It must be real lonely out there Jboy!!!! Thanks again for not letting me down w/ your usual flogging of the Deadest (yes-pun intended) of horses!! You rule!!--In what universe I am not so sure. "However, it will suffice." Is this a contest??? Is there some race to be the guy with the most reviews??? Thanks for the predictable and oh so usual entertainment.

The first set is available, but the sound is so remote and cloudy that it's be doing a disservice to review it. Honestly, it's akin to the 4/14/88 (2nd show of three) Rosemont Horizon show I reviewed a couple of weeks ago. The sound is not much better for this 2nd set recording. However, it'll suffice.

2nd Set: Oh, those glorious opening chords to "China." A deliberate, slightly off-putting beginning but then Jerry assumes command. The sound makes some of the guitar work sound screechy, but there's smoke coming out of this tailpipe. "Rider" is undeniably thrilling. "Estimated" is effortlessly played and feel very natural and unstudied. Smooth. An interesting moody hue entered the picture from 7:40-8:00. Plenty of jammy introspection leads into a shimmering yet all too brief intro for "Eyes." But why does Jerry dismiss any semblance of an intro...it's stunted and awkward without. This sends off a chain reaction where the song is the weakest aspect of the eleven minutes of music. Cascading waterfalls trickle down as it flows right into a silky, compelling "Drums." "Space" gets awfully discordant and ugly during the 4's and 5's. "The Wheel" gets better as it develops. "Gimme" is a tad sloshy, but is a momentum maintainer. "Watchtower" is the biggest crowd-pleaser of the three and it's the most intense of the 'arena rock three' performed tonight. For some reason the ballad that's always played next is poor "Black Peter." It's not perfect but mildly brooding and tempestuous. A complete stop, they decide what to go into... and it's good ol' "Lovelite." This one's an oddball, it's kinda loose without any direction then Bobby does some pseudo show-stopping attempts ('one-time/two-time) that culminate in a nice build around the late 4's. We get a full false ending in the mid-5's and another run towards hysteria that doesn't quite cross that finishing line.

Let's encore with another "Black" tale. It's tar-filled but finishes poigantly with harmonies. "See y'al later" says Jer.

3 1/4 stars