excellent first set with the exception of a yet to be developed Foolish Heart.
second set is pedestrian. starts off with the worst version of Louie Louie i've ever heard. i love Brent, but this is god awful.

Louie Louie incites a riotous fervor. Hairs rise, the people cries and Brent slams his keys to the skies. As a Brent enthusiast, a personal favorite. Rest easy.

Cheers

Three weeks before the Kentucky Derby. The "Run for the Roses" Grateful Dead in town to play most every song that pertained to Roses, or even might sound like Rose (Desolation Row). Maybe it is just me, but you can actually hear when this show kicks into gear....during Brent's second round of soloing during Walkin' Blues. After that point, it's ON!!!! Something happened, and it doesn't necessarily require chemicals to perceive...According to jboyaquar (or Brother Superior) in a previous review, the Kentucky people are "tools", apparantly called that because someone cheers after Jerry mentions NYC in Ramble on Rose...I don't know, maybe somebody there was FROM NYC? Brother Superior also couldn't understand why they would play Louie, Louie....perhaps because they were in LOUIE-VILLE? It was immediately apparent to all of us dumb Kentuckians. I wonder if Ky natives such as Hunter S. Thompson or, who is that guy, um, Owsley, would appreciate his ignorant generalization...Anyway, back to the show. Just a fantastic batch of red hearts & flowers in this basket! From the pre-show parking lot festivities to the walk out, this one was special.

This is a wonderful late 80's show. Laid back for a nice peacfull night. Jayboyaquar seems to be somewhat jaded about a nonexistent lackluster performance. We enjoyed this show immensly back in the day. this was a one off for us and after the end of a long day of travel the boys delivered with a beautifuly played show. Highly recommend the first set Walkin Blues through Must have been the roses.

Overall: decent show for most people must have if youre a Brent fan.

The scene: the hallways at this venue (at least where I was) were like a basement with really low ceilings. If I remember correctly, the venue was pretty small; not as small as Ann Arbor, but smaller than the usual northeast arenas. I also think this was one of the venues that wouldnt let me bring a drum in for the inbetween set drum circle that seemed to happen more and more as time went on.

The music: Brent show all the way. Listen to his keys jam on Foolish Heart. Louise Louise was very cool, but he doesnt remember too many lyrics a bit like the next year in Hamilton where he tried to sing all of Hey Jude, instead of just the reprise. Brent wasnt great at remembering the lyrics to the cover songs he did, but that didnt stop him from smoking it. I remember running from the hallway to the inside to see who was on sax during his sax-sounding solo.

1st Set: Alright, Kentucky. Are youuuuuu reeeaaadddddyyyy? the crowd is going cuckoo over that first note, and after 1001 seconds we're off to "Hell." It's not all it's cracked up to be...lacking in both raucous fury and salaciously sung delights. "Sugaree" is equally as unimpressive...fine and workmanlike, but unremarkable. "Walkin" has a lazy beat; honestly, it's a bit boring. "Roses" is typically a treat...this version is as lilting as ever... but noone seems thrilled to be onstage tonight. Thankfully, "Uncle's" got a bit of a snap though still all business. As well as, let's thank god we have Brent adding some much needed spice. Oyy... what are these KY boys cheering when Jerry sings 'NYC' in "Ramble?" What tools. Otherwise it's a pretty good version with Jerry's voice in fine condition. "Desolation" is just Good ol' GD. Brent just takes charge in the late 4's and 5's blowing everyone away with his insistence on leading the pack. Tonally it's a tad too loud and doesn't fit the timidity and apprhension of the song... But I'm an energy whore. Jerry's notes are much more appropriately restrained, but also not as climactic. "We'll be back in just a little bit."

