7th
May 72 .The Bickershaw Festival .
"For
all our muddy friends
THE
GRATEFUL DEAD."
Thus
spake the announcer as the Dead launched into "Truckin'"
- the start of a mammoth 245 minute show that was to feature great
versions of "Dark Star "and "The Other One" as
well as lengthy Pigpen workouts on "Good Lovin'" and "
Lovelight " . It also introduced many heads to the new songs
-" Ramble On Rose" and "Tennessee Jed "and was
notable for the degree of interaction that the band members had with
the audience, perhaps due to the adverse circumstances in which we
all found oursleves
The boyz ( and Donna ) wait to go onstage © Patrick and Thierry Rouchon. |
The
Dead take to the stage in the early evening-the high point
of the festival for many
.
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Set
one .
:Truckin', Sugaree, Mr.
Charlie, Deal (all of those who taped the show
insist this number was not played), Beat It on Down
The Line, He's Gone, Chinatown Shuffle, China Cat Sunflower > I Know
You Rider, Black Throated Wind. Next Time You See Me. Playin' . Tennessee
Jed. Good Lovin', Casey Jones.
Set Two.
Greatest Story Ever Told ,
Big Boss Man, Ramble On Rose, Jack Straw. Dark Star > Drums > Other
One > Sing Me Back Home. Sugar Magnolia. Lovelight > Going Down The
Road Feeling Bad > Not Fade Away. E : One More Saturday Night.
(order uncertain )
| Recordings
available on the tape circuits. |
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The whole show exists as a Soundboard tape , according
to the late and surely great Dick Latvala,
keeper of the Dead vaults. When I e-mailed him about the Bickershaw
sets Dick was kind enough to answer a few questions . He did not
say whether the soundboard tapes were eight or two track .
I asked him if there was
any chance of the show emerging as a Dicks Picks , but he nixed the
idea." Its a long way down the line for release ", he said
"there are a lot more shows that are better that I want to release
first ". Well Dcik is long gone, rest his soul and we now reasise that this set was probably one of the best ever fror this era as we can hear it in its entreity in pristine condition.
This screed was of course writteen BEFORE the entire Europe 72 tour was released on disc, its sad to think how many hours were spent trying to piece the show together , when it was all in the vaults, just waiting to be released. The amount of time we wasted sorting it all out was enormous. Fortunately
we now have a goodly portion of the missing first set released in pristine
quality on the recent UK 72 four Cd set. These tracks
were included :
- Greatest
Story Ever Told
- Mister
Charlie
- Big
Boss Man
- Playing
In The Band
- Good
Lovin'
- Ramble
On Rose
- Turn
On Your Lovelight
- Going
Down The Road Feeling Bad
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click
on the photo to see a larger version
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This is a real tribute
to the quality of the music played at Bickershaw as it comprises a hefty
chunk of the four disc set , which had heavy competition in the form
of the formidable Lyceum shows .
The
recordings of Bickershaw - both the audience and sbd version -have been
consistently on my most listened list since I aquired them 15 years
or so ago. I listen to the show not only because it was my first Live
Grateful Dead experience, but also because its one of a series of fine
European shows and is typical of the Dead at one of their most potent
periods. I maintain that Europe 72 was THE peak time in the early 70s
.There are some great 71 and 73 shows but they don't cut it quite the
same for me as the summer 72 shows and perhaps the show in Fall 72 in
Oregon . Certainly the Europe bash saw the Dead became the ultimate
Psychedelic/country/jazz/blues band , a strange hybrid of many musics
whose vastly wide repertoire was unlike that of any other band in the
world. No one else was this diverse. Bickershaw saw the Dead at damn
well near their best on occasions and certainly the second part of the
show is at fever pitch throughout.
However
there are also many high points in the first set as well , including
the fiesty version of Playing and a triumphant twenty minute
Good Lovin' delivered by Pigpen . Its worth noting that
the first set ended with the multitude (including several hundred villagers
who
had entered the site for free when the security goons had decamped earlier
on ) grooving, bopping , flailing , drumming and singing along to the
chorus of ' Casey Jones " .
