Who's up for a revolutionary evolutionary ride? DAVE'S PICKS VOLUME 30: FILLMORE EAST, NEW YORK, NEW YORK 1/2/70 captures the Grateful Dead as they make their first foray from the experimental 60s into their early 70s acoustic Americana period. Yes, this one is a little bit country and a little bit (psychedelic) rock and roll.
When the "Magnificent Seven" - Pigpen on percussion, T.C. on keys - first took the stage on 1/2/70, evidence was clear that the trip was about to take a turn. From their western wears to the twang in Jerry’s “broken-string blues,” it appeared they'd brought the Bakersfield sound to the Big Apple. They worked through much of what would become Workingman's Dead, stunning the crowd with laid-back numbers like "Uncle John's Band," "Casey Jones," and "Black Peter." Just the same, they satisfied 60s stalwarts with magical versions of "Dark Star," "St. Stephen," and "That's It For The Other One." Sonic alchemy, indeed!
DAVE'S PICKS VOLUME 30: FILLMORE EAST, NEW YORK, New York 1/2/70 has been rounded out with a bit of 1/3/70 (the subscribers-only bonus disc features the bulk of 1/3/70). It was recorded by the great Owsley "Bear" Stanley and has been lovingly mastered to HDCD specs by Jeffrey Norman.
DAVE'S PICKS VOLUME 30 is limited to 20,000 individually-numbered copies*.
*Limited to 2 per order. Very limited quantity available.
Hamburg
Mr Heartbreak, I'm pleased you picked up on that reference. Indeed, he deserves better than his ex bandmates have given him in the Press. I was sure Mind-Ledt-Body would get it!
I'm on to 4/29/72.
The opening Playing in the Band only has a four minute jam section. I know it took them some time to build up the jam on this one, but I guess I didn't realize how short the actual jam sections are. Well, the last few on the tour stretch out a bit longer. Then of course by '74, they went on for a half hour regularly, and Kreutzmann couldn't remember which huge jam song he was in the middle of (Long Strange Trip quote).
I've decided I like they 1972 Sugarees best, even if 5/28/77 is my favorite (19 minute, huge solo); but generally speaking, '72 is the year for me on this one. Short and sweet. I think that's the theme on most early Grateful Dead songs for me. In 71 & 72, everybody was still playing guitars that I liked, and all the right backup vocalists we're involved at the right times.
First UJB of the tour on this show. That's balls. Nine shows in before they play UJB. Then they only played it four more times in Europe. In hindsight I guess they always played this tune sparingly.
First He's Gone to feature the middle 8 / winds don't blow so strange verse. I think I'll always enjoy Rockin the Rhein's performance the best, even without the middle 8. My dog has no nose... in any event, I think it took them until summer to really get that part well oiled. Right around Berkeley.
Starting with the Dusseldorf show on 4/24, they changed up the intro to Black-Throated Wind, from a little drum roll thingy to a guitar strum thingy that sounds almost identical to Jack Straw. When I first got into the Dead, I couldn't tell the difference until Jerry either went into the BTW riff or the Jack Straw improv fill. And I used to think, man, how do they keep from getting mixed up when they're playing it live? The answer is they didn't. This is the one they mixed up. Jerry plays the Jack Straw fill and Bobby sings the BTW verse. Jerry doesn't play the BTW riff until the second verse. I always get a kick out of this, thinking they probably figured nobody would ever notice. Little did they know their legend would overtake their anonymity.
And of course it's Dark Star night. Lots of cacophony on this one - Probably not one of my favorites. They hit the Feeling Groovey riff early, but leave it behind pretty quickly. They hit the main Dark Star theme at the halfway mark. Jerry throws in a little Caution riffing somewhere around 23 minutes. Keith is audible at times. How I would love to interview every last one of them while listening to these ancient Dark Stars.
Caution does eventually appear for one of only five appearances, if my memory serves me. I'm trying to think if these are the only ones to feature Keith, before Pigpen died. In any case, I like the piano and organ duo, despite Keith's being mixed low or not at all. I lean towards the Europe 72 Cautions, but I admit I don't know the early ones nearly as well. Except for the 30 minute romp from the FW bonus disc. Any great Cautions you guys want to throw them away, I'll be sure to listen to them soon. Thank you. Bomp>Bomp>BOMMMB!
