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I wrote up a piece about the evolution of Help on the Way > Slipknot! > Franklin's Tower for the illustrious Dead Essays blog, and I won't lie I'm a little star struck.  Go ahead and read this, and then read everything he's ever written.  You might learn a thing or two about your favorite band.

http://deadessays.blogspot.com/2018/12/help-on-way-slipknot-franklins-tower.html

Dave's Picks 28 (1976-06-17)

     The last Dave's Picks of the year has finally arrived!  David decided to cap off the year with a show that I am not very familiar with from the band's first post-hiatus tour.  After starting the year off in Portland, OR, they came over to the East Coast and made their way from Boston, to NYC, and then to Passaic, NJ at the Capitol Theatre.  This was the first night of a three night run, and they started it off strong.

     1976 can be a controversial year for deadheads.  The band was on the road for the first time since the Europe '74 tour, and a lot of new material and reworked old material was getting mixed into the repertoire.  This means there's a lot of uncertainty and inconsistency in some of these early shows, and the tempos were generally slower while the band found its footing.  So a lot of people just skip ahead to 1977 when the band would be more mature; but those fools are missing out.  There are so many hidden gems and unique jams (or hidden jams and unique gems) throughout '76, and this Dave's Picks has quite a few for those who listen for them.  Sure it's a little slow, and it's far from a "perfect" show in a technical sense, but there's a lot of hold-on-to-your-seat moments, sometimes where you least expect them.  The show doesn't quite fill three discs, so David threw in a couple of extra songs on the last one from a few nights later.

• Cold Rain & Snow
• The sound quality is great right off the bat, you can hear everyone clear as day.
• Jerry and Bob are kind of mellow to open the show, but everyone else is already bursting with energy.
• Jerry takes another little solo before the last verse, a sign of the band being really flexible and open to new arrangements of the songs.
• Big River
• Very energetic and creative with great leads from Jerry and Keith.
• Surprisingly upbeat tempo without feeling frantic.
• They Love Each Other
• The tempos start to drag a bit here in the first set.  This one must have felt especially slow to anyone present who had seen the song pre-hiatus.
• The song really does sparkle though.  Jerry's Travis Bean and Keith's grand piano compliment each other so well, and Keith actually kind of steals the show with his solo.
• Cassidy
• You can't have a '76 show without a Cassidy, that's just a fact.
• A little less confident than other versions from this month, maybe just them playing in a new venue.
• This Cassidy is weird in that it ends right after the last verse instead of going through the opening/closing riff like usual.  They did this the following night too, just another case of the band trying out new things, I guess.
• Tennessee Jed
• The greatest casualty of the slower tempo in this set, this one really plods through the verses.  I think it's good they started a lot of these songs out slow in '76 so they could all figure out their new roles in the expanded band, but sometimes it's just a bit rough to listen to.
• That said, the ending jam really picks up a head of steam, and the tempo gives Jerry even more time to play as many notes as he can fit into each bar.
• This song, and many other "Europe '72" songs, found new life after the hiatus.  While this particular version isn't quite a '78 barn-burner, it's easy to see that it was already evolving towards that point.
• Looks Like Rain
• Looks Like Rain took a little longer to start evolving.  By '78 it would basically be a rocker with some sentimental lyrics, but here in '76 it was still a delicate love song.
• Once again Jerry and Keith's playing and instrumentation blend together perfectly.  The Travis could sound thin on some songs, but here it has a nice piercing effect.
• Row Jimmy
• One of my favorites from this first set, this song is perfect at the mellower speeds of '76.
• Keith switches over to the Rhodes, which may be a big part of why I love it so much.  He seemed to lose control over his instruments in the next couple years, being assigned weird moogy-synths and fake pianos as the rest of the band saw fit, so it's nice to hear him on one of his strongest instruments here.
• Donna's voice is one of the best parts of this release, very noticeable on this song and the two on either side of it.  So clean and sweet.
• Music Never Stopped
• A nice, punchy little version of this song, very upbeat tempo.
• Not the smoothest or most exploratory version, though it does feel almost like they go into a unique space before the typical outro jam like they occasionally would throughout the year.
• This, being an early version, still has Bob and Donna oooh-ing and ahhh-ing on the first part of the jam, as well as an extra little half-turn after the "forgot about the time" line, like on the album.
• Scarlet Begonias
• This is the year that Scarlet Begonias really grew legs as a jam vehicle.  They started stretching out the solo section, and the ending jam became more and more searching and open to new ideas.
• Keith gets back on his Rhodes which really gives this version a unique feeling compared to later versions.  It makes for a nice bridge across the hiatus, old instrumentation with a new (old) drummer.
• The jam is kind of laid back and spacey, the band really takes their time.  While some feel that these versions feel kind of empty without the transition into Fire On the Mountain, I love these versions because it really lets them explore this song for all it's worth.
• Promised Land
• Another surprisingly uptempo number from this release.
• Help on the Way*
• No vamp at all, just right into it with a lot of Phil.  Jerry starts with "help on the way" instead of "paradise waits."
• Tempo ~94 BPM
• Keith on piano.
• Fierce solo, two times through.  Very fluid version of the song.  Jerry does a little feedback-echo thing at one point in the solo, very cool.  Phil's approach on this version feels kind of jazzier than normal.
• Hee-ah yes.
• Jerry really flubs the transition.  One extra bar before Slip Riff.
• Slipknot! >*
• 4 rotations.  Jerry does all four rotations with two bars of 8 and then one bar of 9.  Bobby tries to only do bars of 8.  The rest of the band kind of splits down the middle, and the song somehow keeps moving!
• Keith still on piano, still very Phil heavy.
• Jerry comes into the jam right away and launches off with Keith.  Jam has definite direction thanks to the two of them.  Drums not as dominant as 6/14, but still assertive.
• Very thematic, shadows of what was to come later in the year.
• Sudden drop into slipcord.  They nail the outro, way tighter than the intro!
• Franklin's Tower >*
• This song never really changed much, but this is a really fun version of it, very energetic.
• Tempo ~100 BPM
• Smooth outro riff into Dancing.
• Dancing in the Streets >
• Another kind of mellow song, but still danceable with the disco arrangement!
• Everyone basically does small variations on the typical vamp while Jerry solos endlessly over them.
• The disco breakdown part at the end gets a little rough on the last rotation, but they pick it back up very smoothly.
• Samson & Delilah
• A great transition into this, the drummers are very on point tonight. 
• Bob does cut off one of Jerry's solos a little, but Jerry just keeps soloing anyway.  They're good buddies, after all.
• Ok, I said the drummers are very tight and then they kinda goofed on their part at the end of the song.  BUT, it wasn't a trainwreck and actually sounded alright!  Maybe just another case of trying out new things with the new band.
• Ship of Fools
• M. Lemieux said this one didn't drag at all, but I think he may have been pulling our legs...
• Lazy Lightning >
• This duo is at a nice tempo, and like Music Never Stopped feels kind of punchy.
• For being a new song, this is actually very tight, especially from Mickey on the fills!  It's almost like they rehearsed or something.
• My only gripe is more about this point of the year, not this show in particular: they only do half the solo until like'77.
• Supplication
• The second part of the duo is just as tight, with Bobby really leading the way and playing creatively.
• More jazziness from Phil and everyone else in the jam.
• Maybe slows down a little, but this song really falls apart when it goes too fast, so no complaints here.
• Friend of the Devil
• You can hear the surprise from the crowd on this one when Jerry starts singing.  People were definitely disappointed that this song had been rearranged so much and slowed down, but I think the record shows that these slower ones were better overall.  No longer a peppy little country ditty, it became a crystalline showcase for Jerry and Keith.
• Speaking of, both of them play beautifully intricate solos.  I've mentioned Jerry's being mellow a few times so far, but he gets more aggressive on this one.
• Let it Grow >
• Forever removed from the rest of Weather Report Suite, Let it Grow took a while to find a steady place in the rotation.  They would play it throughout this year in this new format with the drum break in the middle, and then drop it for an entire year.  Then they played it more like they did pre-hiatus on and off for a few months and dropped it again until it reemerged with Brent in '79 with the arrangement it would keep from then on.
• This far into the show, I'm really starting to think they complaints about tempo in '76 are blown way out of proportion.  This song practically flies, propelled by the two drummers and Jerry.
• This arrangement of the song has the middle jam stay on just two sets of chords, instead of shifting to the third (and maybe more) set that it has in most other years.  Instead of going onto that third set, they really jam out the second one and then slip into drums.
• Drums >
• Obviously not "Drums" in the sense of '78 onwards, but still a two minute drum break where Billy and Mickey get to explore different rhythms and patterns.
• I really love '76 drums when they really just had their kits and didn't get distracted trying to teach Jerry how steel drums work.  You can feel them having fun on this one.
• Let it Grow >
• They come thundering back into the chorus out of nowhere, playing like bats out of hell.
• Jerry totally takes over, shredding the outro jam for a while and then steering them into Wharf Rat.
• Wharf Rat >
• The new arrangement for the bridge in Wharf Rat is perhaps one of the best changes they made post-hiatus.  It never would have worked with the two drummers to do the kind of a-temporal bridge that Jerry used to play, so they needed to solidify it into 3/4 (6/8?) time.
• Jerry's tone on this is so great, sounds more full-bodied like it would in '77.  He was still figuring out how he wanted that Travis to sound after all.
• Really a stellar version of the song: on point vocals, all the different parts are perfect, and the solos just take your breath away.  Get up and fly away, indeed.
• Around & Around
• Kind of a sudden shift, and as someone who has recently listened to a lot of '78 lately, not one I was particularly looking forward to.  Which is unfair, the band had not yet overplayed this song when the show was played.
• However, this is not exactly the best version.  It really is too slow for the majority of it, but then they all try to jump the tempo up way too much at the end, and it takes them a bit to agree on a new one.
• No encore, booo.
• Sugaree  (1976-06-23, Upper Darby, PA)
• Ok, while I'm glad we got some filler songs at the end here, the way to win me over on a release is not to give me a Sugaree when I was perfectly happy without one.
• But if you're not sick of this song like me, this is a really good version!  It was just on the cusp of becoming the shredding machine that Jerry turned it into, so there's some meaty solos in here.
• High Time  (1976-06-28, Chicago, IL)
• This song really needs to be played right, and apart from a hiccup or two they pull it off.  It's very pretty, and has some great singing, but it just feels a bit staggered at times.

     So maybe not the strongest finish to a release, but look at me, complaining about getting extra music on the internet!  In the end I like this release more and more every time I listen to it.  To be honest I was a little disappointed when it first arrived, but on every relisten I find something new that blows me away, which is what this music is all about.  The first Dave's Picks of next year has already been announced as 2/26/77, which is a show I know so well already that I could probably write a review right now, but we'll all just have to wait for the official release to hear just how good it can sound.

