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    clayv
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    "To my ears, the best Dead shows are those that not only fit the criteria that make them amongst the best of a year, but that are also completely unique for their era—shows that fit perfectly into their year of performance, but also fall somewhat outside of the norm for that year. Harpur College, Veneta, Cornell, Cape Cod, and Augusta are all shows that are objectively excellent, and if they are not the best from their respective years of performance, they are certainly unique. Miami 6/23/74 falls into that category: not only one of the very best shows from this outstanding year, but also one of the most interesting and unique. It’s certainly worthy of many, many deep listens." - David Lemieux

    ¡Ándale, ándale! ¡Arriba, arriba! We're back with a hot one from Miami, F-L-A. DAVE’S PICKS VOLUME 34 features the complete show from the Jai Alai Fronton, 6/23/74, one with unparalleled sound quality due in equal parts to the Wall Of Sound and the beautiful sonic clarity of Kidd Candelario's tapes. The first set is chock full of dynamite takes on classics like "Ramble On Rose," "Mississippi Half-Step," and "Cumberland Blues." The second set delivers on the JAMS - one leading into a gorgeous "Ship Of Fools," one rare instrumental version of "Dark Star," and a "Spanish Jam," this is Miami after all! The show also offers up a "first" and an "only" - the former, a Seastones set featuring Phil and Ned Lagin and the latter, the sole Grateful Dead performance of Chuck Berry's "Let It Rock."

    Limited to 22,000 numbered copies, DAVE’S PICKS VOL.34: JAI ALAI FRONTON, MIAMI, FL 6/23/74 has been mastered from the 7.5 IPS reel-to-reel tapes to HDCD specs by Jeffrey Norman. ¡Agarrarlo mientras esta calientito! (Get it while it's hot!)

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

    Subscribed to Dave's Picks? With this release, you'll also get a bonus disc with selections from Miami 6/22/74. Excellente!

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  • lycanthrope51
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    DP34 /COVID 19 E72 pilgrimage opportunity

    DP34 arrived on 5/1 in St. Charles, IL. Unbelievable sound!!! Haven't listened to everything yet, but so far it is spectacular. My wife never got on the bus, so I have private listening sessions when I crank it up and shake the plaster.
    Thanks for a great pick Dave.
    Since I'm sheltered in place for awhile. I have the opportunity to follow every E72 show on the 48th anniversary date.
    Big fun. Tomorrow it's off to Paris and then the remainder of the tour in chronological order. Have a Grateful Day.

  • daverock
    Joined:
    Good old days

    Nick G...sounds great seeing bands at that venue you mentioned. And in that timespan, around 1972 you must have seen some great bands.

    Keith-I liked your Suppers Ready story. That was the track, alright. Came from a time when side long ( ie one side of an L.P) songs, or tracks were the thing. Many, many bands of the time did it...with mixed results, it has to be said. The aforementioned Soft Machine and Caravan, Yes, Tangerine Dream, Pink Floyd come to mind. Mike Oldfield's albums featured suites covering both sides of the album. For 5 minutes Tubular Bells looked like the future of rock. Enter The Ramones. Suddenly it wasn't.

    Ledded...it would be impossible for me to say whether the early bands I saw were only accorded greatness in retrospect, or actually were great at the time. T.Rex, Bowie, Genesis, Hawkwind, Sabbath...they all seemed great live at the time, but I openly confess, at 15, my critical acumen was literally nil. They were great nights out, I'll say that much. I still like those bands now ( not so much Genesis), but I think its fairly general for people to think that the music they heard in their mid teens was special.

  • Charlie3
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    Genesis

    Abacab and Duke were the albums that I was first exposed to from Genesis, and they are still the two that resonate the most, although some of the stuff from the next Genesis album also really clicked, particularly the aforementioned Home by the Sea. Abacab was in regular rotation on the Walkman for the ride to school in the morning and is still pretty much etched in my brain. Lamb Lies Down on Broadway is also a highlight for me, one time soundtrack to the fading hours of a memorable evening.

  • Angry Jack Straw
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    Genesis

    Squonk.

    Saw them in 81 hoping to see them play that live. Was fed a heavy dosage of Abacab instead. One and done for me.

    In Your Eyes, remains the best of any of the solo efforts, IMHO. Even before John Cusack made it popular.

    I do give Cusack credit for turning me on to the Beta Band though.

  • icecrmcnkd
    Joined:
    Disappointment at the mailbox

    But, I have high hopes for Monday.
    No worries though, nice weather this weekend and I will be outside a lot. Will play 5-2-70 tonight when grilling and beering.