China Rider - always welcome in a set list. They didn't play it quite as long on the Europe 72 tour, but it was about as tight as can be, and the Rider vocals we're stunning every time.
Ahh mid eighties...
L.M.G.; be well brother, may the four winds be with you!
Jim, astute analysis as usual. 83 was such a transitional year in many ways, some I don’t think many folks realize.
Yes JG was starting to really show signs of “health” issues. Musically, it seamed like they were starting to get a little looser, perhaps a little weirder? So because of both variables there was inconsistency. But we liked that go for broke vibe, and occasionally stumble and falling added to the excitement. That’s what I don’t like about 77, it’s too dam tidy, it’s too professional, too clean, I know that sounds nuts, but too me that’s not what the dead were about....don’t get me wrong, I totally get why many consider this the Dead at their best.
So Brent had meshed for four years at this point, so compared to say 80 or 81 where songs are more short and tight, it seamed to me like they were melting around the edges more.
They also were going through huge technical changes that I think factor in way more than most would think about.
Phil was using the new Modulus 6 string and new gear, Weir had new stuff, most importantly they now were using the mighty Ultra Sound Meyers PA and monitors full time.This was awesome but it was definetly a process getting a handle on all this. I think this is why 83 sometimes sounds so funky...they hadn’t used it all enough to 1) collect enough acoustical data from the different venues and 2) totally learned/adjusted technique for this ridiculous, amazing new system/technology. Add to that the whole cassette master thing, and well, yea, sometimes it’s not so hot. On the flip side there are also some awesome matrix tapes from this year....but as Jim says it’s all over the place in 83.
They also were starting to use the new vari lights full time this year too, and they had switched sides on stage only a year earlier...so much was going on that year, like many of the transitional years, and it showed, for good or for ill.
Hell, one could argue the whole long trip was a constant transition, with of course certain times being more pronounced I.e., personnel changes, but a whole new P.A. system and monitors cannot be overlooked!
Like you state, this process seamed to continue, both the good changes and the ahem, bad, through 84 and into 85.
I recall also feeling like the whole scene was changing too. Like it was all getting bigger and better, but crazy and almost out of control, like that train jumping the tracks....to me 85 was when it sorta peaked. All that process that started in full back in 83 seemed to come to fruition. They were breaking out more psychedelic stuff, and getting weirder. Anyone who was on that 85 summer tour hopefully can relate?
We went from super laid back scene at10k hockey rinks and half empty sheds to the madness of 2 around the clock days at Toga, then Hershey and Merriweather. Too much of everything was just enough! By 86 they started playing more stadiums, and it all just kept growing. The band, us, the scene, it was nuts, but like all things of hubris and excess it went too far. Throw in a hit record and crowds of uninitiated and by 87 it was over. Not the whole deal but that little wave ala HST in fear in loathing., that to me peaked in 85.
Yes they could be sloppy and sometimes Jer sounds pretty ruff, but didn’t they always when they were going for it, trying to find the edge? More HST; “you don’t really know the edge unless you go over”....
And yes we all got too big, and perhaps sometimes outta hand, but wasn’t that part of it? “Too much of everything...”, I don’t know what I’m going for, but I’m gonna go for it for sure”....
All I’m saying is it was a great time to be in your twenties, on the road, and high with the Dead!
Until it wasn’t, but luckily they played through it and came out the other side even stronger and better as we all know how great 89 through 90, 91? perhaps into 92? was.
Sorry to ramble, just in a mood this AM and Jim’s post brought out the old member berries and nostalgia of perhaps the greatest time in my life, sniff, sniff 😢 ok enough, Onward!
Mid 80s-Oroborous
Nice review of what it was like seeing The Dead in the mid 80's. There was so little coverage of the band in those years, in England, that I thought they'd split up ! Then in 1987 I saw a bootleg tape for sale in a music paper of a show from that year, and started digging around. And here I am.
4/28/71 Fillmore East Anniversary
Tom Constanten joining in on Dark Star>St Stphen>NFA>GDTRFB>NFA...... Good Hard to Handle, Cryptical>Drums>Other One>Wharf Rat... Overshadowed by the next night, and the prior night you had the Beach Boys. (I am a big fan of Pet Sounds)
Speaking of special guests, hard to top the Bangles 10/18/88 New Orleans joining on the encore of Aiko and Heaven's Door!!! Another rainy day in Rhode Island.... Bob t
Last five
DP 5 12/26/79: Great show, I was at this run of five nights at the Oakland Auditorium.