*The notes for Help on the Way > Slipknot! > Franklin's Tower are formatted slightly differently from the others because I lifted them from another project I'm working on.  So if you want them to make more sense, you'll have to stay tuned!

Pacific Northwest '73-'74: The Complete Review

     If you've been paying any attention at all the the Dead world, you should know that one of the most anticipated box sets ever was just released.  Pacific Northwest '73-'74: The Complete Recordings is, well, exactly what it sounds like.  Six shows taken almost a year apart from the Vancouver, Portland, and Seattle (in that order each year).  I would try to give you some historical background, but after reading Nicholas Meriwether's official write-up I feel left with either blatant plagiarism or a half-assed recreation of his efforts.  So instead I urge you to find someone with a PDF of his write-up, because while wordy it's a very good read.  With some great pictures!

     Roy Henry Vickers designed the box, and I can easily say without hesitation or hyperbole that it is the best looking box set (that we own).  I'm a sucker for the geometrical designs of May '77 (the original one), but this box and the album art overall are far beyond.  He incorporated his culture's art into a box that perfectly encapsulates the music, and it's enhanced by his avoidance of traditional Dead iconography.  Sure there are some skeletons, skulls, and bears, but all in very different contexts than you would expect from the Dead.  Maybe it's just projection, but I'm already associating elements of each show's album art with the music contained within, and even if I'm crazy it still enhances the listening experience.  Especially combined with the quality of the sound, which is way better than the bootlegs of these shows that I've had for years; it's like listening to them for the first time!

     This is another case where doing a song-by-song review would be too long and honestly kind of boring, so I'll just list some highlights for each show below.  One of the interesting things about these shows is actually how similar they are.  Even the '74 shows have very similar setlists to the '73 shows, which isn't too unusual in and of itself as far as the typical Europe '72 material is concerned.  But with 5 China > Riders, 5 Great Stories and 5 Race Is On's (the races are on?) the shows really do feel to be cut of the same cloth, or at least echoes of the same vibe.  While the shows are so obviously interrelated, they also capture different facets of that vibe I mentioned, sometimes getting spacey, other times getting ferocious, and generally just getting plain weird.  So let's get weird!

• 1973-06-22  Vancouver
• This show is a great way to start off the box.  It's very high energy, and has a special crystalline feeling to it that could be attributed to any number of factors, some of which aren't exactly legal.
• One of the songs that was most hyped for this box was the Bird Song from this show, it's easy to see why.  While '72 versions have a lot of drive and melt to them, these rarer '73 versions have a lot more open space and ambience to them.
• This is a truly incredible Playing in the Band.  Pretty much any version from this '72-'73 is going to transport you somewhere far out, but instead of one blazing mess of weirdness, this Playin' instead is made up of several smaller thematic elements.  This is more like a '76 version in that respect, but still very '73 in its fluidity and agility.  There's even a little bit of Mind Left Body Jam in there from Phil, which as far as I remember was only paired with Playin' one other time (12/02/73).
• Here Comes Sunshine is the secret hero of this show, another great jam vehicle that they inexplicably dropped after this year.  A lot of the Spring versions of this song fall flat for me compared to the stately and pristine versions from the Fall.  While this one isn't exactly pristine, it does stand apart from Spring versions due to its energy.  It sounds almost like they're going to totally break the ending jam open like they did in Boston two months prior, but they eventually decide to close it out.
• The Black Peter here is exactly perfect for the era.  No big fireworks like in post-hiatus versions, just laid-back psychedelic fever music.
• Of course the big vehicle in this show is He's Gone > Truckin' > The Other One > Wharf Rat.  There's no jam after He's Gone, they just go right into Truckin'.  They jam on Truckin' for a bit after the verses, and then everyone gets out of the way for Phil and Billy (as this section is labeled on some tapes) to shred the fabric of the universe.  Even Billy drops out for a bit while Phil gets really metaphysical.  You expect him to slam into The Other One at several points, but instead he crafts a totally unique jam that Jerry and the others can't help but join in on.
• They mellow down and Keith starts getting grokky with his Rhodes, and eventually they twist over to the Other One, though they don't spend much time on the theme.  Once they finish the first verse they evoke the second one by coming across an empty space, and really exploring it.  I was struggling to find words for this, and landed on a foreground of silence with a background of noise.  There is a lot of deliberate and heavy silence, but at the same time behind that you can hear them making a wallpaper or a tapestry of feedback that never quite breaks the surface.
• 1973-06-24  Portland
• The problem with reviewing multiple shows is that you can't help but compare them and try to figure out which is "better."  As a result of that, I feel compelled to say that this show may be the weakest of the box, but considering that it's a show with an amazing Dark Star > Eyes and one of the best Box of Rains (boxes of rain?) of the year, "weakest" is not the word I would otherwise use to describe the show.
• I had been listening to a lot of later Dead recently, so these early Looks Like Rains and They Love Each Others were very welcome changes to me.  LLR used to be so soft and delicate before it became and Jerry and Bob rave-up.  And of course everyone loves a sprightly '73 TLEO!
• Donna is so great on this show.  Not only does she refrain from murdering Bob when he comes in at the wrong time in BIODTL, she also slays You Ain't Woman Enough.
• This Dark Star, as I mentioned above, is fantastic, and not quite typical of the era.  Sure it does have some of the hallmarks, like Phil's 6 jam/proto-solomon jam, but it also features some unusual elements, like a short drum break before the first verse.  It starts out the same way as any other from the era, teasing the theme but ultimately abandoning it until Phil takes the reigns.  Instead of a big, crashing feedback > bliss evolution post lyrics, it just spaces out into a nebulous void until they start Eyes up from nothing.
• There are some questionable chords at the beginning of Eyes that could be attributed to tuning, jazziness, fuck-ups, or just general weirdness.  After than that it's as straightforward as Eyes can be.  Phil hadn't yet started doing his solos in the outro jam, and this is a pretty tight and clean version, especially through the last few changes and 7 jam.
• Phil introduces Saturday Night with, "now since it's Sunday night," because he's a Prankster.
• 1973-06-26  Seattle
• This one might be my favorite of the '73 shows.  It's maybe not as tight as Vancouver, possibly due to technical issues throughout, but I think the playing is just a bit more inspired.
• I really like the opening pairing of Casey Jones > Greatest Story, a transition that as far as I can tell was never done before or after this, even though it works so well!
• This is probably the best China > Rider of the '73 shows, very smooth and confident transitions, and again totally inspired playing.
• The second set jam sequence of this show is what really ties it all together for me.  It's same basic set-piece as Vancouver, but this time He's Gone is a lot slinkier, and they jam it out instead of going right into Truckin'.  Bob name drops Seattle in Truckin' without missing a beat, which is honestly pretty impressive.
• They keep the post Truckin' jam short and Billy flies into some fast and primal drums, followed after not too long by Phil's intro to the Other One. They do a lot more with the theme in this one, really flexing their muscles.  Phil keeps dropping short bombs that Jerry and the others spin off of.  They start to drift off a bit, and instead of coming back into the vocals, they swing into a suddenly sweet Me & Bobby McGee.  Normally when they do these weird sandwiches, the "straight" song in the middle has unusual hints and shades of psychedelia, but this one is so crisp could have been plucked from a first set.
• Once they finish it though, Phil is eager to get back to being as weird as he possibly can.  They get to through the first verse, and then all bets are off.  The rest of the song is pure madness, and Phil is maddest of all, putting his speakers (and mine!) through wave after wave of clawing feedback.  This should come with a warning about operating heavy machinery while listening because...damn.  Phil is working with some very powerful forces here.
• Instead of doing a ballad, or even doing the second verse of the song, Bobby slides into Sugar Magnolia.  Maybe he thought the local authorities would be hot on their tails after that Other One, so it would be best to skedaddle before they could fully collect their brains off the floor.
• 1974-05-17  Vancouver
• Jumping forward almost a year, the band is arguably the best it ever was.  All the new material from '73 had been fully assimilated or abandoned, and the new songs were starting strong out of the gates.  The Wall of Sound had grown into its final form, this being its fourth show fully assembled, and the band was already pretty adept at utilizing it.  While listening to a soundboard of the Wall kind of misses the point as far as audio clarity in the real world is concerned, but you can still hear how cleanly and separately the different instruments were amplified.  Jerry's Wolf guitar especially sounds huge and expansive here, every note clearly heard.
• While it's debatable whether or not this was the best year for the band, it's a hard fact that it was Keith's best year.  Not only was his piano amplified the best it ever would be, this was the year Keith became a master of the Rhodes.  He has some great Rhodes playing in '73, and even some cool electric piano (maybe it's a Rhodes?  I'm not a gear head) in Fall of '72.  But by '74 Keith could play that sucker like no one else.  He could be aggressive, spooky, atmospheric, or all at once, playing it more like an organ (and better than he played the organ) than anything else.
• This show features a relatively rare '74 Dire Wolf.  They playing is good but it is way too slow for me.
• Playing in the Band is as big and deep as you would expect for '74, and there's maybe a hint of them thinking, "I wonder how long we could do this for..." before they do decide to wind it up.  Phil really demonstrated just how rumbly he could get the Wall to be.
• Truckin' here features one of Bobby's worst Truckin' scores as far as lyrics go.  The whole first verse goes right out the window, and he's late for the second verse, but besides some musical ribbing the rest of the band doesn't miss a beat.  They slide smoothly into Nobody's Fault, with Jerry singing instead of just soloing over the lyrics section.  They jam out of it on the theme for a bit before getting real weird and spooky.  You can hear them figuring out where to head from here as they melt down, until Jerry kicks them into Eyes.
• This Eyes has a rocking feel, not as in rock and roll but more like a boat rocks on the water.  It has a certain sway and pulse to it as it unfolds.  The song really opened up from '73 to '74: the solos between verses got stretched out, and the members of the band all know it so well that they can play around the beat instead of just doing the main riff while Jerry solos.  The outro jam on this one is phenomenal, Jerry and Phil totally dominating the soundscape while still listening and reacting to everything else the band was playing.
• 1974-05-19  Portland
• This is the show that they're releasing on its own from the box set, like 5/8/77 & 3/20/90 from previous boxes, and in some ways it's easy to see why, and in others it's a little puzzling.  There are Wall Problems for a good chunk of the concert, including totally obscured vocals from Sugaree to El Paso.  Bobby makes a statement about them difficulties, but those same difficulties make it hard to hear what he's actually saying.  That said, the playing in this show is maybe the best all around of the box, and to put it delicately, the second set kicks a lot of ass.
• Half Step was almost two years old at this point, and is already showing signs of the grandness that it would have post-hiatus.
• Loose Lucy & Money Money kind of go hand in hand for me, two very syncopated and free songs that take advantage of how tight the band was, while also inviting them to loosen up a little.  Money Money sometimes even breaks into 7/4 time, which is part of what makes it such an interesting song to me.  Sure the lyrics aren't ideal, but the music is so angular and exciting, it's a shame they didn't keep it around, maybe tweaked the verses.  To me it's not glorifying misogyny any more than Me & My Uncle or Jack Straw glorify murder, it's just supposed to paint a picture of that character, including how evil they are.  But maybe I'm just justifying it so I can listen to Phil's bass line during the bridge...
• '74 was the best year for China > Riders, and this one has got to be the best of the box.  It just feels so much more complete and full than the '73 versions.  It's very well suited to the bigger sound they got out of the Wall.
• Throughout the marketing of this box, Lemieux kept coming back to the Truckin' sequence from this show, and I can say with confidence that it was not overhyped.  Truckin' started getting jammed out in '72 right before Europe, but in '74 it was repurposed to be a springboard for any kind of musical idea, not just The Other One (or Eyes or Dark Star occasionally).  They usually set it up with a thematic jam like Mind Left Body (which does appear here for a bit) or Spanish Jam, but other times it would go into totally new territory; this is one of those times.  They do touch on MLB, but then they go into something far more hard rocking than I was expecting.  Instead of cavernous echoing feedback this is a driven, bursting-with-life-and-spirit, masterpiece of rock and roll.
• It goes into Not Fade Away, but that almost Primal energy is still present throughout.  Instead of the normal flowing transition into GDTRFB they break the jam down a bit with a little call and response between Jerry and Keith, and then shift naturally into it.  Just exactly perfect.
• 1974-05-21  Seattle
• These '74 shows are a great presentation of Billy's Jazz Drummer Phase.  In the Grateful Dead Movie, he described his drumming as basically dancing, and it's easy to hear that.  He's not holding down the beat so much as flitting around it, trusting that the rest of the band can keep time as well as he can (and they do!).  He plays so free and syncopated in ways totally different from any other year, and it really does sound like he's trying to be a jazz drummer.  Later in the year he got a little too frantic (*sniffsniff*) and the music got a little sloppier, but here in May it totally works.
• This show is obviously known for having the longest Playing in the Band, but that means the rest of the setlist is often overlooked.  You can tell that the band is on tonight right from the start, and call me crazy but I think it's Keith who thanks the audience after Me & My Uncle.  It doesn't sound like anyone else, except maybe Billy, but I think it's Keith.
• Every one of Jerry's solos feels like it's ready to totally burst free of all restraints, like every song should be 47 minutes long tonight.
• There's a lot of great slide work from Jerry on Row Jimmy and Weather Report Suite.  I can't imagine what that must have sounded like in person.  Wolf already so big and and present on the Wall, and then you add that slide to it?  Fughettaboutit.
• We may never know exactly why the Dead played 47 minutes of Playin' this night.  Did they decide beforehand that they were going to play it as long as possible?  Did they just get lost in the powers of the Wall and had no idea how long they were playing?  Did anyone in the band get bored halfway through but had to wait for the rest of the band to circle back to the escape line?  Whatever the case, this PITB is heavy duty stuff.  Different themes come and go as Jerry and Phil dive in and out of tangles of feedback.  It's hard to say much more about it because it's just so dense and filled with ideas, all you can do is listen to it over and over and catch something new each time.
• The setlist "normalizes" a little bit after Playin' winds up, but they release they still had some weirdness left in them and start up a quick and fuzzy Eyes.  It's really a very straightforward Eyes for '74, in that it's fantastic and exciting, but it isn't 20 minutes long.  Not that you can complain about the length of a song after that Playin'!  They settle down into a very nice Wharf Rat, probably my favorite of the box.

