Grateful Dead

Besides 4/22/71 natch, how bout either DaP 35 or 37? One last good ride before we (hopefully) get our new 38s...

Dug 4/21. Really liked the first set. More of the same consistent tight, full throttle, but not manic. Cool jam and smoking Hard To Handle. Second set seemed to....? Don’t have good descriptor? Perhaps more like earlier in the tour when they were feeling their way more? Though I was more preoccupied so maybe it was just me?
My overall impression was good, but perhaps I liked the last 2 more by this much 🤌

Wow, talk about getting yer cherry popped lol. Can’t imagine knowing basically nothing about the Dead, dropping, and then peaking out during THAT! LOL. Was it your first time tripping too? If so, that’d be like the trifecta!
- never heard the Dead (basically)
- First Show
- First Trip?
Hee-hee, I had almost 2 years of indoctrination/training before my first show and I didn’t trip at a show until like my tenth show, and it was still almost too much !
Favorite quote in quite some time;
“act straight man, he cannot know” 😂😂😂
Yeah, like an older head who tapes even, is not gonna notice those giant pupils, sheeeoot, he probably could smell the fear on ya lol. I mean just one look and I woulda started laughing......we used to call it “Cats that got that bright eyed look” sorta our code for it...
Anyway, baptism by fire, I love it! Your lucky ya didn’t permanently fry some circuits!
Great story! Nothing like starting with a bang!

Holy crap Jim, I don't know how you guys made it through that Raven Space twice!
Freaks me out now. What a first show!

OROBORUS: There's definitely something to what Hunter is saying. I write lyrics for some friends' band, and they usually give me the vocal melody before I start for exactly that reason. The first album I did with them, I focused mainly on the meaning, but came up with a lot verse that didn't rhyme. The vocalist commented later that he was having a hard time remembering the lyrics to that album, so the second time I worked with them I put more thought into the rhyming schemes, and that made the lyrics more memorable for him, and I suppose for their listeners, too. Another member of the band who is not a native English speaker only wants one syllable words for the songs he's writing because he says it's easier to find the beat. I've read that Hunter didn't like the vocalists altering his lyrics, but when writing for myself a lot of editorial decisions about the lyrics occur as I'm trying to marry the page to the music. Some lines just look much better on paper than they sound when vocalized in rhythm. I've got the freedom to just say, well, I like that word, but it's never gonna work. To me a lot of songs that end up sounding awkward do so because the authors were too precious with their words, not being willing to alter the page to suit the performance. That has nothing to do with Desolation, of course. Dylan's lyrics are on another plane of existence. I don't have a specific problem with the song itself, just in the context of a show, it often feels like a prolonged drop in intensity to me. I guess I just haven't heard "the one" that will convert me. There have been songs that I just didn't get until I'd heard one performance that suddenly struck a nerve. From then on every performance became important.

But anyway.....

Still raven about 4/19/82.. I can totally see how that space would wig out both dogs and ravers on a ride. It's maniacal. The 9/15/88 space was just the opposite, so sweet and then evolved into a really nice I Will Take You Home, iirc. That's a really tight show all around. I'm gonna have to revisit that period, 'cause the tapes I had didn't leave as favorable an impression.

4/19/82 Around and Around is pretty unique, too, at least to me. Beautiful Stella Blue. Man, what a first show. Trying to picture what the folks "up there" were doing when Bobby cautioned them during Broken Down Palace. Standing on the tracks, perhaps? :P

When did they stop doing On the Road Again?

First Earth Day in 1970, and The Airplane at the Central Park Band Shell... massive event envy.

I participated the first year at the NYC Central Park bandshell. The following month I saw the Jefferson Airplane for my first time, same location.

Happy Earth Day everyone.. hope that's something we can all agree on.

Yea, that Space grabbed us too.. we left the arena thinking what the hell was that?

