Went to this show, and the next to celebrate my 35th B-day. Brought a carload of friends from UGA (where I worked) and met up with some more friends in Atlanta, my childhood home. Tons of folks from Athens went to both shows, and there had been some considerable San Fran<>Athens traffick the previous couple weeks, and lets just say the mighty paper Dragon was breathing multi-colored fire into the psyche of a great many of the attendees - and you can hear the energy in the crowd. We went to that spiffy sports bar in the CNN building and drank a keg or two of draft Guinness before the show, and discussed and employed the great principal of: if you haven't had enough, double it; if that's not enough, double it again, and so on... We were glad we drove in four hours early to "miss the Atlanta traffic", and we rented our hotel rooms two floors below the band!!! Talk about the luck of fools!!! What a night not to drive...

The quality of these recordings, with a great mix between crowd and band, really captures the mood - the unforgettable "Lynard Skynard" cry after the first song - and the three or four piercing, earsplitting whistles my best friend made after some of the songs.

There was a feeling both nights that the place might just explode with peaceful energy at any moment. People were dancing in the halls of the OMNI. The cops were dumbstruck, unprepared. They mainly stayed outside and watched (the walls were all glass) in confused amazement.

What's really great is that our seats were second row Loge right above the Taper's section, so the tapes on the archives sound *exactly* like the concert sounded to us. Hearing it again after 20 years literally brought tears to my eyes during Cassidy, and the following night's Ramble on Rose and Wharf Rat. Jerry's voice was so good both nights and the production quality and overall sound was both heavy and crystal clear. When Phil would hit the bottom it was comparable to The Who or Metallica, but with the unspeakably beautiful and uplifting leads and trade-offs between Bobby and Jerry.

I saw a half-dozen other shows on this tour, and the playlists for these nights are not my faves, but the hard work the sound crew did to turn the cavernous OMNI into a music hall were the best I have seen there, consistently ('90 and '91 were also great-they got that place mapped out for sound). I think the huge size of the OMNI required higher volume levels than usual that resulted in the "bone crushing" sonic power on the rockier songs and a really different take on the quieter songs, since quiet was not really an option, but I'm a computer, not a sound, engineer-so this is just my best guess.

Regardless, these are good tapes (Thx to the Tapers!!!) of truly unique shows, and I rated it based on how happy these shows made me, and my friends, (who have all called and raved about the CD's I made and sent them) in hopes it will encourage others to enjoy these great recordings.

BTW, been a Deadhead since 11-11-71.... I'm convinced listening to this music will add years, happy years, to your life.
Stay in touch...

Overall: Really good sound quality for an AUD recording. Couple of new tunes and some good song selection, but overall a little sloppy and only a few moments of high energy.

The scene: Kick off to the last spring tour with on-site camping. We had a sign on the camper for this whole tour that read “Paradise Waits: So keep the scene clean!” We had a full load for this tour on the bus, plus others in the convoy. In the bus were Larry, Peter, me and (? Dan? Who else?) Then Scott, Buddha, Chard, Hay, and Duckworth, plus others? were at these shows as well in various vehicles. We made friends with some people parked next to us (Ned and Susan), and Larry eventually hooked up with Susan, which is why he then moved out to Colorado after this tour to live with them. Worst move ever. Anyway, the entire tour was before us and the boys were definitely on the upswing, so we had great expectations! The venue was great – big open hallways with speakers for dancing.

The music: two new ones in the first set (Built to Last and We Can Run) start things off nicely – even if Brent forgot the words. Things are slightly sloppy, but that’s probably to be expected for the first show of a tour. Scarlet is mid-level energy. Same for Fire, until Jerry starts going OFF vocally on “fire, fire, fire FIRE FIRE FIRE FIRE on the mountain!!” but the jams remain pretty low energy. If Mickey hits that damn electronic clap sound one more time, I may buy software to edit him out. Estimated>Eyes is good, but relatively uninspired. Bobby gets some energy going in Miracle. Standing on the Moon is the third new song of the evening, and this is a great one filled with optimism – as opposed to Built to Last and We Can Run, which are great tunes, but lyrically a little pessimistic. Lovelight is good with Bobby really trying to bring things up.