     All in all, as good as the box looks, it sounds even better.  It ties six different shows together from the same locations just a year apart, providing not just snapshots of the different years but a way to track the Dead's growth within that year.  Between the changes that happened Summer and Fall shows of '73, the recording of Wake of the Flood, the epic run at Winterland in February '74, the creation of the Wall, and the projects the band members had done on their own, the difference, they were in a lot of ways a changed band by the '74 tours.  But these Northwest shows have a shared energy that bridges the time between them, producing some of the best music the Dead have released.

Another 30 Trips Around the Sun

     Ever since the 30 Trips Around the Sun box set came out in 2015, I've been tempted to write a show-by-show review of it.  Every time I've gone to start it though, I realize just how much work that would be, and now that it's 2018 it seems kind of irrelevant.  About a month ago, though, I had a brilliant idea for something that I thought would be easier: making my own version of the box set!  Everyone had criticisms and other options for the shows that Dave Lemieux chose, and while I think he mostly made the right choices, I figured it would be fun to take my own stab at it.  And it was definitely fun, I'm very happy with the choices I made, it was also a lot more involved than I thought it would be.

     Before we get to the shows (or skip ahead, I'm not your boss), I want to outline some of the considerations I was making that made it so much harder than I was expecting.  My first consideration was to try to put myself into Dave's shoes.  He of course has the Dead Vault to work with, which as you probably know is far from complete.  Apart from shows that are just plain missing, there are various collections of master tapes from Betty Boards to random stragglers that haven't made their way back home yet.  There is enough evidence online to compile a fairly comprehensive list of what Betty Boards exist, which ones have been returned, and therefore which ones are still missing, but I was already in over my head and will let someone else do that calculus.  What I tried to do instead was go off my own personal collection (which is rather extensive if I do say so myself) and kind of call that my Vault.  When it came to years like '86, '92, and '95 that I'm not too familiar with I had to reach out for some help online and utilize the archive here and there, but I'm fairly sure that all the masters from 86 onward are in the Vault...right?

     Besides the obvious considerations of the quality of performance and recording (in that order), I wanted to make sure each show was a fair representation of the year as a whole.  Some years are more dynamic than others in terms of playing style evolving over time ('69 going from Primal Dead to Cowboy Dead for example), so I wanted to pick shows that represented the varying styles of that year.  So for '86, I didn't go with any of the great shows from December, because Jerry and the rest of the band really turned a corner after the coma, and the same is true of '92.  I also wanted to keep the shows from being too similar to the ones that Dave chose, because otherwise what's the point of going through all of this?  One of the trickiest things was balancing the shows so that two adjacent years wouldn't be too similar, while also getting an even showing of the whole catalog of songs across the 30 trips.  I'm realizing now that too many shows are from Berkeley, and I have maybe one too many Scarlet > Fires, but I'm not going back now.  I do think that overall this is a pretty damn good take at a 30 Trips Around the Sun though, and I hope you agree.

     Reviewing each of these shows in any kind of depth might kill me, so I'm just going to post the dates with links to the recordings on the archive, and some relevant notes for each one.  Some of the links I post aren't to the exact recordings I have.  You search for the shows here in my listening log, which is slightly hyperbolic but at least gives an indication of what shows and songs I really liked, and the recording quality on a scale of 1-10, factoring in Soundboard vs Matrix.  Leave your own comments down below on what shows you agree or disagree with.  I tried pretty hard to make sure none of these shows had been released (except for a few songs here and there), but if you know that any of these have been officially released please do tell me; I'll pick another one and only cry a little bit.