    I like early psychedelic live Genesis, I got the Genesis Live CD in the late 80’s and still have it. That’s the good stuff. Also have live Lamb Lies Down from I think 75. Carpet Crawlers is my favorite song.

    Also have the 10-30,31-73 video on DVD, it’s on YouTube too. In that video you can see how Gabriel was focused on showmanship as part of the show/story. But that’s how it was at the time, look at Bowie at the same time.

    I also like late 70’s Genesis, And Then There Were Three is a good album. By early 80’s MTV had gotten a hold of Genesis and the style changed, but they still made some catchy tunes. Then Phil made a solo album that rocketed him to stardom, due to MTV. Peter also used MTV in the 80’s, I believe he got video of the year for the song whose name I can’t remember, something-Time.

  • novembereleven
    Joined:
    5-2-70...the GOAT's Golden Anniversary

    The entire show is amazing, but the St. Stephen -> That's It For The Other One -> Cosmic Charlie is the best 40 minutes of recorded music in the history of recorded music. So exhilarating!

  • Vguy72
    Joined:
    What Stoltzfus said....

    ....pure gold.

  • stoltzfus
    Joined:
    Happy anniversary 5/2/70

    50

  • Deadheadbrewer
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    Led Ded

    Funny--I've had "Home By the Sea" stuck in my head ever since this Genesis discussion began! :)

    One thing is for certain, in my mind: Genesis was a collection of very talented musical artists, and they delivered, regardless of which version of rock you were listening for. They created some magical prog rock, then put forth some tough straight-up rock, then produced a string of radio-friendly pop hits. Something for everyone!

  • LedDed
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    Genesis

    Weighing in on Genesis, I'll take the pop/rock version that gave us Home By The Sea, Abacab, Mama, Paperlate, Misunderstanding etc. Good pop songs that still hold up. The arty/farty Gabriel era totally loses me. Was so disappointed when seeing them on their last major US tour they didn't do one song off Abacab but found time to waste on Lamb Lies Down On Broadway.

    I think with Gabriel-era Genesis, the fond recollections are better than the reality. As his presence surged as a solo artist, folks looked back and marveled at how great he was in Genesis, when the reality is, it wasn't all that great. I do think his best work came post-Genesis as a solo artist, where, ironically, he mimicked what his old band was doing in focusing his musical concepts into tight, radio-friendly pop songs that brought both massive commercial success and critical acclaim.

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"To my ears, the best Dead shows are those that not only fit the criteria that make them amongst the best of a year, but that are also completely unique for their era—shows that fit perfectly into their year of performance, but also fall somewhat outside of the norm for that year. Harpur College, Veneta, Cornell, Cape Cod, and Augusta are all shows that are objectively excellent, and if they are not the best from their respective years of performance, they are certainly unique. Miami 6/23/74 falls into that category: not only one of the very best shows from this outstanding year, but also one of the most interesting and unique. It’s certainly worthy of many, many deep listens." - David Lemieux

¡Ándale, ándale! ¡Arriba, arriba! We're back with a hot one from Miami, F-L-A. DAVE’S PICKS VOLUME 34 features the complete show from the Jai Alai Fronton, 6/23/74, one with unparalleled sound quality due in equal parts to the Wall Of Sound and the beautiful sonic clarity of Kidd Candelario's tapes. The first set is chock full of dynamite takes on classics like "Ramble On Rose," "Mississippi Half-Step," and "Cumberland Blues." The second set delivers on the JAMS - one leading into a gorgeous "Ship Of Fools," one rare instrumental version of "Dark Star," and a "Spanish Jam," this is Miami after all! The show also offers up a "first" and an "only" - the former, a Seastones set featuring Phil and Ned Lagin and the latter, the sole Grateful Dead performance of Chuck Berry's "Let It Rock."

Limited to 22,000 numbered copies, DAVE’S PICKS VOL.34: JAI ALAI FRONTON, MIAMI, FL 6/23/74 has been mastered from the 7.5 IPS reel-to-reel tapes to HDCD specs by Jeffrey Norman. ¡Agarrarlo mientras esta calientito! (Get it while it's hot!)

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

Subscribed to Dave's Picks? With this release, you'll also get a bonus disc with selections from Miami 6/22/74. Excellente!

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You're taking about 6/6/95 not 6/5 am i correct?

ps. Mustin don't miss The Dean Dome from 3/24, 3/25.

3/24 day in Dead history has a ton of good shows, AM Dew 3/24/86 WOW!

3/17 and 3/18 Cap Center, I was at the 18th fun show sheriff's were peaking around the stacks on Phil's side I think they were running over time or something so they encored with I Fought The Law and the place went nuts.

