the VW we were in broke down (shocker) and we ended up spending $ on tiny rental car and hotel room. Had to be out of the room by 11 a.m., normally not a problem, but it was like 36 degrees and snow/raining in the parking lot. managed to make a day of it, had a blast at the show. nice china rider jam, loser is strong. One more saturday provides enough energy to overcome predictability.

in a quick listening test, this one wins over the DAK and schoeps sources. 14th row rules. Hats off to Team Beyer, now if you'd just edit the metadata for maximum web-cuteness.... Great show, great tape. Any chance of getting it 24-bit??? :-)

I'm surprised noone mentioned the amount of people who were busted at this show,I was one of them. But Alas,I'm canadian,so I jumped bail. What do you expect,they wanted to put me in jail for 20 years,no shit. Anyways,i saw one of the other guys who went down at this show, at the giants stadium shows that summer and he was just enjoying his time out before handing himself over to do his time. Hey,I told him to move outta there,but he figured his citizenship was worth ,I think he said 18 yrs. America home of the free! Why would you stay and do your time,when getting high is no crime,if you've done nothing wrong,don't hand your life over to a bunch of ignorant cincinnati pigs,whom I personnely witnessed abuse a young sister by ripping out her dreads and hairwraps.

Interesting. Only one reviewer recalled the air guitar player jumping the stage during this one. It actually happened during the end of 'Blow Away' and is the reason the tune ended. This was definitely the best 'Blow Away of the '88 tour and some consider the best of all time. Brent was off the charts and Garcia got off on it. The entire area was so high during this tune that some dude actually got to front of the floor and jumped up on stage and started playing air guitar next to Garcia. Parish made his way to the front and benched pressed the dude up over his head and walked him off around back. Garcia had enough after that and quickly ended it. What a same because it could have gone on for another five minutes or more. To this day I can remember the breeze coming in off the river and flowing through the arena like a gigantic oscilating fan. The rest of the show was good but clearly lacked the energy of that 'Blow Away'. You had to be there. Classic Garcia and Mydland.

Overall: good show, but nothing particularly amazing. Unless you want to listen for nostalgia’s sake, it shouldn’t be too high on the listening list for this tour.

The scene: this is the only show of this tour that I have absolutely no memory of, and listening now, I can see why – it was good (everything on this tour was good) but nothing stands out too much. The only thing I remember is the next day, we were just about the only vehicle left in the parking lot by the time we got up and got going. The clean-up vehicles were clearing the parking lot (what an enormous freakin mess), and we felt like we had overslept or something (why’d everyone else leave overnight?).

The music: a good, but fairly uneventful show all the way through. Jer’s voice is struggling a bit, but like the rest of this tour, Brent steps up pretty nicely.

Demigodband: once again you've proven you were part of what brought down the scene. How many shows this tour did you go to without tickets? Seems like every review is about how you snuck into a show.

Jerry and Brent were clicking with very up-tempo imaginative grooves. It was their tour to shine.

Nice recording!

I can remember walking around this venue looking for a ticket. It was very cold. Tickets were scarce. So a couple friends and I got this idea that we'd ask this guy who was guarding a back entrance to sneak us into the show. Sure enough with the aid of $25(not each, but for everyone), he shoved us into an elevator . Up we went, door opened he pushed us out of the elevator and told us to sit up in the nose bleed seats quietly til they started letting the heads in. It was one of many cool and creative ways we would figure out how to get into shows. This spring tour was awesome cause it was my 1st full run. I'll never forget it. But fall tour was special. If you were there...you know. As for this show, it was great cause I was inside, not out in the cold rain and snow.

Oh boy, another novel. Move over, Tolstoy...

