Hard to Handle
April 29, 1971
Fillmore East
This ain't so far behind the "classic" on top, what they get in this is a controlled, focused, and pinpoint rendition where Weir and Garcia keep a close watch on each others movements, allowing Lesh to keep a steady yet always wavering slinky tone that won't let them slip at any moment. Weir provides a solo that doesn't bend the mind but allows a contemplative moment, where a certain tactical rhythm is developed where Garcia can step in, and with this foundation built and made so firm, it is the only feasible possibility that Garcia could easily give a performance upon the steady backing, Lesh allows enough room for an individual surface area for each musician to separate themselves into their interweaving lines, Garcia's solo thus is an exercise in coherence, you can feel the pulse of the rhythm that drives the solo deeper and deeper, allowing the peak to continue its move towards the climax, but keeps getting pushed back and back, until it finally has so much pent up energy, that the most crucial coherent section of the solo, is ready to be thrown into motion, it can only be said, that the finale of the solo was inevitably going to find its way into the depths of the realm of a controlled, concise, and expanding musical synergetic world, in which only few musicians and bands have the capability of tapping into once created.