• 1966-03-25  Trouper's Hall, Los Angeles, CA
• https://archive.org/details/gd1966-03-25.139750.sbd.miller.clugston.flac1648
•  This first year of the box gave me more grief than probably any other year.  It's far from the best or most iconic year they've played, but there is a ton of material released from it either in whole or in large portions, which made finding the right show harder than I had anticipated.  I owe a lot to the incredible work done here to figure out the actual dates of shows.
• That said, I'm still very happy with this show, especially because of the standalone jam that really signifies where the band would head in the next 30 years.
• 1967-03-18  Winterland Arena, San Francisco, CA
• https://archive.org/details/gd67-03-18.sbd.fink.10282.sbeok.shnf
• While a better year than '66 by far, there are a lot fewer full recordings available, so my choices again were limited.  This was still an easy choice though, because this show is great, and is a snapshot of Baby Dead right before they got Primal.  The sleeper performance here is the jam in The Same Thing.  It comes out of nowhere and is totally lysergic.
• 1968-10-12  Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco, CA
• https://archive.org/details/gd1968-10-12.139745.sbd.miller.Glassberg.flac1644
• Again, thanks to the hard work of Lost Live Dead, Dead Essays, and the comment sections of the Archive, I was able to make sure this was the right date and the full show, which has circulated as 10-13 for a long time.
• Pure Primal Dead, but no Pigpen sadly, which almost made me skip over it.  But this has always been one of the best performances of arguably their weirdest year, and the jam after New Potato is not to be missed.
• 1969-04-21  The Ark, Boston, MA
• https://archive.org/details/gd1969-04-21.sbd.miller.88465.sbeok.flac16
• This one came to mind right away when I thought of a good '69 show.  It captures the Live/Dead vibe from a couple of months earlier, but also has some hints as to where the band would be headed next.
• Not really one particular standout to point to, just listen to the whole damn thing!
• 1970-06-06  Winterland Arena, San Francisco, CA
• https://archive.org/details/gd1970-06-06.sbd.miller.86951.sbeok.flac16
• The version I have of this doesn't have the acoustic set from the beginning of the show, so I think in this case we would say that set is missing from "The Vault," and just put out the electric set.  Because it's incredible!
• Ok, the Dew is kind of sloppy, but the rest of the show is as close to a perfect '70 show as you can get.  It doesn't have many of their new songs with the exception of an early Attics of My Life.  It also features a rare New Orleans in the middle of Good Lovin'.
• You Lovelight naysayers might not love this one, but I think a 24 min Lovelight that goes into NFA and then back into 10 more minutes of Lovelight is a great excuse to boogie down!
• 1971-08-15  Berkeley Community Theater, Berkeley, CA
• https://archive.org/details/gd1971-08-15.sbd.gustin.131.sbeok.shnf
• This and the next show are two more that immediately sprang to mind when I came up with this project, and if you listen to nothing else from this list listen to these.
• Seriously, I stand by this one as the best show of '71.  It's got Super Phil leading the band, and they are willing to follow him even unto the darkest regions of The Other One.
• 1972-09-15  Boston Music Hall, Boston, MA
• https://archive.org/details/gd1972-09-15.133998.sbd.miller.flac16 
• This is in my Top 5 Shows Ever category, a perfect example of the year as a whole, and an even more perfect glimpse of that wonderful Summer/Fall '72 energy.  Maybe not as good as Veneta for some, but for me it's got everything Veneta has but with The Other One to add a little more edge to it.  The Other One goes into a jam in 11/4 for a while too, just as an extra tidbit.
• 1973-10-30  Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis, MO
• https://archive.org/details/gd1973-10-30.sbd.miller.32367.sbeok.flac16
• This year was kind of hard to choose from because A) So much has already been released, and B) everything is so good!  I went with this one because it's not only a fantastic show, but it's arguably the most '73 a show can be: it has every song from Wake of the Flood except for Let Me Sing Your Blues Away.
• All of the jams in this show embody the Fall '73 duality of bright sunny bliss jams, and dark brooding feedback.
• 1974-07-25  International Amphitheater, Chicago, IL
• https://archive.org/details/gd74-07-25.sbd.fink.1072.sbeok.shnf
• After two Other One shows in a row, I figured it was only fair to do two Dark Star shows in a row, even if this Dark Star doesn't have any verses in it.
• July of '74 is the best month of that year for me.  The band had fully grown into the Wall of Sound, but hadn't yet dissolved into the bickering and tensions that ultimately led to the hiatus later in the year.  Keith especially shines on every show that month, and he really gets a chance to flex his muscles in Weather Report Suite and Dark Star.
• 1975-06-17  Winterland Arena, San Francisco, CA
• https://archive.org/details/gd1975-06-17.sbd.GEMS.96125.flac16
• My hand was kind of forced on this one, as every other show from this year has been released.  I was planning on doing the totally gonzo 3-23 show from Kezar, but that was apparently released as a bonus disc on some other release.
• That being said, this show really is good.  There are no lyrics to Help on the Way or Blues for Allah yet, so it's mostly just another giant jam fest, which is awesome.
• 1976-09-27  Community War Memorial Auditorium, Rochester, NY
• https://archive.org/details/gd1976-09-27.sbd.miller.87664.sbeok.flac16 
• You've probably heard this show before, and you haven't you're missing out.  From the amazing Fall '76 tour, this show falls right between the two that make up Dick's Picks 20, and I've always wondered why it wasn't released on there instead of the Landover show from the 25th.  This must be in the real Vault, because the Other One was released as part of 30 Days of Dead in 2011.
• Besides the second set sandwich that really is as good as it looks on paper, this show also features Supplication without any verses.  While I love the words to Supplication, this means it got even jammier, which I potentially love more!
• 1977-10-02  Paramount Theater, Portland, OR
• https://archive.org/details/gd1977-10-02.123102.sbd.miller.flac16
• This one was kind of frustrating, because the Road Trips series of releases really did a number on October '77. It's all over the place with what shows it picked from, but this one is allegedly totally unreleased.  Which is crazy!
• It opens with the first Casey Jones since the hiatus, and while Jerry totally whiffs the verse after the solo, this leads to the longest ever Casey Jones because they just keep going through the solo over and over until Jerry feels confident enough about the lyrics.
• This second set is also, if I do say so myself, the perfect representation of Fall '77.
• 1978-05-05  Thompson Arena, Hanover, NH
• https://archive.org/details/gd1978-05-05.sbd.miller.112180.flac16
• If I had to write up a '78 setlist, this is what I would come up with.  Which isn't to say that this is just an average show for the era, because on the Dead's only trip to New Hampshire they played their asses off.
• Dave Lemieux has described (in not so many (or many more) words) an era of the band that lasted from May of '77 to July of '78, and May of '78 is a special little epoch within that era.  The band was at perhaps its peak level of confidence and power, but also feeling very loose and funky.  This leads to a lot of fun and inspired playing, including maybe my favorite Lazy Lightning > Supplication.
• 1979-11-02  Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, NY
• https://archive.org/details/gd1979-11-02.142393.sbd.miller.flac1648
• Fall of '79 is when Brent really cemented his role in the band.  And while I generally agree with the sentiment that the 80's started in '79, there's still a bit of that 70's energy, especially from Phil, who kind of faded into the background in the next two years.
• '79 is also another good year for unexpected and unique jams, like the one at the end of Saint of Circumstance.
• 1980-08-30  Compton Terrace Amphitheatre, Tempe, AZ
• https://archive.org/details/gd1980-08-30.sbd.miller.110152.flac16/gd80-08-30d1t01.flac
• Summer of '80 is one of my most recent discoveries, and it's so incredible.  From May-early September the band was on a hot streak.  Their new material was all maturing very nicely, and they were getting a lot more adventurous with their setlists.  This particular setlist is pretty standard, but the playing is all top notch.  Even the early CC Rider is a thrill!
• 1981-08-28  Long Beach Arena, Long Beach, CA
• https://archive.org/details/gd1981-08-28.sbd.miller.113680.flac16
• '81 surprisingly gave me a lot of grief.  There are some good shows, but I was having a hard time finding ones that were good throughout.  A lot of the obvious choices fell flat in different parts of the shows, and they just left me feeling meh.  But then, like a bolt of lightning through my skull, this show came to mind!
• Honestly this setlist seems like it was written for me.  It's missing The Other One, and I could probably do without Rooster, but otherwise everything is right up my alley.
• Not to miss are the extended jams out of Wheel and Never Trust a Woman, and of course I'm just an absolute sucker for Spanish Jam, especially when it sounds like this.
• 1982-04-14  Glens Falls Civic Center, Glens Falls, NY
• https://archive.org/details/gd82-04-14.sbd.braverman.7629.sbeok.shnf
• Ok, I've gone this far without saying it, but I think my pick here is better than the official one.  I like my '74 pick better, but that's just taste, both shows are definitely great.  But the official '82 show has an incredible setlist, and while there are definitely some great songs, for me it really just showcases how sloppy they could be.  By the end of the show it's all just misplaced bombs and bloat, and the Dew only kind of makes it better.
• This show though, is hot!  There are a lot of good Playin' sandwiches that year, and this one really does it for me.  And who can say no to Deep Elem?
• 1983-09-11  Santa Fe Downs, Santa Fe, NM
• https://archive.org/details/gd83-09-11.sbd.dankseed.4995.sbeok.shnf
• We all have a certain beret-wearing ferret to thank for reminding me of this show when the latest Dave's Picks was released.  It's an undeniably excellent show from another epoch of excellence in the band's history.
• It's also another setlist that's just designed to catch my eye.  Maybe the best Help>Slip!>Frank of the mid 80's revival, a second set Let it Grow that really grows, and of course a Dew to top it off.  Do not skip this show if you have not heard it before.
• 1984-10-30  Berkeley Community Theater, Berkeley, CA
• https://archive.org/details/gd84-10-30.mixed.ladner.22256.sbeok.shnf
• Ok, I guess Fall is just a great season to see Dead shows in!
• Scarlet > Fire was always a great pairing, but something about mid-80's versions really makes them stand out to me.  Those melting Spring '77 ones will always be on their own pedestal, but I think that 83' and 84' have so much more power.  And Brent's ability to seamlessly switch from one keyboard to another really makes him a much more adaptable player in this song than Keith ever was.
• 1985-09-03  Starlight Theater, Kansas City, MO
• https://archive.org/details/gd1985-09-03.123078.sbd.miller.flac16
• Ok, this one is pretty similar to the official one, but this year and the next are not in my wheel house.  '85 was a wildly variable year, with setlists and song selections never seen again, and when they were on, they were on.
• The reason this one is so similar to Dave's is because I think we were both trying to capture the best of the variety of that year.  Bringing Cryptical back was a huge move, and Comes a Time was played as frequently as it should have been!
• It's also cool to see bits of Big Dead from that late 80's start to peak through the cracks, most visible in Drums > Space.
• 1986-04-22  Berkeley Community Theater, Berkeley, CA
• https://archive.org/details/gd1986-04-22.sbd-pcm.miller.34768.flac16
• I was at a total loss for this year, but thanks to the suggestion of a good friend on the internet I added this baby to my collection.  And at the end of the day I like this one better than the official one.
• This show seriously blew me away, Jerry is so present and active, and the rest of the band (except maybe Brent...) seems almost up to their tight '87 glory.  This has a nice mix of that tightness but also some gratuitous solos and explorations by Jerry.
• 1987-09-08  Providence Civic Center, Providence, RI
• https://archive.org/details/gd1987-09-08.sbd.miller.106715.flac16 
• I figure one of the most '87 things you can do is put Hell in a Bucket in the place of either Scarlet or Fire, and I think this is a show where it actually worked pretty well.
• The energy in this show is incredible, and while I typically don't like post-coma Other Ones, this one really cooks.
• 1988-07-15  Greek Theater, Berkeley, CA
• https://archive.org/details/gd1988-07-15.141964.UltraMatrix.sbd.cm.miller.flac1644
• I figure after breaking Scarlet > Fire apart the previous year, I'd better put in a good one to make up for, and if this one doesn't do it for you, I don't know what to say.
• Gimme Some Lovin' > Morning Dew is a surprisingly good pairing, both songs are cathartic in their own ways, and Jerry's lick going into Dew is so simple but glorious.  And then he proceeds to just tear it up.
• 1989-08-18  Greek Theater, Berkeley, CA
• https://archive.org/details/gd1989-08-18.sbd.walker-scotton.miller.83774.sbeok.flac16 
• '89 is best known for its Fall shows, but the Summer run features some truly mind bending shows, this one included.
• I also picked this show because aside from the quality of performance, it also contains some songs I wanted to make sure were fairly represented, like Crazy Fingers and Iko.
• Victim or the Crime > Bird Song is my kind of pairing too!
• 1990-06-15  Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View, CA
• https://archive.org/details/gd1990-06-15.sbd.miller.106144.flac16
• In the official release Dave went with the second half of '90, when Bruce and Vince were in the band.  While I definitely have my fair share of Brent in here, I really wanted one last show with him.  And this one's a doozey!
• One of the best latter-day Help>Slip!>Franks, a slinky Just a Little Light (maybe my favorite Brent song), and a weird but fun MIDI jam from Man Smart to He's Gone.
• Even the Around & Around on this is excellent, and that's a song I'm not even sure if I hear when it plays anymore.
• 1991-06-17  Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ
• https://archive.org/details/gd1991-06-17.137545.sbd.miller.flac24
• This is probably the most '91 show there is, making it an easy choice.  From opening with Eyes to the bits of Dark Star sprinkled throughout the concert, this must have been one hell of a trip for anyone who was there.
• Seriously, they basically play an entire Dark Star in between and in the middle of all the other songs this show.  Bruce seems to be the main instigator, essentially just playing Dark Star on accordion for all of Masterpiece, but Jerry and Bob are quick to pick up on it and tease it out.
• 1992-03-05  Hampton Coliseum, Hampton, VA
• https://archive.org/details/gd1992-03-05.140299.sbd.cm.miller.flac1644
• This was another year that I struggled with, having mostly avoided anything before December when Jerry made his second (and final) recovery.  I found this one through the help of Deadbase 50 and suggestions from Twitter, and was very pleasantly surprised.
• An early showcase for some of their newer songs like Way to Go Home and So Many Roads, while certainly not one of the Dead's best shows, it is another good portrait of the year it comes from.  The Eyes > Way to Go > Estimated sequence is a lot of fun to me, but I've always had a soft spot for that Vince song.
• 1993-03-17  Capital Centre, Landover, MD
• https://archive.org/details/gd1993-03-17.dsbd.miller.79050.sbeok.flac16 
• I've really come around to '93 recently.  Jerry was at his healthiest for the 90's, Vince had found his niche in the band, and their new songs were being combined more confidently with their classics.
• While Playin', Dark Star, and The Other One are all way too short, the jams that connect them to the rest of the set really pay off.
• Liberty and Days Between are also two of the very best songs from the 90's, so I was happy to have such a tight show that also had great versions of them.
• 1994-10-14  Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
• https://archive.org/details/gd1994-10-14.sbd.miller.79167.sbeok.flac16 
• This is a show I stumbled upon a couple years ago that just blew me away.  Fall of '94 is widely known as the last great peak for the band, and for good reason.
• You can still hear Jerry's voice failing and feel the darkness creeping in around the edges, but the playing is totally electrified.  The Fire on the Mountain alone is longer than some Scarlet > Fires, and filled with so many different approaches to the song from Jerry.  Whether he's playing with filters and octave splitters or just plain shredding, you can't deny that he was playing for keeps this night.
• What really puts this show over the top for me is the second set Attics.  Please, stop whatever you're listening to and put this on.  While it's not "exactly perfect," the harmonies and soul bring a tear to my eye every time.  Jerry is singing like he's in a gospel bluegrass band and it's so damn good.
• 1995-03-23  Charlotte Coliseum, Charlotte, NC
• https://archive.org/details/gd1995-03-23.142397.dsbd.miller.flac1644 
• I was at a total loss for this year, but once again Deadbase 50 came to the rescue.  Bruce shows up in the second set, and you can hear his presence lift Jerry's spirits.
• So the playing was better than expected, but '95 is just a rough ride if you love Jerry.  Again I think my pick for this year is better than Dave's, but I think it's just because of Bruce's effect on Jerry.  The playing is better than the rest of the year, but his voice just makes me want to cry.

