Keith! This recording caused me to fall in love with this show. I recall reading in 1990 in Blair's Golden Road magazine that this show was the least of the three. I don't know. Compare second sets:

3.24: Playin'->Uncle John's->Terrapin->epic jam (that is eclipsed for me by the spirit of 6.28.74). The Playin' is decent, with powerful Phil and psychedelic depth, Uncle John's is also good, but I recall that Jerry's tonal definition on his parts is not as strong as usual, and there may even be riffs he misses, but doesn't disturb by leaving plenty of breathe.

3.25: starts out uncertain with Eyes, but grows strong after a few minutes, and it expands beautifully into a Samson & Delilah that goes places no other Samson visits (listen post second verse), and then a beautiful Crazy Fingers (a song they didn't quite find for this tour, although every version was brilliant, just not live album brilliant... am I making sense? Truckin' is the biggest of the tour in many ways, although each Truckin' Of Spring '90 is actually very distinct. This version hits a ferocious peak! And Spoonful to follow, darkens the mood intensely....

And this show: 3.26.90. Blair complained about a Built to Last opener, and although the words aren't perfect (they're close), it's the only version of 1990, and the final version the Dead performed. Listen closely, starting with Mickey, if you can hear him. This version is orchestrated to perfection! The clams are light, but the song f'n smokes! They play this pattern like it was a Dark Star, and Jerry belts out the words all the way through. Victim... don't tell me you don't miss this song! Jerry gives several elements of the usual riffs a China Cat feel, cleverly subtle! And the song is one of the most technically perfect you will find anywhere, and it has a huge heart.

China Cat follows, with that 1990 tone. Phil is huge in this mix, and if the song isn't done well enough, check out how the band explodes into double-time right on the breakaway into the free-jam. The crowd goes bonkers!

Rider is typically great, as is the Man Smart (Woman Smarter) sequence. This is a radio friendly show, for sure.



Now post space:

3.24.90 Good Wheel, Typically great Watchtower (glad they finally got tight on how to play that one), Stella Blue a bit faster than others, yet perfectly played (if nothing else), a great Not Fade Away, and a special We Bid You Goodnight (although Jesus actually died, and is not capable of loving you the best anymore). If he was a bit wiser, the authorities wouldn't have been able to put him to death as they did. I don't want to diminish his greatness, so I have to say something good about him. He pointed out that the greatest treasure in life is life itself, and no amount of riches in the world can equal [what Buddhism might call] the treasures of the heart.

3.25.90: Take You Home, something, Black Peter... Around and Around. Honestly, this was one of the low points of that tour. Not that anything was badly played, but the energy got clumsy, and although Around and Around tore the house down on 3.19.90, this version found what seems to be a very confused band trying to figure out how to play this song in a new and exciting way, but not quite getting there.

3.26.90 Great start to post space with that first song. Fantasy->Gimme Some Lovin' was pretty uninspired. Dew is amazing to my ears! What other guitarist actually gets quieter to tear into the peak of a crescendo, relying on tone and intensity, rather than volume? Here we see some of Jerry Garcia's true genius. And this Dew is no joke! If you listen to the GD a whole lot and compare everything to 5.8.77, then I doubt you'll know what I'm talking about. If you listen to tons of other non-jamband music, and then come back to the Dead and listen to some eurpoe '72, then some May '77, and then some Spring '90.... you'll see exactly what I'm talking about.

It's amazing to see this music standing up even today, more than 22 years after the fact. Something tells me that more will be revealed (as a friend recently pointed out).

I hope you enjoy checking out this incredible audience recording.

Jeffrey Norman would do well to listen to an audience recording like this as a reference of what he should be striving to create when mastering the Grateful Dead's vault. The live releases to this time are for the most part full of errors (like the hand clap sound during the mind left body jam on 3.24.90, which clearly came from the stage, and is absent on the official release. that sound gave the whole jam an ordinary human touch that connected us with the stratospheres inherent in the sound.

Peace.

Well played show... Dupree's ,Black Throated Wind,Big r/r Blues ,and Morning Dew are my favorites from this show.I agree Just a Little Light is a top version.I remember at one point Brent was standing up during Blow Away.It was an unusally weak Dear Mr. Fantasy ...Then they did Gimme Some Lovin' which was pretty hot. Great AUD sound here .IMO this was the weakest of this Albany run,but don't let that give you the wrong idea because the weakest of spring '90 would have been amongst the hottest on some other tours.I went to these 3 Albany shows and the 3 at Nassau.I have spent alot of time listening to the other shows on this tour and I think this tour was one of the all around best in a while because every show is consistantly good.

I gotta say, it's an incredible recording, clear vocals, clear instrument seperation, and unlike the pre-FM I've had of this show for awhile, you can hear the audience and you can hear Brent where he isn't playing lead. Row Jimmy, check out Jerry's first solo, you can hear the crowd go nuts around 2:40. BEST BLOW AWAY EVER. It's awesome, Brent had the crowd during the Real Love rap. Just A Little Light stands out as top version too, Billy and Mickey knew what they were doing. The Victim into China Cat transition is chillingly great. Post-space, Brent never leaves the Hammond. Morning Dew is on par with 9/18/87 until the end where the climax just doesn't happen, that was the only disappointment. Jerry makes up for it by playing the perfect Brokedown Palace for the encore.

Show: 5 stars
Sound: 5 stars
Download this AUD, don't think twice.