My friend dave and I hitchhiked from the L.A. California to Atlanta Ga. to start this tour. It took us 7 days. My brother(real bro)picked us up in his Pacer. Remember those cars? We put an S in front of it and called it the sPACER.We pulled up and parked next to people that would become my friends for 19 yrs now. It was the best of times...it was the worst of times. Yeah right, it was the best of times! Here's my rating for the 250 plus shows I saw. 5 golden roads or stars or whatever. If you were at the show, inside, in the fatty zone behind the drumz, or walking the hallways, or dancing yer ass off on Jerrys side, it was a 5 star show. Yes, some nights were better than others, but it was funny when bobby forgot the words to "Truckin'" on a consistant basis or if "Deal" was a little sloppy. Thank God we have the shows on tape to go back and relive some of those special days we had.

This show has great energy,and I think Jerry's vocals are great for this era- ,maybe not like the old days ,but great at the right times...The whole band seemed refreshed.I remember people in the lot saying it was just a public rehearsal being the first show of the tour.Goes to show you dont ever know ! Scarlet Begonias is a stand out version,as is Fire ,however IMO Jerrys's leads on parts of Fire are a bit sluggish.I'm not complaining though ,cause he had been playin'and singin'his heart out since the half-step opener.This was the kind of night where pretty much the whole band was together and spirits high.These were the Last shows where camping was allowed in downtown Atlanta....

Solid Spring tour opener. Some quick right channel dropouts during the beginning of Half Step. Pretty much a flawless recording beyond that point. Very High energy as was common for the boys during this era.

Pretty good sounding recording without too many crowd noise issues. 3 star sound, 4- star performance.

Cant add much to previous but it sounds good and could be considered a DL.

1st Set: And the Dead open up their Spring '89 tour with an tight, infectious "Mississippi." Wowsers, something about the energy inside the Omni fills me with inner goosebumps. (About two minutes in, my right speaker lost noise...was resumed at 2:16.) A decent, but enthusiastically received "Walkin" follows. 130 seconds later we learn that something is "Built to Last." Goodness gracious me, how I wish I could fidn one relationship that is... It's off and on - quality wise. Our second 'new' tune "We Can Run" shows why it's undenibaly 'retirable.' C'mon, it's so cheesy in its clumsy attempts to be anthemic. I liked this song when it's called 'Eyes of the World.' A lovely, if slight "Queen Jane" is next. Wow, the crowd is even screaming for numbers like "Candyman." The notes resonate more than the singing. "Cassidy" stirs the soul with its breakneck pace and Jerry keeping me at the edge of his seat. Why can't Jerry ever sound youthful during even the most (lyrically) reinvigorating tunes like "Touch?" Anyways, it's a nicely spirited version.

2nd Set: 83 seconds of anticipation, whistling and clapping all for the pleasures of Miss "Scarlet." It's cherry with a particularly playful percussive jam as we head towards the inevitable "Fire." The crowd is giving back tons and the fierce, Hot choral reprise during the late 9's is alone worth the price of admission. "Estimated" is given the equivalent amount of effort and attention as the past two numbers, but it's not particularly thrilling, powerful or mind-numbing. It drifts with forward momentum into the "Eyes." No intro jam, but it's a pleasant steadying version...well-told and less clunky than you may imagine. "Drums" is a fluid tribal ceremony whereas "Space" provides for speculations. Warmer tones invite "The Wheel." It picks up speed and meaning halfway through. Rev those engines and get prepared for a good-times "Miracle." A sincere nicely sung, no frills Jerry wishing he'd rather be with you "Standing." A very clappable quite pleasant "Lovelite" closes out the set with a similiar 'Stranger'/Bobby in spotlight as seen in a previous version. Funny ending as it just sort of peeters out...not out of wantonness, but out of 'we've got to end this somehow.'

This crowd wants to cheer and move, and therefore this sloppy "US Blues" serves that purpose.

