settel back easy dream

and well played. Highlights: Jam

After seeing them the night before at the 18,000 seat Rosemont Horizon outside Chicago it was kind of a shock to see them at the 2,700 seat DMCC, a venue more accustomed to broadway shows than major rock acts. I don't know why they played a venue this size but I'm glad I got to be there. This was probably the smallest venue where I ever heard them play. It had plush padded seats and a coat check. A coat check?!? The lines for concessions and bathrooms were short and civilized. It was downright genteel!

Fun time in Des Moines. Drove to the show from Lincoln, NE with 2 law school friends. First show [but not the last] for one of them. Met up with a buddy doing grad school in Iowa City. Unfortunately, he couldn't get his taping equipment in, so no audience master for me :( Anyway, the show. One of my last small theatre shows. Moved east in spring '83 where the boys were all about arenas and stadiums and outdoor venues. So from an ambiance perspective, a nice place to see a show. Seats were about 1/3 of the way back, right center, and we spent part of the second set up in the 3rd row with some folks my buddy knew. Sound was pretty good. At the end of the day, I saw better shows during what I consider the early Brent era [Spring 1979 through 1984]. While not the best, it certainly wasn't bad. In fact, other than a fairly standard song selection [other than the Deep Elem Blues which returned briefly to the rotation post Radio City acoustic shows and which Jerry obviously enjoyed singing], a nice first set. Never really got into the slow FOTD's, but given everything else other than Althea was "upbeat", balance of set made up for any energy the FOTD sucked out of the audience- -which wasn't much as this was one of the versions with a sweet Jerry solo. Speaking of the audience, everyone was dancing which was very nice. After college in Atlanta, and being asked to sit down by the southern crowd at the Fox on more than one occasion, I was very glad to see the Midwest crowd "got it"!!! Now where was I.... oh yeah, first set. Nice Bertha>Greatest Story to Open. Slow FOTD. Always enjoyed the early 80's CC Rider's and this one was no slacker. For that matter, some great work by Jerry with Bobby playing some great rhythm. Next up, Jerry kind of sped through Dire Wolf. But then we hit the meat of the set full bore - - Me & My Uncle, Big River, Deep Elem Blues, and Cassidy. I was getting a bit weary of the Uncle>Big River combo, and enjoyed hearing some other combos such as Big River or Mama Tried into Mexicali Blues or Uncle>Mexicali. But, for some reason felt like it was the right call given the Deep Elem that followed. After a characteristically haunting Althea, one of my top 10 TMNS!!!! After a short break [back then they actually meant it!!!], it was time for Half-Step>Franklin's Tower. This is one combo I wish they'd held onto even after bringing the Help>Slipknot>Franklin's combo back. I'm a fan of diversity, and loved both combos.... A cool string of tunes would have been Help>Slipknot>Half-Step>Slipknot>Franklin's. But, it was what it was. And it was good. While I know Go To Heaven was barely 18 months old, the Lost Sailor piece of the Lost Sailor>Saint of Circumstance suite was already taking its toll on me. Now the Saint of Circumstances back then were epic. Much as the earliest Throwing Stones, Jerry went to some pretty cosmic places with the energy of a lion [or tiger in a trance if you prefer]. On this night, it was the jam out of Saint of Circumstance into drums that grabbed me by the tail and wouldn't let go. So sweet, melodic, and dare I say hypnotic?!?!?!? Drumz were drumz. Space was typical early 80's space. In other words, not too long and not to short. Just right for getting in touch with your tribal self, then checking back into your zone before coming back to the lower atmosphere for the rest of the set. Heard the whistle and drum roll and got ready to keep on Truckin' on!!! Then onto one of my favorite Jerry "dirges".... Yes, I'll take a set that includes as many of Black Peter, Stella Blue, Death Don't Have No Mercy, Days Between, Wharf Rat, etc. as you can fit in. On this occasion I settled for Black Peter. Like the version from Birmingham, AL 1980 better, but never met a version I didn't love :). From there, a typical Sugar Mag, and a Don't Ease Me In encore. At the end of the day, generally well played. Mostly danceable tunes other than FOTD, Althea, Lost Sailor, and Black Peter- -with Althea and Black Peter simply great tunes soaking with emotion. So three stars for the music. Half a star for the fun driving to and from the show with friends, and half a star for being able to see the show with my friend of 38 years, Billy V. Once I moved to NE for law school in 1980, I figured our next chance to see a show together would be when we both finished school and wound up back on the east coast. So a gift from above when he wound up at U of Iowa in fall 1981. Got to see this show and the August 1982 Iowa City show with him. Then a few more over the years, including my final show at RFK in 1995. Looking forward to Chicago!!!

The tracks are listed wrong. It should read
Truckin' > Black Peter > Sugar Magnolia; Don't Ease Me In. The Nobody's Fault But Mine Jam is included in the timing of Truckin'. See Charlie Miller's sbd of set 2.

Haven't Even Listened to it yet...But if MAX GIARRATANO says the Mississippi 1/2 Step is Hot...IT'S HOT!!!