey a lot as well which surprised me given the future.