Spring 1990 4/2/90: I'm almost done listening to these two boxes for the third time. What a tour!
E72 4/26/72: T>Drums>TOO>Comes a Time> SM !! I've been listening show by show to the trunk for a few months now, so I didn't jump on the anniversary train and go back. The box that keeps on giving.
DP 31 8/4,5,6/74: This collection took several evenings, I repeated the best stuff twice. Wow that 8/6 'filler' Eyes, Playin>Scarlet>Playin, UJB is a keeper.
The Rascals Complete Singles collection: These guys dominated the airwaves in the late 60's-awesome songs and playing. People got to be free!
Caution!
My favorite is the one from the Shrine 11/10/67. When I got the 30 Trips Box that was my immediate favorite show and has remained so with subsequent listening. The opening clang of Viola Lee sold me, but that Alligator> Caution cemented it. The Greek show from the next year has a great one, too, if brief (funny that we can describe an 11 minute song as brief), and goes into what is probably my favorite Feedback. Maybe it's just the stage announcer's blown mind that gets me on that. The one from Thelma DaP 10 12/10/69 is a good one. For some reason, as fantastically as they play through the Fillmore West shows, the 2 they played that run never blew me away. The bonus disc one is pretty damn fantastic, but you already mentioned that one KF.
Funny you mention the BTW/JStraw intros; they used to get me every damn time, and still do occasionally. Odd how they had two intros so close together, especially given that Bob would sometimes apologize for playing another song in the the same key as the previous one "at the risk of being repetitive". Ironically, few people would likely have even noticed, though I'm sure playing BTW and JStraw back to back would have been confusing.
Three more days, though I may be counting chickens early, no shipping notice as yet...
Jimbo & Oroborous - great…
Jimbo & Oroborous - great 1983 / mid-80s commentary. You guys had me flipping through 30 Trips '83 and DP 6 today on the way to the food store. The live Touch Of Grey led me to the great studio version, which I hadn't put on in quite some time. Nice memories.
Alvarhanso - thanks for the Cautions, I'll check those out this week. Also glad I'm not the only one to notice how similar the BTW and JS intros are.
Bobby T - great call on the TC Dark Star from the Fillmore East. I love 1971 Dark Stars, and TC brings his trademark organ part to this one. It's followed by my all time favorite St. Stephen (Bobby is exceptional on the outro jam). I like putting The Eleven from Two From the Vault after that Dark Star / St. Stephen combo. The drums go together almost seamlessly on the transition. I can't wait for that whole Fillmore run to be released. I really enjoy Ladies & Gentlemen, but I don't have great soundboards of the entire run.
Nitecat - "I repeated the best stuff twice" - great quote, and the reason it's taking me so long to get through the E72 steamer trunk.
Forced to take a pallette cleanser
Godflesh Merciless
10/6/80 just wasnt happening :(
Re: Caution / Alvarhanso
My absolute favorite moment from 30 trips.. and as I have written here several times, I blew out the speakers in my car on that one. For me, it was an epiphany moment.. I was left wordless and slack jawed.
Nitecat.. except for the last song, your last five was entirely GD. Glad I am not the only one.
Let the good times roll.. great topics on all things music.. We play both kinds.. Country and Western (aka Grateful Dead and everything else).
Man. that caution. Wowwow stuff.
Edit: Or perhaps it was The Other One where I blew my speakers.. no bother, that entire show was pure mayhem and simply wonderful (especially played very loud). Plus.. I blew out the rear speakers and dialed it back just so it was as loud as it could be without blowing out he fronts. What a great night and that show set the mood for the road trip. I think I was driving to visit my dad in the hospital if memory serves, six hours each way = 4 shows total. Blown speaker worthy? yes. It certainly eased the pain.
Sure get stoned at night!
The 30 trips Alligator from The Shrine in 67 is one of my favorite 30 trips moments, yet somehow I never fully engaged on the Caution. Probably my favorite Gator, not counting the one under the seats between rows Double EE & FF at the Academy of Music. I probably play the ladies and gentlemen version the most. I think it's time I hunted down that whole Fillmore East run in good quality. I have some of it, like the 26th with its Dark Star.
