favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite

Sugaree opens us up mellow, with some interesting Brent toying. High notes and scales lead nicely to a touch of fanning. Bobby goes straight to Minglewood and Jerry goes straight for a great tone as the energy starts building. An unassuming Candyman takes us to the cowboy medley, with a nice solo to start the perennial favorite Big River. Despite the splice that is masterfully patched in Loser, we get some nice X factor at the end of the jam, splice ends before the song. It's noodle city during the segue into Supplication, which has a great outro. Brent takes his turn, and Jerry, who has been flirting with his gain all night, has the chance to really let into it during Far From Me. Jerry's perfect rises and falls in Ramble On is punctuated by some smart Phil bombs. Disco was alive in 1980 and an up-tempo Stranger closes the set with Garcia assuming the perfect tone. Brent and Jerome really find some nice grooves in here, and Phil keeps it funky for them, A+ version.



A fun Big Railroad Blues starts off the 2nd with great teamwork and perfect Jerry solos. The drummers are motivated as we dig into Samson, where Jerry's guitar could have single handedly demolished the building, but didn't need to because the drummers are vying for the top spot. Great teamwork all around really, A+. Terrapin time! Solid throughout with a nice Fan jam, the actual TS climax is powerful. The end settles naturally into the theme song, PITB, and Brent takes the idea seriously, pushing some powerful work in. The jam starts off with a nice serving of gainy noodles, before Jerry drops the gain and begins weaving a tapestry of scale around his supporting cast. Brent has really come alive, and Phil, always a question mark in 1980, is all over it. We're just now hitting the 6 minute mark and have several more minutes of jam to go. It only gets better with X factor firmly reached in its heights. At around 8 minutes things go from focused into exploratory, Jerry's psychedelic tone fully in control on one's mind. Just before the 11 minute mark the jam goes Orbital! You just have to hear this PITB... you could say the spaceship explodes into the bliss of X-factor, coming to an end with the drummers vying for their shot at the crown.



The exceptionally chaotic space is not to be missed, a continuation of the pre-drums jam in a sense. Truckin' bursts out (sans whistle) and after great energy they build up to new levels during the explosion, post-TNT it continues to deliver for a few more minutes before lapsing into a dreamy Stella capped off by a gainy Garcia solo. A rocking Sugar closes out the set with another strong SSDD, but don't leave yet, double encore!

It's actually Saturday, despite the presence of Samson which hadn't assumed its weekly slot yet. They rock it out, and Jerry signals something softer for the finale, in Brokedown.

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Performance Quality

Things really started taking off in the cowboy medley, as is so often the case. There is some sloppiness in the 1st set, but it's the type that signals they are going outside of the box, taking new chances on regular songs. A strong Stranger bodes the forthcoming amazing 2nd set, where the pre-drums doesn't miss a beat and has energetic playing all around. Post space leaves nothing for the wanting either.



Sound Quality

A. No hiss, Garcia is nice and out front. There are some patches which mainly prevent the plus due to continuity. The patch is actually a great AUD that's probably worth listening to as well!

- January 25, 2014Going into orbit out of PITB