     Well there it is!  Ending on '95 is maybe not the happiest way to end this post, but that's just how it happened.  Like I said above, I'm very curious to hear what you think of these pics.  Is there an even better '92 show I should have gone with?  Is one of these actually mislabeled and from another date?  Or just tell me I did it perfectly and get me a job at Dead.net!  This is coming out right as the newest Box Set is being delivered across the country, so expect to hear some more analysis from me very soon.

Dave's Picks 27 (1983-09-02)

     It's one of the four best times of the year, a new Dave's Picks has arrived!  This is the latest of the Dave's Picks in two ways: it is the most recent one to be released, and it is set furthest forward in the Dead's history by about two years.  There haven't been too many official mid-80's releases, mostly due to lack of good recordings, but partially due to some rough performances in that era.  As you would expect from a pick by our fearless archivist Monsieur Lemieux's, this show suffers from neither of those defects.  This is the Dead's only show from Idaho, but between Phil's opening remarks and the following performance, they truly conquered the state this night.

• Wang Dang Doodle >
• Not only is this an unusual opener, it was only the second performance of this Bobby Blues Song that remained in the repertoire for the rest of the band's career.
• A very confident and raunchy opening to the show, the band was out to have some fun.
• Jack Straw
• Jerry leads the transition into this one, and even though it seems to come out of nowhere the rest of the band picks up on it right away without faltering.  This becomes a theme of the concert, that even if things go wrong the train never fully derails.  Everyone is clearly paying attention to the other musicians, and the number one goal is to keep the music flowing.
• Bobby's playing isn't necessarily at its best, especially with a kind of plastic sounding guitar, but he still does a lot to steer the band, and makes up for it with his energy.  You can feel his stage presence through the recording.
• They Love Each Other
• One of my favorite things about this show, and this era, is Brent's palate.  By this point I think he had really developed a set of sounds that fit in with his styles and with the songs that already existed.  Gone were the thinner sounds that he had a few years earlier.  Now he had some really full bodied (read: thicc) tones, along with his always excellent organ and ever-changing synthesizers.
• Jerry sounds like it's 1977 again, and he's playing so well that he takes the solo section twice without anyone batting an eye.
• Mama Tried >
• Once again, Jerry just keeps playing and playing!  It's not like they jam this song out (a feat I don't think any Dead Band has ever accomplished), but Jerry has definitely caught fire and wants everyone to know it.
• Big River
• Bob must have figured that if Jerry was feeling good, let's give him a song that he claims to be tired of but never seems to tire soloing over.
• I usually prefer pre-hiatus versions of this song because Jerry's fingering was so light and quick in those days, but this one comes close to that kind of playing.
• Brown -Eyed Women
• This is where Jerry would normally slow things down with a ballad and start mumbling into his beard, but instead he cranks up the energy even more.
• Jerry refuses to leave the solo section, coming to the end of it each time and saying, "no, I can do this better, let's try it again," and the rest of the band obliges.  Phil (who sounds great on this recording) really indulges him, thundering open wide spaces for him to fill.
• While the enunciation went out the window in the second set, Jerry's passion really comes through in his singing this show.
• New Minglewood Blues
• Time for Bobby to get raunchy again, especially with Brent finally rocking the organ.
• It's not the worst Bobby slide solo...until it kind of is, but what can you do, man?  Just be a good sport and humor him until Jerry takes over.
• And take over he does!
• Big Railroad Blues
• Look, I didn't mean for this whole thing to be a Jerry-a-thon, but his joie de vivre is so contagious that I can't help myself.  While Bob may have been steering the band, Jerry was absolutely the driving force, and nothing could stop him.  He takes every available solo to the max, but without making any song feel like it's overdone or stretched thin.  He just keeps coming up with more ideas for how to play the song, and he plans to stand there and play every single one of them.
• As I said before, the rest of the band is willing to follow him wherever he goes, and they're able to turn on a dime whenever he's ready to go back to the lyrics.
• Part of the quickness comes from the inherent looseness of the band in this period.  When they were off it turned to sloppiness, but on nights like tonight when they were on it makes them a little more nimble.  I typically prefer the tighter periods of the band like Fall '73 and Spring '77, but this looseness can be very fun, especially with these tempos.
• Looks Like Rain >
• Brent creates such a nice, delicate ambiance for Bobby to sing over, but then Jerry and Phil decide to raunch it up again in the solo section.  Bobby brings it back down for the rest of the lyrics, but the others know they'll get their chance to build it back up in the outro.
• Jerry really nails the LLR riff on this one too, and that's required for any great version of the song if you ask me.
• Deal
•  Ok, last time I swear: Jerry Garcia is a madman and an unstoppable force, and it's amazing the US military didn't try to weaponize him.
• Dave warned us and I didn't believe him, but you have never heard a Deal this rocked out.  Jerry plays like a man possessed by a multitude of guitar-playing demons, and he has to let each one of them get their turn at soloing before he can be free of them.
• The drummers are really great at this show, letting embellishments and counter-rhythms fly without losing the beat, or at least the idea of the beat.
• Help on the Way >
• I'm far from the first person to point this out about this show, but Jerry gets maybe 20% of these lyrics right.  They had brought this and Slipknot! back earlier in the year, but they still seem a little rusty when it comes to starting and finishing this song.
• Despite the rust, the playing and energy are still white hot so it all comes of spectacularly.  These mid 80's versions are some of my favorites honestly.  Of course the ones from '76 and '77 are the best, but to me the later 80's and 90's ones feel a little flat.  While the transitions between songs here are a little rough, the band seems so much more connected than in a lot of later versions.
• Slipknot! >
• They totally whiff the intro, but still: fuck yeah.
• Seriously, the whole band is really churning here.  Brent's atmospheric playing combines with Jerry's fiery energy, really leading to some inspired moments, especially with Phil and Bob throwing unexpected twists and changes into the mix.
• As rough as the beginning was, they really nail the end of this one, with Bobby and Brent adding some cool flairs to the usual complicated riff, then charging into the inevitable finale of the triumvirate.
• Franklin's Tower >
• Jerry gets these lyrics right at least, but this song never really dropped out of rotation so you would hope he would.  It just feels better when it comes out of its original sequence though.
• I can't quite put my finger on this one, I always get sucked into it and then it's suddenly over, no matter how much attention I try to pay.  A very hazy, glitzy Franklin's from a hazy and glitzy period of the band's history.
• They don't do the Slipknot! ending (bummer), but instead mellow into a sort of tuning jam the shifts right into...
• Estimated Prophet >
• You would never think that a rock and roll band could play so fast and so clean in 7/4 time, but then again you would never think anyone would make a song in that time signature in the first place, so it's all a mystery I guess.
• Jerry just wants to keep building the solo section up, but Bob wants to get back to talking about those voices.  Jerry shrugs (I assume) and figures he'll just dominate the outro jam.
• That being said, Bobby and Brent are the ones who really lay down the foundation for Jerry to dominate, bouncing off the drummers and forcing them into different rhythms and configurations.
• Eyes of the World >
• While the tempo is still pretty high on this one, they still somehow don't rush through it at all, giving each solo section plenty of room to develop and expand.
• In the 70's what made a good Eyes for me was the interplay between Jerry and Keith, but here it's Jerry and Bob that really come together to make my day.  Brent and Phil kind of set up the boundaries for Jerry and Bob to play in, giving them a jungle gym of textures to climb up and spin down.
• The recording kind of phases out into an audience tape at the beginning of the last verse, but it equalizes itself pretty quickly.
• They really start to get weird after the lyrics, with Jerry seeming reluctant to leave the stage while he made sure to get all of his ideas out before taking a break.
• Jam >
• Even when Jerry and Phil decide to hit the bathroom and get a drink (or something), Brent and Bobby have their own ideas for where the music should go before the drummers take over.
• At first it seems like they have very different ideas, but then they manage to bring them together with Brent really taking over.  Bobby gets all the credit for being a kind of rhythm/lead player, but really that's a skill every player in the band had to have to keep the Grateful Dead Machine going.
• Drums >
• This is a very focused and driven Drums, which is typically what I'm looking for.  I do like the spacier ones now and again, but it gets spacey in Space, so let the drummers pound away for now.
• It's hard to tell if Billy is on a talking drum, or just hitting some other drums with a filter being operated by him or Healey, but either way things get pretty damn weird.
• Space >
• This was heavily sold by Dave, and while it doesn't seem like it will live up to expectations at first, soon Jerry and Bob are blowing your mind.
• This has a very metallic kind of sound, especially once Brent joins in, and they kind of flirt around a major/minor dichotomy that really keeps you on your toes.
• Throwing Stones >
• These early versions are so different, and not always in a good way.  Bobby is sounding a little ragged by here and definitely plays some questionable chords.
• All in all I like this though.  The middle jam section is totally free form, and while it gets pretty discordant, I'm a fan of that in the right context and I think it really works here.  The band seems to be all on the same page when they come out of it, so I think that noise is what they were going for.
• Goin' Down the Road Feeling Bad >
• Jerry seems pretty set on this as the followup to Throwing Stones, even if Bob wasn't quite ready for it.
• Jerry seems to start it with Black Peter already in mind for the destination, but first they have to rush through the song.
• Black Peter >
• A great and soulful version, and they really ease right into it smoothly.
• Jerry's raspy voice, while at other times distressing, really suits this song.
• Sugar Magnolia
• Bobby has had his vitamins, and he wants to get his daily workout out of the way while closing the set, and you can almost hear him jumping and diving on stage. 
• Things get a little boisterous and the playing really starts to overflow from the traditional time signature constraints as the band drifts apart, but they bring it back together and finish with some real fireworks.
• It's All Over Now, Baby Blue
• This is always a sign of a good show to me, they seem to only play it when they feel really good about everything that came before it.
• This really isn't the smoothest, with the line between loose and sloppy really becoming indistinct, but it's still a fun ride.  Brent's keyboard sounds once again really make this one so special and so very '83.