And with regard to the Dead Hand in Hamburg anniversary today, I don't know where I was getting off not mentioning Big Boss Man. Probably my favorite short Pigpen Song from the tour. Hindsight is 50/50, but I think it would have been cool if pigpen have played a few less good Lovins, and mixed in some smokestack lightning and good morning little school girls. Not to mention an alligator or two.
Jimbo, love the reference to The Blues Brothers. I just watched they're warm up set for the closing of winterland on YouTube. Lightning in a bottle. Also came across a picture of Donna sitting with Belushi. Good Times. Let's get that Wayback machine and get directly involved.
Anybody get a shipping notice for Dave's Picks 30 yet?
I'm listening to some…
I'm listening to some current Last 5s by year…keeps things interesting…
Last 5: 1968
1. Laura Nyro - Eli And The Thirteenth Confession
2. Blood, Sweat & Tears - Child Is Father To The Man
3. Thelonius Monk - Underground
4. Caravan - 1st S/T
5. Yardbirds - Yardbirds '68 / Live: Anderson Theater - NYC 3/30/68
GD: 30 Trips / Greek Theatre - Berkeley, CA 10/20/68
Previous last 5: 1989
1. fIREHOSE - fROMOHIO (spelling/caps are theirs)
2. Fetchin' Bones - Monster
3. Faith No More -- The Real Thing
4. XTC - Oranges & Lemons
5. R.E.M. - Live 1989: Greensboro, N.C. 11/10/89
GD: Truckin' Up To Buffalo / Rich Stadium - Orchard Park, NY 7/4/89
Interesting to note GD seem to fit in with all bands in any year. Same music? similar sound? Not at all, but the bands/artists from 1968 seem to differ from the GD as much as the bands from 1989, at least to my ears.
In case you haven't seen you can order
The Warfield CD's on line here from RSD.. Also note that they are changing warehouses so orders might be delayed
Shipping Notice?
Just curious if anyone received their email.
Last 5 (first time posting this)
GD DL Series 9 Pittsburgh 4-2 & 4-3-89
Elliot Smith Either / Or
Phish 7-19-91 Live Phish Archive
Big Head Todd Sister Sweetly
GD 1-2-70 Dark Star only, it’s a good one!
Shipping Notices
The silence is deafening.. Big fan of 1970, can't wait to give these a spin.
11/10/67 vinyl
Missed out on it here. Had seen it for so long, took it for granted I'd be able to snag it. Now the prices have gone up. Hopefully it's still at a Vinyl shop/secondhand store in town. They had 2 of them last time I checked a year ago.
Perhaps they should come with a warning about Phil's bass laying waste to car speakers.
Funny that one's favorite Caution is one another can't get into, and both love that overall show. Slightly different flavored licorice to paraphrase Jerry. :)
11/10/67-great in any format, any time, any place.
Far and away the show I have played most from 30 Trips. This was the case even before it came out on vinyl - the jamming is incendiary - but the vinyl edition is the one to get. Even at inflated prices. Within reason.
In fact, my most played Dead shows are all vinyl releases-2/27/69 and 5/2/70 being the other records in most regular rotation.
I haven't listened to the speech Dave gave about different formats for upcoming releases-though it was referenced on this board in relation to cd/dvd/blu ray versus streaming. Maybe he meant that more vinyl would be released. On the other hand, maybe I should listen to the speech before proffering an opinion!
Road trips vol 1 no 2
Disc 1 Sugaree , just about brought me to tears this morning 😿 . Epic .
*Re/ 11/10/67 & Road Trips 1.2
...good morning and how do you do?...
I concur with both of you. Daverock, 67’ Vinyl is Primo! I remember when it was offered thru the Dead.net website for sale and I made a comment how this wasn’t sold out yet, and that was years ago. Finally I see it’s not available any more. I bought mine at a Record (music) Store when it was first released. From the Audio to Packaging it was just perfect in every way. I agree with Daverock, the Vinyl release is the way to go for a grateful experience. 🙏🤠
Road Trips 1.2 release is also a grateful treat for 77’ Fans. I prefer complete shows/performance over compilations but if that’s the way to obtain an official release I’ll support the guys(the band).
It’s all good to me. It’s still available thru the Dead’s store, for $20 dollars you can’t go wrong in my opinion. As everyone can witness, it can bring tears to ones eyes, let it shine on me!
Have a grateful day everyone!
