Take You to the Leader of the Band

     With just about a month before Dead & Company's "Summer" Tour, I thought I'd put forward an idea that I don't think is too controversial, and I'll be shocked if anyone disagrees with me.  While I often describe Dead & Co as Bobby's band, and while Mayer is obviously the lead guitarist and the main soloist, neither of them are truly the leaders of the band.  The true leader of the band, and perhaps the most powerful man in the Dead world, is Jeff Chimenti.

     Jeff got introduced to the Dead world when he joined Ratdog in 1997, and has played in every iteration of the Dead since 2002, at first being partnered up with Rob Barraco, but they soon realized (and I'm editorializing here) that he could do the job of two keyboardists and then some.  Not only has he played in the main Dead bands and the individual members' own solo projects, but he even has his own group Golden Gate Wingmen with some other Dead alums.  At this point he has played just about every song in the Dead's canon, including rarities like "What's Become of the Baby," "Rosemary," and "Blues for Allah."  While Phil has traditionally been the driving force behind reviving old songs and plays a much larger section of the repertoire than Dead & Company, I think that Chimenti at this point knows the music better than any other living person, and is truly the heir apparent to the Dead's legacy.

     While he doesn't get that many actual leads in Dead & Company, Jeff is really the one that keeps the music going.  In a band like Furthur where the band as a whole seemed more familiar and confident with the songs he could step out and play outside of the songs' traditional confines, but with Dead & Co he instead functions as the backbone of the band.  He provides a solid structure and outline for how the song progresses, especially in songs that are newer to them.  Their most recent tour in Fall of 2017 saw them break out a number of songs, and ones like "Greatest Story Ever Told" or "Spanish Jam" were incredibly Jeff heavy.  Some of these are songs that the drummers and Bobby have been playing for over fifty years, but with "Spanish Jam" especially Jeff was absolutely the driving force keeping everyone on track.  And when even his best efforts don't keep the drummers or Mayer in line, he can slip into whatever erroneous groove they've created and steer the train back onto the right tracks.

     Not only has Jeff mastered the piano, rhodes, organ, and synthesizer, but he is also a good singer.  Now this is a spot where he definitely has to concede to Mayer and Oteil that they are better, but the fact that he can not only play anything with keys on it but he can also provide harmonies and back-up vocals puts him at the top of the list of the Dead's keyboardists.  Brent was great on the organ and synth, and sang some great songs really well, but I always thought that his palette was too electronic in a cheesy 80's kind of way (don't even get me started on Vince's 90's sounds).  His early electric piano sounds almost empty to me, and his mid-80's MIDI sounds really kill my buzz.  In '81 and '82, and then from like '87-'90, he had a slightly more full-bodied sounding keyboard, with the later years actually having some good MIDI tones.  He was of course a master of the organ himself, and Chimenti often plays his same organ.  But I think that Jeff has the advantage of 50+ years of hindsight to look back on the music and really get a feel for what songs are better for which type of keyboard, and I think is overall more versatile.

     Keith has of course always been the piano player, with his grand piano from '71-'77 being the best sounding keys to ever be played with the Grateful Dead.  While comparing his piano skills to Jeff's is really more of a difference in taste than a comparison of skill, I will say that Jeff is way more confident and up front with his playing, whereas Keith was pathologically shy and froze up during some of his solos.  Keith was great at creating a tapestry behind the band that they could play off of, feeding into and off of Jerry and creating shimmering patterns in the music.  But it is no secret that Keith's playing and enthusiasm tapered off severely in the late 70's, resulting in several trainwrecks and, even worse, boring moments in the music; at least with a trainwreck there's a difference in musical opinion and some excitement.  He also allegedly resisted the band's efforts to get him to branch out into synthesizers and electronic tones, and while a purist might defend that decision, and while I disparaged some of Brent's tones, I think that Keith basically forced himself out of the band by being a stick in the mud.  I think when they took away his real piano and stuck him with a tiny little electronic thing he really deflated, and you can hear that in the music.