I think I've told this tale here before so I'll keep it brief. The weirdest thing of the whole show was the setting. I went with a buddy and his older brother who was purportedly as straight as can be, but an avid dead fan and a taper. Me and my buddy were quick to depart him at the car.. got two steps inside and serendipitously bumped into a benevolent stranger underneath a dark stairwell.. and we both got two that set the stage for the rest of the night. I only knew of the GD from a couple of my older brothers studio albums. So I was expecting mellow, acoustic type playing. The last thing I listened to before we left was an 8-track of Terrapin Station so I was happy they played that.

Well.. things turned dark during Drums/Space. My friend to my left started really wigging out. He was scared and not happy.. at a certain point I stopped looking over at him and began worry about myself. I looked over at the woman to my right who was not surviving this any better. Tears of fright. ..and that laughter, that taunting, looney laughter and the noises. It was all any of us could take. ......and eventually in those minutes that seemed like a lifetime, it all seamlessly melted into the delicious sounds of the most beautiful melody I had ever heard. A tranquil Wheel that came just as I this "my nerves were shot and I felt like I couldn't take it anymore" feeling had outlived it's useful life. I got a hug from the cutie on my right, she next hugged her boyfriend and everyone was happy again.. all was good with the world.

So we survive the whole affair, and it really felt like survival. We miraculously met up with my friends older brother at the correct time and place (how we did this I will never know, surely divine intervention) but just before that got a very stern warning ".. act straight man.. he cannot know..." so we meet up, hop into the car and on the drive home he grabs a tape out of his Sony and fast forwards the second set tape and says we gotta hear that Space again man.. and listened to it at high volume on the first playback of his master which took most of the drive home.. so we had to survive it again, this time driving through the streets of downtown Baltimore, through the freeways on another trip through never, never land.

I will remember that mad cap laughter and that trip for the rest of my remaining days and the feeling of fearlessness that I carried through school the next day. When things get weird.. there's a challenge and reward to put it in perspective and grind on through it with a smile on your face. Thanks for listening and commenting guys.

What a great show Jim. Recording is fantastic. They Love Each Other really stood out to me. Love it when when a show does that. Peggy O, Cumberland. That Feel Like a Stranger Franklins is hot. Like that finish and the Brokendown encore is solid. But, the strangest part of the show was that Raven Space. What the hell was that?? My god, my dog went nuts when that came on.

Keep it moving forward.

LOL, this is why I love this place!
Personally I love Desolation Row, but that certainly doesn’t mean you have to lol.
Those 89 versions are sick. Or any that Jerry’s “on”...
Man that is a lot of lyrics...how can Bob usually do well with this one but constantly mess up Trucking, lol, and Promised Land! Bet it has to do with where the vowels/consonants fall relative to timing and playing at the same time etc. Unfortunately I can’t remember where, maybe Relix book? But read an interview recently with Hunter discussing just how difficult it is to write so the singer can sing/breathe right etc.. Rockthing,.bet that’s why your having trouble in the same spot...

Gonna hit up 4/21/71 just cause, “buy the ticket, take the ride”. Actually almost to the final stretch of the April madness.
Hit up both those 88 shows yesterday and enjoyed both. 88 is another under radar year that needs more love.

4/19/82. Been a big fan since I got the tape back then, perhaps even more so the previous night.
Wasn’t sure I’d have time but the Mrs works late tonight so maybe if it’s on YouTube....I thought I saw some of this there once?
So one step done and another begun...hup, hup, vamonos!

Oh, ps, hey Vguy I think Striders trying to take away your class clown/site jokester title ; )
Keep em coming boys! Not enough smiling or laughter “in this world of trouble, we got ta....”

JIMINMD: 4/19/82: Helluva first show. Wow. I had an hour drive each way to my work site today, so nearly got through the whole thing in the car. I'd just made it up to the most blatant Other One tease that turned into Truckin' when I got home. So much good happening from start to finish, but that Raven Space is fantastic. Not sure how I missed this one, considering it's my wife's birthday, and a few years ago I made a point of checking to see what shows landed on her birthday. Got stuck up in Orono, I guess. :P Only wish I'd not been driving so I could've listened with more attention and taken more notes about specific hot and not spots. All I know is, I wish I could say that was /my/ first show. I think I'm gonna be listening to this for a while.

