Since its completion in the 1920s, the Hollywood Bowl has reigned as one of the world’s most revered venues, playing host to everything from symphonic concerts to jazz festivals to appearances by countless popular music artists, including the Beatles, Rolling Stones and, yes, the Grateful Dead, who graced its stage three times, perhaps most memorably during the Wall of Sound period in 1974. An amphitheater nestled in the foothills just above downtown Hollywood, the Bowl, with its unmistakable arched bandshell and view of the iconic HOLLYWOOD sign is one of the most physically stunning places to experience live music anywhere, and artists and audiences alike attest to the inspiring effect of the setting. That effect is evident in this recording of Night Two of Dead & Company’s visit to L.A., a city that has known more than its share of Rock ‘n’ Roll debauchery – a subject nicely skewered in the evening’s opening number, Bob Weir and John Barlow’s sardonic “Hell In A Bucket.” Some more site-specific commentary turns up in the form of Garcia and Hunter’s of musical film noir, “West L.A. Fadeaway,” part of a first set also featuring such favorites as “Mississippi Half Step Uptown Toodeloo,” “Uncle John’s Band” and “New Speedway Boogie.”
Weir and Barlow’s simultaneously ominous and uplifting “Estimated Prophet” launches a venturesome second set that brings together such cornerstones of the repertoire as “St. Stephen,” “Terrapin Station” and a “Dark Star” in two parts with “Drums>Space” in between. The set ends at an emotional peak with “Morning Dew,” after which the band sends the