" like it does in the song." Or does it?
This early and very unique line up, featuring Bill Kreutzman, Dave Nalson, and Steve Kimock of Phil & Friends is quite the joy to listen to.

First off Phil is jubilant the entire performance and features strong vocals, as he almost exclusive does all the singing, sharing the duties with the gifted, and dear friend of Jerry, Dave Nelson and exceptional playing.

Phil's tone is killer.

The performance is a marathon clocking in at over 3 hours and forty minutes and covers some much territory while giving a wide open look at how Phil would play GD music for the next 20 years.

Of coarse the other players are a vital part of this, as Nelson, Sless, Mookie, and Kimock add a great amount of creative and inspirational playing. It was clearly a labor of love for their old pal, for which the Warfield was a second home in the latter part of his life with the Dead in the early 1980's and JGB in the 1990's.

The first set features a very funny poem to start the show with Phil and Billy. Things really gel right out of with the gate with a toast to Jerry with a "Cold Rain" "Sugaree" opener.

Things really start to take off mid set which features a a wonderful trifecta of "Uncle John's Band"> into a great Dave Nelson song, "Edge of the Wire" which final verse states "When everything rides on the edge of the wire" before drifting off into a instrumental version of "Stella Blue" featuring Kimock on the pedal steel.

It is a bitter sweet moment and the band plays it more for the reflective beauty rather than going for the powerful ballad that was the hallmark of Jerry's work the the Dead.

It is simply sublime.

Then a wonderful surprise with a cover of Pink Floyd's " Wish You Were Here." This song may be the best in the rock cannon for describing loss and the band really pushed the song's emotional depth further than the original ever did.

Simply a brilliant and powerful performance.

The set ends with a long and exploratory Help> Slip> Franklin's that would become one of the fine pillars of an outstanding Phil & Friends show.

Set II begins with two songs you know Phil wanted to play with the Dead in the latter part of the career. They almost did Cosmic Charlie back in the early part of 1994 but tonight Phil does both and it's great and fun. Pride of Cucamonga thrives off the bouncy peddle steel from Kimock.

Dave step up with an excellent "Kick in the Head", penned by Robert Hunter no less. Then we get the spacey meat of the set with a short version of DS which drifts into a glorious version of " Mountain of the Moon." Phil really got this song and over the history of playing it over the next 20 years it was always a treasure to hear live.

Continuing with more Jerry tunes Dave delivers a wonderful reading of "Iko Iko", more New Orleans style than GD, and it is a boogie woogie treat.

The set end with a joyous "Scarlet Begonias> Fire on the Mountain" which Phil would end many second sets with in the following years.

A sweet " Ripple" with one minor misstep by the band closes out this wonderful night of music. Phil and Dave share verses.

On another link of this show a poster claim it was Betty Cantor who recorded this and man if that is the case...it shows or rather sounds.

The sound quality is superb as it is warm, full ranged, and natural sounding. A very worthy download of the early days of a musical career that is still go strong 20 year and counting.

Rock on Phil!

Happy trails.

Great download. Thanks for this!

This may be one of the best P&F on the archive. Tank you very mucho when the drums stop give me the bass solo!

barry sless is simply one of the best guitar players out there. not only does he channel jerry, but adds his own unique "country" style phrasing with crisp licks. i love kimock too, but he is jazz oriented. sless is king of the country sound. for newer heads seeking out the ghost of jerry i recommend DNB, after all, garcia grisman and nelson were all on bill monroe tour in the beginning! check out david nelson band 08-11-01 w/vassar clemens!

After listening to both of these shows with DNF, and the rehearsal in San Rafael recording, and being a Phil veteran, I can't believe I was so upset for so long about the Lesh/Kimock break-up. Clearly I am not the only one who considers Sless to have a truer Jerry sound/tone, as Barry was turned up louder in the mix both nights. The rehearsal Kimock is equally as turned up in the soundboard mix, but the conclusion is the same. Barry sounds more like Jerry than Kimock. Kimock is unbelievable at his own unique style but if you want to hear it how it was played in the old days with any authenticity, listen to both of these shows, listen to the guitar coming from the right, in the mix, it is Barry Sless. He is awesome. In my opinion, with the addition of Kreutzman,these might be the best shows post Jerry. My new dream band is EMC^2; Emergency Crew 2.: Lesh, Sless, Kreutzman, Hart, Hornsby, Weir. No Warren needed there, Phil and Bruce could pick up the ballads. Or if Bruce is out of the question, e.g. this spring Dead tour, just add Barry Sless as the second Lead, next to Warren for Jamming like Jerry purposes. I feel like a fool for believing Kimock was 'it' for so long. Clearly, anyone who knows GD music can hear the difference between Kimock's well known tone, and what it is that Sless has going on. He sounds like he actually gets off on knowing so many of Garcia's chops. Plus, what we do not get here is the MIDI that Barry brings to the table, ala post 89 Jerry.

hey,you can tear apart the war and every asshole who put us there,,but please give the guys who are living in hell over there,the credit and respect they all deserve

too bad dedhed didn't die in iraq where he would become another 'hero' - fighting for our 'freedom'. hahahah

Where the hell have I been to have missed these shows?? (7/2 and 7/3) Oh yeah, Iraq....Well now that I am catching up, I am just overjoyed with the sound and content. The addition of David Nelson makes it superb. Thank you guys, for making one old dead-head's life a lot more peaceful.

It's a toss up as to which night is better. Both DNB/P & F shows smoke. Best bet is to download both. You won't be disappointed. I'm surprised this lineup didn't last beyond the Warfield run. It seemed like a natural.