This unreleased show features wonderful performances of "Dark Star" and "Eyes of the World," among other songs. The soundboard mix is great in all respects but one.
This 2LP-sized reduction of the show dances around the songs where the mix-flaw really screwed up the music/listening experience. More notes on performances and mix below the track list.
Part 1 (52 minutes):
- They Love Each Other
- Jack Straw
- Beat It on Down the Line
- Ramble on Rose
- Bird Song
- Black Peter
- Playin’ in the Band
Part 2 (43 minutes):
- Dark Star >
- Space >
- Eyes of the World >
- Stella Blue
Performance notes:
This 20-minute “Eyes of the World” is generally excellent, but it goes above and beyond in the final stretch: They hit the synchronized riff in the jam a fourth time, after bringing things down to a hush, via a Keith-centric jam - only to return to full-out jamming for a couple more minutes after that.
All 11 minutes of the "Dark Star" are focused and forward moving, while also having quite a few distinct, dynamic little passages.
"The Bird Song" is a very light, dreamy one.
Soundboard mix notes:
The songs on this mix escape a problem that plagues much of the rest of the recording of the show. The mix has Garcia’s guitar so low that it vanishes sometimes and is never out front. I explored a matrix recording, in case it brought Jerry up significantly, but it didn’t. Many songs just sound incomplete, because the shy lead guitarist is standing at the back of the stage, using a tiny amplifier. Songs like “Row Jimmy” can’t lock up into a groovy mechanism with one of the interdependent gears all the way back there.
However, the frustrating mix doesn’t always get in the way. Sometimes Jerry is quiet, but the whole comes together nicely anyway. Other times, the spaces afforded by the song and arrangement (or jam) naturally give his guitar more room to stand out, and you hear the music complete, without making an effort.
Beyond the guitar volume issue, this SBD has a rich, round sound, and the vocals and vocal mix throughout are way above average for hte period. What the mix loses of Jerry’s guitar is more than made up for in its warm embrace of his vocals. The "Black Peter" and "Stella Blue" are both treats in this respect.
"Space" segued directly into the opening of “Eyes” in the show itself (and on audience/matrix recordings), but my SBD fades out shortly before that transition. Sorry about that. I promise that not much is missing.