What Am I Listening to Now?

8 March 2008 @ 3:58 | Posted in » Concerts, Entertainment

It seems like I have been walking around with the same tunes all week. I finally finished the rotation and am preparing Silver for the weekend. Coming off are the following:

Grateful Dead
72-08-27: Old Renaissance Faire Grounds - Veneta, OR
There are legendary shows in the band’s 30-year history. This is one such show that I have listened to many times over the years, although it has been a while. The sound on this is excellent.

The set list is nice. Sunshine Daydream is interesting in its infancy.

92-03-02: The Omni, Atlanta, GA
Another show I attended. After Brent’s death, the band changed again. There was MIDI and Vince Welnick. I don’t listen much to 1990s Dead and this is why. While this is not as bad as the ’94 show, in hindsight the band’s sound is not what I usually think of when I think of my favorite band. To be sure, I enjoyed the show. It just doesn’t hold up well with the rest of the catalogue. No standouts, but I enjoyed Hornsby helping out.

94-03-21: Richfield Coliseum – Richfield, OH
This show is highlighted as the show from 1994 to listen to. Somewhere I read that this was the last great Dead show. Hmmm . . .

Obviously, one thing that stands out is the Lovelight –> Stella Blue –> Lovelight. Everyone talks about it. On paper (in binary?) in looks wonderful. Forgetting just what this show was when I listened to it, my thoughts were that Bobby does a poor imitation of a blues singer with Lovelight. The song seemed forced. Stella is one of my favorites. It was good until the end where Jerry moaned offkey. Then to come back to Lovelight was a nice touch, but there was something about Bobby on this night . . . it just didn’t do it for me.

Peggy-O I thought was well-played. Another thing that occurred to me was how songs mature. I really liked West L.A. Fadeawy. When this song first came out, I was not thrilled. It was okay, but nothing I ever said, “Wow, they play West L.A. tonight!” This version smoked and had a nice jam in the middle. The song improved in the eight years since I first heard it. He’s Gone including the jam coming out of it was well done, but I am a huge fan of the song to begin with, so the standard is low.

Once again, New Speedway was unrecognizable until Jerry began singing. The band’s sound is radically different than the band I grew up with. While there are moments late in the career that are nice, the MIDI sound is just not interesting to my ears. I am not a musician, but it sounds lazy to me.

Jerry Garcia Band
80-02-28: Wilkens Theatre, Kean College – Union, NJ
Robert Hunter guested for a few songs at the end of the second show. Hunter, longtime lyricist for Jerry, adds a different sound altogether.

This show is good. It’s a simple JGB band without Merl or Melvin laying in heavy keys. I like the sound of this band, even if it is not as mature as other incarnations.

83-12-04: Gym SUNY Stony Brook – Stony Brook, NY
I’ve been listening to a lot of ’83 JGB recently. This is a short show, but my goodness it shines!

Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door is up-tempo with a reggae feel, much like Dylan played it in ’78. I really liked this version. Really, this whole set soars, particularly from Knockin’ on. A very good Mission in the Rain and Rhapsody in Red then a stellar trio of Don’t Let Go –> Deal –> Tangled Up in Blue. Awesome! It just smokes.

I was just about to type to make certain you download it, but I just found out my favorite site has just received a cease-and-desist order from Rhino Records. The Dead have outsourced their distribution to them. Not much has happened since. But to shut down sites sharing free music . . . errr . . . GD Productions is going to loose a lot of customers.