favorite favorite favorite favorite



This is the 1st show after the Fillmore: The Last Days show, and a rare one-off trip back east. There was originally a previous night in NYC, that had to be rescheduled for 8/26, causing two trips east [Sam Cutler would soon put his foot down on those shenanigans]. This was their 1st time at New Haven, but only time at the Yale football stadium (the next 11 times were at the Coliseum). The show has a semi-legendary Marty Weinberg AUD, though I never saw a full or decent partial, BITD of blanks & postage. For years, then, it was a mythical show; always rumors of the great lost show (it's good but not month's best). They set up on one end of this most-historic-gridiron and there was a casual feel - until the riot anyway. Locally infamous, it was concurrent with gatecrashers, riot police, and replete with tear gas - which we all know was absolutely necessary when dealing with Dead Heads. Sounds like the people inside didn't find out until later - other than the smoke. The upcoming Who concert would be cancelled.



On the SBD Billy's kick dominates and wears over time; addressed somewhat on the official release. Road Trips v1n3 is nice, but gave no context. And though the Weinberg AUD circulated first, it was in 2015, when the SBD went up, that we really got a handle on the show. Regardless of the individual tracks (and overall ratings), this whole show just has a unique feel - where the whole is greater than the parts, in Dead fashion. There are better versions of all of the first set (save Dark Star) in '71, but it's got cohesiveness and context; and the few aces occur in the right places, like a pinball plunger.



First Set. Seems the stage monitors were not fully working yet, and it takes quite awhile for the set to take off, with some middling versions. Sugaree is the first-ever, leading a newly-woodshedded pair that are still in the most basic arrangements. Mr. Charlie (also first-ever) is unsure, but here those are charms (it's months away yet for the powerful Pig versions). The heat & humidity are still killing the tuning on Mama Tried. X factor starts to arrive for Big Railroad - but still OOT when it does. Then comes the historical first appearance of glow sticks, during the 6min tuning. The "they're just radioactive isotopes!" is cut from the official release. It sounds just exactly right that a Deadhead would bring his dad's toy invention and make it part of Deaddom. Both the Weinberg AUD and the SBD miss the first riff cycle of Playin', but the AUD and the MTX have 4 more secs than the SBD. It does not stay continuously tight, but the short, 4-member-band version has such a purity. In one month it will pass the 5min mark, and then in Oct, with Keith, it passes 6min. All of this leads up to an all-time must-hear: this Dawk Staw is only the 5th of the year. And it's i n s a n e. It takes its place on the shelf of great '70-'72s. It's wandering and contemplative while still taking turns into frontier lands. Is it better than 2/18 or 4/26? Maybe; it's structurally different, though it does have a brief Feelin' Groovy. Billy really paints the final jam, Phil the first and middle. The lone verse is halfway. Like the first, they tease for the second verse, but then step off the moving walkway. You feel like you have heard more than one single Dawk Staw by the end. They were lean and rockish at the time, but this is so Grateful Deady. A Top 10 version. The Miller source has the correct pitches throughout, and the Weinberg AUD captures Phil - rare for a '71 field recording. Phil asks for Wharf next, but it's Bird Song. Note that Viola Lee used to start like this, with a crashing Hendrix chord. This is the first Bird not stand-alone, and the only one until '80! Well, if you count this one, because they do count-in from nearly a stop, so... But it is the only one from a Dark Star. The Miller source has fewer tape artifacts than the official. Either way, it's still the early arrangement: searching, developing. After Big Railroad people were bumming smokes from Jer, but after a spare & downtempo El Paso Bobby wants to smoke. Until Jer says "take it away Bobby. Don't light the cigarette! You don't have time!". The rest is average '71. After a rote Loser-SS Jer says "are we gonna do the old number one song?" After Janis died, her cover of McGee was released and in March '71 unexpectedly reached #1 on the pop charts (staying on the top 40 until May). Back when everybody heard chart hits on the radio. The official release has the ending without the patch (where it sounds like Jer says "we're going to take a short break, piss on the tires and stuff"). The average concert-goer who had heard American Beauty and maybe Live/Dead would have known two songs, including the cover. But such is the magic of the Dead.



Second Set. After a solid Bertha, somebody yells "wes Mickey Hawt?". The answer: "he's on safari in Africa". Bobby then claims "he locked himself in his closet, man!". The next few are average versions. After Me & My Uncle Jer has a chat with people down front. It's not a great Deal; it's rare to hear Jer shout like this, but he adds some extra work. Jer suggests Midnight Hour, which in '71 was only played three times, all in April. Instead it's an absolutely celestial China Cat. There's another AUD patch, 3: 15 long, and luckily the Weinberg AUD is great here. Put a bandaid under your jaw, then listen to Phil's bass runs between 1: 45 and 2:30. There is no other China Cat like this. This China into Rider is the soundtrack to the plasma-jetting core of Messier 87. Is it weird that Haggard's original Sing Me Back Home is under 3min, but it takes the Dead over 9 ... without a jam? Sugar Magnolia is lazy, but in a casual way not a bad way. The MTX source for Casey Jones removes the digital skips. Not Fade Away is just two verses. There's another patch at the end of Goin' Down the Road, but oddly the official doesn't use it here. Instead it cuts 36sec from the final jam @9:14 (1:20>1:56 of the Darkness Jam on this source). This was the final Darkness Jam of just two in '71 (it was mostly a '70 jam, and the previous one was in Good Lovin'). It's also one of the longest, and comes immediately after the Goodnight jam section. Also note that GDtRFB starts with an end jam. Now it's time for the band to get hot again with Uncle John's - probably the best of '71! They didn't leave the stage for the double encore, which leaves 'em happy on an uptempo and wear-em-out Johnny B. Goode. Jer plays very trad leads.



1st Set : C+

2nd Set : B-

Overall = 3½ stars



Highlights:

Dark Star - Bobby paints Picasso, Phil paints Pollock

China Cat Sunflower>I Know You Rider - plasma-jetting core of Messier 87

Uncle John's Band - may be best '71

Johnny B. Goode - wear-em-out-happy vibe



SOURCES: The existence of the Weinberg AUD allowed a great dusbourne matrix. Five from the 1st set and seven from the 2nd are on Road Trips v1 n3. Not sure why they changed the running order (moving Dark Star>Bird Song after McGee). The official version of Dark Star is a rarity, because it's patched with the Weinberg AUD. However the patch section (abruptly) runs slow and needs +1% pitch correction .

- June 24, 2019Elis & bulldogs