favorite favorite favorite favorite

This was an obscure, partial show, until released as. We had:Cumberland [excerpt]Dark Star>St. Stephen>Mason's [cut]The rest of the show turned up as part of the Janet Reels. It's one long set, for having started two hours late. This was for two reasons: They had to find equipment since some of theirs was callously held by the New Orleans police; and Bear's fussiness. You can read about Bob Heil's effect on the band on this night (n. b. Or not - these two articles interpolate a photo and facts from '71, or later; the whole band were busted in New Orleans & Bear was at this show; accurate photo w/Strat). It's the second show without TC, and Aorta, a Chicago band, opened.St. Lou was suddenly a big market for the Dead [and logistic crossroad]. They had played on campus at Wash U months earlier, and after this night they came back twice more this year, playing St Louis Community College in May and the cavernous Stifel Theater in October. Strikingly, these shows sound as if they were each a year apart, due to the pace of development. The following March they returned to the Fabulous Fox for two shows. Look at pictures of "Fabulous Fox St. Louis" , noting the hallways and bizarre lobby, if you want to see why it's The Fab. At the time, rock was snubbed hard by the man and the straights, especially in what was still a bible belt city. But before the refurbishings, the Fox was run down and desperate to hold events. The atmosphere was the adventurous, the daring, the freaks. That's who would go down there for a rock concert at the time. A 5000-seater, it was built the same time as the Fox Atlanta (5/19/77!), and has an organ that cost seven figures (in 2020 dollars). To the punters at this show who had bought the latest albums, only 3 or 4 songs were recognizable.is indicatively solid,smooth as glass. Pour in a nice Shiraz. Pig gets ahead of the beat on, mostly trainwrecking, though the jamming is fine. The next couple are solid if typical; smooth but vanilla.is more entertaining. If you listen toyou can hear when the two reel sources change after 4mins; perhaps we are hearing the provenance - how they aged differently (the last part is the vault source). There may be a little bit missing here from the reel change. The next bit is one of the year's best sequences, starting with a greatthat has about everything. I particularly like the way it keeps going back to the theme. You get lots of different ones, and here's one that keeps grounding itself. There's an interlude that's just whispers, and then an intricate rebuild. 13min in, Bobby starts a Feelin' Groovy jam that's picked up instantly and then halves itself in geometric progression. The month's best; and for the era, almost as good as 1/2, 1/17 or 4/25. It steps aside for an awesome, with a tranny intothat's top notch (the latter is one of the better examples; the 15th of 19 played). Next is athat's tighter than the cork in a Bulgarian rakia. They have now reached a certain state, capping the seq with an. This one is the beauty contest winner [collect $10 and get ready for more Pig]. The rest is average '70.had been touched upon in Lovelights previously (and sometimes just teased), but it's this performance that triggered the near-nightly setlister for the next few years.Overall = 4 starsHighlights:Mama Tried - fine stemwareDark Star>Stephen>Mason's>Good Lovin'>Uncle John's - totally wicked sequenceSOURCES: The miller_gans_121041 works best for the original circ SBD. Others, such as vernon_10374, run fast. The whole show is on