Grateful Dead

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Set 1: Greatest Story opener, very hot solo; short Deal but 2 nice solos; Mr Charlie: another very good solo; Big Boss Man: extended harmonica solo followed by JG solo, nothing special; Sugaree is pretty and well-done but nothing much to the solos; Jack Straw-different lyrics at the beginning, Jerry doesn’t take any verses, not much of a jam; China Cat: nice 25 sec 1st solo, incredible 1:10 2d solo, good segue jam (excellent version of China Cat); Rider: smile-inducing 30 sec solo, same for “headlight” verse, another really good 35 sec jam leading into chorus reprise. Playing: 10 mins, jam starts at 3 min mark, Jerry plays some long spooky notes, riffs on the main theme, then blasts off fast & furiously, not straying too far from the theme but getting out there nonetheless, return to the main theme at 7:15 mark (excellent version); excellent harmonica solo in Next Time You See Me; BE Women: just 1 (nice) 20 sec run in the solo, as on the first night; LL Rain is slow and Jerry's steel pedal creates a different sound, like the second night, languid, enjoyable; Big RR Blues: high-energy, solid; set ends with a solid Casey Highlights: GSET, Mr. Charlie, CC > Rider, Playing 1st set overall: starts off pretty hot then the band marks time in the middle with solid, professional versions until China > Rider and Playing, before ending the set with more solid, professional music. Overall, 8.5, 9/10 Set 2: opens with 15 min+ Good Lovin’, very good 1:30 min 1st jam, down & dirty but spacey 4:00 min 2d jam, excellent version. Ramble on Rose is next, lots of power and energy, nice 35 sec solo. The second set proper begins with Truckin’, first jam from the 5:00-8:00 mark, riffing on the main theme, very nice, then the chorus and the second jam, which gets spacey quickly, becomes increasingly jazzy, both Phil & Keith are strong presences, overall a very mellow but exquisite jam, excellent version. Hints at The Other One but goes into drums, which leads into Other. The Other One: 25+, good opening jam, 7:00 mins, building back to main theme and first vocals, great jam afterwards, certainly touches on the Mind Left Body Jam, quite beautiful; jam then moves into deep space, discordant notes, this eventually turns back into a short jam on the main riff and the second vocals, bit of a cryptical reprise after the vocals to end the song. Awesome version of The Other One. Landing at Comes a Time is a bit clumsy, very heavy bass line throughout, nice jam from 5:45 mark to 6:45 mark, good but not great version overall. It looks great on paper (Comes a Time out of Other) but something wasn’t right, possibly the tempo (not that it is a bad version, and maybe I was expecting too much from a favorite song). On to Sugar Mag, hot exuberant jam leads to Sunshine Daydream. Brokedown Palace: opening has the vibe that Comes a Time should have had, Bobby’s rhythm sounds great here, perfect tempo, very short but heartfelt solo. Show ends with a rocking Saturday Night. Highlights: Good Lovin’, Truckin’, Other One Overall, this is a hot show. VG show, 9/10, the best of the tour so far.

The day that changed my life seeing the Dead play at my own home city