What Am I Listening to Now?

It’s the weekend so it’s time to re-load the iPod.  Coming off are the following:

Grateful Dead
69-06-08: Fillmore West - San Francisco, CA
I downloaded this as it was discussed on a board I am on.  I thought someone said Pig was missing from the show.  It doesn’t sound like it although he does not sing Lovelight.  Elvin Bishop sits in and Wayne Ceballos from Aum takes the vocals on Lovelight.

I’ve never been a fan of the Dead as a back-up band.  Even when I saw them support Dylan, it had a rather odd feel to it.  So did the few songs in the middle of this set.  If one were not listening carefully, he would not even realize it was the boys on stage.

I’ve been listening to some older stuff recently and it is nice to reacquaint with New Potato Caboose.

91-06-17: Giants Stadium - East Rutherford, NJ
I contemplated going to this show.  I had already sworn off the stadium gigs, but it had been a little bit since I had seen a show and I was going to run down from Boston for this.  I didn’t.  I missed a good one.

This set list is to die for.  Eyes opened; awesome!  And as much as I enjoyed listening to this (it’s been a decade at least), I was immediately reminded of the sound changes the band was going through.  There’s lots of MIDI here.  Yuck!  Some songs are so re-arranged that I didn’t even recognize it until the vocals kicked in.  Loose Lucy  and Might As Well are two in particular.

After the opener, a very well played Walkin’ Blues and then Brown-Eyed Women followed.  Then the Dark Star teases began.  Throughout the show the band would drift into this.  Wonderful, but they never get to it.  Damn!

The show is very good.  The band was once again changing and this is a good show to hear that with.  The boys were re-energized after the Europe run the year before and were breaking out all sorts of nuggets.  Giants Stadium definitely rocked that day.

93-04-04: Nassau Coliseum - Uniondale, NY
I attended this show.  I have it somewhere in the basement, but it is easier to download off the ‘Net.  No one will ever state this is the best show of a run, tour, year, etc.  However, it was a decent show.  So Many Roads was well played.  It was great hearing Attics even if the harmonies were off.  Estimated stood out as did a good version of Liberty as an encore, a song that doesn’t get much notice.  I always liked Phil’s Broken Arrow and do not tire of hearing it.  Some of the later songs are actually good.  Go figure!

Jerry Garcia Band
83-11-26: Early & Late - Forum, Binghamton, NY
This sounds more like two sets than two shows, but there may have been a second admission.  Who knows?

I like the set lists Jerry played during this stretch.  I had listened to the previous night’s show earlier,  and this one was just as good, although the recording wasn’t as crisp.  Love in the Afternoon  was nice and I always liked Jerry singing Masterpiece.  This one wasn’t perfect, but I think his voice is better suited than Bobby’s.  I wonder why they made the change for the Dead.  This would have been a good time to have caught Jerry.

Also blogged on this date . . .

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