Disc 1
The first disc contains the complete first set. The band kicks things off with Chuck Berry’s “Around And Around,” a song generally used as a set closer. It’s like they wanted to set everything into high gear immediately. Sure, the song might be just a bit messy at moments, but no worries, the band is only getting started. And just listen to Bob Weir tearing into those vocals near the end. They follow that with “Dire Wolf.” For the first couple of lines, Jerry Garcia’s voice is a bit low in the mix, but that is soon fixed. This version feels just a little show, but is still quite good. Bob then delivers a sweet rendition of “Me And Bobby McGee.” His vocal microphone seems to be having some trouble, but Jerry’s guitar sounds great. There are some odd vocal issues at the beginning of “Sugaree” too, but this song is where things start getting really good. Phil Lesh’s bass has a dominant presence at moments, and he is delivering some excellent stuff. I love how this version suddenly gets mellow, only so it has more room to build again, which it soon does. Oh yes, the magic is starting to happen.
Bob then leads the band into a peppy, popping rendition of “Mexicali Blues,” with some surprising touches on guitar. Everything is working now, and the band is cooking along. Who would expect “Mexicali” to be a first set highlight? But it is. And it’s followed by another fantastic performance, “Here Comes Sunshine.” The Dead stopped playing this song after this show, and wouldn’t play it again for more than eighteen years. Listening to this version, you have to wonder why. Did they think they couldn’t top it after this night’s performance and decided to just let it rest? Maybe, because everything is flowing so well here. That jam is excellent, showing this song’s great potential. If this isn’t the band’s best performance of this song, it is certainly among the top two or three.
Bob Weir gets things rocking with a fun version of “Beat It On Down The Line.” Is that eleven or twelve beats at the beginning? This is such a joyous rendition. And then listen to Jerry’s beautiful vocal delivery at the beginning of “Ship Of Fools.” His vocal performance helps to make this yet another highlight of the first set. It is a passionate and wonderful rendition. That’s followed by “Jack Straw,” a song that would often come at or near the beginning of the set. This is a largely gentle, pretty version. A fun “Deal” follows, featuring some nice work on keys. And then Bobby delivers the second Chuck Berry song of the set, an energetic “Promised Land.” You might think things would end there, but they go straight into “Bertha,” keeping the energy high. But even that isn’t the end of the set. From there, they go straight into “Greatest Story Ever Told,” and that song ends up being the set closer. Donna Jean Godchaux really cuts loose toward the end there, and there is a lot of good work on guitar. A pretty damn good first set.
Disc 2
The second disc contains the first half of the second set, plus the last two songs of the encore (yeah, a three-song encore that night). While they wrapped up the first set with several high-energy songs, they actually open the second set in a mellow place, beginning with “Row Jimmy.” “Gonna get there, I don’t know/Seems a common way to go.” Bob keeps things in a mellow mood as he eases into “Weather Report Suite.” By the time I was seeing the Dead, the band had dropped the first two parts of this piece, and was only performing “Let It Grow.” It’s so good to hear the entire thing here, especially that pretty instrumental “Prelude.” This is a really good rendition, and the “Let It Grow” section becomes powerful at just the right moments, and includes a strong jam, the guitar flowing like a jazzy rain aiming to refresh whatever it lands on. The band has reached that magical level where they seem most at home, and everything is moving at a good pace, dancing across the terrain. This track is certainly a highlight of the second disc, and it eases into one of my favorite songs, “Stella Blue.” “In the end, there’s just a song.” Ah yes, and the Dead can take us right up to that moment, give us a glimpse of the end and make us smile at it, and make it smile at us, so later, perhaps, we won’t be afraid, we’ll be ready. “There’s nothing you can hold for very long.” It ends gently.
After a pause, Bob gets things moving with a cover of “Big River.” I love when Keith Godchaux rocks that piano. They follow that with a good version of “Ramble On Rose” that finds Jerry in high spirits, particularly vocally. Then Bob leads the group into “Me And My Uncle.” We hear a bit of the beginning of “He’s Gone,” just a tease to let folks know the order of things. That soon fades out. Then the last two songs of the second disc are the final two songs of the night, beginning with “Johnny B. Goode.” Three Chuck Berry songs in one night? You Bet! And this version has a tremendous amount of energy. This disc concludes with “And We Bid You Goodnight.” A sweet ending to a great show.
Disc 3
The third disc contains the rest of the second set and the first song of the encore. It picks up with “He’s Gone,” and as you might guess, this is where things really start to take off. “Nothing left to do but smile, smile, smile.” The jam has an easygoing vibe and still totally shines, leading to “Going where the wind don’t blow so strange.” Ah, where is that place? For we’d all like to go there right about now. But it is that vocal jam that really stands out. Fantastic stuff. They then get into something that starts to get bluesy, but then explodes into “Truckin’.” And that groove carries us pretty far, up over the hills, through the mountains, with hardly a moment to reflect on what’s transpired. And I love that moment when it bursts up through the trees and clouds and light itself, cutting a path to another realm. And once there, it’s time to explore, of course. Moments into that, Bill Kreutzmann creates a path of his own on drums, giving ethereal spirits a corporeal form with which to dance. And suddenly “The Other One” winds its way up through the ground and smashes through, fire igniting in the cracks, and all those seeking its warmth engage in a tribal dance, man and monster and even myth, all coming to life, spinning, swirling, morphing into different versions of each other, and then relaxing, perhaps even sinking. But just before we slip beneath the surface ourselves, the music snatches our hand, pulls us up for the next step or phase, which soon turns out to be a more delicate place. Our steps our tentative, but then it is like we are not stepping at all. Instead, things are moving around us, patches of light, flying reptiles, mouths full of teeth, a sharp breeze. Phil’s bass comes barreling upon us, a force that pushes its way in, then pauses, as if to see where it’s drive has gotten it. And what pretty thing creeps in on the air? And are there hints of “Slipknot!” contained in this jam, or has my imagination taken over part of this experience? No matter, for things have moved back to the main body of the song, a great pounding creature of impressive dimensions. And once it is all there, we get the first verse of the song.
Soon after that, the song drifts off, and “Eyes Of The World” emerges, with that groove that always makes me happy. This song feels like a vast field of electric flowers and warm light from a bright blue sky. A song to make us feel good, with a groove to get us dancing. The song itself seems to dance. And this is 1974, so “Eyes” has that extra section toward the end of the jam. After a moment, the band launches into “One More Saturday Night” to conclude the set. It was Saturday, after all. It’s an energetic rendition. The third disc ends with the first song of the encore, a good version of “Casey Jones” that begins in a rather relaxed fashion, but builds and builds in energy toward the end.
CD Track List
Disc 1
- Around And Around
- Dire Wolf
- Me And Bobby McGee
- Sugaree
- Mexicali Blues
- Here Comes Sunshine
- Beat It On Down The Line
- Ship Of Fools
- Jack Straw
- Deal
- Promised Land >
- Bertha >
- Greatest Story Ever Told
Disc 2
- Row Jimmy
- Weather Report Suite >
- Stella Blue
- Big River
- Ramble On Rose
- Me And My Uncle
- Johnny B. Goode >
- And We Bid Goodnight
Disc 3
- He’s Gone >
- Truckin’ >
- Drums >
- The Other One >
- Eyes Of The World
- One More Saturday Night
- Casey Jones
Dave’s Picks Volume 42 was released in early May. My copy arrived on May 5, 2022. This release is limited to 25,000 copies. My copy is number 928.
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