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November 17, 2004 (edited)
What is sad about it is, but then glad ...
O.K., I'll compromise with you guys, and go back to my previous rating of a 4, since I disagree with you about "Rain",
i.e. I was glad because it was something different, but it certainly wasn't the best part of the show!
I thought I was the one, since people used think I was too critical and therefore, I'm glad that I'm not the only person here, who can try to be objective in relation to other shows! On the other hand, if you weren't there, I respectfully suggest you don't bother reviewing any shows at all; save for possiblely, very early ones, since most of the people who were actually there usually don't remember, drugs or not!
What is sad about it is, but then glad, that they hadn't played Morning Dew in L.A. in 20 years since U.C.L.A. in '73. The closest they came, were the two in Ventura in '84 and '87, the better of which is '84, (a highly recommended show for more reasons than just that).
But I sure was glad to see that and a few other rarities like "King Bee", (how often do you get to see that)? Not to mention, "Stagger Lee", "Lazy River Road", "Row Jimmy", "Picasso Moon" "Aiko Aiko", "Way To Go Home", "The Last Time", and "I Fought The Law". Granted some of these were becoming in this late era more common than they used to be, nevertheless a good song list, to say the least!
I know in the grand scheme of shows, the following doesn't really matter, but a trend that always seemed to linger in my subconscious, was concerning the following; perhaps it may seem kind of silly, to those who elsewhere saw a different experience, in terms of the set list etc. Like to me, seeing "Row Jimmy", still at that point I considered it a difference, at least for this geographical region, (
i.e. as compared to the East Coast where they never stopped playing that tune). It had been almost decade since its' return to west coast performances (
i.e. up in the Bay Area), but it still was a rarity down south, especially for me since I missed it in Irvine, during a period in which I was trying to quit seeing Grateful Dead. I hadn't seen them do "Row Jimmy" in So. Cal., since '76 at the Shrine again, a highly recommended show for more than just that; (example, "Comes a Time" and to open, the greatest rendition of "Might as Well" I've ever heard)!
I was about to say, San Diego in '79 but I think I'm confusing with "High Time", which similarly, wasn't played in a very long time except Long Beach in '88. They might have done that also in Irvine, when I wasn't there, but I'm not sure?
I've only heard this only a few times, quite a while ago. Being lucky, (as stated elsewhere in other reviews), to have attended any shows during this period of time for me was not easy, and therefore, may have skewed my perception to such elation!
Augy
San Diego