Don't shy away due to brevity, kickin show.
Originally a jug bandlol. I wonder how those tuned in who had only heard of the band responded after a few tunes. Certainly no jug band any more. The keys start out too low but bob is as clear as I have ever heard him. When the piano comes through it sound awesome, early keith brings so much to the music. He needs to be up in this mix. Bob dedicates me and my uncle to the state of
mexico.now bob, you know thats not a state right? Nice crisp playing all around. Mr. Charlie has a real nice quick beat and pig sounds great. These earlier sugarees are nice and all, but knowing how the song evolved they dont do much for me. Same goes here, nice but little more. The B.E. Wind is great. Bobs voice is in great condition for this show. Jerry biffs the intro riff to Chinatown, but its ok, pig takes over.
Quick change hereChina Cat- Bob Weir on lead guitarwell for a minute anyway. This is a short but powerful chinacatreal bap bap boom. Phil sounds amazing on the high harmony. Compare and contrast with years later and it would be impossible to convince someone that it was the same voicebut he sounds great. Bob gives the history of, or takes credit for, BIODTL. Its a great version all the same.
Bob gives the news on the hour after It hurts me toonews is, everything is gonna be alright. Thanks bob. Tennessee Jed is just right after bobs report. Its a bit hoppier than the other Jeds from this era. I like it a lot.
Oh god, donna haters beware, she sounds terribly on playinI mean bad bad. But around 6 minutes in they are seriously swingingits truly a shame they had to cut it short for the radiothis playin was on its way into the stratosphere. The set closes with a very brief promised land.
After another radio intro they kick into truckin What Jerry does with the guitar starting around the 9 minute mark is incredible. I wanted to drop a few specific times with really interesting phrasing and by the end realized that was impossible. The review would have been like, check out
9:23 and 9:25, and
9:29 etc Jerry is awesome. Then a nice billy drums into a RAGING TOO introthis is the one song of the night where the issue of radio time is thrown out the window. And it certainly makes up for all the quickly paced short first set tunes. Get ready for the ride. Listen to where you think the jam is headed at the 5 minute mark, and then listen as Jerry completely takes control of the direction and alludes to a future passage later. The whole band(around 11:30) seems to dip their toes in the lake of fire in the 7th level. Jerry and bob especially. Then at
12:30 Phil declares himself lord of the underworld with some scary power chords. I think they would have played a Spanish jam in here under normal circumstances. Keith, Bob, Phil, and Jerry all at one point play commonly used signals for it. Maybe it was just a big inside joke among friends, but they match up with some other Spanish jam signals from before and after Europe 72. Great great great other one.
Frankly I hear people bad-mouthing Sing me back Home a bit too much. If you dont dig this tune I think you are a little touched in the head. To each his own and all but my opinion of your opinion is that it stinks ;) Wow, what a great version. Jerry, and yes donna make some great melodies. Boy Bobby sure is talkative at this show.
Sugar Mags gets to thumpin real fast. Phil tone is great, and, as mentioned, Bobs voice is in great shape. The sugar mags is great 72 dead all the way around. The drop into NFA with just little touches from Billy is awesome. If you are one of those who looks for especially good GDTRFB, this is one to check out. Jerry rips it heavy and fast.
7:17 is a lengthy one for sure, at
4:58 jerry bends a pin drop twisting noteits really something. Donna is only off for a little of it. The train pulls away from GDTRFB very smoothly and gets going with the end of NFA. Saturday is played well to close things out.
Considering what Europe 72 represents to many this show could be considered an oddball. It is short, has only a few jams and is generally played a few beats faster than normal. I like to call it unique
Sound 4.5/5
Show 7/10