     Some people prefer Bruce Hornsby's piano to Keith's, which I think is nonsense, but so is a lot of what I think.  He is definitely a great pianist, can sing very well, and can play accordion, which is a bonus.  He definitely did enjoy playing with the Dead, and was in The Other Ones before Chimenti was, but I think he just can't...swing as well as Jeff.  He did love to play "Dark Star," and of course played very well with Jeff at Fare Thee Well, but he just feels to straight to me.  It would be cool to see him and Mayer play together, they both have pop sensibilities, and could play a neat ten-minute "Dark Star."  But for that classic "tear down the universe down" vibe, I just don't think Hornsby can provide all the time, whereas Jeff needs just the slightest provocation for him to get into total metaphysical music that transports your mind.

     As a sort of counter-point, I was not always on the Chimenti Bus.  In fact the complaint I left my first Furthur show with was that the keyboardist didn't seem to know the songs!  Looking back, I see now that I was naive, and just hadn't been exposed to any live Dead before.  I also hadn't really gotten into jazz yet, despite playing jazz trumpet in high school, and Jeff has a lot of jazz stylings in his music.  He'll play chords that are just a little dissonant, and I originally thought that was because he was just playing the wrong chord, but now know that he's just thinking outside the box, which is what this music is all about.

     Like I said up top, I don't expect this to be a controversial opinion, but I'm curious to see if any of you disagree or have anything to add, so feel free to leave a comment below.  I think that Dead & Company is a great band, but the only way for them to reach their full potential is to let Jeff get out there!  He's done a great job keeping the foundation of the songs strong, but by now hopefully the members of the band are all confident enough that Jeff can play more leads and stretch the music in new directions without losing anyone along the way.

Ghost Light (Spooky) 2018-04-14, Thunder Road

     This past Saturday we went to see the latest jamband supergroup to hit the scene, Ghostlight, with Tommy Hamilton (guitar/vocals), Holly Bowling (keys/vocals), Raina Mullen (guitar/vocals), Scotty Zwang (drums/vocals), and Steve Lyons (bass/vocals).  They were playing at this new place in Somerville called Thunder Road, where we saw previously Midnight North (with a much smaller crowd).  It's a funky little place with a big bar, tv, and tables upstairs, and a smaller bar and pool table downstairs.  The stage is this tiny little thing that makes even a small band like this one seem pretty cramped, but the sounds and lines of sight are very good.

     We have of course seen Tommy with JRAD a bunch of times, but had only seen Holly online solo or playing with the likes of Phil Lesh.  Raina is from Tommy's other band (American Babies,) but the other two were totally new to us.  We got there early to eat, and more importantly to get a good spot over against the wall where there were coat hooks and a ledge for drinks.  We made friends with Joe, who was sitting next to us and was at Midnight North as well, and a taper who showed up (Craig?  Sorry if you're reading this, I can't remember your name) who had recorded them in Bridgeport the previous night and promised us we were in for a real treat.  While I haven't been able to find "Craig"'s recording, this just posted when I started writing, and is listed as and sounds like a Matrix recording, which is great!
https://archive.org/details/gl2018-04-14.matrix

     To get my one complaint out of the way, which really is a petty complaint, if you're going to advertise a show as starting at 8, you should at least be on stage by 9.  We got to watch the Bruins kicking ass in the playoffs while we waited though, and once the band came on stage the night only got better.

Set 1

Jam > Lead Weight > Tangled Up in Blue > * If You Want It (title unconfirmed) > Lead Weight

Set 2

Epic Battle Between Light & Dark > Untitled (D Riff), Isosceles > Greatest Story Ever Told %**, Boy > Epic Battle Between Light & Dark, 100 Years Ago > Untitled (D Riff)

Encore

Old Time Religion ***

* w/ Lead Weight & Isosceles teases

** w/ untitled (D Riff) teases

*** w/ Greatest Story tease

% Ghost Light Debut (Grateful Dead)

     I won't do a song for song recap for this, and part of the reason for that is also one of the reasons I loved this show so much.  With the obvious exceptions of "Tangled Up in Blue" and "Greatest Story," these were all songs that I, and much of the crowd, was totally unfamiliar with.  At straight-forward Dead shows, and even JRAD, the whole crowd knows the songs so well the you can tell when you're hearing a good or bad version of the song, or you notice if the band does something with a song that usually isn't done.  Here though, everyone was figuring out the music as it happened, which really allowed us to get lost in the magic of the moment and dance our asses off.

