John A

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!

That is one deep and broad looking pair of sets. I count up to 8 song not played live by the Grateful Dead.

While that's definitely some statistical abuse, it could be worse... If you'd hopped on tour after William & Mary '78, and you happened to miss the Landover show in Fall '79, you could have gone almost 150 shows without a Dew!

If Phil sits in with DSO and sings Morning Dew, that's when we really got a problem. Maybe Eyes -> Dew.

Oh geez, Bobby did sing the Dew. Exactly what one assumes they'll avoid going to see DSO.

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)

Set list is confusing me.... Help Slip Shakedown was it's own set? Or was that one monster of a pre-drums? One lament I have with the Dead is that the they totally abandoned that tribal beat of a slowly evolving NFA coming out of space. Great slot for it!

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.

Both Helen Reddy and Neil Sedaka have now entered the thread! As it happens, in 5th grade those may have been my 2 favorite artists. Love it!

Sirius XM played this show yesterday, and I caught the Estimated >Dark Star on the way to picking up my brother in law at the airport. Jerry totally gives up on the DS before it makes any headway whatsoever toward getting off the ground. And after David Murray had contributed to that scorching Estimated, it was that much more of a head scratcher. If you look up "off a cliff" in the dictionary, you'll find reference to the Nassau 3-29 Branford Star in relation to this one.

Check out 6-10-90 Cal Expo for an especially fine Bertha Jack Straw opener.

85 really was a wacky year for GD setlists. Hell, Gimme Some Lovin' did some openin'!

This is true, and I'm glad you recognized boldness for boldness's sake. 😆 Nonetheless, the statement holds its own due to the obviously uneven nature of the Dead by that vintage. To wit, while the Estimated with David Murray later in that MSG run was sensational, the Dark Star that followed it was downright lame.

Interesting opener tidbit, if we may expand the definition of "opener" somewhat. The 1st of 6 MSG fall '93 shows opened with the sequence of Rain; Shakedown Street -> Wang Dang Doodle; Cold Rain & Snow and it's arguable that the tour never reached the level of that 4 pack again!

The problem with anything trumping 5-9-77 is that we have one of the greatest versions of Help Slip Frank and it actually occurs right out the gate - insane to comprehend. It's like the Louisville '74 encore. You have a just shy of greatest ever level Morning Dew. In the freaking encore slot! How do you top that?!? A super cool opener is 6-8-80 Boulder - Uncle John's -> Playin' -> Uncle John's in celebration of the 15th anniversary. And you gotta love Halloween '85 in Columbia, SC.... Space -> Werewolves after Billy supposedly announced backstage that he wouldn't come out and play if Garcia didn't open with Werewolves. Jerry was game, although he hadn't done it since '78 and didn't remember the words. I really groove on that story and hope that it's true!

Let's change the discussion from best theoretical opener to best actual opener and ask what is the greatest opener ever.... My vote is Buffalo 5-9-77 Help>Slip>Franklin's. With honorable mention to the 1st Terrapin San Bernardino '77.

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.

Check out the Rider and the Black Peter from the original show. About as hard as the 1989 GD could rage. A candidate for my favorite Shoreline show.

I did a deep dive on Baby Blues a few years back, and I can confirm the 4-6-82 Blue was just a half notch below best ever.

To me, Morning Dew gets elevated for a few reasons. It became a symbol of something special in later years, as in if you got "The Dew" the show was necessarily something exceptional. That ties into the rarity in post hiatus years; once in '76, only a few times in '77, once in '78, and once in '79. Plus it was there from the very beginning (literally as it was on the first album) so it had the most room for evolution. And did it ever evolve, culminating with Jerry's vocal delivery in the post coma years. All that and it's inherent pathos and power. On the other hand, the likes of Stella Blue, Terrapin, and I'd add Comes A Time, were Garcia/Hunter compositions, so that should clearly carry lots of weight. Good springboard for discussion, Milehighjoel.

As GD lore goes, you gotta love it when so little says so much.

This was the tour where Bruce was getting after Jerry for everything being too structured. Rumor has it that between sets Jerry told him to pay close attention coming out of Slipknot

With the caveat that I even surprised myself a bit that I just researched this... 🧐 All Over Now never preceded Loose Lucy, but it followed it twice in 1990. Black Throated Wind did indeed follow Loose Lucy twice in 1974 (and preceded it a couple times in the 90s). In addition, Johnny B Goode followed Stella once in 1973 and again in 1974. And Black Muddy River encored at 2 shows in 1989 where Johnny B Good closed the set. Finally, Greatest Story followed Gimme Some Lovin' twice in 1985... That one is pretty surprising, but Gimme opened several shows in its early days in '85/'86. But certainly Dino knew all that.

I remember being bemused by how wild that 2nd set was when I first heard the tape in the mid 80s. An eternal question when reviewing such a performance is what gives? What motivated that set to transpire? Beyond the odd structure, the only '78 Jack-A-Roe, and the final of just 3 World To Gives.

Nice to hear Phil & Friends bringing a high quality performance. I thought he was done with the road as of several years ago. What's he doing in Nashville? New found energy having kicked back throughout the pandemic?