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Last show of the brief, odd tour with 2 dates in the East and 4 in the Pac NW. This is the lesser show of those four (both Seattle shows are somewhat better than the Portland shows). XVIII songs are repeated from the night before (also at "The Schnitz") and most of them were better that night. It's still solid in that '72 way, but the SBD mix is the worst of the dates, with the vox over the instruments and some elements missing (unless you only like hearing Bobby vox and Billy's bass drum and ride). With a 2hr+ second set, the punters got a big show (though this is the era with long gaps between songs). Like others have said, it's solid GOGD, but nothing really stands out as a best of tour. They were back to the Willamette valley the next month.



First Set. After the CR&S opener, a Mexican Hat tuning leads to average versions of a typical mid-'72 set. It slowly becomes more above-average until a great stretch from I Know You Rider to Tennessee. All sources have a cut in Casey Jones.



Second Set. Several tracks need balance adjustments in this set. '72 is always solid for He's Gone but Me & My Uncle has the first true sparks. Too bad the mix is mainly Bobby vox and Billy, but the playing is perfect. Unfortunately you can't really hear Keith, who makes these versions of You Win Again. Bobby mentions that Pigpen is home sick, but sadly he had in fact already played his last show the month prior. With this mix it's hard to tell if Greatest Story is possibly better than previous nights, but you can tell that Billy is behind or ahead of the beat in much of this set (there must have been some onstage monitoring issues). Ramble On Rose is nice and clean and punchy - if not as good as the ones in the Fall. They played Dark Star just twice on this tour; one East, one West. The first is better and on this one not hearing Phil and Keith makes it harder to enjoy. It's pretty loose and out there, yet compartmentalized. I do like the way Jer brings it back at the end and the way Comes a Time starts. Even with the guitars and piano buried you can see that this is a tight Sugar Mag. You can't hear Donna either, but then they essentially start a 3rd set. Brown Eyed Women is cut, with the solo & bridge missing. With no AUDs, we'll never know. Beat It on Down the Line-16 has a skip @1:58 not fixed on the patched souce. Stella Blue is just the 6th one (has "keep from crying") and it's still getting tighter. Not Fade is straight up awesome and the set ends with a very uptempo Saturday Night.



1st Set : B-

2nd Set : B-

Overall = 3¼ stars



Highlights:

I Know You Rider - the China ain't bad neither

Tennessee Jed - usually great in '72

Me & My Uncle - perfect playing if imperfect mix

Ramble On Rose - clean & punchy

Not Fade Away > awesome

One More Saturday Night - speedy



SOURCES: The GEMS_87034 and clugston_1411 are about the same, with the highs muffled compared to long_34803. The latter, updating popi_8957, also has complete patches.

- September 3, 2018It's The Schnitz