     "Lead Weight" was one of (two of, technically) my favorite songs of the night, and I was immediately impressed with Raina Mullen's playing and singing.  I was expecting her to be a third lead player, but she played a very solid rhythm guitar instead, leaving the leads to Tommy and Holly.  While Holly did some directing and coordinating of her own, it seemed that Tommy was the leader of the band, which was a cool change of pace from JRAD where Joe is obviously in charge.  "Tangled Up in Blue" really had people dancing and singing along, and then they took a hard left turn into deep space and cosmic improvisation.  I couldn't believe it when they came back into the song, it felt like we had travelled to a different galaxy completely where a structured song was a ridiculous notion.

     I know I said I wouldn't a song-by-song review, by "If You Want It" was another highlight for me and I would be remiss to skip over it.  This is an original song that is surprisingly well matured already, and the crowd picked up on a great place for a call-and-response "woo!" in the chorus, which had the band beaming.  Here's a crowd of people hearing a song for the first time, and not only are they dancing to it and having a great time, they're paying enough attention to help craft the music with the band!

     It was a short break, but it gave the sold out house plenty of time to go smoke, get another drink, and hit the bathrooms.  Soon the lights went down (they were never very bright to begin with) and the band came back on, and already people were cheering for them to play all night.  They opened with a song I didn't recognize, but is apparently an American Babies original.  "Untitled (D Riff)" was another of my absolute favorites at this show, so I was glad to have it reprised like my other favorite!  Obviously everyone went wild when they slipped "Greatest Story" in, with Raina and Tommy belting it out along with everyone else in the room.  They jammed on the theme of the song for a bit, and then took it into totally unknown regions, extrapolating off of a single riff that Tommy just would not let go of.

     A lot of songs they played were vaguely reminiscent of Dead songs (or maybe I was just projecting).  The song "Boy" that they played next it sounded a lot like "Morning Dew."  Maybe Tommy will see this and tell me I'm crazy, but I swear that he and I locked eyes when this one was starting up, and I gave him a "no" of surprise and hope and cocked my head, to which he also cocked his head and winked; obviously it wasn't "Dew," but the similarities to it allowed for some great solo work.  Tommy was at his liquid-silver-best this night, just letting the music flow from his guitar unadulterated by ego or mistakes.  Holly totally lived up to and surpassed our expectations for seeing her live; we have really only seen snippets of her playing in bands, most of what we knew being her playing acoustic piano solo.  To see her really let loose on synth, rhodes, organ, and more on top of her regular piano, and to even sing, was jaw-dropping.  She and Tommy truly are two of the most vibrant musicians in the scene today, and the back and forth that they had going created some of the most intricate musical shapes I have ever experienced.  It had the dense, jazzy quality that something like Phil Lesh's Q can create, but the pure fun and wildness of a JRAD show, all contained in the totally unique package of Ghost Light!

     I haven't said enough about Steve and Scotty, who are fundamental parts of this great band.  Scotty did a great job of keeping the beat in interesting ways, playing some nice fills and showing off some cool frills without going up his own ass like some jamband drummer seem to.  Steve was excellent, mostly laying down a groove for the rest of the band, but at other times almost playing leads while steering the band in their deep space explorations.  They both sang some great backing harmonies too.

     They closed the show with a traditional song that whoever the original artist(s) may have been would have been blown away by and sent us all home beaming.  I highly recommend seeing this band if their tour is coming remotely near you, but if you miss out on them this time around, Tommy made it sound like they'll be sticking around and doing some more tours, which I am all for!  It's great to have a new band with new material, especially when it's a jamband that's writing songs as good as these.

Pickin' On Dave Part 2

     Since my recent hiatus, there have been six new releases in the Dave's Picks series.  These six include only the second such release from the 80's, and some famous shows in never-before heard quality.  So buckle in, and feel free to leave your own thoughts!  Note that while this looks dauntingly long, that's just because of the way the setlists are laid out, and I will not be addressing every song to try to save me.