     So there it is!  I would probably put this one above DaP 20, the last 80's show to come out, but maybe not quite up to the level of DaP 8.  Of course it's hard to compare over the years and eras, but I can safely say that this is in the top 30 of the Dave's Picks releases so far.  I prefer the harder hitting psychedelia of the early 70's, but this powdery haze is a lot of fun if you approach it the right way.  What do you think?  Tell me how right or wrong you think I am below, and we can get into a good old internet argument.

Something Like a Bird Within Him Sang

     It's no secret that I'm a big fan of the 70's, and I think Keith was the best keyboardist the Dead had.  But I'm also a fan of certain aspects of the 80's, chief among those being Brent's stage presence.  It wasn't just his singing and it wasn't just his playing, it was a combination of those with his energy and charisma.  Sometimes that energy could be dark and brooding, which could produce great moments in different ways, but he was at his best when he was a wave of good energy, keeping Jerry afloat and involved in the music.

     Before we get any further, just a disclaimer: this is 21st Century Dead, meaning I never even saw Jerry, let alone Brent.  This is all based on listening to tapes, memories of various Dead books and other sources that I may have been stoned when I read, and tales from friends IRL and online.  If I seem to be making too much up, let me know where I went wrong.

     There has always been a lot of criticism of Brent's songs, sometimes for good reason.  While I've come around on Far From Me and Tons of Steel, I still can't get down with Easy to Love You, We Can Run, or Don't Need Love.  They're just too glitzy for me in a very 80's way.  He came from a more poppy background than Heads were used to, and also had the disadvantage of really coming into his own in the band while Jerry was in the process of checking out.  So some of his mid-80's songs were really brought down by the fact that Jerry was already heading off-stage before Drums, leaving the fans a bit restless.  Phil was also coming out of his stint as an alcoholic at the time, so the two of them seemed to take a little longer to take click.

     That being said, he still sang these cheesy songs very well.  And when he applied that great voice of his to some good songs, the results were incredible!  I'm a big fan of Just a Little Light, and he crushed Hey Pocky Way every time they played it.  And going back to him and Phil, once they did get on the same page they had some of the most fun vocal duos of the 80's.  Gimme Some Lovin' became a total show-stopper for them by the late 80's, and they even had some short lived raunchiness in the mid 80's with the Beatles' Why Don't We Do It in the Road, not to mention their once-performed...sci-fi rocker(?) Revolutionary Hamstrung Blues.

     Brent's signature song by the end of his time with the band was Blow Away.  This song was tied directly to Brent's emotional power and sincerity.  Sometimes that means his darker emotions would be laid bare before the crowd, but that was just part of the magic of his performances.  The song has a relentless beat to it with a catchy riff, and while it does get a little poppy in places, it's an undeniable rocker.  Just when you think the song had faded out, Brent would build it back up from a simmer to a raging boil, with Jerry grinning and the drummers overflowing.

     Obviously the first big loss the Dead had was Pigpen, and while no one could ever replace him, Brent was in a lot of ways the spiritual heir of Pig's stage presence as the Showman.  Both of them really knew how to work a crowd, and how to get a good call and response going on or off the stage.  Then when they lost Brent, no one was there to pick up the mantle, and it was just a matter of time until they lost Jerry too and the band broke up.  Since then the only Brent songs that I know versions of the Dead have done are Tons of Steel and Just a Little Light, and while they can still play them well, no one has really been able to harness Brent's energy.  John Kadlecik would sing Just a Little Light with Furthur, and while he gave it a good shot, he just doesn't have than raw animal power that Brent always sang with.

     I would love to see Dead & Company do some of Brent's classics, but I just don't know if anyone in the band could do it.  Oteil's voice is too angelic, and Bobby doesn't have the power anymore to sing like that without tearing his throat out.  While John shares some of that pop background with Brent, his voice is just too sugary.  The only close one is Jeff because he has that rasp, but while I would love to hear him sing more I just don't think he has the pipes to do the songs justice.  I could see maybe a Joan Osborne or Teresa Williams belting out some of his songs, I just don't know how it would work.

     Do you guys have any suggestions for who could bring these songs back to life?  Or do you think we should leave his songs lie, because they are so very much his own?

Dead & Company 2018-06-13, Hartford Xfinity Theatre

     Well I saw my final live show of Dead & Company's "Summer" Tour down in Hartford.  These Wednesday concerts are not the most convenient thing in the world, but I'd see these guys any day of the week.  In order to get south I had to first catch a couple of northbound trains (foreshadowing) and then meet up with my parents to finally drive out the Mass Pike and down to Hartford.  The weather had been threatening to rain leading up to the show (more foreshadowing), and we encountered some squalls on the way there, but the sky was already clearing for good when we got to the lot.  My friend who I see at every Dead show but never catch the name of serendipitously parked right behind us, and we soon met up with our friend Jimmy and his buddy to chat about our expectations and previous shows.

     We hung out at the end of the lot within sight of the train tracks and dirt piles/unofficial restrooms: scenic!  We had gotten lawn seats for this show, after splurging on the last one, and were eager to get in early to get good spots.  So after not too long we packed up our food and beers, and wandered through the easy-going security.  They had not yet opened the lawn, so we lined up and made some friends, realizing that the band was doing a late soundcheck!  We couldn't make most of it out, but heard Don't Ease Me In clearly, which got me excited.  While in line I also got myself headed towards a good state of mind to enjoy the show, and I didn't seem to be the only one with a secret smile starting to form.  They let us up the stairs a little late, but everyone was in such good spirits that we all just ran up the stairs whooping and laughing.  We snagged a great spot with unobstructed lines of sight, and we could also see trains rolling about in the yard next door which is a plus for me.  The clearing sky started to become colored by the sunset, and soon the band came on stage.


First Set

• Hell in a Bucket
• Like the last time we saw them here, they opened with a jam that was clearly going to turn into Bucket.
• My one complaint from the Mansfield tour opener was that John wasn't stepping up to the plate as the lead guitarist, but right off the bat he was showing us that tonight would be different.  In this song, and every song they played tonight, Mayer was at the forefront of the music, making daring choices and taking risks- just like he should be!
• Sometimes this led to some disagreements between him and Bob, like when John tried to bring the second solo to an end but Bob instead pushed him and Jeff to take it a little farther out.  But these disagreements always led to interesting and masterful improvisation from all members of the band as they got the song back to where it should be.
• Next Time You See Me
• Always great to see a Pigpen song thrown into the mix, but otherwise not much to say about this one.
• Ramble on Rose
• Dead & Co has been nailing Ramble on Rose since the first show we saw them do in 2015, and they've only gotten better.
• John and Jeff were on the same mental plane for this whole show, and it led to seamless transitions between their solos.  That's crucial in a song like this where the band really builds the music up to crashing peaks with wide valleys drawn out between them.
• I made an excursion to what I thought would be bathrooms but turned out to be porta-potties over in the corner of the amphitheater, where the band's tour buses were lined up in front of the train yard with a beautiful sunset in the back.  I danced my way back through the border between the seats and the lawn as Ramble was starting up, encountering increasingly weird scenes in the crowd as I went.  Maybe it was so weird because of certain decisions I made earlier, but this was still a truly weird (and very peaceful) crowd.
• When I Paint My Masterpiece
• We had seen Bob do this with Phil earlier in the year, but it was still great to get a full band version.
• John was playing such delicately beautiful leads behind Bobby's singing, with Jeff swelling on the organ, switching to piano for the solo section.
• Bobby was singing and playing incredibly this night, and it really showed here.  He was playing a blonde Fender that he started playing last year (I think) for a lot of the show, and while it does have a good sound to it, it was a little thin and didn't cut through the mix on some other songs.  Here it sounded great though!
• Cumberland Blues
• Another repeat from last time they played here, but this one was even better.  The band has just matured so much and made this version feel a lot more full-bodied.
• Like I said up top, John was playing with a ton of confidence and energy, leading to two excellent solos here.  But the real star, of course, was Jeff during his solo.  While Jeff can play anything excellently, Cumberland and Eyes are his two powerhouses.  All you have to do is face him in the right direction, and he will carve the most amazing music you've ever heard out of the thin air.  He's been playing a chunky little baby grand for most of the tour, and it fits his style so well.
• Black Muddy River
• They kind of jammed into this one, making me think we were going to get another Bird Song, but they surprised us with what they almost exclusively play as an encore.
• This song is one of John's best, but his voice seemed a little weak this night.  He had been singing some high harmonies with Bob on Masterpiece, but on his leads he kept his voice a lot lower than normal.  He still sang and played beautifully though, and the song felt as soulful as ever.
• Don't Ease Me In
• We had heard them doing a bit of this during soundcheck, but it was still great to see!  Knocked this off my list after far too long.
• Like Alabama Getaway from two weeks earlier, this arrangement felt more oriented towards John's blues side, less of a jugband rocker.
• The tempos so far had been excellent, but this one felt a little sluggish, maybe because of the blues shading.  But John and Jeff once again burned through their respective solos, with John's final one bringing the tempo up finally in order to bring it to a big finish.

     The lights came on (kind of) and my dad found his way back to us after taking his own bathroom break right after Cumberland and getting lost.  We hung out with our neighbors for a while and raved about the set so far.  While it hadn't had any big jam vehicles, the playing had an energy that was totally infectious and there were giant smiles everywhere.  The weather continued to hold off and it ended up being a beautiful summer night spent with thousands of new friends.  I spent a good amount of time trying to wrap my head around the size of the venue, which is apparently one of the largest amphitheaters in the country; at first it seems like you're just sitting on a grassy hill looking down at a stage, but then you realize just how far around the hill wraps, and how far the structure of the building extends, and it can get kind of freaky if you're in a freaky state of mind already.  Eventually the lights went back down and we all stood up ready for some more dancing.