A truly magic ending
to the first epic set.
Above photo
courtesy of
Jules ©. Contact him to obtain a copy
of the photo (minus the filter ) .
Sbd recordings of most of set two are freely available
and there are various audience recordings of the whole show in circulation
, the sound varies on these from distant , to good, to very good quality
- depending on the source.The sbd -which begins at Dark Star and continues
to the end of the show- is of excellent quality . A poor to average
quality SBD of part of set one exists - but only about 45 mins
worth and in the wrong order. I prefer the aud tape of the first set
to this version ,as Phil is overwhelmingly loud and distorted , theres
lots of hiss and it sounds drekky to say the least.
The
audience tapes also capture moments that do not exist on the soundboard
.There were fireworks set off during Dark
Star and everyone on the aud tape can be heard going "whooooo",
a truly magic moment .As I write this I have the vision of the fireworks
going off above the stage, for once the sky was clear and crisp (although
it was still cold ) and the band onstage were framed beautifully by
the exploding starshells. I just wish there was a photo of that moment
, so you could all get a good idea of what those of us who were there
saw on the night . The aud tape is worth getting just for this moment
alone, a little piece of history preserved forever and which you cannot
hear on the soundboard .
© Patrick and Thierry Rouchon. |
© Andrew Ransom |
© Andrew Ransom |
© Andrew Ransom |
© Andrew Ransom |
© Andrew Ransom |
© Andrew Ransom |
© Andrew Ransom |
© Andrew Ransom |
© Andrew Ransom |
© Andrew Ransom |
© Andrew Ransom |
© Andrew Ransom |
© Andrew Ransom |
Jerry watches the New Riders set © Andrew Ransom |
FILM STILLS
Series of stills taken from 8mm film shot during the Deads first set, proof that the sun DID shine in our backdoor that day ! |
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Most everyone came out to see the Dead ! |
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TAPERS.
At
least four tapers were present at the Festival. Three were British .
One - ( Bob C ) has this to say about his recording....
for
what its worth I*did* tape the new riders and the dead; the new riders
tape screwed up; cheap c 60's; and I missed the first part of the
dead . I got the dark star/other one including the oohs and ahs but
the quality of my boot is probably not as good as any others. I actually
took 2 tape decks; one was the cassete for the dead and the other
that 1 7/8s reel to reel that I did beefheart and other stuff on ;
can't remember why I took 2 now ...............
bob c
Simon P's tape is the
only complete version that I have come across so far. Another guy ,Chris
J , also taped all of the show and the New Riders but has misplaced
part of it. Quality of both these versions would be rated as fairly
good to just listenable . Deadbase lists Deal as being played but all
the tapers contest this hotly, as they are positive they recorded the
entire show and it was NOT played.
The
other taper , whose aud tape is of good quality and whose identity
is unknown to us, obviously had to have had a good postition and
quality equipment to have made such a good audience recording
in such foul conditions . I'm sure a complete recording exists
from this source, but I've only ever managed to pick up the edited
version which is minus Casey Jones , Mr Charlie and Truckin'.
I sourced it from a guy in the mid west who said he got it direct
from a friend who had a huge collection and who let him tape whatever
he wanted . This gentleman unfortunately disappeared
off the radar so we can't now find the original source.
The tapes he had were obviously an edit to fit most of
the show onto two C90 Cassettes as they were in the wrong order
and missing the three tracks above.
The
complete recordings
The
good news is that all of these versions of the show
have now been brought together , worked over digitally and are
now being disseminated amongst the taper community. You can read
the details of how this was achieved Here
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Jerry meets
with heads backstage
Photo©
Wombat
At
this gig i was one of only a very few (were you one?) who got
over the fence ,went backstage and met Jerry sitting on the
back step of a truck. Inside other members of the band were
checking equipment. Security said to Jerry that they would remove
us, but Jerry said let them stay and we (5/6?) remained and
spent a while talking to him. I remember him asking me about
a pink (i don't believe it now!) cardigan Iwas wearing with
GD and NRPS knitted into it in another colour (red?). Anyway
we were allowed to stay and when the Dead performed i positioned
myself under the stage on a plank a few feet off the ground.