Please excuse me I see now you mentioned The Dean Dome 3/25.

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No, I started with 6/5/93. I'll listen to 6/6 next, but I'm enjoying the heck out of this show. A few iffy moments in Fire on the Mountain but they're playing with passion. Sugaree was nice. TMNS>Easy Answers>TMNS was interesting. Easy Answers my be my least favorite Bobby song, but when they come back into TMNS, Jerry is on FIRE! Way To Go Home, Crazy Fingers, and Estimated were all pretty solid. Space is pretty wild too...and morphs pretty nicely into the Other One...So, if 6/6 is that much better, I guess I'm in for a real treat!

and speaking of 3/24 dates...3/24/90 is pretty damn good. Amazing 1st set, with my favorite version of Loser ever. And the whole 2nd set, well, you know how it goes.

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You must-in be kidding about Broken Arrow being a "bad Robbie Robertson song," no?! To me that is a bee-U-tiful song, and it's from one amazing album. :)

Annalee, I loved your offer, but I'll bet quite a few folks on here already have that disc, thus the low response rate . . .

I think part of the struggle of loving 1992-1995 is that some shows were chock-full of new tunes. I saw plenty of shows where they trotted out four of them, plus a Dylan tune, plus a Wang Dang/Walkin', plus a Beatles tune, and before you knew it, the show was over without one "classic" being played. Had they only played one new tune per night or per set, those tunes would probably have been accepted faster. I have learned to love the later shows, but prefer those that don't cram EVERY new tune into one show.

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Let me know when you hit play I'll listen with you. If it's okay?

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So, today its been...
6/23/93 - Deer Creek - I wasn't at this show, but I'm a little biased because I grew up about 20 minutes away. But that might be the greatest jam out of Terrapin ever. And the whole Drums>Space>Dark Star is pretty great.
6/5/93 - Giants Stadium - Maybe not as good as any of the Deer Creek shows but some fine moments throughout. Estimated Prophet ->Drums -> Space -> The Other One -> Stella Blue -> One More Saturday Night was a lot of fun.
6/6/93 - Giants Stadium - Minglewood set the place on fire! -very nice Let it Grow. Bobby's voice sounds a little hoarse, but they are all locked and jammin' nicely. --- Playing in the Band going way out there! With the theme still bubbling under the surface. Real nice drums. extra special with headphones. That's certianly a wild ride. Interesting hearing Corrina come out of Space after hearing it go into Drumz on 6/11, & 6/21. Attics of my Life! Very nice. This show just keeps getter better. Very solid Throwing Stones>NFA

VGUY: Great story about Jack Straw at Eugene! I'll have to check out those shows too

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"I'll have four fried chickens and a coke," "and an order of plain white toast."

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I'm gonna check out the Eugene 93 show, thanks for that.

Mustin; Playin' just ripped my skull. Thanks for listening!

Love the Talking Drum.

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Listened to the first two discs of DP 31 for the first time today, good stuff. Looking forward to the rest of it.

Watched my 15 year old daughter's favorite movie, the Perks of Being a Wallflower for the first time, pretty cool flick, kind of depressing, reminded me a little of Ordinary People. Now I have Bowie's Heroes stuck in my head.

Got some grapes today without really looking at the label - turns out they are Cotton Candy grapes, and as the name suggests they taste a lot like cotton candy. Pretty weird deal eating a handful of grapes and tasting a strong taste of cotton candy. Another first.

After taking several readings I'm surprised to find my mind's still fairly sound...right on Willie, not a first, but Willie never gets old.

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from Dick's 31 is nuts. Love it.
I hear '72 all over the place...in '74
8-5-74 Philly
:O)

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That China-Rider was in fact one of the things that jumped out at me during my first listen, kind of half distracted while listening and found myself thinking, well, that's pretty fucking hot, at some point in the transition from China to Rider. That Wharf Rat-US Blues hit the spot as well, that US Blues was just hot, had me flashing on the overalls dude from the Grateful Dead Movie jamming out to that tune on the movie.

Nice Blues Brothers references on here earlier. Funny, when I first saw that movie I was 14 and really did not grasp the number of blues and soul legends in that film, might be a good time to watch it again.

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Just seen the email:-)
In fact I’ve had 2 emails, one telling me #34 is on the way, the other saying that #33 has been sent. Let’s hope this is a glitch in the matrix.

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I also received 2 shipping notices, one for Dave's Picks Vol. 33 and one for Dave's Picks Vol. 34 and the Bonus disc. Both have identical tracking numbers which working yet. Curious to see how this will conclude. I suspect someone fucked up.

