Grateful Dead

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Set 1-Truckin’: band sounds good, short but very good jam; VG opener -Sugaree: Jerry’s voice sounds great, no real solo -Mr. Charlie: excellent Jerry solo -Jack Straw: alternating verses, the way it SHOULD be; short 1st solo; Jerry laying down some nice licks; Jerry soars in the 1 run 2d solo; you can feel the power of this song growing -Tenn Jed: short couple of solos then excellent longer final solo -Chinatown Shuffle: very good version -BT Wind: another fine version of this tune on the tour -China Cat: high tone in the 1st solo, just 1 run, very nice; 2d solo, rising higher, smile, effortless Jerry, great; jam-Jerry does a brisk take off but they turn to the transition jam quickly, Phil & Bobby dancing around one another -Rider: solo-1 strong, powerful run; calm & cool delivery on headlight verse, neat and unique; jam is very good but only 1 run -El Paso: good -Hurts Me Too: Pig harp solo followed by bluesy Jerry -You Win Again: great Jerry solo -Playing: jam 3:03 – 8:20, quick run around the main theme, Jerry starts bending notes then takes off slowly, but definitely, varying his technique, changing his tone, deep to high, beautiful; soft landing on the reprise -Good Lovin’: “Ow!” from Pig; jam 2:22 – 6:43, gets very interesting at the end of the jam then Pig starts in, big build up back to the main theme, VG version -Casey: good 1st set Highlights: Mr. Charlie, You Win Again, Playing Set 2 -Sitting on Top: fun set opener, VG short 1st solo, fast & hot 2d solo w/ 3 runs; excellent version -MM Uncle: nice version -Ramble: 2d run of the 1st solo is incredible -Beat It on Down: VG solo -Dark Star: tuning lets you know the band means business; intro, dance around the main theme, Jerry seems exploratory; Jerry hits some high notes and takes us out, staying within the structure, excellent stuff, getting a little further out; soft, delicate but positive notes from Jerry: quiet, Jerry finds a groove and the band follows, Phil is hot, jam gets deeper, great stuff, lands back at main them which the band grooves on for a couple of minutes; 1st verse at 14:40; space after the verse, harsh notes from Phil, high notes from Jerry, ticking clock from Jerry, much darker than 1st jam, less structured, on their own in space, things get quiet, slow build-up to chaos, Jerry is on fire here, takes it about as far as a listener can bear (in a good way), some beautiful, calming notes at the end, lands in Dew (awesome landing), great version -Morning Dew: get into the lyrics pretty quickly; great solo; Jerry so soft/heartfelt on return to the verses; outro starts slowly with Jerry playing some beautiful high notes, Phil is all over it, Jerry tugging at more than his guitar strings, speeds up, so powerful, uplifting, the good ol’ Grateful Dead; great version -Drums: short -Sugar Mag: time to dance; band is still in top form; Bobby forgetting some lyrics; solo- high notes from Jerry, excellent short solo; jam-run through the main theme, Jerry bends a note and they are off, you can almost see Jerry smiling, confident licks, excellent jam; a few seconds of silence before Sunshine DD -Sing Me Back Home: perfect placement, love that little riff before the chorus, get some Donna on “come alive!”, very nice solo, love the harmonies at the end -Saturday: band still has some gas, cool & unique solo from Jerry, hot jam and finish 2d set highlights: Sitting on Top, Ramble, Dark Star > Dew, Sugar Mag Overall: this is a very strong show. The 1st set only has a few great versions (Charlie, You Win, yet another Playing) but almost everything is very good (China > Rider, Good Lovin’ especially). The second set has standout versions of Sitting on Top, Ramble, Dark Star > Dew, and Sugar Mag. Heck, even Saturday Night is really good. Great show, 9.5/10.