1st Set: A resonating, uplifting "LTGTR" opens up this unexpected two-night stand at the Riverfront Center in slimy Springer's ol' stompin grounds, Cincinnati. What's that slinking out of the door, trying to be all oblivious like... it's that "Wang Dang Doodle." Bobby sounds awfully strong, but musically the song doesn't build anywhere. Staying tonally consistent we're travelling to the seedy confines of "West LA." The machine is has been activated...Unlike the previous two tunes, Brent always adds an element of personal intimate urgency to his songs that rub us raw considering his demise. Brent is so in the moment with "Blow Away" howling his agony that even at minute violume levels my boss is asking me to turn the music down. A superstar version. "Queen Jane" is nice, if a little listless, but you can feel the energy in the room sapped from the previous number. We need a 'Little Light,' or 'Fantasy' later. Uh oh...here comes the "Loser." Jerry steps up to the plate with his all over the map solos making it worthy despite my tonal disconnect from it at the moment. However, it's time for a re-birth, "Cassidy." At first the notes provided tickle and tease but the end result is noodling instead of power. Frankly, the set deserved a 'Deal' and I'm rather tiffed that they chose the "Ease" way out. Without Brent's enthusiasm to Hammond it up, it's just standard.

2nd Set: Speaking of tickling your feet, how about that rascal-y "China Cat?" The drummers seem eager to rise the rock in Jerry's self-involved action in the three's and by the 4's they succeed turning the excitment and tension levels up many notches. It cools off a bit as we head into "rider" but that doesn't stop some screaming echoing out of my right speaker. Tis all good during the words. "LLR" hits upon the melancholic tone, but isn't elevated to any magical heights. The drummers perfectly time when to stop rimming and also tap their snare...after a full round of Jerry's opening riff of "Eyes." Listen to how much dimension Brent adds in the 7's with his tinkling. It has a reverse logic to it that dazzles. It's always shimmying yet like many of tonight's numbers, lacks a forceful climax. "Drums" transports us to a S. Pacfic locale filled with loads of freaks out of the rituals of the extras cast in "King Kong." "Space" is standard leading into a short "The Wheel." They're kinda in workman mode. Yummy to the "Fantasy" choice. However, this is Jerry's moment to shine as he's cranking the ball so far Schott wouldn't even mind he doesn't come from a pure Caucasian lineage. After singing along with McCartney's "Hey Jude Reprise" it's rock time with "Miracle." Standard sloppy silliness. Total finger poiting edition of "Black Peter." Decent enough but it never reaches Peter's hopefully final resting place in heaven. "Saturday" is decent, nothing more though Brent's at least active.

"Box" is a very fine and suitably warm way to leave the Ohio crowd.

3 1/5 stars

During/after this show, I commented to a friend that it was Brent really stepping out front in a good way. That he was ever considered a "junior member" of the Dead by anyone during these years is ridiculous. His unique vocal and keyboard sound was an indelible part of the Dead's sound at this point. Other than that, I remember it was overcast and rainy out in the parking garage scene, and that Cincinatti was still newly embroiled in the whole Pete Rose gambling scandel. I'll give this show a three as compared to the whole recorded history of this band, but as far as shows from the early 80's on, its at least a four.

Brent was so awesome, I like this Blow Away and the Meca version the best. He was hot in these smaller arena shows spring 89'.

this show is out there in SBD form remastered by charlie miller, and its sweeeeeet!

this was a fun show the last of this tour for
me started in atlanta, then greensboro, back
to atlanta to see rem, on to pittsburgh, then
ann arbor, then to a cockroach motel in covington
and some wheelchair. . . highlight definitely
brent, this is the tour he shined!!

This show was definitely a strange thing to see and hear. Some guy found his way on the stage during West LA and crouched down just a few feet in front of Jerry. I thought it was a crew member at first because Jerry just kept playing but security finally scooped him up. Lots of energy in the second set but a pretty average show overall.

i was in the fourth row for this show and i really enjoyed it. the blow away is very high energy with brent going nuts on the put your fist in the air section. the second set is played extremely tight. the box encore is also letter perfect. i used to have a very crispy board of the second set, and i am dying for it to surface. till then this will definately do.

this is an awsome show! one of the greats blow away i have ever heard Brent is on fire! great recording. worth downloading for sure