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Thanks for sneaking in that Jake Blues clip. Man I needed a good old fashioned heart felt laugh from the gut like that. As soon as I saw your reference to the bonus disc "competition", I knew something off the wall and funny was coming. Just from you post here, I guess you must be a riot to have over for company. Annalee, his performance must be worth another bonus disc ;-)

Shipping notice here. Best thing I did was subscribe.

We need a Dear Abby column for Dead Heads. Dear Dead Heads. I hate to admit it , and I know I sound like a blaphemer, but I get a little lost in most (not all) 1972 Europe Dark Stars. I feel like all of the weird noises that sometimes go on for 5 minutes or more leave me skipping forward a minute at a time, till something with a melody comes along. It's usually after the verse and before something like "feeling groovey" or something jazzy. Other times it'll be the last 5 minutes all together. Have I lost my Dead Head badge? Did I ever earn one? I have been buying up the Europe 72 Dark shows I don't have yet from Ebay for $99 each mostly (great prices). But they're not all 4/8 and 4/14. But I cherish the great Dark Star parts more than most of the concert. It is as if they would hace been better off without the "noize".

Sincerely,
Troubled Dark Star Fan.

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In reply to by Butch

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Butch....as long as you enjoy something in the Dead's music, I am sure you are fully entitled to have a badge. Not often you read someone dissing Dark Star on here. Makes a nice change.

I have just checked, and I've got shipping notices for DaP 33 and 34 , too. Maybe we are having it(33) twice.

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Hey rockers!!!!

Rare day off, not enough sleep, up too early, too much coffee, here we go...……….

Since this year will see the anniversary re-issues of WD and AB, what would people like to see as the bonus live material?

Suggestions:
For WD: acoustic selections from the June FW run. Would be interesting. Maybe with some electric Pig thrown in? Or hold the electric for possible box set release?
For AB: FE 11/16/70. Slightly uneven, but has some great great moments (Hard To Handle [check Weir's super snazzy playing], Truckin'/Other One) but would require the guest artists to sign off on it. That may be a challenge...…..

Rock on rockers!!!!

Doc

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Butch, I'm having the exact opposite response to my first traipse through the E72 set. The Dark Stars are pulling me in so deeply that I'm having trouble appreciating the REST of the music. And I used to not be a Dark Star lover!

Speaking of blasphemy, I keep falling behind on shows because I'm just enjoying all this family time without running to kids' baseball, orchestra, music lessons, school events, etc. So more than once I've wondered about listening to JUST the deep stuff on the anniversary, rather than the entire show. I haven't done it yet (I've heard every note), but I've been tempted to just put on the Dark Star of the day in the evening of the anniversary, and NOT listen to the other songs until some later date when there's more time.

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I first heard the Help>Slip>Franklin's portion from the 8/22 Eugene show on the Grateful Dead hour in college and recorded it; then I recall finding a bootleg box of that same show, as well as the sister show. Both are excellent recordings and I still have them. The night with the aforementioned H>S>F was very good; I also recall a killer TMNS, a great Althea and of course that very angry Jack Straw as VGuy mentioned. I definitely recall David Gans saying how Bobby had "major guitar troubles", hence the extended Jerry jamming in there. Only later did I realize that major guitar troubles was possibly an understatement. You can very clearly hear Bobby come back in a few measures before he then jumps to the final vocals.

These are two super solid shows for later era Dead:

https://archive.org/details/gd93-08-21.sbd.nawrocki.15035.sbeok.shnf

https://archive.org/details/gd93-08-22.sbd.nawrocki.562.sbefail.shnf

Beer stock in fridgie is running low. Time to get more beer delivery today. These things matter!

Be Well People
Sixtus

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Does anyone else’s tracking say USPS waiting for package...? Looking forward to this one, fascinated by the effort and creativity that went into building and perfecting the wall of soooouuunnndddd. Have a great day Dead heads :)

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I just saw John Lennon in the audience of a Pink Floyd show. It's on the first dvd of the Video Anthology Harvested.

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Try pasting the tracking number into UPS tracking.

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No you are not a blasphemer. It's ok not to like every Dark Star ever done. Sometimes the songs that we hear are just really fucked up because of the brown acid we've ingested. There is no reason to hang your head in disgrace. I too was at a show once with a newbie, and would you believe halfway thru Drumz, he had to balls to ask, "are they going to play more songs?" I told him no and he left. Don't have to put up with that shit! I believe sometimes you'll find Viola Lee Blues can become the same beast. At least at the end of the feedback we find he has a friend out there. Shall we go indeed! Yeah, to the next fucking song. So don't let the maddening crowd influence your likes and dislikes, remember you are a child of the universe and have a right to be here.

