Bertha comes out with mediocre energy and a good sound balance. They gather steam quickly though and it finishes with a nice solo.MAMU has a funky little drum beat. Bob's guitar seems a bit forward in the mix.Don't Ease, one of their most played songs over the years, has energy, but after MAMU I wanted something, almost anything (coffee or tea), else. Energy is there though.Mexicali starts off somewhat sloppy.BEW is great, nice synched up playing, good tempo, good vox.BIODTLBird Song is a solid effort with a strong ending.Big River goes at full speed, features a nice Keith solo and twangy Garcia.LoserJack Straw is great, full team effort. Keith especially shines.Big RR, I always get excited when this in the line up. This one blows the doors off right from the get go, Keith is again in fine form. Ha, Jerry hits a funny high note in the vox, and they are having fun with it! It is a fun song to play after all. The solo break hits X factor, as I almost count on this song to do! A+ version. Nice descending trills to bring us back to the final verses.El Paso takes a minute to get going after they ripped their faces off in Big RR. It does go, but not like it can.China>Rider to close us out. The transition gets a little slow, to close out a set of hit or miss.PITB>Drums>DS>Dew>PITB opens the set! How about that, Bobby must've been mad they didn't do PITB in the 1st. In the Jam jerry goes into whale call mode early, by the 6 minute mark they are in full blown thematic jam. It gets rather exploratory without going spacey, and maintains a nice head of steam all the way through to the drum break.Dark Star comes out of drums with good synchronicity. They slowly disintegrate into a spacey jam before the first verse. In the 8 minute mark it starts to gain more momentum, also slowly. We get the pre-verse them at 10 minutes in. Around 14:30 we launch into a very groovy jam that I am not aware if it has a name or was just the stars aligning. Then the noodles begin pouring out of Jerry, Keith as well. Phil is groovy in support, as is Bob and Bill. It has the makings of a potential Tiger, that never comes, but we get some nice work. Then the tempo goes back downa and it's bordering on spacey again. Phil decides to weigh in heavily at 21 minutes and they let him have a short solo. They go into a definite UJB jam in there, not sure why it isn't listed, as it's very pronounced. This falls apart into a Dew intro.Dew is solid. Nicely psychedelic. We get some nice build up before the final verses. The finale does what the Dew is supposed to do, including fanning Jerome and reaching X factor... but it doesn't get that full boom because it goes back into PITB on a dime! It has a nice little jam, and then ends the meat sequence with a screach laden finale.FOTD in a rather odd placement. Even odder... it's not FOTD, it's Deal! Bad listing! Same bad listing in deadbase.com ! It's a bad ass deal too. Deadlists.com is once again superiod.Promised Land has some high energy and serious piano.Brokedown fits the bill.OMSN>Casey Jones, nice psychedelic Bobby chords in here. Fully rocking.No encore

favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite

This fall tour lasted from the end of September 1972 through the end of November totaling 36 shows. This might make it one of the longest no-stop runs of shows of their careers.

This show sandwiched, between two others at the Fox Theatre, is a testament of the full and creativity powers of this band. Keith is firmly rooted into the ensemble and he offers some of his best playing during this time as well.



The first set opens with a early Bertha, more like it was originally written and performed with some screeching leads and powerful bass from Phil. A standard Me & My Uncle is well played with Bob playing some strong chord progressions.

Things really take off in a cranking and high spirited Don't Ease Me In.



The sing along continues with outstanding version of booth Mexicali Blues and an even better Brown Eyed Women. Jerry's vocals are so sweet during this time.

A hilarious miscue with Bob missing his entry to BIODTL, shows you the band can be a loose as the next band. They recover instantaneously and deliver a rousing version. A excellent Bird Song follows with the drifting melody, and cascading transition, that would only be played this was for a less than a year more.

A cranking Big River continues to have the band gelling and this is followed by a striking Loser. I love the " sweet Susie" chorus that Jerry would sing during this time.



The end of the set is stellar with a wonderful combination of Big Railroad and El Paso. The China> Rider is wonderful.



Set two starts with a intense Playing in the band that has that level of focus that makes these versions so noteworthy. Phil is really high in the mix and sparring with Jerry. Bobby and Keith are also quite amazing and Billy is driving this along with ferocity that few drummers of his day could match.

This transcends into a 28 minute long Dark Star that is more primal, than spacey, as the coming year would bring. It does have a slight cut in it but this version is really remarkable as the band really explores this territory together.Early on there is a tease of WRS and maybe even Mind left body.

Jerry is not as wild on the wah wah as he would play on other versions from this year, but he does play some great runs. Phil also has a cool bass solo with leads in maybe the one note worthy surprise of this set. I can not say if this is the first time the band played this live, but what they do play is fully composed jam, that would become the mainstay jam between China> Rider during the fall of '73. This one is incredible.

This arrives at a Morning Dew, this version is stellar with Phil dominating the mix and Jerry and Keith wailing away.Jerry once again does a beautiful job on vocals.

The transition into the Playing reprise, although not perfect, works and is a cool surprise. The build up to the end is excellent and Donna;s scream in in key, the band does botch it up badly after this before the final verse but I mean you can forgive on this night.

The end of the set is a powerhouse of rock and roll, Deal is really good, Promised Land is off the tracks with full Bobby screams.They slow down for a bit for an emotional Brokedown, maybe the third best song of the set?

Next they race to the finish line with two raging versions of OMSN> Casey Jones that is simply of the hook.

No encore tonight kiddies you had more than you fill.

- May 8, 2010Another lost gem