(Disclaimer: I edited this in a few different programs, so the formats are basically all over the place and I can't ge them to stay fixed, so if something is a different bold font, don't think too much about it.)

Dave's Picks 20 (1981-12-09  Boulder, CO)

     As stated above, this is only the second 80's release in this series, perhaps Dave's attempt to mollify the 80's crowd.  As far as that goes, I can think of a few 80's shows that are better this one, but there's a certain energy here that comes from the band being at the end of their tour that really let's the show punch above its weight.  The recording is not as clean as other Dave's Picks, but I think that's just a symptom of the 80's, and probably the main reason more shows from that decade haven't been released.

• Cold Rain & Snow
• Jack Straw
• This one has a small breakdown before the final verse, but they manage to keep it from being a total train wreck, and pull it together to come to a climactic finish in the jam.
• Friend Of The Devil >
• Nicely played, but the sound on Bobby's guitar gets very fuzzed out and it seems like either a problem with his sound system or with the tape; not an intentional Bob buzz.
• Little Red Rooster
• Bird Song
• This was highly praised leading up to the release, and while it maybe didn't live up to how it was framed, this is a nice little "Bird Song" to get you through the day.  Not as far reaching as others, but a good groove to lose yourself in.
• Mama Tried >
• Mexicali Blues
• Some truly inspired soloing by Jerry here, much quicker on his feet than I typically credit him with post-'78.
• The sound in this one suddenly gets better, making me wonder if it had been getting worse the whole time, or if this is just a cleaner bit of soundboard.
• Candyman
• Cassidy
• Looks Like Rain
• China Cat Sunflower >
• I Know You Rider
• Bobby has clearly *ahem* taken his vitamins for this set, and has a lot to say beyond just his verses.
• Scarlet Begonias >
• Right at the beginning of the jam the recording dips back into some kind of Aud/Matrix, which is still very clean but definitely not the quality of sound you normally expect in a Dave's Picks.  Luckily the playing at this point is so good that you don't really notice unless you're listening carefully, and it rectifies itself within about a minute.
• Dave has talked a lot in the past about how you can break most "Scarlet > Fire"s down into 3 parts: the Scarlet, the Transition, and the Fire.  Here the Scarlet is a solid B, B+, but the Transition is a straight A.
• Fire On The Mountain >
• The Fire is another B+.  Instead of an expansive melt, it's more of a fast burn that stays real tight.
• Estimated Prophet >
• He's Gone >
• Brent's voice is in fine shape for this whole show, and it really shows on this tune.  1981 is probably the year that he really found his sound in the band.
• Drums >
• Space >
• The Other One >
• The sound is a bit fuzzy again at the start of this, but it resolves itself about halfway through.
• A nice transition out of "Space" with a good Phil intro.  While I much prefer the more far-reaching versions from the seventies, a lot of these early eighties ones pack one hell of a punch, and this is a prime example of that.  Some people pointed out that the "Satisfaction" here is longer than "The Other One," which seems wrong, but the payoff here is much greater so I don't fund it to be a problem
• Stella Blue >
• Around & Around >
• Good Lovin'
• U.S. Blues >
• Satisfaction
• While it must have been a thrill to see these guys do this at the time, what a mess!  I mean it's a fun mess, but don't tell Mick and Keith about this.

Dave's Picks 21 (1973-04-02  Boston, MA)

     This has always been a favorite show of mine, and not just because it's from Boston.  Like DaP 20, this show comes from the end of a long tour, and the band is fired up and ready to play.  This is a classic '73 show where it feels like they play just about every song they know, and just about each one is a stand-out performance.  That being said, there isn't really that much to say about most of the songs individually because they're all such good versions, so we'll get through this one quickly.  I've always wondered why they played the Garden instead of the Music Hall like they did the times before and after this, but I suppose that really doesn't matter...

