Middle night of three with each better than the last. The playing sounds like a '78 in several places. Parts of this show were pressed to vinyl twice (at least), being recorded for the King Biscuit Flower Hour. KBFH, which ran from '73-'93, taped, mixed down, pressed, and then mailed to FM radio stations for simultaneous broadcast on a specific date/time. Either the record itself or the FM broadcast was also pressed as a vinyl bootleg called "Couple More Shots of Whiskey" (and maybe other titles). King Biscuit was at its peak - as was FM itself, right before MTV. They marketed this one as the "15th Anniversary Show" (nota bene: CO promoters did the same for the Boulder shows; the real anniversary was in December, but a 15-year-old rock band was an irresistible novelty at the time). For some reason the 12/31/87 KBFH vinyl is the more common and this one's a rarity. The Betty Board sounds quite different than the official release. Go to Heaven had just hit shelves (though few would have heard it yet) and six of its songs were played every night. Nassau was one of their most played East venues @41 times (the Philly Spectrum was 53).

First Set. Jack Straw careens, threatens to run off, then mystifies. Franklin's flows and flows. The next few are good but I know of no better Supplication. Jer takes the extra measure for the solo on Peggy-O. Far from Me is the 9th one - technically good but not exciting until the end. Phil is great for Feel Like a Stranger, the others playing perfect but casually and somewhat by the numbers, the way it was played each night of the tour.

Second Set. Althea is overly languorous, but the final solo is great; the tempo increases through the set. The next few are above average, peaking with great playin' on Playin'. Uncle John's is not the most solid ever, but halfway snarly makes it good. Drums has 3 unusual edits on the official release: @4min for 8 sec; @4:11 for 12 sec; and @5:30 for 1:20. The drummers stay out for Space on this tour. They bail early (but nice length) on Not Fade, when Jer goes into GDtRFB and by this point the set is above standard tempo. Alabama was played each night but here we get a hyperspeed version with a rare distorted solo.

1st Set:   B
2nd Set: B-
Overall = 3¾ Stars

Highlights:
Jack Straw - careening> threatening>mystifying
Franklin's Tower - set temporal viscosity to lubricate
Supplication - perfect rendition
Feel Like a Stranger - rote but so what
Playin' in the Band - fireworks
Goin' Down the Road Feelin' Bad - the Devils are propelling
Alabama Getaway - heavy, wild version

SOURCES: Half on Go to Nassau. A Betty Board/Charlie Miller with perfect AUD patches at the end of Cassidy and middle of Lost Sailor. Terrapin, Playin', and Uncle John's were on King Biscuit.

what a set list!

Supplication and Althea highlight a good '80 show at Nassau. The second set the next night was better. Jerry's guitar playing had a lot going for it in '80 and '81.
5/8 through 5/16 were relatively good shows (like 8/31 through 9/6).
Next and last very good stands were in '81.

This has been one of my absolute favorite shows since I first heard it on the radio in 1980. The Althea->Sailor->Saint->Terrapin->Playing->UJB is one of the absolute best jams I have ever heard from the band. Extremely crisp and well played. Not as wandering and ethereal as some of their earlier shows, but for straight ahead, 1980's New York Dead, it doesn't get much better (maybe the 1983 MSG shows).

Thank you so much for this tape!

Overall a good show & a nice sound, though some rough patches. What stood out for me was Brent's high sounding voice.

I guess Brent had been with the band for about a year at this point, but thankfully his voice got deeper & more bluesy later on. Don't know why it got deeper, but glad it did, cause his voice certainly doesn't mesh with the Jerry's during much of this show.

...and a good one, too. (Which may be redundant given the names associated with the recording). I won't bother with trying to point out any highlights, there are simply too many.

Enjoy... And thanks to all involved.