Scarlet Begonias -> Fire On The Mountain
March 22, 1990
Copps Coliseum
We deadheads rally behind this band. I love the unity of brotherhood and sisterhood it brings, but I also embrace the polarization and differences of opinion it fosters in these musical roundtable discussions. I acknowledge the artistic merits of this version; it's surely one of the very best of era. But I can't vote for it, because I don't much care for the sound of the era. Try as i might, I just can't get behind the MIDI. This is the era when I began going to shows; it was a cosmic experience beyond description. But since we now have the advantage of accessing nearly all the Dead's live catalogue in good sound quality, it's difficult to convince my ears this surpasses the golden era for this pairing of tunes: 1977-1982. Just my two pennies.