• Promised Land
• Deal
• Mexicali Blues
• Brown-Eyed Women
• Beat It On Down The Line
• Row Jimmy
• This one actually does feel a bit staggered, Billy is doing some weird snare work that doesn't quite fit the typical rhythm of the song.  But the song was only a few months old at this point though, so they were probably just experimenting with its layout.
• Looks Like Rain
• Wave That Flag
• Box Of Rain
• A great version of Phil's best song, and unfortunately one of the last ten versions of before it was scrapped until the eighties.  I guess Phil didn't feel as confident in his voice, but if this show is any indication he was still singing well in the Spring...weird.
• Big River
• China Cat Sunflower >
• The "Feelin' Groovy Jam" had been introduced to the transition jam earlier in this tour, and it still feels pretty new here.
• While there are great "China > Rider"s earlier than this, Spring of '73 - Fall of '74 is the peak time for this pairing if you ask me.  Bob's solo had fully evolved, the "Feelin' Groovy Jam" extended and improved the transition, and the band just sounded so smooth and mature.
• I Know You Rider
• You Ain't Woman Enough
• A favorite rarity of mine from Donna, and something to let the band show how flexible and dynamic their sound was at this point in their career.  They could bust out a honky-tonk ramble, or melt your face with monster jams!
• Jack Straw
• Don't Ease Me In
• Playing In The Band
• Speaking of monster jams, find me a "Playing" from '72 to '74 that doesn't reach the stratosphere and I'll give you a dollar.  This one is no exception, and doesn't have a single flub or flaw in it.
• There are a couple of licks that Jerry plays that sound kind of proto-"Slipknot!," even though that particular riff wouldn't really coalesce for another year.
• Ramble On Rose
• Me & My Uncle
• Mississippi Half Step
• Greatest Story Ever Told
• Loose Lucy
• As Bobby pointed out a few times in his recent Duo Tour with Phil, this song underwent quite a few changes during its time in the rotation.  These early '73 versions are kind of slower and chunky, whereas the versions from '74 were sped up and peppy, but sill had the weird syncopation.  The versions from the 90's slowed back down but were more straightforward blues than the early ones.
• El Paso
• Stella Blue
• Around And Around
• Here Comes Sunshine >
• This is the real meat of the show, a crisp early "Sunshine" that goes into a crazy outro jam that never got paired with the song again.  Like with "Row Jimmy" before, they were clearly exploring these new songs on this tour to find what nook and crannies could be expanded upon.
• Jam >
• This is a very unique jam, it doesn't touch on any familiar themes like "Mind Left Body," "Spanish Jam," or Phil's weird jam in 6/4 that I don't think has its own name (if it does it's probably called "The Six" or something equally original).  It's just pure exploratory goodness with some great feedback breakdowns in it.
• Me And Bobby McGee
• Weather Report Suite Prelude >
• One thing I love about these early '73 shows is hearing Bobby try desperately to figure out what this song is going to be paired with.  There are some great pairings of it with "Dark Star," and this is a slightly more mature version, but it would ultimately be put on the shelf until Bobby completed the for the Fall tour.
• Eyes Of The World >
• Even though this song was just debuted during this tour, it's amazing how fast the band took to it.  Phil hadn't yet started soloing during the major chord sections of the outro jam, but the whole transition had already been solidified, including the riff in 7/4 time that eventually got transformed into "King Solomon's Marbles."
• Keith and Jerry especially stand out on this version, weaving around each other as if the same person was playing both instruments.
• China Doll
• Sugar Magnolia
• Casey Jones
• Johnny B. Goode
• We Bid You Good Night

Dave's Picks 22 & 2017 Bonus Disc (1971-12-07 & 06 Respectively, New York, NY)

     This show is from one of my favorite periods in Dead history, when they had both Pig Pen and Keith in the band.  From Fall of '71 to the end of Europe '72 the band still had it's original blues soul, while it was simultaneous expanding into the new psychedelic peaks that Keith would help the band reach.  Old songs were being brought back into the rotation, standards were being expanded upon, and new songs were being written almost faster than the band could play them; maybe that's part of the reason they just released them on the live Europe '72 record instead of taking them into the studio.

     The second Dave's picks of the year is always the biggest for the subscribers, because it comes with a bonus disc, meaning you usually get two complete shows.  The first two discs of this release are from December 7th, the third disc being the second set of the 6th, and the bonus disc being most of the first set of the 6th.  For my money the 6th is where it's at because it has more jams, but the playing all over both shows is so energized; Keith is clearly very glad to be in this band.

