favorite favorite favorite favorite

Overall: One of my favorite first sets of 88. Second set is really good as well. Great song choice. Strong playing. Quality-wise, these shows pick up right where the boys left off in Maine a couple of weeks earlier, but these just have more of a laid back energy, instead of that really pent up high energy of the east coast shows. Love the SBD/AUD mix, although it perhaps isn't quite as crisp as some - has just a slight hint of high end hissiness - although by my old tape standards, this would still be an A. Also, Phil's a little lower in the mix than is ideal (although I don't think that's the fault of the recording). I'm tempted to give a 5 star, but I'm going with 4 because there is a difference between this and '89 Hampton or '77 Cornell, etc.



The scene: my first Greek Theater shows! After driving the bus all over for the east coast summer, I flew out for these shows. I remember first walking into the Greek and walking around the walkway at the top of the seating and not believing how tiny the place was. What a cool venue! Before getting here, I don't think I'd even seen pictures of it (just heard lots of tapes :). Old Greek coliseum style seating, a view out over the Bay across to SF, a little "dance"way around the top of the seating and a grass area up above that with some bleacher seats. I had done NYE 87, then Alpine earlier this summer, and so the Greek was the last of the "monuments" (missed out on ever seeing a Red Rocks show). I didn't have anywhere to stay after this show, but my sister had her VW and I wound up sleeping on the grass in the Panhandle next to her bus (her bus only slept two and she was with her bo). Woke up the next day and went to the free show in Golden Gate Park (more on that in my review of the next night).



The music: Set I: Shakedown is always good, but this one definitely explores some interesting ground. Check out Brent leading Jerry into some nice scale deviations to take things a little off the beaten path. FOTD is really fluid and peaks really nicely during Jerry's solo. Never Trust is a sweet taste of Brent and the Hammond. The jam in Cassidy starts with some great interplay - Jerry and Bobby finishing each other's phrases. The jam winds up not being tremendous, like they gave up on it before it could go anywhere really special. But Bertha to end the set is a nice surprise.



Set II: Scarlet is never a bad way to start a second set. The jam starts off nice and loose with everyone contributing. Again, some nice west coast style laid back jamming. The transition into Fire is a little quicker than is ideal (especially given the really long one we got at SPAC a couple of weeks earlier), but it's still really nice. Fire has some really nice peaks to it and is about as good a Fire as I can recall for 88. Women R is hot, with Brent leading the charge into high energy territory. A well-played Ship. Estimated is good as well. The vocal improv section isn't anything special, but the jam is nice and isn't too abrievated. Miracle>Wheel>GSL is good, but not particularly great. Brent makes us wait for the proper Hammond intro to GSL until the third time around. The first two times, it's his piano mixed with some guitar and synth. It's painful to hear, but then when he comes in with the real thing, it makes it sound that much better. Some nice rappin at the end too by Brent. Check out Bobby using some MIDI sounds on Dew (was this one of the first times he was using MIDI outside of space?). Phil's bass makes some nice appearances here as well (this show is otherwise a little light on Phil). The peak on this Dew is really fantastic. That deep almost helicopter-like sound of Brent's B3 winding up is enough to send me over the edge. Great stuff. I've got to agree with one of the previous reviewers, Bobby's off-key howls in Lovelight are just embarassing. Hey Bobby, Donna called and she wants her voice back. Unfortunate end to an otherwise fantastic show.

- February 6, 2008My First Show at the Greek