These are the tour's deep tracks. As the bottom show of the tour, you probably want to start with the top shows [10/25>10/31>11/4>10/27>10/28>11/9]; after which, there are some items of note for this date. The second set has a cable of jammed versions, including the longest Brent Eyes and the longest Brent Franklin's (these coming four days after the longest Brent Scar>Fire) - the meat of an 87min sequence. This is the only time that Eyes, Estimated, Sailor, Saint and Franks appear in a single set. Also note that it's Eyes>Estimated, not Estimated>Eyes; a Franks without a Help>Slip; and a second set Althea. A master copy of the "full" second set was not in circ before the official release, Road Trips Full Show: Spectrum. It has filters applied to remove the worst of the buzzing, but the mix on this SBD is far from perfect.

First Set. The guitars are lost at the beginning of China Cat, though they fare better on the AUD. There's a 1sec blip @3:06. The official release hides it by punching the L channel to mono for 8sec, suddenly losing Brent. I Know You Rider is basically a wash, with its tech problems. Fixed, they respond with a flying Cassidy. It's right here that Brent got good at backing Bobby on this one. The rest is mostly below average '79. Stagger Lee, as an example, is dry, sluggish and flat. Equip problems return for Passenger, though Jer gamely tries to jam it out. Listening to the AUD for Music Never Stopped, you can see that most of the tech issues were apparent in person as well (over the PA).

Second Set. For the trainspotters this is one hell of a setlist on paper. None of these are tour-best versions, yet it's still fun and must-hear-once. Though long versions occur daily on this tour, here the mood is to really stretch. Althea is vapid, saved somewhat by the solo, but it's the sequence starting with Eyes is where a fire is finally lit, shaking off the intense slumber. At 2:41, the official release has a 10sec mono punch that other SBDs do not; accident? To elucidate the length, it's nearly 6mins to the verse, and while not the match of 10/31 or 10/25, there are a few fine sections and a brilliant tranny into Estimated (note that it's teased by Jer, not Bobby). The miller_28932 is the only SBD with a complete Estimated (the patch section runs slow). The official version has a patch from 1:26>2:04 that's from 11/9-Buffalo. They are in a mellow mood but a jamming mood, which keeps Bobby from the vocal squeaks and gives Brent leeway. Conversely, Jer mostly parks on single-string basics. Still, this is the strongest section of the sequence, with a mood that's slightly off-kilter (compare to the ace from the night before). Franklin's Tower is the Energizer bunny, and it's the back nine jam that stacks the face cards. 10/27 & 11/9 are the best of the tour, but the last 7mins before Drums gifts the GOGD magic. The official release takes the last few minutes of this jam and moves them to Disc 3 (calling them "Space"), but it works better to put the disc break a few minutes later, in Drums. As the drummers take over, all but Bobby stay out, adding a punctuation mark (note that this 19min Franks comes two shows after an 18½min version). Space is great, but very brief before Bobby starts teasing Sailor, and since Billy is still out it's picked up quickly, joined by Mickey. The circulating SBDs cut out during Lost Sailor (on the official, this is substituted with 10/31, starting @4:36). Saint has Bobby testing "May be huntin' out of season, but my aim is true". Sugar Mag completes the 87min sequence and Casey Jones is bouncy enough to leave 'em happy out in the lots.

1st Set:  C-
2nd Set: B-
Overall = 2¾ stars

Highlights:
Cassidy - Brent and Bobby charge an otherwise dry set
Estimated Prophet>Franklin's Tower - try the whole sequence, with these high notes
Space - brief but best of tour

SOURCES: The clugston_2410 is the SBD [wier_12177, et al.] pitch-corrected and patched. It does have the channels switched. Some SBDs are pitched extremely slow. The best AUD is sharpless_89053. The miller_28932 is the second set, and interestingly has more of Sailor than other sources. It also has a slow-pitched Althea and slow patches [add +1% pitch to Althea & the first 2: 22 of Estimated]. The official release has the entire show, except for a substituted Lost Sailor and an edited Estimated, and is the only SBD source for the last three songs (the reason for the show's release). The pitch goes awry here, needing -1% correction for Saint, -1.25% for Sugar Mag, -1.5% for Casey.

This EYES needs to make it on Heady versions.
Really unique out of the box set list(s)
right thru to Casey Jones encore.
I am not going to write a bunch about Set One but it is solid and I spent a lot of time mesmerized by Garcia's vocal phrasings
Jerry's vocals somewhat 'China Doll' fragile
Phil dropping bombs -refer China Cat
and any other chance he gets to shakes free
of his cohorts in the rhythm section
Brent very involved
Had to be a lift for the band
subtle nuances perhaps
somewhat under the radar
in the same kinda way as Weir
There is so much good music here
besides the obvious Eyes>ESt>Frank
The 2nd set Althea opener
Everybody pitching in backing vocals
for Brent's-Easy to Love
The jam out of Franklins!
The way Sailor emerges out of Space.
The transition from SAINT to Sugar Magnolia
Yes there are a few minor dropouts during which I envisioned myself trying to cram my ear up against the old Spectrum fully glass crash bar doors.
THIS IS A High FIVE
and a freakin' Casey Jones chaser.