Dave's Picks Volume 27: Boise State University Pavilion, Boise ID 9/02/83

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October 3, 2017 - 1:26pm

1,815 replies

heatherlew

Joined:
October 12, 2016

"The Grateful Dead picked up their instruments and hit the first note with perfection. They never missed a note for the next three and one-half hours. People followed the flow of the tunes. Down on the floor in front of the stage was a sea of heads keeping time with the music. No one sat still. No one, except the youngsters behind us sat still. They were still and stunned." - The Power County Press

And what a stunner it was, that show at the Boise State University Pavilion in Boise, ID on September 2, 1983. Dave's Picks Volume 27 contains every stitch of music from this mid-80s show (our first in this series), one that's as good as any other in Grateful Dead history. When the Dead were on, they were ON! Straight out the gate with a definitive take on the old standard "Wang Dang Doodle," the band swiftly switches back to a setlist of yore, firing off 70s staples like "Jack Straw" and "Brown-Eyed Women" and wrapping things up with a terrific trio of "Big Railroad Blues"/"Looks Like Rain"/"Deal" (don't you let that epic guitar solo go down without you). Primed for the second set, they tackle the complexities of "Help>Slipknot!>Franklin's" with heart and ease. It's clear there will be no stopping their flow - Bobby and Brent hanging in for a fantastic pre-Drums "Jam" and Jerry and Bobby in the zone on a not-to-be-missed melodic "Space." Not a skipper in the whole lot!

Dave's Picks Volume 27 has been mastered to HDCD specs by Jeffrey Norman and it is limited to 18,000 individually-numbered copies*.

*Limited to 2 per order. Very limited quantity available.

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August 9, 2018 - 7:14am

#741

shirdeep

Joined:
September 5, 2017

(No subject)
August 9, 2018 - 6:55am

#742

OKCDeadHead

Joined:
October 16, 2017

Butch's Brent Hate

"I really think Garcia made a mistake inviting this guy into the band." Wow. So many things I could say there but I'll let it go. Hopefully you realize the sour backing vocals on Estimated on this release are Jerry and not Brent. Brent is so low in the mix for this chorus you have to strain to find him. It's the high harmony buried deep in there. And on-key.
August 9, 2018 - 6:30am

#743

daverock

Joined:
September 1, 2014

Lots to enjoy-rdevil

I liked your summing up of DAP27, which I heard for the first time yesterday. When it started, I thought all the negative criticisms were proving to be true. The playing and the sound seemed well below par. But from Big River on, the sound become more consistent and the playing really gels. Either that-or I just get used to it. Things go down hill again with the Help-Slipknot-Franklins jam, unfortunately, but Estimated and Eyes are fine and the jam into drums, led by Brent and Bob is great. Jerry's vocals are a let down throughout, though. On the final cd, Throwing Stones is alright-although I don't actually like the song that much-and Going Down The Road is great. Its a long, long, way from the highs of, say, 1968 or 1972- as rdevil said. But as a snapshot of how they played in 1983 I would think it was pretty good. I'm quite happy with it, anyway.
August 9, 2018 - 4:38am

#744

Lovemygirl

Joined:
April 29, 2016

Skulltrip - post/name calling...

...great post, I concur. Keep an open mind my brothers and sisters...
August 9, 2018 - 4:08am

#745

dreading

Joined:
January 17, 2018

Appreciate your Honesty

devil, good vibes to you. It's refreshing to hear it described as such. I believe the bickering stems from this push and pull against reality. May Jerry's magic twanger reign over Deadville. KF, check out the Big River and Big Railriad Blues from DP 1.
August 9, 2018 - 2:54am

#746

Born Cross Eye…

Joined:
August 25, 2008

Re: The bottle was dusty, but the liquor was clean....

We miss you, Jerry. More than words tell. Today I'm listening to: Jerry Garcia Band Pure Jerry: Bay Area 1978 released: August 31, 2009. Label: Jerry Made JGCD0009 Disc 1 "Mystery Train" (Junior Parker, Sam Phillips) — 8:27 [a] "Catfish John" (Bob McDill, Allen Reynolds) — 9:36 [a] "I Second That Emotion" (Smokey Robinson, Al Cleveland) — 14:02 [b] "Mission in the Rain" (Jerry Garcia, Robert Hunter) – 8:44 [b] "Don't Let Go" (Jesse Stone) — 29:46 [b] Disc 2 "Tore Up Over You" (Hank Ballard) — 9:04 [c] "Simple Twist of Fate" (Bob Dylan) — 10:58 [b] "The Way You Do the Things You Do" (Robinson, Bobby Rogers) — 10:17 [b] "Let Me Roll It" (Paul McCartney) — 11:04 [d] "Gomorrah" (Garcia, Hunter) – 6:26 [d] "I'll Be with Thee" (traditional) – 5:37 [d] "Lonesome and a Long Way from Home" (Delaney Bramlett, Leon Russell) – 23:56 [a] Recording dates and locations: [a] February 18, 1978 – Marin Veterans Memorial Auditorium, San Rafael, California [b] February 19, 1978 – Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium, Santa Cruz, California [c] June 10, 1978 – Keystone, Berkeley, California [d] June 18, 1978 – Keystone, Palo Alto, California Sorry, it's Out Of Print. This recording probably could be found on the secondary markets for a rather hefty price.
August 8, 2018 - 11:29pm