Second Set

• Feel Like a Stranger >
• I had been hoping for one of these from this band ever since they formed, and this one more than lived up to my expectations.  John was still chomping at the bit, and as a result was all over this song in the best of ways.
• The tempo was still at a surprisingly brisk clip for this band, and during the jam in the middle of the verses everyone was boogying down, with John and Jeff trading licks and riffs back and forth while Bobby and Oteil kept the groove going underneath them.
• Bobby brought them back down from their stratospheric workings and finished up the lyrics, surprising us by not singing the "it's gonna be a long long crazy night/ silky silky crazy crazy night" lines, even though Jeff and Oteil were still singing the "feel like a stranger" part; weird!
• The jam was really chugging along, and everything seemed just exactly perfect, but right when Bobby took them into the closing riff sequence, John decided to switch to his silver blues guitar, and then tried to jump back in.  This threw everything into a bit of disarray, and John, Bobby, and Jeff all tried to right the ship's course in order to finish it off right.  When they couldn't get back on the same page, John and Bobby both decided to just say "fuck it," and slammed into the big discordant chord than can only mean one thing...
• Viola Lee Blues >
• The final repeat from two years ago, and a welcome addition to tonight's show.  We had actually seen Furthur do this exact pairing to end a set before, and while this one wasn't quite as neat of a transition, it's still a cool combo.
• John punctuated the song with a stellar descending riff that while a little showy was still very cool.  They do this song very different from Furthur or other Dead bands, in that it's a smoldering blues rocker that really just stays in one key instead of going through traditional blues changes.  This allows John to unleash solo after solo in an almost Hendrix-esque style.
• After the first two lyrics and some virtuostic guitar, John locked eyes with Jeff and started hammering down on the main riff, which has always sounded to me like...
• China Cat Sunflower >
• Now that's a transition!  Maybe not quite JRAD levels of finesse, but an exciting and logical transition that the Dead never did.
• This is where things got really interesting.  Once again the song was bouncing along and everything seemed fine, but then Bobby tried to give john some inscrutable stage direction in the middle of the solo.  John looked at him to do one thing, Bobby looked away to do another, and Jeff practically leapt over his keyboard to yell "NO!" at them, but it was too late and they were in uncharted and unplanned territory.  While normally this is a recipe for disaster and a certain trainwreck, an amazing thing happened: they fixed it!  John just kept soloing, and I thought maybe they would just shoot right in Rider, but instead they circled around and around until they were all back in the right respective positions, and then they jumped into the final changes of the solo and made it back into the lyrics!  The crowd erupted in cheering, and I was laughing with tears coming down my face. This is what we came for, not for perfect and conservative playing, but for balls-to-the-wall risk-taking adventure with big pay-offs when it all comes together.
• I Know You Rider >
• The transition between these two slowed things down and got pretty loose, but they brought it back together for a triumphant iteration of this classic song.  John led the way through Bobby's old transition riff, which felt a bit off, but it helped get the tempo back up.
• The first solo section was shorter and laid back, but after the final verses they really picked up steam and went around for a bunch of solos.  I thought maybe it stayed there for a little too long, but everyone else was enjoying it, and it led to some truly great licks from John.
• I don't want to sound like a broken record, but John and Jeff's connection at this show was one of my favorite parts.  It was less call and response, and more akin to the classic Grateful Dead group mind, the two of them finishing each other's solos and suggestions like they're old friends.
• Man Smart, Woman Smarter >
• Ok, my only complaint of the show is one that echoes back to the 80's: this song is great, but this placement feels like a bit of a let down.  Some monster jam needs to go into Drums, like Terrapin or Dark Star!!
• Now that my complaint is out of the way, I can get to how well they played.  Bobby was once again singing at his best, and this is a song I've always loved him on so really everything was pretty great.  For the last time, it is worth pointing out that John and Jeff really pushed the envelope on this one, making it feel bigger and more powerful than it would have in its "rightful" place as a first set song.
• They finished up the song with a bit of an a capella jam, which seemed a bit out of place, while also feeling exactly right in this context.
• Drums >
• I don't know how he did it, but Oteil managed to get out from under his bass and take up positions by some marimba-sounding thing in about two seconds flat.  Billy stayed at his kit for a while while Oteil and Mickey got a groove going on their different sounding percussion instruments of choice.  Mickey even had the Beam bouncing to the rhythm and seemingly the chords of Man Smart, which was fun in a very weird way.
• A few people sat down, which you would expect, but a lot of people were still up and dancing, including us and a lot of our neighbors.
• Eventually the rhythms died down and the whole amphitheater and hill turned into sounding boards for Mickey and the Beam.  After a couple of minutes of having our heads rattled, Mickey left the stage and thee was a bit of a full stop between Drums and Space.  I still have a ">" listed because it's tradition.
• Space >
• This Space kind of reminded me of the one from Fenway two years ago, in that it was more of an percussionless jam than a traditional Space.  Bobby, John, and Jeff, eventually joined by Oteil, took their time in creating a delicate and beautiful tapestry of music that flowed effortlessly between each player.
• Eventually the Rhythm Devils returned to their positions, and the jam started to pick up steam.  It built higher and higher into a cacophony, and then they pulled the rug out from under us and thudded back into...
• Viola Lee Blues >
• Viola Lee!  In retrospect we all should have seen this coming, but it caught me off guard and put an even bigger smile on my face.
• Jeff thought they were going to finish the last verse with another big discordant chord, but instead was the only one who did that, fading into the little jam that the rest of the band had going.  He of course made up for this by taking the lead and ending the jam on a beautifully resolved chord, giving way for Bobby to start strumming what was hard to make out at first, but immediately became recognizable as the song I had most been wanting to get this tour.
• Looks Like Rain >
• I used to not like this song at all, skipping over it a few times when listening to shows that I felt it dragged down.  But in the last year or so I've totally come around to the other side, and I think this is one of Bobby's best songs.  It's a song of love, guilt, and hurt, and these days feels more like an ode to Barlow than to a recently departed lover.
• Bobby was on that pretty blonde guitar again, which meant he was a little hard to hear but what did cut through the mix was beautiful.  John's playing was perfect in that he allowed room for Bob to shine, but totally took over on the solo (with Jeff playing around him and keeping the band in time).
• The song felt more like a pre-hiatus version at first because just Billy was drumming while Mickey tickled the Beam, making it feel even more delicate in that it felt like a safe haven in the middle of unknown space.  Sometimes Mickey got a bit too boisterous on the thunder drums, but all in all this song was a huge highlight of the night for me.  Especially since it hadn't rained at all, or at least not a drop on me!
• Not Fade Away
• Jeff and John tried to lead a jam into this, but Bobby and Billy decided to just start right up with the Bo Diddley beat, and anyone who wasn't already standing leap to their feet and got their hands clapping.
• On paper this wasn't a particularly long NFA, but at the time it felt like they would keep playing forever.  Oteil, who I haven't said enough about I'm now realizing, had spent the whole show playing a lot of melodic and almost lead parts, and really tore it up with John here.  John totally took over here, using the beats the others were laying down as a jungle gym for his leads to climb over and twist around.
• Encore: Brokedown Palace
• Semi-controversial opinion here, but I prefer this as an encore to Ripple. Ripple is great, but it's basically just a campfire song, whereas Brokedown (and Attics, while we're talking about American Beauty) has so much more going on.  It's a more complicated song than it seems, and it's just so soulful and beautiful.
• Bobby and John do a great job sharing the lyrics, and I think the only thing that would make it better is if they gave Oteil a verse too.

     We cheered for more, but the band had given it their all and we couldn't fault them for not playing a double (or triple or quadruple) encore.  We sat our asses down in the rented chairs that the folks in front of us had left behind and waited for the crowd to thin out a bit.  We knew we weren't getting out of that dirt parking lot any time soon, so after we caught our breath and did an initial debriefing about the show, we headed out to the far end of the lot where we were parked, and then cooled our feet some more until the cars that were lined up to leave actually started moving.  We followed them out into the dark and onto the highway, where we had a long, strange trip ahead of us.

     I'm sad this is my final live show of the tour, but I'm also incredibly happy that I got to see this band again.  There was a moment during the China > Rider transition where I all of a suddenly stopped dancing and looked around me, and was filled by an overpowering sense of happiness and awe.  Here we all were on a beautiful summer night, dancing, laughing, and hugging, as our favorite band did the thing that really only they can do; just for us!  And that's what it's all about, not just the music but what the music lets us do all together.  I'm a sucker for listening to music alone on headphones, but there's really nothing that lives up to being at a show and engaging in the living organism that is the Dead Head community.

Dead & Company 2018-05-30, Mansfield Xfinity Center

     Summer Tour is finally here!  Dead & Company are starting off with an East Coast leg of the tour, and my parents and I managed to catch the opening show down in Mansfield.  After the last two tours we saw we were very excited for some more excellent music, even if we were expecting a little shakiness after a few months off.  It was the perfect day, sunny in the mid-70's, and when we got to the lot everyone was in great spirits.  Since we are only seeing two shows this tour, we decided to spring for low-tier VIP tickets for this show, which meant we got early entry and crowd-free shopping.  The merch tent didn't really have anything for us, so we didn't take much advantage of the latter, but we enjoyed getting in without a crowd (getting out was another story) and getting great seats right behind and to the left of the soundboard.  The lines of sight were great, but I didn't love the sound in this particular amphitheater; John was occasionally lost in the mix, and the crowd noise kind of echoed in the bowl area.  Though I do have some nitpicks to make, I had an excellent time at this show, so let's get into it!