1971-12-07

 

• Cold Rain And Snow
• Beat It On Down The Line
• Mr. Charlie
• Sugaree
• Jack Straw
• Bobby was still taking all the verses at this point, and he sings it great.  It really is better with two people trading off though.
• Next Time You See Me
• Tennessee Jed
• This might be my new favorite "Tennessee Jed."  The combination of Pig's organ and Keith's piano is so well suited to this song and it's played with such enthusiasm.
• El Paso
• Brokedown Palace
• Run Rudolph Run
• A rarity from this December run.  While it's really just another Chuck Berry rocker, it's still always fun to hear Pig singing it.
• You Win Again
• Cumberland Blues
• Casey Jones
• Sugar Magnolia
• While the band was slowly moving towards what we now consider to be the traditional two set format, some songs like "Sugar Mags" and "Black Peter" were still being played in the middle of sets.
• Ramble On Rose
• Big Boss Man
• Mexicali Blues
• Brown-Eyed Women
• Me And My Uncle
• Smokestack Lightning
• Dave Lemieux held this up as possibly the best "Smokestack," and while I prefer the one from the Capitol Theatre in February, this one is undeniably hot stuff.
• I can't figure out why they didn't keep this one around into '72, I think it only would have gotten better.  It's a great blues song to jam on, and is different enough from "Lovelight" and "Caution," both of which were played in Europe to great success.
• As an anachronistic aside, goddam did Pig sing this better than Bobby ever has.
• Deal
• Truckin'
• It sounds like they were about to launch into something a little spacier like "The Other One" or "Dark Star" after this, but instead they bring it to a close citing technical difficulties (shocker).
• Not Fade Away >
• Goin' Down The Road Feeling Bad >
• The jam back into "NFA" gets a little stretched out here, which is a bit of a hallmark of '71, made even better by the addition of Keith to the band.
• Not Fade Away
• One More Saturday Night
• Bob was still singing some alternate verses at this point.

1971-12-06

• Truckin'
• Loser
• Mr. Charlie
• Jack Straw
• China Cat Sunflower > 
• I Know You Rider
• Tennessee Jed
• Mexicali Blues
• Black Peter
• Casey Jones
• Big Railroad Blues
• Me And My Uncle
• Ramble On Rose
• Playing In The Band
• They had been playing this song all year, but it was Keith's addition to the band that really changed the song forever.  While it had been a simple (or as simple as something in 10/4 can be) little rocker for the majority of the year, Keith really pushed the band to put the jam in the middle that the song later became known for.  While it wouldn't start to push the ten minute mark until the next year, Keith's influence would eventually bring the song to 40+ minutes
•  
  Cryptical Envelopment >
• While this song was really more suited to the sixties sound, versions like this with Keith are a fun glimpse at what could have been.
• Drums >
•  
  The Other One >
• This first part doesn't have any lyrics so could be called a Jam, but whatever.  They immediately drift into a very mellow kind of space instead of furiously charging through the song, which is nice.  Keith has definitely found his place in this song, and it's so fun to hear Jerry playing off of what he's doing
• Me And Bobby McGee >
• They never quite come back to Earth after the space of "The Other One" before this, and the solo here drifts a bit off track as a result, but the song stays together for a fairly unique version.
• The Other One >
• Jerry and Phil lead the way back into outer space immediately (with a little tuning up), and then the song starts to pick up momentum leading up to the first verse, and it stays pretty high-energy for the rest of it
• Wharf Rat
• One More Saturday Night
• Uncle John's Band

Dave's Picks 23 (1978-01-22  Eugene, OR)

     When they announced which show was being released for DaP 23 the comment section at dead.net lost its collective shit.  This has long been known as the "Close Encounters Show," for obvious reason.  Jerry had fallen in love with Spielberg's masterpiece, and you can hear him teasing the theme from the movie all the way back in December of '77.  While that stands out as the main event of this show, everything else they played this night is strong, confident, and mind blowing.  This period in early '78 is another of my favorites; Keith was playing with creativity and enthusiasm that hadn't really been heard from him for about a year, and the band was riding that creative wave.

