favorite favorite favorite favorite

Cold Rain & Snow is a perfect opener. The initial chords are a bit off, but within a minute or two they've got it firing on all cylinders.

Mexicali makes an early appearance, plenty of funky pep. Almost sounds like Bob's guitar is purposely out of tune?

TN Jed, in the payoff jam you get some X factor from Jerry and Bob playing off each other amazingly. Keith is a bit subdued. Tough to hear Billy much at all in this Miller SBD.

BIODTL

Bird Song features the focused, thematic jamming it would always have. It's good teamwork, Phil in particular laying down some good areas for Jerry to work around, while Bob throws in mainly stoccato chords in an interesting pattern. Jerry flies high in his solos. They don't do the fake ending before heading back to the verse, which I appreciated. Clocking in at 13 minutes, very enjoyable.

BTW was just what the doctor ordered. Great drowning in you pay off at the end.

On the heels of this we get Big Railroad Blues, total fun.

El Paso is just about right. We get some great moments of being in synch here.

BEW is solid.

Cumberland Mines brings us some harmony and a great, trainlike rhythm. Jerry isn't shy with the noodles, though he seems to be a bit low in the mix. This is a blow your doors off version even with a lower than desirable Jer (does seem to improve as the song goes on). A+.

Jack Straw keeps us in the vocal teamwork category.

Don't Ease is rocking and rolling!

PITB takes a minute to get really cooking, but once it does, by about 8 minutes, it's full of noodles and Phil rocking. I think it's still a good idea to turn up the mid-range if you have EQ capabilities, to get Garcia more out there. It calms back down a little, for a PITB anyhow, around 14 minutes. After the 17 minute mark Jerry takes on a nice, watery/wavy tone, and Keith works into the tone magically right before the return to theme to mark the reprise. Despite the stong finish, decent for a year of standout PITBs, worth the listen, but not a shining star.

Casey Jones to end the set.



Promised Land lacks the pep I would look for in an opener. It then leads into a funny Take a Step Back.

He's Gone isn't likely to bring the energy back where I would like it, though there is an extended jam at the end. The playing during the body of the song is well done, and bodes well for said jam. They throw in a bit longer of a jam before the vocal reprise. It features some strong Garcia notes. Too much vocal reprise, and the hoped for jam after is short and doesn't really do anything, and thusly Bob takes us into...

Bobby McGee. After the anticlimatic Gone, this is a nice choice, not too much of a clash, but putting us back on the road to enjoyable music. We get that awesome trill from Jerry in the solo, and he makes his guitar sing the words. I don't appreciate the weird, quasi-yodelling vocals nearer the end.

China Rider, China starts with intent Bobby notes behind Jerry. The first solo is rather short. Nice transition jam, especially after the switch over into Rider. Rider keeps a nice steady pace. The finale jam is full of energy, charging up that mountain.

Tomorrow is forever.

GSET is greatly appreciated at this point! Another homerun here! Donna... gak.

1/2 Step isn't half steppin! Good version here.

Stella Blue comes right out of it nicely. Pretty much one of those flawless versions, very nicely done.

Truckin>Nobody Jam>Drums>UJB Jam>Dew. Truckin is a fun ride! Great jam leading up to the explosion, that leads to the first Nodoby's Fault But Mine jam in a while. It's short but cool, and falls into drums.

Phil is the first to join back up. They make their way into an UJB jam. A little light for me.

The transition into Dew, however, is pretty cool. The Dew itself is majestic, properly rising and falling. Finale features fanning and does what the Dew is supposed to do.

Sugar Magnolia closes out the set in style.

Double encore of UJB, earlier jammed, into JBG. A solid combo to end a delightful evening. In the end, they reached high points several times, but they didn't maintain it, so I can't call it a top show of the year. A 4.5 really.

- November 25, 2013Massive in Mass