🙏❤️😎🤠✌️
...ps, sorry I just learned it seems the Road Trips 1.2 is sold out at the moment... with a blink of an eye;poof! 😢
Re: Vinyl
It's good to see enthusiasm surrounding new Vinyl pressings..
We need to make one change to the format, however.. to bring it into the Grateful Dead realm. We need to design, market and make standard 5 foot diameter records and turntables so we can not only get beyond the 22 minute song limitation but have something with a long enough play to fit the complete second set. I mean.. sometimes it's hard to get out of your easy chair and make that album flip in the middle of your favorite Dark Star when everything in the room has melted and congealed into a large puddle in the middle of the floor. First world problems, I know.
As an added bonus, with a 5' turntable, your room will look silly with standard sized speakers so your significant other won't mind the Wall of Sound Speaker Enhancement Package. It's a win/win.
Minor complaint.. but with a viable solution. #5' albums. Imagine the cover art and liner notes!
Back to your regularly scheduled Drums and Space.
Dark Star 3/23/72
Has to be the most underrated released Dark Star. I was listening to it last night, and it just gets better every time. I think part of the problem is it was so narrowly distributed as a bonus disc for Rockin the Rhein pre-orders. It struck me for the first time that the 2nd verse is included. "That's strange," I thought. My former impression was that they gave it up, that second verse in the late sixties. So then I started spot checking a few of these damn things, and the second verse was popping up all over the place in the early 70s. Like literally 1970. Sorry I'm driving I can't really erase anything just thinking aloud here. So I thought to myself, hey asshole, what would Yoda do? Google it he would....
And I found this really cool Dark Star essay. Let me preface it by saying, while the entire thing is cool, the part that really gets into the verse structures of the different eras it's all the way down at the bottom. There's a link at the top to get to it, titled:
http://www.shallwego.net/deadlists/darkstar.htm#DARK_STAR:_THE_EVOLUTION
Full essay:
*Re/ last five...
#1 GD ‘Fillmore West’ 1969 Best Of 3disc Release
#2 GD ‘May 11th 1977 -‘St. Paul Civic Center, MN.’
#3 ‘Jane’s Addiction’ / Live and Rare -released in 1991 on WB/Japan
#4 GD ‘Fillmore East 2/11/70’
#5 GD ‘Fillmore East 2/13/70’ - Early Show.
🙏❤️😎
Warfield CD's
Thanks Bob T for the heads up about the Warfield CD's here. Just ordered. I was one that got shut out going to three different RSD stores without anything but the (Grate) RSD blacklight poster.
Transistions
Stumbled across this one the other day. I was not familiar with this short series of shows, but I was totally intrigued by the top half of the second set here:
Scarlet Begonias >
Eyes of the World >
Goin Down the Road Feeling Bad >
Women are Smarter
https://archive.org/details/gd85-04-27.sbd.jerugim.359.sbeok.shnf
The rest of the show is no slouch either. Check out the ending of the first set, the opener with that revived Dancin' which I have zero problem with, and everything all the way to the end of the second half of the second set is like a mini show in and of itself. This also sounds great to my ears. What's holding back something like this from being released to the masses? I love it all.
Sixtus
P.S. Keithfan, great links.
hear hear, well spoken, Sixtus
85 has lots o' goodies for potential release.
Summer 85 getting a full Norman...a man can dream, I guess.
Last 5.. or 5 GD songs they wrote that I wish they played more
1... If I Had the World to Give
2...Till The Morning Comes
3...Rosemary
4...Sage & Spirit
5...Just a Little Light
#5 Was no fault of their own!!!! The jamming potential could've been huge...
Nearly fell out of my chair
Jim when I read your comment about records that were five feet in diameter, I started laughing so loud at work I had to close out my browser to make sure no one came over to see what I was making such a racket about. Thanks for that. It was your presentation. You said it with such nonchalance.
A couple people have talked about Jane's Addiction lately so I put on Ritual Habit for the first time in probably 15 years. That was a tremendous record. Side one had the shorts and side two had the longs. There's some piano in there that reminds me of the Doors.
KF I spent my lunch break reading that Dark Star stuff. I am fortunate to have picked up a copy of the bonus disc with the March 23rd 1972 Dark Star. This was only my second time listening to it, and I have to agree with you it is a great one. High on Melody, low on crazy stuff. I had no idea that the second verse was dropped! I recall a few of them ending without having heard it, but I assumed it was just a rare occasion and not the norm. From what that article says they played the second verse twice in 1972, and never again until 1989. Wow. Talk about not paying any attention.