DEADVIKES: 9/15/88: Oh, yeah, I'm amazed they remembered the lyrics as well as they did, tbh, pulling songs out of nowhere on stage that way, well before the teleprompters became practical. It happens. I get it. Usually I have a laugh over it, 'cause sometimes it's the imperfections that are most endearing. I guess Desolation just doesn't appeal to me as much the other tunes in the set, or other Bobby tunes for that matter, so that missed lyric right at the climax of the 12 minute rendition of the song sort of added insult to injury, so to speak. lol. I guess Casanova was just being punished for going to Desolation Row. ;) On my first listen it kind of stood out as one of the few points in the show that weren't pedal to the metal. Don't get me wrong. I love it when Jer brings it waaay down with one of his dramatic ballads, and I love Bobby's role in the band. I know some people who're like, "I only listen to Jerry Band 'cause I can't stand Bob," but I totally do not get that.

Normally I like the stretched out tunes, but I also dig the hot and tight atmosphere circa '87/'88. So many different approaches over the years. That's what keeps it fun.

Speaking of flubbed lyrics, There's a line in Promised Land, "Right away I bought me a through train ticket right across Mississippi clean" that I've heard Bobby miss on multiple recordings. The reason I bring this up is that whenever I try to sing that song, I always forget the exact same line. Has Bobby hypnotized me?!

Agree Strider, this is a great 88 show and so representative of the time. Short show. Love these 2 source matrix recordings.
Rockthing, flubbed lyrics is part of the charm and deal with the Dead and so is stretching out those songs. Desolation Row, that song is stuck in my craw. Love it. Might be because it reminds me of the late 80s and being a different dumb kid.

Going to check out 4/19/82 today. Jim's first. Oh and this is Dan Healy's master soundboard recording.

JIMINMD: I'd imagine anyone who wasn't at the Pizza Parlour says they wish they'd seen'em sooner. :) Sorry I horned in with Maine when we were talking about (What's new in) Baltimore That sounds like a cool show. '82 is one of my weaker years, but I've been getting into several shows from that period over the past year, so I'm definitely curious. Now the queue.

Currently diggin' on that 9/15/88 MSG gig. I was mistaken. It was another September MSG run that I'd spent time listening to. Sure never had heard this. Most of my '88 shows came from old tape trades several gens off the master, so this reminds me that maybe I should be looking to upgrade those. Steve Porter's Sennheiser ME80 pull appealed to me the most. Frequencies seemed most well-balanced. I always go for AUDs first and fall back on boards when it's slim pickins. This show, though. Man. Gimmie an E-N-E-R-G-Y! What's that spell? Great show. Grahme's first "Rock'n'Roll" is certainly noteworthy. Sugaree is rockin'! That's a song that I'm kinda used to feeling like it's draggin on a bit, but not this night. Wow. Desolation Row, otoh, kind of overstays its welcome a bit, and then Bobby flubs the climactic lyric. I love Dylan tunes, and obviously The Dead do too, but this song is rarely a highlight in a Dead show for me. All Along the Watchtower in the second set, however, really cooks. Jer could really rock some dirt in these later days, which makes the contrast with his wonderful clean playing in the early 70s a real treat, and also highlights how each era has its attractions. On the other hand, I prefer Crazy Fingers with Jerry's "silvery elf voice", but I'd never complain about getting a Crazy Fingers. Deal. This has got to be one of the band's most dependable numbers. Such a cool tune to begin with, but they always nail it. Good night for Bobby tunes, with both Cassidy and Playin'. I love how Phil seems to be the first to hint at going back to it during the jam out of Uncle John's. Pretty concise Drums/Space. The crowd clearly reacts to Brent's daughter coming on stage during I Will Take You Home. Interesting choice out of Space showing that Space wasn't all about melting face, but also creating some more gentle dream atmospheres, too. The Lovelight false ending is cool, like, in a James Brown throwing off his mantle kind of way. Bobby really strikes the right balance here delivering exuberant rather than psychotic. ;) They barely slow down at all. I'm not sure I've ever heard such a relentless show before. Nice call.