After tagging a few northeast shows to the beginning of the jaunt, there was a jump to the Pac NW for two Seattles and two Portlands. This first show of the four is perhaps the best - slightly. They all have different highlights, even with very similar sets. The 1st set was nearly 2½ hrs (with tunings and Promised Land opener).

First Set. The Promised Land opener went unrecorded - apparently by anybody (though it sounds like a warm-up, Sugaree as an opener would have been unusual, and there's no opening tuning). The next few are typical for '72. After Loser-SS there's a brief Oh Babe it Ain't No Lie tuning that's cut from the official release (right before Bobby calls Baja the "state of Tija Juana"). The Mexicali is aces and the rest of the set just soars. China Cat became such a monster in '72 just in general, and this I Know You Rider is amazing. Even more special is Phil leading verses. Bobby calls 47 for Beat it on Down the Line. "47's too many man! I get real confused after about three!" Jer demurs. He then asks for five with a break from Billy. But missing from the official is Bobby's introduction, "Jesse Lonecat Fuller is a name to be respected and revered. This is one of his songs - we stole it. He's a one man band, y'know". Stella Blue is just the 4th one and it's great. Playing pulls back some from the E72 versions a couple months prior. Aside from some Donnaskreech™ it's another ace. Tennessee Jed leaves 'em happy and gods it is tight.

Second Set. After a solid Casey Jones Bobby teases Weather Report Prelude. He had teased it on 3/23 as well, and would do so again. He worked it out onstage in '72/'73 while writing it, rather than calling it for band practice. After finishing it he attached it to Let it Grow in September '73 - but this is just a tuning (the band started joining him in March '73, when he played it before Dark Star). Jer does a few unique fills on Me & My Uncle-bottle, as does Keith. Nice. The middle of the set is typical of '72. Drums is with Phil. There's a pretty good The Other One, which goes seriously into the out there à la E72, though there's more vamping than jamming. Sugar Magnolia is the kind I like, save Bobby's hoarse manu cornuto. Ramble is smooth, unstudied. We're missing the first Not Fade Away, though the Goin' Down the Road excerpt has great Jer (vox not so much). NFA was played at 37 dates in '72, and of these nine were played without being the bread on a GDtRFB sandwich. 17 had a sammich but no encore. Another 2 dates we don't know for sure if there was an encore [8/22 & 11/15]. This is the only show in '72 where we don't know for sure if there was a sammy or an encore. But most first-of-run shows in this period were sans encore. 17 shows went NFA>GDTRFB>NFA>encore [usually One More Sat]. In fact both of the following Portland dates have a sammy. The 1st Portland has no encore. Ultimately, its a 76% chance we're missing an NFA>GDtRFB>NFA sammy (using the '72 reprise format of repeating one verse in the NFA reprise), and a 61% chance this was a date with a sammy but no encore.

1st Set:  A-
2nd Set: B-
Overall = 4 stars

Highights:
China Cat Sunflower>I Know You Rider - the '72 monster w/great Phil
Beat it On Down the Line-5 - Jesse Lonecat Fuller is revered
Stella Blue - the early arrangement nailed
Playing in the Band - already morphing away from E72
Tennessee Jed - gods revered
Ramble On Rose - unstudied

SOURCES: The lone SBD source that has been around for awhile is very muffled and, regardless of labeling, is pitched way too slow (needing +2½%). It also has a cut in Drums and China Cut, and is missing the last few minutes of Ramble. Download 10 brought clarity to the show and restored the cuts. However both sources are missing the Promised Land opener and the first half of the NFA>GDtRFB>NFA sandwich. It's also possible there was an encore. The long tunings were cut for the official release, turning an historical listen to a fidelitous one.

The version from the download series is reeeeeally nice

I'd give this 3 1/2 stars if I could. The sound quality isn't really all that bad - better than many I've heard - but generally inferior to a lot of other Dead boots. Snag this one directly from the server if you want to keep it for posterity.

Available at http://gdstore.com/ with filler from 7/22/72.

I just finished listening to this show.
I sure liked it.

I noticed that the list of songs was not included and realized some of my friends might enjoy knowing the song order.

Bob Wier "introduces the newest member of our musical family who is going to help us out on vocals" you guessed it, Donna.
She sings along on "Playin in the Band".

Check out the 22 minute version of "Around".
I thought the sound was great.

Enjoy!!

Miguel Hermano
High on Pine Mountain

1. Sugaree 4Â 52Â
2. Tuning and Fun 1Â 45Â
3. Black-Throated Wind 6Â 13Â
4. Âan equipment malfunction 3 02Â
5. Cumberland Blues 6Â 36Â
6. Bobby Magee 6Â 20Â
7. Loser 6Â 10Â
8. Âunion drummerÂs break 2 39Â
9. Mexicali Blues 3Â 25Â
10. China Rider 5Â 16Â
11. I know you Rider 6Â 42Â
12. Down the Line 3Â 28Â
13. Stella Blue 6Â 33Â
14. Âintroducing new member 2 31Â
15. Playin in the Band 10Â 08Â
16. Tennessee Jed 8Â 18Â
17. Casey Jones 7Â 12Â
18. Âwell anyway 1 05Â
19. Me and My Uncle 3Â 20Â
20. Deal 5Â 53Â
21. Jack Straw 5Â 02Â
22. He's Gone/SYF 9Â 44Â
23. Âwe should have done this 0 43Â
24. Truckin 9Â 59Â
25. Drums 0Â 36Â
26. Drums 3Â 43Â
27. Around 22Â 12Â
28. Comes a Time 6Â 40Â
29. Tuning 1Â 45Â
30. Sugar Magnolia 7Â 06Â

It's too bad the recording quality isn't as good as the performance. This was an awesome show! The Dead came on stage just after 8:00 and, with a break, finished with barely enough time for folks to catch the last buses out of downtown to get back home.

This was the show that turned me from a mere fan into a fanatic!

The glass is half full.
The sound ain't top notch, but very listenable indeed, and the playing is of the absolute highest order. The band that returned from Europe had so much crackle, verve and confidence, and this is it on display. Don't sleep just because it's not super cwispy. It's ultimately about the music. You're better off burning and dancing to this than any '82-'95.

For Performance this would get plenty of 5 star reviews if not for the lack of sound quality. The jam between Phil and Billy into The Other One is cunning and daring with Phil playin' around with Billy a little bit at the intro.I suspect there is a nice sounding copy out there.