The show was great.
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A
Taper speaks !
I've
been bugging the taper . SP , to let us all know about the equipment
he used and how he went about taping the Dead for many months and at
long last he's responded with his recollections of the show.
"I
can’t remember when Bickershaw was first announced. I saw the
Dead the first night at Wembley and don’t remember thinking then
I’d be seeing them again so soon afterwards. Maybe, like the
Lyceum gigs, it was announced whilst the tour was in progress. The
papers were full of the Dead playing for up to nine hours, doing a
run through their entire back catalogue and the organisers confirmed
they’d leave it open-ended to let the Dead play as long as they
wanted. My friend Carl and I were at University in Manchester so it
was only a short trip for us to get to Wigan. I’d already taped
the Dead at Wembley - yep, I’m afraid it was probably me that
unleashed that shitty recording on the trading community. I’d
only bought the machine (a small mono Philips portable cassette recorder
with whatever cheap mike came with it) on the day of the show so had
no time to experiment with it. Despite having good seats about 20
rows back, we had a security guy standing right next to us so I kept
the mike down on my lap, not realising how indistinct the recording
would turn out. Naively, I assumed that whatever my ears heard would
also get picked up by the mike. Anyway, I decided to try and make
a better job of it at Bickershaw.
Having
been to the Hollywood and Bath festivals in 1970, I was disappointed
when we reached the festival site. Probably the rain didn’t help
but the whole atmosphere was bad – it felt like (and probably
was) an industrial wasteland. From somewhere we commandeered a huge
plastic sheet which, when it rained, we could sit on and pull up,
over, and around ourselves, leaving a small hole at the front to look
through and point the mike out of. Apart from when the Dead were on,
it just seemed to rain most of the time. Being a student, and a newcomer
to taping, I didn’t have, and couldn’t afford, many tapes,
so I’d gone with enough to tape about 10 hours (although with
the unlikely possibility that the Dead would actually play for 9 hours,
I wanted to save as much as I could for them). I did manage to tape
bits of other acts – mainly ones I thought my brother might like
as he hadn’t been able to make it to the Festival. So I had some
parts of Hawkwind, Country Joe, Wishbone Ash and bits of Stackridge
and Jonathon Kelly. When the Dead came on, I hadn’t learned to
just leave the tape rolling so I switched off and on between songs,
thus missing all stage talk except the Happy Birthday bit. Sadly,
only my tapes of the Dead remain - shortly after the festival I taped
over the other music.
Enjoyed
the New Riders although not as much as I’d expected to. I’d
bought Powerglide that day somewhere on the festival site. And then
the Dead. At least the rain had stopped and I think for once we stood
up to watch. The whole festival area by now looked like a disaster
area, with silhouettes moving through the mud against a backdrop of
flickering fires. It was getting cold once the sun went down and,
even from a distance, you could see the vapours being spewed out by
the heater cannon on stage. Deadbase shows them as having played "Deal"
during the first set but, until someone comes up with a tape that
proves me wrong, I know they didn’t. Although I was switching
my recorder off between songs, I know I didn’t miss any (whereas
at Wembley, I knew I’d missed the encore when I ran out of tape).
It was a far more mellow show than at Wembley and they took their
time, easing into it gently. I was astonished and delighted to get
both Dark Star and The Other One in the same show. Am I imagining
it or were the words of Casey Jones flashed up on a screen with a
bouncing ball tracking them? I’m sure that the screen was used
at another point but there memory deserts me.
A wonderful set from the Dead – what was it- 5 hours? Certainly
the tapes run for more than 4 and a half. On balance I enjoyed the
festival, but it doesn’t hold the same memories for me that Hollywood
and Bath in 1970 do."
© Patrick and Thierry Rouchon. |
The
Dead SPEAK !
