Internationales Congress Centrum - October 19, 1990

Philippe drove the bus, we had Scott whom I met at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, and his beau Kara; there was Hugh and a couple of others on board. Jill flew in from California and joined the tour at this point, blissing us all out. When we rolled into Berlin, there still were obvious signs of the big political events from ten months earlier. The Berlin Wall was down, and remnants of the crumbled concrete were still there. Christmas presents for back home! The ICC was an even smaller venue than the Gruggehalle. It was also an all-seated show with plush congressional seats, complete with pull down trays to get all of our things together neatly for the show. Given the wall coming down, everyone was calling for Shakedown, and we got it right after Let The Good Times Roll. It was the highlight of the set, and for me the rest of the set was fun and pretty mellow. A woman in the front row changed her baby’s diaper on the stage, which was a first for me. Went up front during the intermission, and met some cool Germans who were completely blown away by the scene. I stuck around with them for the second set, three rows in front of Phil Lesh’s shoelaces. A blistering Scarlet Fire opened up, Looks Like Rain quenched it a bit, and then Jerry took us all to Terrapin. The intimacy of these European venues was magical; my memories of these shows always recall that distinctive aspect. Billy and Mickey played an inspired drumz, and the Other One was coming around. It was a strong version, but the strongest was yet to come: after Wharf Rat, I figured Round and Round would close out the set, but they then launched into Sugar Magnolia….I have a tendency to overextend on my “favorite” versions, but this one was un-freaking-believable. Phil was crunchy and LOUD. Linus, a German I met at the intermission told me years later that this Sugar Mag was his all time favorite, anywhere. How true. We got back on the bus, drove around Berlin and settled into one of all too many wastelands in the east which would eventually grow into part of the city.

Listening to this one in its entirety on Sirius XM as we speak. The fist set is coming to a close with a rollicking version of "Deal". I LOVE the set opener, "Let the Good Times Roll." Hornsby is a terrific player and his backing vocals are tremendous on this tune -- he even sings lead on one verse. Tons of energy. A fun, fun, fun first set. And just look at the setist for the second. Need I say more? How 'bout a release of this one? I don't think there is an official release from Europe '90 (unless memory fails me). Can't hurt to ask... :/