A rare dud, at least to me
10/6/80
Almost to the end of show...poor playing. Jerry is anemic.
One dud out of many glorious shows is ok.
But 10/6/80...skip it.
I think 2/16/88 is another dud. As is 8/28/88.
We have all talked of favorites...how about dud shows?
Then we can argue over that.
Various
11/10/67 boo-yah!
Keithfan: mucho Garcia’s!
Spent wayyyy to much time looking at that info at work this afternoon, which was good because it was rain/hail/snowing and I was stuck inside my work truck....but i repeat, I do not have a problem! especially with Dark Stars....
Sixtus; great link, I’ve a copy of p/o next night, but never got around to that one.
YEA, TAP, TAP, TAP, is this thing on? SUMMER 85!
BOB T: cool list. I love everyone of those.
Dud Shows
When we have run out of great shows to talk about..
Then perhaps we can talk about dud shows. By then.. I will likely be on hospice care with a fentanyl patch on my back, lamenting, all of my friends come to see me last night.....
Thanks Butch. I had fun with that, but do wish albums were long enough to fit the entire second set. The CD medium was specifically designed to fit Beethoven's 9th symphony.., should have been designed to fit the second set of the Bickershaw Festival, Wigam UK 5/7/72, in my humble opinion. I do want the WOS speaker upgrade though.. Working on that one.
11.10.67....
....I was a clot of fetus cells then. Even then I knew. Grate Stuff. There's shelves, then there's that shelf.
E N D G A M E....Top.
....edit. Thought Jim was talking about Dead shows. Not dud shows. Confusion abounds. Apparently, some people posting on other sites think that some of the the shows I saw were duds.
They weren't there for one. Never left disappointed. Except the Sunday show at Shoreline '95. Something was up. My group felt it....moving on.
11.10.67 presents a well done Morning Dew. 💀
Dud shows....
....living in the moment then, hard to say that you wanted your money back.
Jim’s retirement patch
Forget the fent, go for the propofol, or as Michael Jackson called it, ‘ my milk’.
But seriously folks, avoid all that crap.
Wrong class of molecules.
Stick with the Stanley.
And I’m not talking the cup.
Dud shows?
Yeah, they exist.
How many times over a 30-year span were you 100% on the job?
The biggest dud show I witnessed was 7-2-95, and there were a lot of forces at work that night that were beyond the band’s control.
At least it wasn’t torrential rains like Jim’s story about Merriweather Post.
Opioids....
....yeah. I'm good. A nice hybrid indica works. Tuesdays at my local dispensary offers 20% off any order on Tuesdays for seniors. By their rules, senior starts at fifty. 👌 Guess where I was an hour ago?
Dud Shows, Revisited
By now.. I might have listened to perhaps half the GD shows performed.. including the shows I saw myself.
I typically get a kick out of the dud moments. I don't think they planned it that way, its sort of like when you try to belch and a fart comes out. I don't know, none of us are perfect.
My thoughts on failing.. so long as you consistently try and have talent.. I give a little latitude to the train jumping off the tracks.
Are we not all human?... and man, even on their off years, there were great moments.
Free to Fail
If the artist isn't free to fail you end up watching the artist lip sycnch to their perfect studio performance so that everyone gets the same "perfect" performance. But then you never get a chance to hear something that just clicks in the moment and transcends all expectations. The imperfections are just the price you pay for the transcendent moments.
We all need an Alfred....
https://youtu.be/LstIgtkEe50
....applies to all aspects of life.
may anniversary shows
I can't believe it's already May. The year is flying by too fast (though I certainly won't complain about warmer days ahead).
5/1/70 is one of my favorite shows, hope everyone takes time to sample it as much as they can today - https://archive.org/details/gd1970-05-01.sbd.miller.95683.sbeok.flac16
Regarding dud shows, I was at 6/18/95 where the infamous Wharf Rat was played but even though I knew jerry was in decline I still had a great time at the show. The band provided me with yet another day of dancing and hanging out with friends so how bad could it have possibly been? Will I play the tape again? Probably not, but I'll treasure every memory from every dead show I was lucky enough to see.
re 10/6/80
i posted my dud show thing whilst waiting for a pizza at the place down the road
got the pizza, went back to the car, turned on post-drums, and Truckin' starts cooking. Just as I start exiting the car, they go into The Other One.
