Grateful Dead: “Dave’s Picks 2024 Bonus Disc” (2024) CD Review

Each year subscribers to the Dave’s Picks series of Grateful Dead concert recordings receive a bonus disc. This year’s disc arrived with Dave’s Picks Volume 50, a three-disc set containing the complete show the Dead performed on May 3, 1977 at The Palladium in New York. Oh yes, there is still music from that magical Spring 1977 tour to be released. Volume 50 also contains some filler from the first set of the May 4th show, which the Dead did at that same venue. The bonus disc contains the entire second set from May 4, 1977.

The set opens with “Estimated Prophet.” And, yes, the band did play this song the night before, but it was still a new song, and the Dead would play songs with greater frequency when they were new. And besides, it’s such a great song, and a wonderful choice to start a set, for it feels like it is opening some magical door. And once we pass through it, the rest of the journey lies before us. The jam gives us a chance to explore the territory just on the other side. And there is no rush. There is an easygoing vibe to the jam, and the band then pauses before going into “Scarlet Begonias,” perhaps the Dead’s most cheerful number, one that never fails to get folks dancing and feeling right with the world. “Once in a while you get shown the light/In the strangest of places if you look at it right.” The strangest of places is where the band feels most at home. And those are the places that audience and band journey to together, dancing the whole way. I love that somewhat mellow moment just after the song’s final lines, when it has not yet been determined where the band is heading. All possibilities are open. And we can hear them all, swirling about, ready and eager. Donna Jean Godchaux’s voice is now like an angel sending out a signal to whoever might be out there to receive it. And then things start to move, the band having picked a path, and soon they are into “Fire On The Mountain,” this also a relatively new song at the time, but already paired with “Scarlet Begonias,” as it was the very first time the Dead played it. The two songs always work so well together. There is a joy to “Fire” as well, in its rhythm. But it is Jerry Garcia’s guitar that is driving things forward, straight through any obstacles that may be in the path. The fire now like beacon, welcoming strange entities that might be lurking in nearby solar systems, as the band repeats “Fire, fire on the mountain” to draw them near. The jam becomes a rowdy party, a mixture of lifeforms participating, before then returning to that familiar theme and leaving us there.

But that is just a station on the journey, for the band then starts “Terrapin Station,” signaling a desire to go further, “until things we’ve never seen will seem familiar.” Oh, yes. The band is so adept at causing just that thing. This song too was relatively new at the time of this show, but already a vehicle for exploration. It was born that way, wasn’t it? The band now seems to act as a conductor of stars and comets and angels and black holes and gods and planets, all of which join together to create “a rare and different tune.” That leads straight into “Playing In The Band.” Everything is on more solid ground now, at least for a time. But the light that shines upon the land comes from a thousand different suns. The entire universe is at hand, the band now consisting of countless worlds. And so we don’t have to travel far from home to explore. The jam goes right into darker territory. And why not? What have any of us to fear? Even as the heavy thumping wind beats at the space around us, and dozens of electric critters dash up and down our legs, looking for familiar territory themselves. Pieces of the universe become solid, reposition themselves around us, blocking certain exits. And still we dance, not showing any worry. And we are right, for things soon lighten, turn pretty. Whatever burdens were ours are now cast off, and more and more people gather, adding to the light. The jam leads us gently into “Comes A Time,” reminding us that whatever vessel we have, “only love can fill.” And there seems to be plenty of love about, even if some of it is hidden in darkened corners. This is a moving rendition, with a wonderful, heartfelt vocal performance from Jerry. The band takes us farther out again, only to be able to pull us back together as they return to “Playing In The Band.” It’s a rather pretty section as they tease us with the song’s theme before tearing into it. And when they do rip into it, it is with joy and power. Wonderful! What a journey this set has taken us on. There is no encore. None is needed.

CD Track List

1. Estimated Prophet
2. Scarlet Begonias >
3. Fire On The Mountain
4. Terrapin Station >
5. Playing In The Band >
6. Comes A Time >
7. Playing In The Band

Dave’s Picks 2024 Bonus Disc was released in late April 2024, sent to subscribers with Dave’s Picks Volume 50.