• New Minglewood Blues
• Right off the bat you can tell this is going to be a high-energy show, Phil and Jerry practically explode into the opening of the song.
• Dire Wolf
• This show is after the infamous "Laryngitis Shows," where Jerry had totally lost his voice so Donna and Bob took all the lyrics.  While he has his voice back for this show, it is definitely not back up to 100%.
• Cassidy
• Peggy-O
• El Paso
• Tennessee Jed
• Another feature of '78 is that songs like this, "Jack Straw," and "Ramble on Rose" that had been kind of static pre-hiatus started to take on lives and twists of their own.  The solos were at least doubled in length, and the band had fully adapted to the two drummer set-up.  This allowed what were otherwise standard songs to become behemoths.
• Jack Straw
• Row Jimmy
• While this is typically more of a ballad and one of the Dead's more delicate songs, this one has so much power and energy to it that it's almost scary.
• The Music Never Stopped
• Bertha >
• Good Lovin'
• Ship of Fools
• Samson & Delilah
• My god, talk about explosive!  Phil is really hot this show, and he just demolishes his part on "Samson."
• Terrapin Station >
• Drums >
• The Other One >
• Once again, Phil's energy in this show is palpable, and nowhere is it more apparent than here.  He challenges everyone else in the band to follow him into the abyss, and they do it without hesitation.
• Close Encounters >
• This starts out with Jerry doing his solo space thing, where it's just him and his guitar simultaneously tying and unravelling the fabric of the music.
• He switches through some different filters until he has finds the one that lets him fill all the speakers in the arena, and starts to toy with the riff that the scientists in Close Encounters used to communicate with the aliens.  Then suddenly, after letting it quiet down for a bit, he cranks it back up and drops the riff on the crowd like a bomb.  If this doesn't knock you on your ass like a kick to the gut would, then there's something wrong with your speakers or your brain.
• Saint Stephen >
• The running start that Jerry takes from his solo space into "Stephen" is one of the most jaw dropping things he's ever done, and when the band kicks in right behind him you can't help but laugh and cry with surprised joy.
• The jam gets a little loose and almost gets away from them, but they weren't going to let anything slow them down this night and they manage to come thundering back in and get it together.
• Not Fade Away >
• They really stretch this one out, with Jerry leading the way from thunder rock to abstract jams with hypnotizing riffs.
• Around & Around
• U.S. Blues

 

Dave's Picks 24 (1972-08-25  Berkeley, CA)

      This show gets overshadowed a lot by the one the night before and the Veneta show two nights later, but it is truly incredible in its own right.  From the quality and content of the banter ("he had roses for lunch") it's pretty clear that there had been some dosing going around for this show, and it really comes through in the music.  While the band isn't quite as tight as they would be in a year, the music has that acid edge to that that's a little loose and really adventurous.

• Cold Rain And Snow 
• Black Throated Wind 
• He's Gone 
• This song was still maturing at this point, with no outro jam or transition into anything else, but still played very solidly.
• Beat It On Down The Line 
• Loser 
• El Paso 
• Black Peter 
• While there are certainly more epic versions post-hiatus, these pre-hiatus versions with Keith are my favorites.  It's more of a blues song than a power ballad, and Jerry's voice is so crisp and clean.
• Jack Straw 
• Friend Of The Devil 
• This song had just recently been revived after a two year hiatus, but you can't tell from listening to it.  It's not like it's a complex song, but they play it like they've been playing it every day since they wrote it.
• The Promised Land 
• Bird Song 
• This has got to be one of the best "Bird Song"s they ever played, just pure face melting goodness.
• Playing In The Band 
• This and the "Bird Song" above are the worst casualties of being in the shadow of the Veneta show.  Most people, if looking for one of these from this era, will go right to the rightly praised show from two nights later, but these truly cut from the same cloth.
• Bertha 
• Truckin' >
• The Other One >
• Phil has an extended solo out of "Truckin'" that shifts from formlessness into "The Other One" seamlessly and with authority.  Then he slams down on his intro run and it's off to the races!
• '72 is my favorite year for this song, especially these late Summer/early Fall performances.  It's the perfect balance between the typical theme of the song and black-hole-creating vortexes, with just the right amount of heavy feedback.
• Stella Blue
• One More Saturday Night
• Sugar Magnolia