Perhaps I spoke too soon.
there was a great comic in Golden Road fanzine years ago. it shows two doubters going into a show, saying something to the effect, "this will probably be a boring show. this is your last chance, Grateful Dead." then when they exit, they are grinning, walking puddles of flesh. caption says "they always come out in liquid form!"
Re: 5/1/1970 Alfred University
One of the first shows I pulled down from the archive, and for a reason. Like VGuy said, everybody needs an Alfred. Great ceramics department too, for what it's worth.
My Dud..
June 22, 1988 Alpine Valley..... Hottest summer ever... 90 everyday it seemed. A Stella Blue that you have to listen to to believe and not in a good way.... Also all up for hearing new songs, but I was bummed to get a Scarlet Begonia into the first ever I will Take You Home. Not Brent bashing either.... Scarlet>Fire was always the highlight of the show, and it was the first time I ever got a Scarlet into not Fire. But as Karma has it because of this show we got a killer 3 night stand the follow year.... Oh how I wish i could have a Dud again!!!! bob t
No Duds
Even toward the end, I was lucky enough to get a good show. Remember smoking and drinking all day. I was up in Albany with my aforementioned cousin, six years after the Crimson white and indigo indoctrination show at JFK. This time I took the road trip. Many city blocks were roped off for the street vendors. There had been some trouble the night before you, so there was little bit more of a police presence. We figured they closed with I fought the law as an affirmation of the preceding night's fan ruckus. I recall the evening was notable, as my sister-in-law who did not have a ticket, decided to head down towards the Knickerbocker a couple hours before Showtime. We were already three sheets to the wind, and she somehow managed to find us, partying somewhere playing hacky sack. Remember those damn things. So it was somewhat amazing that she even found us in the age before cell phones. But she still didn't have a ticket. So we went our separate ways at Showtime, and ironically we bumped into her once again at random on The Concourse of the Knick. She scored a miracle. Her seat was nowhere near ours, but she found us a third time about 15 minutes into the show. Now granted, she knew where we would be at that point, but it was just a fun time. I didn't know there was anything wrong with Jerry at the time. I hadn't even heard of any rumors about the band not playing well or anything like that. There was lots of weed and a fantastic setlist. Last help slip Franklin's. I would love to see this released as a Dave's Picks. Summertime where the livin's easy. I was 23, freshly graduated from college, and living at home. Ahhh, good times.
SET 1
Touch Of Grey
Walkin' Blues
It Must Have Been The Roses
When I Paint My Masterpiece
So Many Roads >
The Music Never Stopped
SET 2
Help On The Way >
Slipknot >
Franklin's Tower
Samba In The Rain
Estimated Prophet >
Terrapin Station >
Drums >
Space >
All Along The Watchtower >
Black Peter >
Around & Around
ENCORE
I Fought The Law
Duds?
But we’re they really?
Over the years I’ve found the situational aspects or my perception could be just as influential as the actual show...
3/13/81 I thought was a dud, but recently the tapes have indicated otherwise. That one was totally situational and a great story for another time!
One thing I learned wasif you go in with big expectations you were more likely to be disappointed, while some of the best shows were ones that I wasn’t “feeling” it going in, or a bunch of shit or annoyances had proceeded.
I will say that I never regretted or felt negative about going to a show no matter what. A “dud” was still a chance to be at the greatest place on earth at that time.....like the old quote “where else would you rather be?”
All that being said, 6/13/93 is the one show I really remember thinking was bad. I have never heard it since so maybe I’ll feel different? The 94 Vermont show seemed lame, and by last two at Chicago we all felt something is really wrong here?.....
But like Bob T says I’d give up my front seat in Hell to see even a dud now!
So true, Oroborous
so, again with 10/6/80...
The Other One is really hot. Go figure. Much of the rest of the show is Jerry going, "huh? wuh?"
but The Other One...
I was 90% through Black Peter when I arrived at work.
off to April 80 when I am finally done with 10/6/80.
Dud?
Recall in the GD Movie when Jerry says he thought a show was terrible and he pushed Phil down some stairs, but when he listened to the tapes later they were crackling with energy.
My only regrets are that I didn’t see more shows.
Even the shows in 95 were better than any other band I have ever seen.