First Set

• Shakedown Street (BW)
• What a great way to start the tour.  To get the elephant in the room out of the way, the tempos have not really sped up at all, and this song has a bit of plod to it.  That said, their slower approach to some of these songs sometimes pays off in big ways, and I think it really works for Shakedown.  It's not danceable in the same way it used to be, but it has a wider groove to it now.
• Jeff and John lead the band through what sounded a lot like the Mind Left Body Jam for a bit in the middle, with Jeff also throwing in some teases of Feel Like a Stranger and leading them back into the chorus to end the song.  This was the first of a few songs where it seemed that Bobby wanted to jam into the next number, but the rest of the band (except Jeff) couldn't get on his page.
• While I thought I was a Jeff fanatic, the couple next to us were head over heels about him when we were talking before the show.  This meant we were all pleasantly surprised when Jeff showed us right in the opening number that he was really going to lead the band this show.
• Alabama Getaway (JM)
• A debut for the band, and performed pretty well.  Again, slowed down from what it used to be, but it had a cool kind of bluesy feel to it this way that suited John's style nicely.
• John flubbed a couple of lines, but that's the classic Jerry thing to do in this song, so I don't think anyone held it against him.  Our new friends had heard them do this at soundcheck, so we were ready for it, unlike a lot of surprised people in the crowd.
• The versions of this I've seen previously turned the last solo into more of an extended jam, so I was kind of surprised when they wrapped this one up so quickly.
• It's All Over Now (BW)
• Two debuts in a row!  This has a very new arrangement that I really dig, even if dancing to it is a little confusing at first.  The changes aren't where you think they should be, but then you get used to it.
• This is a great example of what's so weird about this band: while the show so far had been really fun and already had some hot moments, the last two songs felt a little shaky in places.  But here the band was doing a new arrangement of a song they hadn't played in years, and the whole group was nailing it!  The drummers in particular snapped to attention for this one, making the band feel so much tighter than it normally does.  They broke it down in the middle of the song, with everyone getting their own little solo, including the drummers.
• Bobby switched to a red guitar that people are telling me is a Gretsch for most of the rest of the set, and I think I have a new favorite guitar of his.  I've always loved the sound of his green D'Angelico, but this one sounded even better to my ears.  He also seemed to be having more fun using this guitar.
• Brown-Eyed Women (JM)
• This one felt a little stiff to me, with the drummers almost losing the beat at a couple of points.
• The solos here were fantastic though, with Jeff once again leading the charge.  John took some great leads with Jeff hot on his heels in the traditional solo spot, but in the second solo section that they've opened it was Jeff City, baby!
• Tennessee Jed (BW)
• I was so glad to get this one crossed off my Dead & Company list.  This song takesgreat advantage of the sweet groove that the band can find when they take their time.  Bob slipped up on one verse, but that's still par for the course, and he more than made up for it with his playing.
• One great thing about this song, and really the whole show, is that Oteil was so high in the mix, and playing so well.  During the very first Dead & Company tour back in 2015 he was very upfront in the mix, but in all the tours since then he's played a more ambient and supporting role.  But here he was really playing more of a lead bass, and in a very different way from Phil.
• The jam at the end of this song is of course where it's at.  The band starts out by laying the foundation for the building they're constructing, and then using that foundation to reach for the sky.  That might sound like nonsense, but I can't really describe this song's jam in any other way; they build a musical house slowly, and bring it all crashing down to the ground at the very end.
• Bird Song > (BW & JM)
• This one started out very weird, with everyone doing a bit of feedback while Mickey got the Beam rumbling.  Bob and John split the lyrics like they usually do, with things getting either a little loose or sloppy, depending on who you ask and how you feel about the band.  I'm kind of in the middle, but I think overall the song was great, once again with Jeff leading the jam.
• At the time I really felt like John either wasn't turned up enough or we wasn't playing assertively enough.  But listening back to it now it seems like they were really going for a more laid back and ethereal sound, as opposed to an extended guitar solo.
• Bobby's Gretsch was sounding really great, but he switched back to his regular strat for the rest of the set.
• Loose Lucy > (BW)
• All of a sudden Jeff and Bobby switched the key and rhythm, and it was Loose Lucy!  There are a lot of nay-sayers about this particular sandwich, and I can see how they might see it as a jarring pairing.  But I think Lucy is a great song, and I love that the band is trying new things and surprising pairings.  They definitely need to work on their inter-song jamming (always a weak point with this band), but they have the right idea.
• This sounded like it could have used a little more rehearsal, but Bobby did a great job singing it like always, and to belabor the point even further, Jeff really carried the band through all the changes.
• Bird Song (BW & JM)
• The transition into this song's jam was a nicely drawn out jam on Loose Lucy's chorus, kind of like what Bobby did with Phil back in March, but when they tried to come back into the lyrics there were a lot of crossed signals.  One thing about this band, though, is that they've learned how to avoid a total trainwreck, and even if things do go off the rails they are quick to correct it.
• Mickey got back on the beam after the first vocal reprise, and instead of finishing the final verse they all just kind of drifted off into space.

     Bobby told us they'd be right back, and I couldn't believe how right he was.  It was about 30 minutes of intermission, which barely left enough time for me to get to the bathroom and back.  The bathroom I found was quite the labyrinth, and by the time I made my way out of it I heard the band starting up the next set!  I ran/danced back to my seat in time for the second verse, and we were off on another adventure.

Second Set

• Scarlet Begonias > (BW)
• I've been hoping for a surprising transition from Scarlet, but it's impossible for me to complain about getting another Scarlet > Fire, especially after the one I saw at the Boston Garden last Fall.
• Bobby was on his green D'Angelico for the entire second set, so my dad and I were thrilled at times it didn't seem do do what he wanted but overall it sounded so great.
• They really rocked the solo for everything it's worth, going around again and again, John was looking just pleased as punch to be doing this again.  The outro jam was also masterfully crafted, with John stepping up to the plate much more than he had been in the first set.  He and Jeff had a lot of musical conversation going between them for this whole set, and with Bobby and Oteil propelling them forward they made the exciting, if a little hiccupy, transition into Fire.
• Fire on the Mountain > (OB)
• Oteil has really made this song his own when he sings it, and the crowd erupts every time.  I really think he should be singing more Garcia songs, because there are plenty that aren't really in either Bobby or John's ranges.  He also plays it in a way very much his own, a lot jazzier than Phil's approach.
• John does a really good job of playing the required riffs that keep the song together without just copying Jerry's famous leads.  Sometimes when he plays something new it kind of throws the band and/or the crowd off, but once again I think it's important for these guys to try new things, even if they don't always work out perfectly.
• Instead of doing the regular Scarlet ending, or even doing the hard ending they did for their first couple tours, they instead just falter out, until John starts them back up into Althea.
• Althea (JM)
• While I would argue this song really belongs in the first set, this is a classic case of a first set song being given extra teeth when put in the second set.  Always a great set-piece for soloing from John and Jeff, here in the second set it felt like it had extra oomph.
• Even on his D'Angelico I don't understand some of the noises Bob insists on making during Althea, but I'll let it slide...get it?
• The solo section right before the "there are things" bridge is where the song really took off.  John had been taking all the solos so far with everyone else doing their regular rhythm stuff, but all of a sudden Jeff caught fire and John started burning up with him.  They were perfectly synchronized, both of them taking staggered leads at the same time that tied together and around each other, and bringing the band into a smooth and powerful transition into the bridge.
• Estimated Prophet > (BW)
• The solo section in this was pretty hot, with some big leads being pumped out, but the rest of the song felt a bit static, like they didn't know where to take the outro jam.
• I did like that after spacing out the first verses like he's been doing for years, Bobby then did the second verses all together like the Grateful Dead originally did.  And even if it was a little static, the band was still pretty tight for this weird song in 7/4 time.
• The Other One Jam >
• Right when I was starting to think Estimated wasn't going anywhere, Bobby shifted into this familiar rhythm and things kicked back into gear, if only for a little bit on this theme.
• They did this in 7/4 time as well, just like the last Furthur show I saw at Bethel Woods.  John seemed a little slow to pick up on it, but the rest of the band really started churning.  Oteil was looking at Bobby as if wondering whether he should do the run into the song proper, but then Bob took a sharp left turn- a little too sharp, as it left the rest of the band reeling, but eventually everyone caught onto where he was going.
• Eyes of the World > (BW)
• While Estimated may not have done it for me, this Eyes was fantastic, maybe the best one I've seen the band do, but it's too early to say for sure.
• As if John had felt my complaints about him not taking charge, during his solo he really stepped up.  I've mentioned before how Garcia-esque he is on this song, in that he doesn't really solo but instead just lets the song flow from his fingers, but now he was doing so with just a little more authority than in the past.
• Ok, last time I'll rave about Jeff in this review.  We and our neighbors and knew as soon as Eyes started that Jeff was going to get to do a solo, and as we expected it was the highlight of the night.  He was very methodical in building it up, and the band patiently let him take his time.  As he brought the music higher and higher the rest of the band started to chime in, until once again he and John were locked together in dual solos, creating a heady, jazzy blend of music that had us dancing and crying.
• Oteil took his customary solo as well, and this was definitely the best version of it I've seen.  With sparse accompaniment from Jeff and the drummers, he channeled music from another plane of existence, playing power chords and arpeggios in quick and brilliant succession before the rest of the band jumped in and brought the song to a close.
• Drums >
• The drummers seem to have a lot less drums in their playpen this tour, with neither the big thunder drums nor the big electronic ones appearing behind them (maybe they're hidden).
• Mickey immediately got working on the Beam, joined by Oteil who did some very cool feedback against it on a different bass than he normally plays.  Billy drummed along to the pulsing and droning rhythms that those two Pranksters were putting out, with Micky running from drums, to sound effect pad, and back the Beam whenever he felt he could put something new into the mix.  Jeff was also present on his synthesizer for most of Drums.
• Space >
• Billy took off for a short bit while Mickey kept the Beam roaring and the rest of the band came out to noodle a bit.  Soon it went from a loud and chaotic maelstrom to being more delicate, with John teasing something that I just can't place.
• Bobby was playing a different white guitar that I also can't place, and I think he first started using it for Space and beyond this past Winter.  Soon he slowed things down a little and counted everyone off and I knew I was about to cross another song off my Dead & Company list.
• Stella Blue (BW)
• I had only seen one version of this from Furthur 6 years ago, so this was a real treat for me.  While I bet John or Oteil would sing this beautifully,  this is one Garcia tune that I think Bobby does a fantastic job on.  His odd timing works very well when the band has rehearsed it, and it sounded like they had because once again they were very tight.
• Bob's white guitar was sounding great on this one, with him getting some really beautifully spooky sounds out of it.  John's guitar work was delicate up until he needed to solo, when he really made that thing cry.  Once again he played the song in a way Garcia never would, yet still totally worked.
• The outro jam was just exactly perfect, with the whole band really focusing on and playing off each other, peaking triumphantly again and again.
• Touch of Grey (BW & JM)
• This was a surprising transition, and got everyone up and dancing a bit.  For whatever reason this band has trouble getting this song to really kick, but this was probably one of their better versions at it.  And even jaded and picky Deadheads can't help but sing along with the final chorus.

     The band surprised us by coming out and taking a bow immediately, and leaving the stage.  Surely there must be an encore, right??  But the lights turned on and an army of men in hardhats rushed the stage and started tearing everything down.  Some of us were in shock, but then the magic word started circulating in the crowd: "curfew!"  That was a bit of a bummer, but it had still been a pretty long concert, and a pretty front-heavy second set to boot.  We hung out in our seats for a while with our new friends, figuring we weren't going to get anywhere soon, and we needed to meet up with a friend we were driving home.  The crowd situation was truly apocalyptic getting out of the venue, let alone getting out of the parking lot, but we were in no rush, and I live just around the corner so I was going to get home in no time either way.

     All in all this definitely wasn't the best Dead show I've seen, but it was a hell of a lot of fun.  I was able to go into this one with little to no stress or expectations, and therefore there was nothing to be disappointed about; I had just seen a Dead show, how good!  So what if some parts were a bit sloppy and John didn't always do exactly what I wanted, everyone still had so much fun and the band did play some truly spectacular music.  Writing this now after watching the webcast of the next show in Camden, NJ, it looks like whatever shakiness I saw was just from it being the tour opener.  We are seeing them again in two weeks, and that show is bound to be fantastic!  So until then, let me know what shows you're seeing, and how you feel about the tour so far.