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Higher Ground 10-11-16


Still Truckin

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Okay finally some time for a review of my first Vermont DSO show at the legendary Higher Ground.  

Seeing the one-drummer and piano-only setup immediately limits the possibilities to 71-74.   Very exciting!  The show reveals itself to be 9/26/72-Stanley Theatre, Jersey City, NJ.  

 

(I briefly thought I’d been at the original Dead show, but a moment's chat with my college buddy reminds me that we only attended 9/28/72, the third night of this very special 3-nite Stanley Theater run.  That was my wife's 1st Dead show -- we hung our "Get Well Ron" banner from the balcony - maybe you saw us there.)

The first set felt a bit low energy with slow tempos and few Lisa moments (true to these early Donna shows) but continually built up steam.  My highlights were a long and lovely Jeff solo at the end of He’s Gone, a rollicking Cumberland and a raucous Casey Jones.

Promised Land
Cold Rain and Snow
Me & My Uncle
He's Gone
Mexicali Blues
Deal
Cumberland Blues
Black Throated Wind
Bird Song
Big River
Sugaree
Around and Around
Casey Jones

 
I’m weirded out when the band returns and plays Bertha.  According to the Archive it was not played in this show.  Maybe Rob knows something the soundboard tape doesn't reveal.  
 
Set 2:
Bertha (!?!?)
Playing in the Band
You Win Again
El Paso
Mississippi Half-Step
Greatest Story Ever Told
Tomorrow Is Forever  (a rarity indeed!)
Truckin' > The Other One > It's All Over Now, Baby Blue
Sugar Magnolia
 
The  Johnny B Goode encore eschewed the original's 26 Miles (Santa Catalina) jam intro -- it was getting past bedtime after all. No filler.  
 
A very crowded and wonderful show.  Thanks to DSO for a lovely trip back to my NYC roots (I do love a 70's re-creation) and for starting to carry men's tank tops at the merch table!  DSO rocks!!
 
======
 
BTW, Here’s the setlist of that stellar 9/28/72 - worth a listen on the archive.  Below is a link to a long and beautiful rap about that show from some guy with even more time on his hands than me.
 
09/28/72 (Thu)  Stanley Theater - Jersey City, NJ

Set 1: 
Truckin’, 
Loser, 
BIODTL
Brown Eyed Women, 
Mexicali, 
Mississippi Half-Step, 
Black Throated Wind, 
Don't Ease Me In, 
Big River, 
Tennessee Jed, 
Promised Land, 
China  > Rider, 
Playin'

Set 2: 
Bertha > Greatest Story, 
Brokedown Palace, 
Me & My Uncle, 
Ramble On Rose, 
El Paso, 
He's Gone > TOO > Me & Bobby McGee > TOO > Wharf Rat, 
Sugar Magnolia, 
NFA > Goin' Down the Road > NFA
 
 
 
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Great read !

 Was the DSO "Playing" equally as long and psychedelic ?

Didn't have my watch on, but it was certainly 20+ minutes, in the Sept 72 style -- the jam winds down into a chaotic tonal storm,  and just as it's about to break down entirely, the sweet quiet reprise of the main theme rises from the broken shards of the jam.  Crowd goes wild.  Damn!

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I said before on these boards, love me a Playin' jam! Have a good friend who says to me that they sometimes tend to lack direction, but you broke it down perfectly Still Truckin! You can always count on that "sweet quiet reprise of the main theme" to bring it home. Love it!

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