3 1/4 stars

I just had to say a few words about this show as it was one of the first shows I attended, and I remember it almost like it was yesterday--what fun! This show really did it for me, and I particularly remember Jerry being quite animated this night. That Was definitely one of the best versions Scarlet>Fire I ever saw, and it really brought the house down. I've been listening to decent audience recording for years now, and you can really hear the crowd! I remember feeling a little spooked during the transition, and when I go back and listen to it, the jam does sound a bit eerie at times. The Half-step opener is nice, and the SOTM was particularly strong. Jerry was definitely "on" this night, and Bobby kept it going with a great version of Lovelight, complete with some rare(for those days) stage antics. I distincly remember Bobby turing back and forth, facing the drummers, then the audience towards the end of the song, and then, after having a litle trouble ending the tune, Phil started laughing and came over and put his arm around Bobby, both of them then laughing. As I said, this was one of my early intrepid travels with the Dead, and this show really had an effect on me. My first show was great too (10-14-88), I was on the bus from that moment on,
but this Atlanta show really carrys a lot of magical memories for me. I remember walking out of the Omni after the show to a mild spring night, and seeing an imprinted image of Jerry on the side wall of the building--huge--like a film negative or something. I blinked several times and it would'nt go away. It was as if his image was burned into my brain, or at least my retinas. I had been sitting on Jerry's side all night, with my friend Mark Z, havin' a high time! I sometimes wish I could have started earlier, but I definitely consider myself lucky to have been able to catch the shows that I did between '88 and '95, particularly the earlier ones. I attended almost all of the other shows that the Dead played at the Omni--always a fun venue! I highly recommend this show--Jerry's singing it right to ya--IIII'd rather be with you!

now - I am sorry-BUT I have to chime in here. chime in
2 : to break into a conversation or discussion especially to express an opinion. And the opinion is: THIS Fire (and The Estimated Bobby Fanfare from Frost 5.10.86) literally puts the hair up on the back of my neck everytime I put it on . It is all about having the right situation and sound system.Try this -Garcia Brothers and Sisters-(as well as with The SBD Estimated 5.10) you alone or with one cat stand in the middle of two or four speakers and have no problems with being able to hit a full volume toward the end of this Fire - have room to move a little and close your eyes...I am telling you -there are not many moments where Garcia kicks some serious deadhead ass like this.
A girl jumped on the greyhound bus at the Greensboro stop on the way back to N.Y.C. from these Omni shows with the masters from all four sets. Denise-where are you? E-mail ME! greenreadr13@yahoo.com... I've had the 1st gens ever since and I dig the quality on mine a tad better. I pretty much disagree with a few reviews saying this was not a strong show. It was one of the strongest of my 100 plus experiences. The crowds energy + the bands energy+2hitsofA + the set list- I was, I swear to Jerome, muttering to cats around me in between the first four songs "all i wanna here is Candy man cassidy all I wanna hear is candy man cassidy" and just as my high was getting intense The dreamy Candy Man and the turquoise splashed Cassidy and then as I was getting my peak on my one and only Scarlet > FIRE < Estimated Eyes I love you people and I love the Grateful Dead.

The first set is smoking all except "built to last" and man is the crowd right with them or what? my kinda show, must of been some real brothers and sisters around. How I truly miss the boys.Pretty much nice licks all the way through check out that candyman,"Ill blow you straight to hell" just down right beautiful.

Jerry barks this one out, lots of energy I like how He emphasizes some of the words like- everyone is pLaYiNg...
4 show
3 sound
Happy Trails.

Good kickoff to that tour ... sound quality here isn't great, but there are some tracks worth checking out. The Scarlet/Fire is really good, with some neat reggae-type jams here and there. The Standing on the Moon is also very nice ... although somewhat shorter than later versions b/c the song initially didn't have that jam at the end. The Lovelight is also worth checking out, there is some nice background vocal work at the end from Jerry and Brent that you usually don't get on this tune.

Does it really matter when this show happened? Just the fact that it happened is a testament to the fact that The Grateful Dead were one of the greatest bands in US music history. I would reccomend this show for anyone who is a GD fan. ENJOY

This was in 1989.

I was at the first four shows of this tour and the vibe was so nice. It was becoming clear to everyone that Jerry was becoming more healthy and focused after 87-88. Little did we know that this was the beginning of the rebirth, the beginning of a stellar year. We were just happy to hear the new tunes, especially SOTM.

Jerry was bopping around on stage this night like he couldn't wait for every new day and every song to come out. You can clearly hear the audience digging Jerry's antics throughout this show. While its not a stellar show or recording by any means, I think the energy translates to the listener very well. This show has a special place in my heart... we all know how tight the band started getting after Jerry's coma in 86, but to me, 89-90 were the closest thing any of us younger folks could get to vintage Dead. And this show was the beginning of it all for me.

Not one of the strongest shows but an interesting Fire on the Mt & a very different Lovelight. The Omni was always a great venue.

Ohhh yeah. This is a great Spring '90 show... :-)

A gal i knew hooked me up with a free ticket for this show (my first), and ....wow! Not the greatest show, but hooked for life.
Notable for a strong Touch first-set closer.
The Scarlet>Fire smokes and has some nice Mickey 'clapping' that is interesting...