Grateful Dead
Dave's Picks #56 Rainbow Theater London 3/20-21/81
***and1/2 out of *****
Standard disclaimer: When reviewing any Grateful Dead release at this point, it needs to be noted that a lot of the truly great shows from the band have already been professionally released. (If you are new to the band, check out RtBE's Beginners Guide to The Grateful Dead Part's one and two.) With their vast back catalog on archive.org and all of their previous releases, the band's selections are running thin when it comes to must own, professionally released concerts.
That said, the band still release shows because rabid fans (RtBE included) will listen to everything they put out. So let's dive in...
Dave's Picks #56 focuses on a comparatively underrepresented year in Grateful Dead history as two full shows (minus one encore and touch of Drums>Space) are selected from the Dead's quick jaunt to England in 1981. March 20th and 21st are presented here giving a listener a true sense of the good and a bit of the bad from this year. The first night, the 20th is a touch messy, disjointed and not that great. The 21st on the other hand is a very solid outing from the Dead and great capturing of the group from this era.
For this release the Grateful Dead are Jerry Garcia – guitar, vocals Mickey Hart – drums Bill Kreutzmann – drums Phil Lesh – bass Brent Mydland – keyboards, vocals Bob Weir – guitar, vocals. This is the first time newly brought onboard keyboardist Mydland travelled to Europe with the group and his electro based, plinky keys are front and center on this recording.
The first set of the first night is by far the least effective. The majority of that can be placed on Garcia as his singing is a touch ragged, but his guitar playing on the pair of cowboy offerings ("Mama Tried" and "Mexicali Blues") is pretty great. Unfortunately Bob Weir is almost not audible on guitar throughout the set, and Brents plinky keys are too loud. Much better is Mydland's organ work on the slow blues of both "C.C. Rider" and "New Minglewood". "Candyman" has a sweet solo from Garcia and a fairly rocking "Deal" closes out the mixed bag set.
A pedestrian run through of "Scarlet Begonias > Fire On The Mountain" kicks off the second set, but things improve a bit on the more dramatic pairing of "Lost Sailor > Saint of Circumstance", however neither are must hear. "He's Gone" is delivered well with big bass hits from Lesh before "Drums>Space". The best part of this show arrives with the whistle kicking off a strong marching version of "Truckin'" that gets spacey and melts seamlessly into a solid "Wharf Rat". A double dose of Chuck Berry closes things out for a slightly below average night from the group.
However, the band, and in particular Garcia, seem to be much more engaged and clicking from the first notes of ultimate early 80's Dead tune, "Alabama Getaway" at the 3/21 show. "Promised Land" keeps the energy high with excellent riffs and backing vocals from Garcia while Weir sings lead well. Some first set highlights are a Lesh laced "Tennessee Jed" that bops along and a dynamite version of "Let It Grow" which finds both drummers stealing the show as the band cooks behind Garcia's lead playing.
The only song to show up in both shows is also one of the Dead's best, "Althea". While all 1981 "Althea's" are welcome to these ears, the one on the 20th is average, while the version on the 21st is a beast. It is a full minute longer, has a great groove, huge bass, and twinkling keys while Garcia sings the song expertly and delivers some killer lead guitar work, a must hear.
For the second set and the last CD in this release, the band starts with an upbeat "Jack Straw" as Brent's electro keys pair well with Garcia's guitar, while Weirs rhythm work is still mixed very low. His singing is solid though as is Garcia's guitar tone, ringing clearly throughout the stout ballad, "Ship of Fools".
The best part of this show arrives next as a very languid yet exploratory "Estimated Prophet" feels alive before segueing into an upbeat version of "Eyes of the World". This isn't a super hyper-speed version, but it is still pretty quick and peppy as it struts forth with confidence, wrapping up in a twinkling jam that has vibrant skittering percussion leading into "Drums>Space". These two offerings equate to an excellent slice of 1981 Dead.
The funky rock picks up for a spirited take on "Not Fade Away" that eases in to start but gets into a meaty blues jam that cooks. The Jerry ballad "Black Peter" is well played, before the band lets it all hang out with a rocking duo of "One More Saturday Night" and a short encore of "Don't Ease Me In".
With 3/20 being OK at best it takes a great show on 3/21 to really recommend this set, and The Grateful Dead delivered just that. 1981 isn't a very popular year among Deadheads, but Dave's Picks #56 Rainbow Theater London could help improve this era's image.
No comments:
Post a Comment