Golden Hall - November 24, 1979

The only times I saw the band in California was this 2-night stand at Golden Hall. This was a great show - better than the night before. The cops insisted on hassling us for playing Frisbee while we waited to get in, but the staff inside were super friendly. The place only held a couple thousand people (if that), and there was a nice bar out back that would gladly serve you a drink in an actual glass - that's the only time that happened for me at a Dead show. The crowd went nuts when they opened with China Cat and the I Know You Rider was ripping. An outstanding Sugar Mag to close. We went home happy......

Set 1
-China Cat: great slow solo, very nice buildup in jam, definitely a highlight
-Rider: VG 1st solo, great 2d solo; Hot HOT start to show
-Mama: hot 2 run solo, VG version
-Mexiali: energy still very high
-Peggy: slow things down; solo-slow & pretty 1st 2 runs, beautiful 3d run, nice 4th run; VG version
-Cassidy: nice solo; great backup vocals by Brent; jam-Jerry soaring out of the gate, awesome
-Easy to Love: reward for Brent, short pretty solo, VG version
-Althea: solos are good but nothing special; outro is pretty hot though
-Passenger: good energy, screechy Bob solo, Jerry fans at end of the jam, VG version

Set 2
-Alabama: energetic, nice solo in the middle
-GSET: band really playing off each other in the jam
-Ship: solo 3:55 – 6:35 , very good (close to great), Bobby tries to return to chorus halfway through; VG version
-Terrapin: wonderful solo, despite some flubs; transition jam is short but pretty spacey for Terrapin, Jerry hits some beautiful highs at the end and just before the “since the end is never told” verse; great tension and excitement; Jerry is unbelievable from about 10:44 -11:14; great version
-Playing: jam 3:15 – 14:37 (end) , spacey right away, loses a little steam, then comes on strong with a crazy peak around 11:30; VG version
-Drums:
-Space: very short
-Lost Sailor: well-done
-St of Circumstance: good energy, toe-tapping
-Wharf: good solo 6:00 – 7:20; good outro 8:17 – 9:34
-Sugar Mag: let’s dance; short, soaring 1st solo; excellent jam 3:05 – 5:25; VG version
-Saturday: good rockin’ finish

Overall: Energetic show, band sounds like they are enjoying themselves. Highlights are China > Rider, Cassidy & Terrapin. VG show, 1st set very hot, 1st half of 2d set too, then post-drums a little less so, but still pretty good. 8.5/10 overall.