The boys took the opportunity to interact with the crowd on quite
a few occasions during the show. Here's a transcript of what they said
.
After Beat
It On Down The Line.
Weir;
"Hey there's some sunlight over there for all you people "
Phil ?,
"Lets hear it for the sunlight "( cheers from audience)
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Weir:
"I understand that that bill they were trying to push through the
legistlature here was defeated "
Garcia
:
"Which one , the one about sunshine ? ".
Weir;
"the night assemblies bill. It was defeated last night.
(cheers ) it ,means that you guys can go ahead and have all
the festivals you want ..... if you can do something about the goddamn
weather."
(The night assemblies bill was essentially
an attempt to outlaw festivals , but it fortunately was chucked out
by parliament in a rare show of common sense)
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The crowd make requests
for Sugar Magnolia and other songs
.
Weir
: "listen , up here thats all quite unintelligable".
On hearing crowd
requests for St Stephen.
Weir:
"We done forgot St Stephen, I mean we forgot it .We can't
play it anymore, we don't know how, water under the bridge We
may someday. We may reconstruct it , listen to the record to
cop our licks. (cynical band laughter)"
The band then
play Truckin' ,they did not resurrect
St Stephen again until 6-9-76 |
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A
note from Wombat about the photos of Jerry sitting in the truck
featured on this page.
The
b&w photo with Garcia sitting on the back of the truck is
actually the Rolling Stones Mobile and my mate Soapy is clearly
seen amongst the crowd - my wife thinks that I'm in there too
but I think that I was too stoned to care.
The
photo was taken whilst the New Riders were playing and the tapes
were rolling - it was probably still 8-track then before the upgrade
to 16-track so that would solve the question you asked of Dick
Latvala.
Wombat
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The
seventh of May is Bill Kreutzmann's birthday.Weir informed the crowd
thus before the band played Good Lovin':
Weir:
"Folks we got ourselves a birthday boy with us tonight
, its our drummer Billy and I'd like to thank you and ask you to join
in helping me and all of us all to wish him a great day and happy
birthday to Billy." ( band plays shambolic Happy birthday tune
whilst crowd sings along , at finish , huge cheer )
Before China Cat
Sunflower
Lesh:We
got a slight technical problem here, which will no doubt be ironed
out in mere seconds.
Weir: In the meantime , you can all
huddle a bit closer together for warmth . cause you're gonna need
it.
| After RAMBLE
ON ROSE, the band comment on the stink from the dozens
of fires .
Unknown band member:
"What's on fire"
Weir:
"I don't know what you're burning out there ,but it
smells rotten."
Phil? "It must
be my shorts "
Unknown
band member : "Hi
mom "
Weir
"Everybody's burning their old socks ( laughter) and its
disgraceful, disgraceful . "
Pig ?: to the crowd- "Howdy
"( cheers )
Weir :
"Listen. Is everybody cold "
Crowd
"No "
Weir; (in wonder )
'far out !" |
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At some point during the set a guy ran on stage and threw his arms
around Kreutzmann . This may have been Playing In The Band, because
after this song Weir can be heard to say
Eyewitness
accounts of the Dead's show
Out
In the Cold Rain & Mud.
The boyz onstage as dusk fell © Patrick Rouchon.
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The
excitement, the sights, the sounds, the sex, the drugs, the smells,
the cold, the mud and the "You are Lobby Ludd and I claim
my £5" toilet paper
(hard) supplied by Virgin Records (it ran
out early Friday evening)
As
I remember...
The Sunday had dawned cold but dry, the rain
had been intermittent but heavy over the weekend. In the early afternoon
Country Joe McDonald, only armed with an acoustic guitar, tried to
keep us entertained for what seemed like hours ..."Gimme an F"..."2,4,6,8".
Meanwhile the 'quippies' were slowly building the Deads' P.A., carefully
matching the tie-dyed front cloths. The high board (novelty)
diver had released several hundred thousand gallons of water from
his tank at the front of the stage (which was on a little mound),
the mud was now knee deep. Eventually The New Riders of the Purple
Sage took to the stage for a rocking set that sent the sound of pedal
steel soaring high over the crowd.