2nd Set: 82 seconds of tuning...Oh, no.. "Louie" has reared its ridiculous head. Why oh why?... first since '87? Who's purporting the sax on us? Well, it's quite polished if kinda basics for its first appearance in twelve months. "Man Smart" is pretty lazy and the tempo is...kinda...tortoise-like...there's no breeze here. "Ship" is one of those that bored me to tears in the overplayed '87. The open canvas available to the performers due to the loose rhythm allowed for a fair amount of exploration without contorting my body into spasms, as more electric versions do. Thank goodness for the carefree, undemanding "UJB" because my head is in a perpetual Drums/Space" mode. A brilliantly mad, sluttish child, demurely warm yet self-centered girl/woman has just proposed marriage to me... of course it's not as pure and sweet as it sounds... she's looking for her US citizenship...(Latvian) Frankly, this is the fifth marriage that has been proposed down my blvd. It's by far the craziest offer and the only one I'd even imagine to consider. My grasp of what I consider any of my mores or values have been thrown into jeopardy by this untamed creature. "TOO" places me in a similiarly demented place. However, without her energy I'd be as solitary in spirit as "Stella." Frankly, is there a less rewarding activity than attempting to provide a guide for future Deadheads to follow when noone responds to anything you play...however, there's always Jerry's soul to latch onto. Thankfully, "Sugar" provides me with an opportunity to rock those jitters off. It's just a standard version but Brent's flourishing insistence makes it smiley.

161 seconds of cheering precede the somber show-closer, "Knockin."

2 5/6th stars

I think they took their time and played agreat show!.Post-space was the same songs as greensboro ,but was still great.In the parking lot I heard the local radio station playing the '74 show from this venue.I remember this show being a loud one,and this audience sounds great.Excellent !

Mr. Mydland was ATOMIC this night.
The show did not take off from the gates but Jerry turned on the charm during Roses with some lovely vocal work and from there it was pure gold. Check out Brent's firey work in Big Liver! The fiddle midi works beautifully for the supercharged keyboard solo and the crowd responds enthusiastically--love these hi qual auds. A nice Desolation and a still evolving Foolish also make this first set enjoyable. It is odd to hear Foolish come to an abrupt halt to end the set. I can see why they experimented this as a set ender as I always felt Foolish is somewhat similar to Tangled Up In Blue that worked wonderfully in the end of set slot for JGB. Side Note--Man did I always wish "The Boys" would adopt Tangled Up as a first set ender, encore, or any other regular spot in their bag of tricks. Woulda been great if it stayed in rotation beyond the Dylan/Dead tour.

Back to Louisville.
Louie Louie is so over-the-top and rediculously well performed. Brent lays on some serious juice here. I love the sax/flute midi combo during the all-too-short solo and I wish a jam would have commenced that went on forever and ever. This is another song that I think would have been great as a regular or semi-occasional treat. Brent didn't slack off during the follow-up Women either. So much so that I was inspired to review before completing a listen to the whole show.

This is a really good aud recording. Unless you can only appreciate shit that sounds like it was cut in a studio PLEASE ignore the recent "sound sucks" review. This one really puts you there.

Thanks Archive, thanks tapers, Thanks Brent Mydland. Miss you.

In all honesty, for a recording made with shotgun mics in 1989, this AUD sounds astoundingly good. All instruments and vocals are audible, and the mics were positioned high enough up to minimize crowd noise. It is listenable and isn't sped up like the SBD. I have been listening to the whole spring 89 tour straight thru, and have had the pleasure of being able to listen to SBD's of just about every show, and the fact that this is an audience doesn't bother me even relative to the SBD's. Is it an amazing AUD? No, but for being done on Nak 300's, it's a great recording. Congrats to Jill and Rob R. Done Good!

I don't know what deadhead89 was talking about, but this recording is absolutely terrible.

For some green-horn hillbillies from TN. this show rocked. Just turned 16, had totaled my car earlier in March and my mom drove me and friend to this show, and dropped us off. We had to catch a cab to the hotel. There was so much about this show that was just awesome. Thanks to the guys from Florida we met in "the lot" for the hospitality and the uni's, thanks to mom for not pressing the subject of the dialated pupils, and thanks so much to the Grateful Dead for all the good times.

I'm always torn to which sound I like better - a sbd or audience recording. Both have elements that the other doesn't. I always like the clean board sound, but they typically lack the audience and have an artificial reverb/ambiance sound to it or flat sound with no effect. On the other hand I like the ambiance, energy, reverb of an audience recording from a live show such as this, but the audience recording lacks the bass clarity.

Now that we have both versions, I think I will sync and overlay the audience recording on top of the board recording to get a full sound. I'll have to wait for a rainy day to do it :)

Thanks for a great sounding show.

this much better recording than the SBD. great Sugree.