Ann "the twirler" Landers

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Someone mentioned this combo from RT 2.3(?). Threw me for a loop. Dragged Eyes in winamp, then China. Listened to the 20 minute Eyes (very nice), but then the into for China was like a dead cut. After much data searching, finally figured out there were 2 Eyes on that one. I played the wrong one :-) Nice into on the right one! Sometimes we get shown the light and our eyes are closed.

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in not liking the cacophony. After all these years I still don’t really get into it. I used to FF as well. Now I grind through it or just go refill my drink.

Hell. I skip Casey Jones every time. Never got into that song.

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In reply to by Angry Jack Straw

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....three words. Bobby's. Slide. Work.

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In reply to by Vguy72

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you know what we do to blasphemers around here?

lock 'em in a room, tie 'em down, and play Wave to the Wind for 168 hours straight, at volume 11.

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In reply to by stoltzfus

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Everything should make sense then.

Those parts of Dark Star, Other One, MLBJ (6-28-74), some Playing in the Bands, are similar to what was called ‘Feedback’ in the 60’s.

Generally, the crazier it gets the more I like it. Probably because as a teenager I listened excessively to early Pink Floyd and found that the longer and stranger a song was, the more I liked it. Then I went to my first GD show and Drums/Space along with long jams showed me that there was something better than Pink Floyd. I dove onto that bus and never looked back.

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@PKB, thanks! Now it shows everything. Hopefully coming Friday, just in time for the weekend.

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That's a great story, Loved it!

The crazier the better. Yes! haha

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Sorry if this is an old debate, but several of my friends and I recently listened to both of these shows and were trying to decide which night was better. Both are obvioulsy amazing shows. But i'll do this every few years, give or take, and I always go with 10/16/89. Two of my friends chose 10/9/89 and another said that 10/8/89 is better than both...Sometimes the songs that we hear are just songs of our own

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E’72 Dark Stars are fabulous.... got both the guts and the grace.

For the abstracted portions, I always keep in mind how those moments fit into the overall framework. Like before entry of the first verse when they are playing around with the basic chordal-rhythmic-melodic structure of the song without actually leaving it entirely behind. Or then afterward when they go freeform to search out new ground to stand upon. I actually find it helpful to have the time clocking on the TV so I can see where they are within the usual 30 minute structure. Keeps my listening focused. Otherwise it can be difficult to wrap my head around what went on between points A and B.

Personal favorite is first night in Denmark. Probably the most accessible too. First 15 minutes is a beautiful, slow build up to the 'dark star crashes' verse. Second 15 minutes revolves around the formation and deconstruction of a thrilling Feeling Groovy jam that slightly hints at TOO. Quite simple really when broken apart. Perfectly played and very, very alive. Sugar Magnolia appropriately follows.

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I've always loved this particular Dark Star from Europe 72. Very energetic and I love the dissonant chords Bobby adds near the end, which spins it off into Sugar Magnolia. Only the 2nd show of the tour, starting out strong.

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or anything else that will get you to that place :) Give me all the strangeness, weirdness, just out of this worldness that can transpire during a dark star or drums>space or Playin' in the Band, I love it all and in my opinion we need the weirdness that is the out of this world sounds coming out of these songs. This was and still is my favorite part of the shows, there is never a drums>space>Dark Star TOO that I don't like. I was at a show too with a newbie and she asked me what they were doing during space, I did not answer until after the show because I did not want to miss any part of it, later, I told her that what they were doing was the best part of the show. She did not understand to say the least. She later got "it" and is now a die hard space head.
Just my opinion on another topic, 10-8 or 10-16? try 10/26, awesome dark star and just a fine show from Miami.

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For me, the chaotic interludes in Dark Stars just serve to make the return of the melody that much sweeter a release after the tension of the chaos. Sort of like that transition from slipping around in your own skin peaking to that sweet feeling afterglow for the last few hours, when it feels like your skin fits again and you recognize that person in the mirror.

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In my journey through the entire E72 tour, that has been the one song that has moved up considerably on my "favorites" list. I somehow forgot how good it was. I've taken to listening again on the off nights.

One thing I find cool about this tour is the actual theaters in which the band played. I've spent a good deal of time this go-around reading more about the venues and looking at photos. Truly amazing places. That must have made the experience all the more special for those in attendance. They sure are nicer than the Rubber Bowl in Akron.

The other thing I find interesting is the location of the shows. Aside from Denmark and Munich, all the shows are heavily concentrated in the Northeast corner of Europe. It seems as though they could have spread out a bit more.
Hell, if you are going to play Munich and have five days off before your next show, you might as well play Salzburg.

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