Then it was time...
A large yellow backcloth with a giant Stealy
in the middle was unfurled and billowed in the wind... suddenly everybody's
dreams came true, I remember the band playing "Dark Star" as the sun
sank into the murky haze...
Perhaps
it was all a dream we dreamed one afternoon, long ago.
Gavin
"Is
this a Garcia I see before me ?"
Another
muted shot from BC'S film of the festival.
A projection , but of what ? © Patrick and Thierry Rouchon. |
Mike
Ward writes
The
dead's "live in europe, '72" album shows the crowd scene in front of
the stage and two
of our group is just in the left side of the
frame.
in the following link, the top four heads
in the back and to the right is us - i'm not sure if that ugly guy
on the far left is me (*i hope not!:) but i can see jimmy stephan
and dewy bunnell's face is the one bisected at the far right hand
corner. Dewey is also in "america" and got us onstage
- then he left after one or two songs and left us there - we eventually
settled right behind phil lesh's position. I never heard him
play before but after standing next to his amp all night, i
couldn't get his rhythm out of my bones the whole ride back to london
(which made the cramped trip back pleasant!)
http://www.iowrock.demon.co.uk/bickershaw/images/garcia.jpg
For
the record, i think i was standing outside the picture's frame, to the
right - that other guys too ugly for me (i'm ugly but not like that:)
Phil had small
LED's on his guitar neck to see his fret points better in the dark
(i don't know how common that is but i thought it was pretty neat!).
Accounts from the "Live Music Archive" reviews section
The crowd had built bonfires around the perimeter of the field to keep warm, but now they piled on the fuel and Bickershaw became a pagan festival, dancers circling the flames, and, in the words of a local writer, the 'Dead had offered safe passage through the wierd terrain.'" Dennis McNally
A rain sodden and chilly weekend seems to have dampened this festival, though the weather appropriately cleared just before the Dead's show closing performance. Although the sound quality for most of the show renders it rather difficult to enjoy, its obvious why so many songs from this performance were included on the Steppin' Out release.
This festival gig was, for the most part, very well played (particularly the second set) and at an extremely high energy level. It also represents Pigpen's finest performance on the tour, and what might be his last great show. The Truckin' opener cooks, while Playin' in the Band, Good Lovin' and the Lovelight> GDTRFB are all great performances.
The highlight though, is certainly the phenomenal second set jam suite preserved in master reel source sound quality, featuring both Dark Star AND the Other One. It's the only performance during 1972 to include both songs. Though somewhat abreviated from other Dark Stars on the tour, clocking in at just over 16 minutes, this is a top notch effort nonetheless. The pre-verse theme intro is brilliant. Jerry is soaring! But what really stands out on this one is some rather fine playing by Bobby. His chord-work throughout is gorgeous. It might be his finest contribution to a performance of Dark Star on the entire tour. After a post-verse Space/Drums segment, the band just explodes into The Other One. It's a raging monster performance of the song. Not as jazzy or sophisticated as some of the best versions from the tour, this performance is more primal in nature. At times sounding more like '69 or '70 with a fierce pre-verse attack by Garcia and some amazing swirling organ fills from Pig. After the first verse there is an awesome solo by Phil, perhaps his best of the tour. The space segment continues with Jerry and Weir eventually going atonal. Finally Weir drives the band back into the theme and it catches fire again prior to the second verse.
The show concludes with a superb performance of Lovelight, featuring some great slidework by Jerry before another excellent GDTRFB/NFA. If the music of the first set was available in better sound quality, this amazing performance might garner a perfect score. (98 pts)
Let the Sun Shine In
I was at this show--the whole festival was a rain-lashed, chilly, muddy two (three?) days of near-Woodstockosity. The Dead were the final act. Just as they started their set, the setting sun broke through the iron-gray clouds of the Midlands and the sky cleared. It was one of those "cosmic" moments for sure. And yes, this was one of the great sets of that era.
