favorite favorite favorite favorite



The Telluride shows are legendary, though not for the quality of the tapes. This first day was a fave of mine, chiefly because I had a 1st gen from a SBD copy (and because I attended). I copied it about 10 times for trade. Since the days of B&P the two shows gained a rep of being sub-standard. But on circling back after many years, the quality of the playing on the first day is in keeping with this tour.



A friend that had worked a season in Telluride told me that Graham had bought a place there and had dreamed of having the Dead play. I wrote it off as a bong dream, but it was only shortly thereafter that we heard the show was going down ... or up: @8786' at Town Park, these were the highest shows [but is altitude the metric of a Dead show when it comes to how high?]. You could mail-order for a one-day or a pass good both days.



During the Red Rocks run rumors circled about caravans of thousands that were skipping Denver and heading for the San Juan Mountains. There were fears for little, isolated, San Miguel County. Graham took out full page ads in the Denver papers imploring those without tickets not go (his agreement with the town council was to keep it small, special). After Red Rocks there were certainly a lot of Heads en route. There are two ways from Denver, both a convoy of Head-rides, both converging on Montrose where, driving through, it buzzingly looked like a mini-Shakedown (actually some extra tix had been announced on sale there). There were reports that because they had blockaded the canyon climbing up to Telluride, allowing ticket-holders only (not true), a line of Heads were hiking in through the backcountry, over 13K-foot Imogene Pass (ridiculously not true). But then, life was like that pre-internet.



This was the only time I saw an entire town become Shakedown Street with pretty much nobody batting an eye. Telluride was on the cusp of mining-town-ski-bum vs. mega-hotel-and-second-homes, which had a lot to do with the success of this flashpoint in Deadtime. The poster for these shows is a mock-up of the famous photo of Butch Cassidy & the Wild Bunch - as skeletons. Butch Cassidy became an outlaw in Telluride, robbing his first bank here in 1889 (they didn't play Cassidy though - it was in the previous show).



You had to have local ID or hotel booking to drive onto Colorado Ave. or in town. Parking lots and buses were set up before town, but it was fun to just walk it; the street was full of the usual hi-jinks and many buildings/spots had been decorated for the event (I shot more film here than elsewhere on this tour). In the park we found our touring friends right away. It was not like a stadium concert as much as a bunch of people in a park and a band happened to play - albeit with a state of the art sound system. At once reclusive and inclusive, remoteness both challenge and eliminator. There seemed no police presence (Graham hedged that correctly: In the '80s no threat = no violence = no problems. With rap still half underground the violence was at the country concerts). At Red Rocks the conversation was Telluride. Now the talk was on Harmonic Convergence [What was it? Depended on whom you asked] and Dark Star [had to happen here!]. It didn't, but this day had no songs from Red Rocks (four shows sans repeat; the only time for me, anyway).



Isolated in a scenic Rocky Mountain hanging box canyon, with mostly tour rats and serious fans, good gods it was a heady experience. After the show there was a mile-long string of Heads giggling, dancing, hacking, drumming, crafting, trading, that went into the night. Band members and crew freely mingled in various spots - Mickey actually leading a drum circle from Colorado Ave. to the campsite. I had been here before and knew of a camping spot above town. That night in the tent we heard drums and a humming din from a mile away, echoing off the mountains, under the stars.



First Set. The opener was the first Feel Like a Stranger in Colo since '82. Same old clear & present danger, says Bobby, but it takes a bit to start flying. This pairing seemed a brilliant opener; the happiness around us soaring to the group high that usually came at the start of the 2nd set. Not the tightest, but Jer's solos are money. There's a Stuck Inside Mobile tease. They had just played it behind Dylan, but wouldn't do their own until March. Though not the summer's best, the middle of Minglewood is great (Rocky Mountain fillies/T right here in wherever we are). Phil makes this sucrose Candyman the 2nd best of '87 (after 9/18). Bobby delivers his all on Uncle>River. Brent plays a fiddle preset on the finely-played next two. Halfway through Desolation Row Jer gets active. This is a rec'd Deal. Listen more than once so you can check Bobby's choices on the 1st solo, and the way Jer, after a crawl both up and down the fretboard, switches back to rhythm. I also dig the place Jer picks up the careening 2nd solo. It ends up relatively compact.



Second Set. The Scar>Fire we thought we were going to get at Red Rocks was more than worth the wait (another great one came just three shows later). This is the point in time where Mickey begins his electronic drums dalliance. There are many aspects of this Scarlet that I like: Brent in the last few mins; of course Jer's mind-blowing main solo. I come off the gas but I'm still seeing spies as Fire spirals upward again, sidestepping to an adjacent loft. Seriously good, well tight. There are some nice sections in this Eyes, but this is as good as Drums gets. It was just as weird in bright sunshine, at top volume, echoing through the mountains, as in a darkened arena - and now different than previous tours. Space is generic but Brent is great on the end jam for Miracle, into a fine, late Bertha. The rest is average (Dew) to solid.



1st Set : B-

2nd Set : B

Overall = 3¾ stars



Highlights:

Candyman - one of best of '87; thanx Phil

Deal - sweet for a few reasons

Scarlet Begonias>Fire on the Mountain - both so good I don't know how I forgot



SOURCES: Mixes aren't as good as the playing. There's the FM, the SBD, and the AUDs. The walker-scotton_miller_83904 is best overall. It has better sounding drums/cymbals, but runs slightly slow, needing +1% pitch correction . It also has the best EQ and balance (though set two is out of order/mislabeled). The Healy mixes at the time used an AUD mic, and in the middle of '87 he was experimenting (i. e. there has never been a true SBD for this show). The leeds_17010 is FM and has better Phil, slightly different blend of instruments, but poor balance. The tetzeli_fix-17010_74165 runs slightly fast. The compression and live announcements indicate it is not pre-FM. It does have the Bill Graham announcements at the end. The show's lot documentary "Festival Tapes: Grateful Dead & Friends" is up on YouTube.

- August 22, 2020AuTe₂