 

Dave's Picks 25 (1977-11-06  Binghamton, NY)

     This is another show that has been famous for years, and I was thrilled when it was announced.  My first Dead show was at this same arena in Binghamton, so I've always felt like I had a special relationship with this show.  Upon hearing it again though it didn't quite live up to how I remembered it.  Keith is kind of zoned out for a lot of it and the playing isn't as tight as other shows from this period.  That being said, the worst thing you can do for a Dead show is go into it with expectations, so the fact that it didn't live up to mine doesn't mean it's not a good show; in fact it's a great one!  Like with the first couple we covered here this is from the end of the tour, so the band is busting out all the stops to rock this sucker to a close.

Mississippi Half-Step


• This song was a masterpiece practically as soon as the Dead wrote it, but it was the Fall '77 tour where it really became the monster it is today.  Jerry's bigger sound that he got out of Wolf really turned the music up to 11, and the valleys and peaks he was able to craft and explore got more and more magnificent.
Jack Straw


• A great "Jack Straw," but the real highlight is the duo of Bobby and Phil performing "Take a Step Back" afterward.  Phil has clearly had his fill of Heinekens, but luckily is still playing well.
Tennessee Jed
Mexicali Blues
Me and My Uncle
Friend of the Devil
New Minglewood Blues


• While Keith spends a lot of this show comping and maybe even napping, he really comes alive for this song with a great solo.
Dupree's Diamond Blues


• This must have been such a thrill for the folks at this show to see such an old gem being brought back.  It stayed in the rotation for just a few shows in '78, and then was brought back in the eighties more or less for good.
Passenger
Dire Wolf
Music Never Stopped
Samson and Delilah
Sunrise
Scarlet Begonias


• Jerry either breaks a string or his guitar goes out of whack during the early verses, so the rest of the band just kind of jams for a bit while he gets everything just exactly perfect.
• They dropped the "Ain't nothing wrong with the way she moves" verse during this tour, and it throws me off every time.  Did Jerry forget about it? Did they think it sounded better without it?  Either way, bring it back!
• Jerry's a little absent for part of the outro jam, but Bob takes the reins for a bit and keeps the song going.
Fire on the Mountain


• I think part of my discontent with this show upon going back to it is that "Scarlet > Fire"s in the Fall tour lack the molten gold feeling of the Spring ones with Jerry's Travis Bean guitar, and also fall short of the more powerhouse versions from '78.  The transition here just seems a bit forced for whatever reason.
Good Lovin'
St. Stephen


• Alright, enough complaining from me, from here on out it's all golden.
• This is the best kind of post-hiatus "St. Stephen," where they still do a jam in the middle instead of going right into "Not Fade Away."  Jerry really takes the lead in this jam, taking it into slightly spacier and darker territory than "Stephen" normally gets into, with Bob providing excellent counter-parts.
Drums
Not Fade Away


• While not as sprawling as the versions from May '77, this is still a burning version that has a nice melty transition into "Wharf Rat."
Wharf Rat


• This is a great, punchy performance, and Jerry absolutely lets loose in the solo sections.
St. Stephen
Truckin'


• Most people refer to this as the "Truckin'" from post-hiatus, and you can easily see why.  They return to the "Truck-splosion" a couple of times, building the jam to higher and higher peaks, until they finally bring it to a climactic finish.
Johnny B. Goode

     So that's all of the Dave's Picks we've gotten since I abandoned this poor little blog in the internet.  Let me know how you feel about these releases, or if I missed anything that needs to be pointed out in the comments below.  At this point we know what Dave's Picks 26 and the bonus disc are going to be, shows from 1971-11-17, and 1971-12-14, respectively.  While I haven't heard those shows, and don't want to spoil the setlists for your or me, the one tease I'll share is that this confirms my suspicion that Dave is more of a "The Other One" guy than a "Dark Star" guy, and I can relate!