Most underrated, overlooked show of all time?
This show is so completely out of this world. I can't believe more people don't know about it. The Dark Star - Other One is as good as it gets. After it takes you to hell and heaven, you end up in church with Sing Me Back Home. And then after that is whole other amazing set in itself, with Sugar Magnolia, Lovelight, GDTRFB, NFA.
The Other One Jam is tangible proof of the mystic-power behind the Grateful Dead. Every day I check nervously to make sure it is still here. Get this quick, and share with friends!
it's not gonna get much better than this.
this show is so hot it'll make your brain leak out of your ears. lovelight -> gdtrfb -> nfa! what jams. unreal! i could use three more exclamation points!
Wiccan bonfires/ cold rain and mud
After 2 1/2 days of freezing with chattering Brit speedfreaks and locals, watching everyone from the Kinks to Capn Beefheart, Sunday came upon the exhausted crowd, myself and my comely new long red haired lady friend. I'd been introduced to the Dead on their recent Festival Express tour in Casnada, Damn, if that band wasn't already following me around! :)
The damp was still stultifying as Donovan played his set in the early afternoon.... drizzle still cooled the crowd. Country Joe/the Fish livened things up with a rousing F*** Richard Nixon chant as the sound towers shuddered under the swaying weight of the mad climbers. 20,000 brits screaming F*** Tricky Dick.... unreal, but the best still was yet to come.
New Riders warmed things up more, and as sure as God's in heaven, as they finished their set, the clouds began to part and set the stage (literally) for the Dead.
There were video screens (hi tech in that day) on either side of the stage, and EVERYONE, all the villagers, crowd, cops, bus drivers etc had the show of their lives as the Dead played one of their all time classic shows.... under a blood red sky.
Sodden, stoned, exhausted and remorselessly devoted, or soon to be, Deadheads rocked until there was no energy left to spend. Pigpen was in his final glory days, Keith had blended and even Donna was on key. This show really left no survivors. We were all dead after that.
Luckily, I revived in time for the Lyceum shows.....
Get this one.... excellent quality. Thank you, contributor..... as I sit here, i'm, transported back to that smoky, smelly, stony ol english bog.... that I for one will never forget. Thanks for bringing this back for us.
elvis
this is the show where elvis costello recalls wearing a soaked poncho in a muddy morass (did he have his buddy holly glasses?), loving the dead not so much for dark star, but for the way they could belt out a truly touching, sad ballad. it was an inspiration for him, and, now, thanks to archive, hopefully an inspiration for generations to come.
bickershaw
old colliery town on a farm near wigan manchester well lancashire in 1972
a nice steady first set with the waft of the toilets drifting over to the band which prompted bobs what you smokin out there
but dark star was lovely spacey and flares being fired into the darkening sky and happy orgasm emblazoned on the electric sign
had to put up with my recording of this until the internet brought me the wonderful sounds as they should sound
wonderful stuff
happy trails indeed
Absolutley one of the best of Europe '72!!!
I thought I was not very familiar with this show until I realized that several of these amazing performances were included on Steppin' Out (Good Lovin', Lovelight, Goin' Down the Road...) but what makes this for me is the stunning medley of Dark Star>Drums>The Other One - this is simply a fantastic piece of music and despite any technical tuning issues they may have been experiencing, should be counted among the finest performances of the tour.
I was especially blown away by this scorching Other One; as Cliff mentions the ferocity level of the first half MUST be heard, a definite throwback to their late '60s aggressiveness. Then the towering, fast-paced thematic jam at the end just seals it... I think this and 5/3/72 might now be my favorite performances of The Other One on the tour, and with monsters like 4/7 and 5/26 lurking around that is probably saying a lot...I urge you to get the box-set and listen for yourself!!
bsolutely awesome. They maintain through this epic a pitch that is so exact, so f'ing *perfect* you start to worry "No, there's no way they can keep this up for four hours." But they do. This show is one of the best of the Europe tour, and proof that they didn't always "blow the big ones". This was a big one, and they delivered. Get the boxed set - it's really the only way to go here - the board sounds wonderfully loud and clear.
