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grendel

Books and Music

+24543


Submissions

5
Wharf Rat
Sept. 27, 1976
Community War Memorial Auditorium

Keith shines on a long, flowing intro section that spills into space-mellow Rat-Goodness
14
Last Time
Dec. 8, 1993
Sports Arena

Emerges from Space with a very long intro & very distinct and sustained St. Stephen tease! My favorite version.
10
Dear Mr. Fantasy
July 18, 1989
Alpine Valley

Part of what made this Alpine run so legendary. Soulful and Brent-astic.
5
Big Railroad Blues
Aug. 14, 1971
Berkeley Community Theater

Maybe the best pure hard riving Rock&Roll version. Lean, mean, and Jerry supreme!
38
Scarlet Begonias -> Fire On The Mountain
Nov. 2, 1977
Field House - Seneca College

Rarely heard (left out of DP Bonus tracks for Vol. 34) but another sweet/smooth '77 winner.

Comments

Spanish Jam
July 19, 1974
Selland Arena

It's a good one, very deep and dark and driving, and absolutely melts into a pretty terrific Eyes.
Scarlet Begonias
July 19, 1974
Selland Arena

This and a sublime Spanish Jam>Eyes are really the only reasons to shell out bucks for the Dave's Picks release of this show, which is really a huge disappointment...also Exhibit A of why I would never pony up for the annual subscription release for a year (not knowing what you're gonna get.) Most of this Selland show is inexplicably overrated and features mostly sloppy play, blown lyrics, and a tinny '74 WOS reproduction. That said, this particular Scarlet stand alone is aces, and unique among any ever played. The tone and riff Garcia lights into (as noted by others) near the 5-minute mark has never been done in any other version ever and is a remarkable hard-rock killer solo that then morphs nicely back into a more familiar Scarlet groove. They nail the rejoin coda as well and for a 1974 version it may very well be the best ever.
Dark Star
Oct. 26, 1989
Miami Arena

Gack. This one is just stupid. And no, I don't mean "stupid good", just pure stupid. Probably killed a few manatees down in Florida playing this screechfest of annoying nonsensical cacophony with absolutely zero sense of musicality. Wouldn't care so much except this is the show they chose to represent 1989 on the "Circles" boxed set; that's a crying shame and a waste of space.
Aiko Aiko
April 11, 1978
Fox Theatre

Perfect Crescent City groove, Jerry having fun growling out lyrics, whole band in tow...unlike many other versions from this era it ends on a final down beat before charging into a SugarMag...+1 (Big) Easy!
Stella Blue
April 19, 1982
Baltimore Civic Center

^^^^ My top 5 shows for '82 would be this one, 4/6/82, 9/11/82, 4/3/82, and the reigning champ 10/10/82. Will def. check out that HG from 10/28/77...there's much from that show I already love (the Casey Jones is a beast) but it's been a while since I really sat down and listened to that whole 2d set.