John A

Big river debuted on New Year’s Eve 1971, with Garcia taking one of the verses on lead vocal and singing duet with Bobby on a couple others. It wouldn’t show up again for 49 shows, at Boston music hall in the fall of ‘72. After which it was played virtually every show up through the hiatus and a bit thereafter. As an aside, 12-31-71 also marked the first appearance by Donna on vocals. Thanks, Count2, for the easy to look up song stats!

Jerry sings, and like he's meaning it, "the people don't care a man can be as STRONG as me." This ain't no lyrical flub. I don't recall him substituting anything for "poor as me". Is this unique? And as one might expect, he doesn't cheat anybody on the ensuing jam... I recommend the Rick Katzeff Schoeps FOB tape, assuming one's system can bring it to sufficiently high levels. 🔊 And don't miss the Knockin' encore, which sounds even better. Rick brought some gold out of a stadium on DAT that night.

5-19-77 is my favorite show, full stop. 2nd half of set 2 is "music plays the band" to another degree. Sugaree is so perfect it defies reason. Why is this the only show Spring Tour '77 with no encore? Because it didn't need one.

Tangled up in Dew! Believe It Or Not in the "pre-St. Stephen Reprise ballad slot" is an awesome twist. Also cool to see both Hard to Handle and Box of Rain after the presumably (or at least very possibly) set ending Let It Grow

Playful to dangle medium school (Women, Quinn, and Wang Dang) and new school (Last Time) with old school theme.

FWIW, that's one of 5 Brokedowns in 5 years. All 5 from '74 to '79 being in '77

10/9/89 defies comprehension.

'89 Cal Expo was the first shows I was involved in DAT taping... no flipping necessary! ☺️

For 7-22-84 Ventura, listen to Loser as loud as possible, paying particular attention to the Phil bomb at the end of the jam and Jerry's ensuing vocals. Good shit!

Would never have guessed Way To Go Home came out of space 7 times. Thought it was exclusively pre-drums material. God bless humanity for that tune to drive the coveted transition out of space slot. This prompted my own research re: Wave to the Wind. Could it have actually come out of space? Yep. It did so twice. Turns out I actually saw one of them. Better to have blocked that kind of shit out I suppose. There are also 2 occasions of Way To Go Home being followed by Wave to the Wind. Ouch.

And you won! Go Maryland!

Garcia played Werewolves on all Halloween appearances, be it with the Dead or the JGB, every time there was a Halloween show from 1985 on. Who can name them all without cheating? Edit: I just did the mental exercise my self, and didn't recall there were Halloween performances by JGB in '86 and '93 - but both include Werewolves so my original statement holds true. I had only pulled the '87 though '92 versions from memory.

That's some bad ass street cred right there, Bill.

I'd heard a story where, through Del knowing Jerry from way back, it was arranged that Jerry was going to buy a banjo that Ronnie McCoury owned. I actually asked Ronnie about it at a Sweetwater show in Mill Valley a few years ago and he confirmed it. The meeting and exchange happened backstage before a Spring '90 Landover show. Ronnie said that Jerry was extremely animated as he and Del traded stories about the bluegrass scene back in the day. As they were leaving, Jerry said he hoped they'll enjoy the show and Ronnie mentioned it would be great to hear them play Cold Rain & Snow. Sure enough, that's what The Boys opened with. Goes to show that at least on rare occasion Garcia did take requests!

7-29-88 is also the only Playin' that went straight into the reprise since it happened a few times in '76 just after the hiatus. This was my first show after moving to California. Not a bad way to get introduced to West Coast living! (Still didn't quite make up for missing the Greeks a couple weeks earlier, however. Something about wisdom teeth having to be extracted...)

Of all the moments that qualify as a go-to for revisiting any given show, what lights me up about this one is the Brent jam in Big River. Goes to show you don't ever know...

Franklin's from 10-27-79 Cape Cod is so the fucking GOAT. End of discussion. 17 minutes of absolute bliss. (With apologies to the great Franklin's from '76 and '77 that were part of epic HSF suites.) And via the 30 Years Around the Sun release, we have premium sound for 10-27. In fact, I think this is an obvious entry for any "top 10 Brent era shows" list. Hmmm, maybe that could be an interesting post... I bet that list will be wildly subjective after a small handful of consensus shows. If there are even those.

Yep, and since '71 is the year for HTH, that's saying something.

Anytime I see a reference to 11-2-84, my "guilty pleasure" greatest show, I can only smile. Smokestack sandwich was in the first set that night to boot!

I recall at the time thinking how it was wild that Phil was 50 (first band member to hit the half century mark). And today he is 82 - amazing!

Good lord, Bill, that commute schedule is insane Deadication. And that's before including that you worked both days! Sadly, there's little positive one can say about that poor '92 Spring tour. Even the show in Landover with a Dark Star, a Dew, and the first Satisfaction since '86 never really achieved lift off. In the immortal words of Bruce Hornsby, "I got tired of getting up onstage and sucking every night."

n - Bob Weir & Wolf Bros Feb 27, 2022 Sweetwater Music Hall Mill Valley, CA Benefit for Robin Sylvester Set 1: Playin' in the band -> Jam -> New Speedway Boogie My Brother Esau Catfish John Two Djinn Lost Sailor -> Saint of Circumstance Set 2: Like a Rolling Stone (w/Matt Jaffe on vocals) Uncle John’s Band-> Supplication-> Uncle John’s Reprise Estimated Prophet -> Truckin’ -> Spoonful -> The Other One -> Standing on the Moon -> Not Fade Away > Great to see this music in such a tiny setting. The intimacy really lended itself to this stripped down Bobby interpretation. Plus Barry Sless was a guest on pedal steel which is always a good thing. Sweetwater has a 315 capacity but they limited it to 200 so the place was nice and open. I'm often Bobby's biggest critic as far as his take on Garcia/Hunter material goes, but this rendition of New Speedway was pure gold. And the Uncle John's segment was also awesome. Matt Jaffe is a Mill Valley kid who started showing up and making a splash at open mic nights early in the new Sweetwater era when he was 16. He's now in his mid 20s and it's great Bobby brought him up for the Dylan number. Matt crushed it!

Melvin and JK rocked the Sweetwater in Mill Valley last night. Definitely some fat jams! Harder They Come He Ain’t Give You None Breadbox -> sweet jam -> Breadbox Lonely Avenue Tore Up Over You Stop That Train That’s Alright Mama Don’t Let Go -> Space -> GDTRFB Hey Pockey Way Sisters & Brothers Reuben & Cherise (No encore)

Agreed, but more impressively this post suggest you read that whole rant. Impressive forum Deadication. On another subject, check out the He's Gone jam from 5-12-80 Boston. Jerry, Phil, and Brent are all getting after it. At one point they seem to be hinting at Caution. Then just before the jam fades into drums things get nice and weird. Good stuff.

Well I'll be dipped in shit! I rolled my eyes at your Lay Me Down proclamation but have just cranked the Ultra Matrix. We disagree about that hair (MSG is better) but damn that 12/14 version has got the goods. Listened to the Knockin' as well, which I already knew was great. While still my reference '90 Knockin' is 9/8 Pittsburgh, I agree the intensity of the solo in 12/14 is degree apart.