Grateful Dead

I enjoyed both your reviews immensely. Though some might find certain parts of what you say heretical, I enjoyed hearing a seasoned head's opinion who doesn't just "roll over and play Dead".I agree with about 90% of both reviews. Blair Jackson et al? You should employ this guy to write reviews of new product on dead,net. Just my opinion. As usual, many will disagree...

Moving on to the next night, October 9th. Reading the comments in the show section, I realize how much enthusiasm for these shows there is: http://www.dead.net/show/october-8-1989. And this is a great souvenir for anyone who was there. There’s no doubt that you can hear the crowd going crazy the entire time, but I think this is a case where the collective memory of the event is a little bit better than the real thing. If I was at these shows, I would buy this, and maybe that’s the point: if you count those who only attended one night, there were probably at least 20,000 people who attended these concerts, most of whom are still alive today. If G.D. & Co. can sell at least a few thousand units of this release, that would probably be a success. Of course, they’re not going to come out and say you probably don’t need this unless you’re a hardcore collector or you were actually there; they’re going to let you figure that out on your own. October 9th is a better show, to be sure, than the previous night. The 1st set is better overall. However, I reiterate that the 1st sets of both these shows could have been chopped up nicely into a fine “dream set” sequence. You’ve got a solid “Feel Like A Stranger” out of the gates, leading into “Built To Last,“ which is not as good as “Foolish Heart,“ and suffers from Jerry tinkering with the MIDI trumpet effect for the solo. “Little Red Rooster” is something reliable and straightforward for them to get their bearings with, and Brent makes some nice contributions. A lively “Ramble On Rose,“ a nicely done “We Can Run,“ and the always cool “Jack-A-Roe” follow, and then “Stuck Inside of Mobile,“ a lively version. Things get off track with “Row Jimmy” with Jerry taking an unnecessarily long flute MIDI solo. The set wraps with “The Music Never Stopped.“ I would chop the 1st sets like this: “Foolish Heart>Walking Blues,“ then “Ramble>Jack>We Can Run,“ followed by “Rooster,” then “Birdsong” from the 8th, then back to the 9th for the set closer of “Music.“ That would give you an 8 song 1st set, and a much better one, that you might actually want to listen to. An example of a crisp, well-played 1st set from this same era is from “Nightfall of Diamonds,“ recorded a week later, so we know it was possible for them to do it. Moving on to the 2nd set of October 9th, things kick off with a somewhat perfunctory “Playin’>Uncle John’s Band,“ a tried and true combination, and one that they could be counted on to screw up night after night. The version here is totally forgettable. Incidentally, they played a similar combination of songs at the “Nightfall” show, and they messed up the “Uncle John’s” badly at that show as well. At one point during the October 9th performance, Brent clearly sings, “how does THIS song go?“ This is all fine and good, but do we really need to hear this? I guarantee that you will rarely, if ever, listen to this part of the show. Moving on to the “Dark Star.“ The roar of the crowd at the opening notes is incredible. This is of course the first “Dark Star” in 5 years at that time, so it’s difficult to judge it against anything else. It represents the return of “Dark Star” as a semi-regular showpiece, and one wonders how much this was really needed. This version isn’t too bad, Jerry delivers the words nicely, and they take it pretty far out into dissonant and abstract sonic landscapes using MIDI effects, but it doesn’t have anywhere near the dynamics or group interplay of old. They really could have put “Dark Star” to rest after 1979 and it wouldn’t have mattered. Next, you have the “Drums>Space” section. Just for a moment, lets be realistic about this obligatory segment in the typical Dead show. It was usually filler. It gave everyone a chance to take a little break, and play with their new effects. And it took up too much time in a show that could have been devoted to a few more songs. Let’s face it, the new MIDI technology was a real mixed blessing. They WAY overused it. They would force it into songs where it didn’t belong and then they would treat the audience to an excessively long workout of MIDI effects during “Drums>Space.” That’s not to say that sometimes it didn’t sound cool, but it was often overdone. I find myself preferring the older “Space” segments from around 1979 to 1983, they played some really beautiful stuff during those years using mostly just their analog effects pedals. Take for example Dick’s Picks 5 and 6, and the more recent Road Trips from Oakland ‘79. Much better and more interesting, in my opinion. Back to the performance. True to its name, “Dark Star” dissolves into some pretty menacing and dark sonic landscapes before giving way to “Drums.” There are a couple of loud, jarring noises during the drum solo that sound unintentional. Then the “Space” section begins - more MIDI. Finally Jerry strums the opening chords of “Death Don’t Have No Mercy.” This is a nice version, very impassioned vocals from Jerry, Bob, and Brent. And who says the Grateful Dead were some kind of unicorns and rainbows hippy band? Whoever says that never listened to them, I assure you. This is dark stuff, but amazing. And briefly, regarding Brent: when he died, the band died, in many ways. They lost a lot when they lost him. I know he has his detractors, but often times his youthful energy and bluesy edge really carried the band on any given evening and inspired Jerry to stretch himself more than he would have. When you think about it, they had maybe about a year or so of interesting shows with Bruce Hornsby, but this also coincided with Jerry’s decline and unfortunately Vince was no Brent. So when you listen to this show, you’re hearing the final days of what was the last great era of the Grateful Dead. After “Death,” they continue with a nice run of “Dear Mr. Fantasy>Hey Jude>Throwin’ Stones>Good Lovin’.” This is a well done section, once again featuring Brent. “Good Lovin’” is especially lively. And of course, the “Attics of My Life” is one of those epic moments, and the crowd was well aware of that. “Attics” is such a gorgeous song, it was one of those that the band really should have performed more, but the harmonies are tough and it takes concentration. This marked the revival of “Attics,” and I haven’t heard every version they did after this but I would bet that this was maybe the best of the bunch. My final verdict is if these shows had been packaged like “Dozin’ At the Knick” I would consider buying it, but at $80.00 I just can’t do it. If you buy this, the only part you’ll listen to consistently will be the last 2/3rds of the 2nd set of the 2nd show. That’s roughly 1 ½ discs out of 6 that you have to buy. In my book, that’s not worth it, unless you just have to have everything, you have money to throw away (and who really does, nowadays?) or you were there, in which case I would probably buy it, too. If you don’t fit into any of the above 3 groups, I would stay away from this one, and I’ve bought a lot of stuff from G.D. & Co. over the years.

I'm pretty damned pleased to see this release. 10/09/89 is one of my favourite shows. In fact, I'm quite sure that I've requested the "Warlock" shows be a release at some point in my postings to this site. So thanks for listening. A Sunshine Daydream DVD and Europe '72 Box Set surely can't be too far behind. I swear that I got goosebumps and the hairs on my arms stood up the first time I listened to 10/09 and heard the audience reaction to the opening notes of Dark Star. (Mind you, I get the exact same sensation every time I watch that scene in "The Shining" where the little kid's riding his tricycle down the hotel corridor). And, what's a Box Set without special packaging. I'm looking forward to getting this one.