Some of the stage banter here is classic ("Must be my shorts!") Highlights are numerous and all over the place; it's all beautiful, all razor-sharp exact, but I'm chiefly partial to that China Cat > Rider - just listen to Billy at half-tempo - man, when they decided to keep that groove in that space during the '72 Europe tour they made a great, great move in the name of posterity.
The stormy one
With such a high overall level, some shows of the tour stand out for statistical this-and-thats. 5/16 is the shortest show and this is the longest @4hrs plus intermission. In fact, it's one of the longest shows ever; 28 songs including a 20min Dark Star and 33min TOO. (1:48 1st set; 2:12 2nd set). Some think length of songs or shows is the only indicator of quality (though you could just compile two shows and call it A+). Those fans will find this show all they need (which is certainly fine). Luckily for the rest, there's plenty of good playing. The festival was legendary for a generation of Brits - understandably so. While it doesn't have the zap of some of the later shows or the crystalline moments of the earlier shows, it has its own vibe.Unfortunately, it's marred by out of tune guitars for many songs. E72 is tough competition.
First Set. The first two aren't bad versions but Mr. Charlie is amazing - because of Keith. Beat it on Down the Line-8½ ("how bout 8 and ½?") is the tour's best. Because it hadn't been fully arranged yet, He's Gone isn't usually this good on the tour. Each China>Rider has some new bits and it's a stand-out most stops, including this one. Black Throated is pretty tame until the end. Playin' is just fireworks all the wah wah through. It does have a small Donnaskreech™. There's a really good, 20min Good Lovin', though these didn't vary that much the middle weeks. Casey Jones was played almost every night yet this stands out - Bobby and Keith's fills are perfect.
Second Set. Greatest Story isn't 4/7, 4/11,or 4/29 but it's still great. The next couple are average '72 but Jack Straw is the height of the '72 arrangement. Parts of Dark Star are interesting (though not like, say, 4/8) and parts are had-to-be-there. E72 doesn't have the year's best Dark Stars and Billy says he looked forward to Other One, which here is the most out-there of the tour (though not the longest). I'll take 4/21, 5/3, 5/24 & a couple others. Going in and out of tune was unfortunate both sets and then Bobby seems to flag by Sugar Mag. But not Pigpen, who fires Jer on a whopping Lovelight. It's fireworks again for GDtRFB, albeit with Donnaskreech™. The next two are average versions.
1st Set: B+
2nd Set: B-
Overall = 4 stars
Highlights:
Mr. Charlie - Keith especially amazing
Beat it on Down the Line - "How 'bout 8½?" how 'bout pure zap
He's Gone - now it's finding its legs
China Cat> Know You Rider - beautiful sections
Playing in the Band - fireworks & wah
Casey Jones - the fills make it (Phil always makes it)
Jack Straw - height of' 72 arrangement
Lovelight>Goin' Down the Road Feeling Bad - Pigpen pwns and a peerless progression
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I just got done listening to the version of this show from the boxed set. This show is amazing. One of the best. It starts off one fire and never lets up.
I noticed a number of reviews mentioned "Mr. Charlie". It's generally not a song many people get excited about, but Jerry's solo on this version is fantastic.
The first set has its share of jamming with China/Rider, Playin', and Good Lovin, and the 2nd set picks up from where it left off.This is the only show on the tour with both Dark Star and The Other One. The latter has just incredible energy and also some very quiet parts. It does seem a bit out of tune at first, but the playing is so good that it kind of doesn't matter.
To me, this version of Sugar Mag is better than the one on Europe '72. But if that all wasn't good enough, check out Turn On Your Lovelight. Has Jerry ever done a better guitar solo? Has anyone?
They could have easily ended the show there, but no, they weren't finished, and the remaining songs don't disappoint.
To recap, this concert is the Grateful Dead at their best.
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© Patrick and Thierry Rouchon. |
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