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The hardest question about this show is which set was hotter. Tough to say. They smoked all night long. This show gets passed over because of the other shows at MSG and Boston Garden but this is one of my most listened to shows. I caught most of the shows on this tour and this is one of the better ones and, in my opinion, this show is one of the best of the 90's, not quite as good as 6/17/91 but what show from the 90's is? Jerry's voice is solid which is key because this was a heavy Jerry song night. Quickly during Stranger you can tell the band is confident. Towards the end of Stranger, Bruce throws down some great piano work. The Bertha is, in my estimation, a top 5 from this time period. Bob especially tears it up especially in the beginning. Jerry's first solo is one of my favorites of any Bertha ever. He just comes flying out of the gate with no let-up. Bruce totally compliments what Jerry is doing here and Bob also pipes in. This Minglewood Blues may be the best I ever heard live and it only gets stronger as it goes along. Is there a better Minglewood from the 90's? Everyone is taking whacks on this version. The jam after the second set of lyrics just goes on and on and is the reason why I think this Minglewood is hard to beat. You have got to listen to Bruce during this jam. He is clearly digging it. After this, Jerry runs through an instrumental Dire Wolf intro but then skips it for the best Must Have Been the Roses I have heard live. Then Jerry rips into a solid Dire Wolf. Jerry was hot to play tonight. The West L.A. Fadeaway is one of my favorite versions on tape. The Bruce intro work is real sweet. The Music Never Stopped comes out of the gate slow but works itself into a real monster. One of the top 5 I ever caught out of 100 shows. The vocals are especially excellent on this copy. As if thats was not enough, Jerry kicks in the best Don't Ease I think I ever heard live and it holds up on tape. It's a blazing version and no set ending throwaway. This is Jerry at his best for this time period. Bruce compliments the pace perfectly. The Miss 1/2 Step is the best I ever heard live. It's clearly meant to be a second set beast. Bob throws in some great licks on this one. St. of Circumstance is likely the second best I ever heard after the one from 6/17/91. Again, the Comes A Time here is the best I ever heard out of three. It blows away the one from Albany 3/27/93 imo. This Comes A Time is just about perfect and Jerry's solos here are inspirational. I would get this show just for the Comes A Time if nothing else. However this Uncle Johns Band is also tight as a drum. It may be the best I ever heard and one of the top 5 during the 90's. Of course Attics blew the place away. The band sounds very confident on it which is no small thing for this song. The Good Lovin and JBG indicate that the band was on fire this night. This is one heck of an under-rated show irregardless of the time period but it clearly shows that if you stopped seeing the Dead in the 90's because you thought they lost it, your very wrong imo.........

- July 21, 2008Two smokin sets of dead....