MAMU is a nice way to break into the set.
Dire Wolf is entirely to slow!
NFA has a great tempo, which surprises me after the slow Dire Wolf. It’s nice and long, full of good jams and Garcia. It actually goes on a bit too long at some point, because it’s so focused of a jam it gets repetitious.
Ramble On suffers a small cut.
Big River is fun as always.
Dark Star>”Spam” Jam>Dew
The intro goes into a nice groovy jam. It’s wavering between focused and exploratory by 4 minutes in, with a nice rhythm to it. This rhythm slowly fades and by 6 minutes in we’re bordering spacey from within the realms of exploratory. After 7 minutes the tempo picks up in a jam bordering on lunacy for a bit, then just going to a jazz jam before going back into full spaciness after 15 minutes in. They head into the theme for the verse around 20 minutes in.
The Jam after the Verse? Lookout! Lunacy definitely ensues, and Jerry goes for the Tiger. Like many from 74, these are hyper-speed Tigers! It’s great stuff here. Not sure why they called it the “Spam Jam” but it’s fully furious. Keith pushes out a nice keyboard rhythm behind it, and Jerry latches onto it. This should be called the “I’m going cuckoo jam”, it’s intense! Bob adds to the chaos… then it stops and falls into space. The Morning Dew that ensues starts off with a funky rhythm that I found to be misplaced, however, it builds into the monster it should be, with another fine crashdown! Great Dew, it does what it’s supposed to do!
Sugar Magnolia

Encore: US Blues


Performance Summary
A mixed bag here. The 1st set takes a while to get started, has some nice moments… but between the inconsistency and SQ issues I was less than floored. The 2nd set is pretty awesome, but again, inconsistent. The meat sequence is not inconsistent and ends with a Dew that’ll rip the remains of your face off (whatever the Tiger in Dark Star missed).

Sound Quality
The 1st set starts off terribly, but it gets ironed out mainly by the end of Promised Land. After that, the SQ is fine. The rest of the show is sprinkled with bits from Dick’s Picks 7.

it's not nearly as consistent as the 18th, but there is some excellent music tucked away in this show. the Dark Star is very unique and certainly one of the best of '74, but i'd say the stonger highlights are the WRS, and especially the soaring version of Moring Dew (one of the best ever, actually) and a fluid, nasty NFA - a new favorite for me.

so after giving the music on DP 7 a more thorough listen, i've decided that this is a very solid performance. really this is about a 4.5, but i'll round up to 5 to be generous.

The band rallies on this night for an excellent performance, easily the best of the three-night Alexandra Palace run and likely the second best show of the tour. The China/Rider segue is well played, as is a nice performance of WRS (DP #7). Also noteworthy is a fantastic stand alone NFA. The highlight of the show of course being an excellent Dark Star > Morning Dew. The 31 minute Dark Star (one of only six performed in 1974) moves along at a steady pace with some nice jazzy interplay between Jerry and Phil during the pre-verse segment and contains a brief but enthralling theme exploration midway through. While one of the better Dark Stars of '74, it loses some momentum after the verse, breaking down into rather uncohesive dissonance. Exciting perhaps, but the post verse passage doesn't match the intensity of the very best performances of the song during the year (such as 2/24/74). The movement titled "Spam Jam" is somewhat disapointing compared the better thematic jams of 1974, however the Morning Dew concluding the suite is excellent. Overall it's a fine show, but it is not on par with the very best performances of 1974. (96 pts)

Above average sound, with great bass line! You can really dig Phil, as he clearly stands out with a clean clear sound!

A keen ear will detect that "Not Fade Away" directly segues into "Ramble on Rose" in novel fashion, by way of Jerry playing some linking riffs. Some editing would have to be done to hear it on this source, but if you will listen to the way one ends and the other begins, you will see the potential, and understand what went down at the time.

This gig starts with a rockin' first set. The whole band puts out a beautiful Peggy-O (really top-notch), and Loser fans will like this one. Hot WRS and a Sweet Stella. Jerry is in good voice throughout, and the band is in tune with each other. Nothing really bad, but a few weak points in the first: a flat Dire Wolf. Bob screaming at the end of Not Fade Away.

This is one of the best Dark Stars of the year, and probably of the post'70 era. No sudden shifts, but good modal instrumental work with gradual transitions. It's a kinder, gentler Dark Star for the most part. An extra treat occurs in the middle, when the band gets into a wordless-but-definately-recognizable Death Don't Have No Mercy riff. After a bit of weirdness, it eases into great Morning Dew. ('74 was a good year for Dews.)

Sugar Magnolia cuts off at the end (ouch).

real good show. one hell of a loser. darkstar>dew is cosmic. good quality. shame about the dropouts. still a joy to listen to.

upon further listening, the dark star is more than cosmic. mindblowing? revolutionary? hahaha....

Believe it or not, this show was the very first time I'd seen the Dead. We couldn't get tickets for all three nights that week, so as luck would have it we had to settle for this one.

The band was wonderful that evening, a beautiful warm late summer's evening in London. Phil was on top form that night. Their sound system I could not believe the size of it. The top speakers had snow on them, I swear.

Favourites that I can barely remember ('cause I was so delirious) were Dire Wolf, Loser, and Stella Blue.

Wonderful memories, great performance, took me a month to come down.

Thanks for the upload Jonathan.

Where is Tennesse Jed????

I have my own personal reasons for liking this show. The day Jerry moved on, a station in California played a few cuts from this show that I taped. WRS and Let it Grow were just so perfect and I have been looking for these versions for ever (wearing out my tape) NOW I found the show and can finaly hear the whole set. The slide guitar on WRS has always given me chills, maybe because of the circumstances. Nevertheless, this show is awesome and the Rhodes really adds some soul.

...and THEN they drop Darkstar>Morning Dew on top of it! The openers are top notch, perfectly played, especially Peggy-O. The band is very relaxed and exploratory. The China>Rider has an interesting transition jam, but doesn't quite explode, instead serving as a set up to Weather Report Suite.
WRS is flawless, and paced perfectly. Keith is right on with the Rhodes. Holy Music. Let it Grow is relaxed, building during the main jam where Jerry starts out in spanish-mode, then scrubs briefly, kicking things up a notch. When things settle back in to the verse ("what shall we say...") Jerry hits a couple of notes that just *freeze* time for a second. What follows is a perfect, rare 1st set ending Stella Blue. This Stella peaks with immense power.
Set 2 has an outstanding NFA that starts and stops on its own power, no segues. Then comes a very special Darkstar>Dew.
It took me many listens to realize how completely locked in they all are on this one. So many rhythmic changes and hits, Phil following Billy through all of them. Amazing. Listening to it now, it sounds impossible, I can't even believe it. Perfect transition to Dew, starting quietly with Keith on the space-piano, dropping in assuredly as he switches to the grand. Then it drops down to pin-drop level only to build to a point where it sounds like they've won some kind of championship.

Sorry to be long winded, but this is my favorite show ever.

tracks appearing on DP7 (w/ DP tracks):

Black Throated Wind (d1t2)
Mississippi Half-Step (d1t5)
Weather Report Suite-> (d2t1)
Stella Blue (d2t2)
Me and My Uncle (d3t1)
Not Fade Away (d3t2)
Darks Star (d3t3)->'Spam Jam'(d3t4)->
Morning Dew (d3t5)
U.S. Blues (d3t6)

Of these London shows this is the 'most represented' on DP7, and for good reason! Also one of only 6 Dark Stars in 1974:
2/24/74
5/14/74
6/23/74
7/25/74 (no lyrics)
9/10/74
10/18/74
(no more until 12/31/78)