#747

rdevil

Joined:
November 2, 2007

thumbs still up

If I were to rank every Dave's Picks this on would fall around 23 or 24. Having said that, I'm really enjoying it after multiple listens. Of course they're not at their peak here, we knew that going in. And yes, the sound quality is not great and fluctuates throughout. But the playing here really cooks throughout despite the many flubs. But that's what drew me to this band, the willingness to take chances and to go in without a set list and try to create something spontaneous. I'm not old enough to have gone to concerts in the 70s but I'll take this over any concert I saw in 1983 where Ozzy Osbourne or April Wine played the same scripted show night after night. I'm not trying to change anyone's mind here, but, as a Godchaux era fanatic, I'm pleasently surprised by how much i enjoy this one. Maybe some of you would like it more if you didn't compare it to 72-74.
August 8, 2018 - 9:43pm

#748

Vguy72

Joined:
June 29, 2007

The bottle was dusty, but the liquor was clean....

....exactly. Miss you Jerry. More than I can tell. So I won't.....
August 8, 2018 - 9:21pm

#749

shirdeep

Joined:
September 5, 2017

(No subject)
August 8, 2018 - 9:08pm

#750

Butch

Joined:
August 2, 2017

Heywood Jablowme and Trainwrecked said it Best

"It's the total lack of cohesiveness, horrible vocal harmonizing, and the guitars sounding like they're on different songs and tempos." And you gave to read Trainwrecked's real time review for a good laugh. I can deal with the sloppy playing since the old flash is in there at least half the time, but I don't get how Brent starts singing on Estimated Prophet or any number of tunes, and there are people who think it sounds good. This just sounds like a band on the ropes to me. I really think Garcia made a mistake inviting this guy into the band. Their harmonies sounded so much better before. I'm no Donna fanboy either, just an objective listener. I thought she was great on the songs she was present for when they wrote them, like Music Never Stoped, Crazy Fingers, Estimated Prophet, Eyes of the World etc, but not so much on the real early songs like St. Stephen, Sugar Magnolia, Wharf Rat, and Ramble on Rose, to name a few. But I have to FF> past Brent's vocals on this show. I was hoping he'd be low enough not to ruin songs for me, and I gave it a half dozen listens. I hope to never get another Brent release as part of my Dave's Picks subscription (fingers crossed). Keep the quality in Dave's Picks and release the 80s on the side, unless there's another tape of the DaP 8 quality, where Brent isn't overwhelming on vocals. If it all sounded like that, I could deal, but that appears to be the rare exception.

John Perry Barlow

John Perry Barlow

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"The Grateful Dead picked up their instruments and hit the first note with perfection. They never missed a note for the next three and one-half hours. People followed the flow of the tunes. Down on the floor in front of the stage was a sea of heads keeping time with the music. No one sat still. No one, except the youngsters behind us sat still. They were still and stunned." - The Power County Press

And what a stunner it was, that show at the Boise State University Pavilion in Boise, ID on September 2, 1983. Dave's Picks Volume 27 contains every stitch of music from this mid-80s show (our first in this series), one that's as good as any other in Grateful Dead history. When the Dead were on, they were ON! Straight out the gate with a definitive take on the old standard "Wang Dang Doodle," the band swiftly switches back to a setlist of yore, firing off 70s staples like "Jack Straw" and "Brown-Eyed Women" and wrapping things up with a terrific trio of "Big Railroad Blues"/"Looks Like Rain"/"Deal" (don't you let that epic guitar solo go down without you). Primed for the second set, they tackle the complexities of "Help>Slipknot!>Franklin's" with heart and ease. It's clear there will be no stopping their flow - Bobby and Brent hanging in for a fantastic pre-Drums "Jam" and Jerry and Bobby in the zone on a not-to-be-missed melodic "Space." Not a skipper in the whole lot!

Dave's Picks Volume 27 has been mastered to HDCD specs by Jeffrey Norman and it is limited to 18,000 individually-numbered copies*.

*Limited to 2 per order. Very limited quantity available.

081227931599