Typically of summer 95, there are really good musical gems here mixed with painful sloppiness and aimless or off-key noodling from Jerry, sometimes in the same song -- as is evident on Franklin's Tower. Some songs are total stinkers -- Touch finds Jerry starting his solo on the wrong note and never really finding his place. On Samba, he's so consistently not with the chords that Vince cuts him off.

On the other hand, So Many Roads, not one of my favorites is delivered with power and presence, as is It Must've Been the Roses. TMNS finds Jerry very active (as seen on video) but inaudible as Vince and Bob step all over him. At one point he goes way up to a screaming high note just to be heard. He must have had a talk with the guys between sets, because they settle down a bit in the second set, and Jerry delivers a creditable Help>Slip before moving into the aforementioned Franklin's. Estimated is a solid if unspectacular rendition. On Terrapin, the high point is at the lowest volume, as the band quiets way down for the enchanting bridge jam before the final crashing peak.

Drums>Space is a total snoozefest, unfortunately. Watchtower at first does little to wake anyone up. It takes Jerry well into the song, but he does eventually build up some steam. That leads into the final and one of the best performances of Black Peter. Around follows Peter as it so often did, and Vince carries the load here. I Fought the Law is a nice easy song to end the show.

There's just enough good here not to give it 2 stars. I'll go with a round-up to 3.

The final performance by It Must Have Been The Roses, Help On The Way / Slipknot / Franklins Tower, and Black Peter. All of those songs being played for the final time merits this a significant show for me even if it wasn’t maybe played the best, I’m rate according to historical significance only. Even “bad” has its merits.

My buddy and I made our way to the far side of the stage so we were almost directly behind the band. They had lyrics scrolling on large teleprompters at their feet. We weren't sure if this was something new they were trying and we surmised that they added it because Jerry had recently had trouble remembering lyrics. The monitors looked just like audio monitors from the audience but they had computer screens.

As the band started in on Franklin's Jerry waited endlessly for the lyrics to start but they were not coming up. Eventually Jerry decided to start singing and he started with the wrong verse. Immediately the first verse loads in the teleprompter and Jerry got really flustered.

I thought it was funny at the time but after he died I realized what I had seen was a symptom of his worsening health and state of mind.

A triumph of wishful thinking. Watching the video, the crowd cheers madly when Jerry does so much as lift his head. Franklin's ends up being 18 minutes long because the band idles through hundreds of bars waiting for Jerry to find his place. My last shows were in '92, when I found the rot already too painful to watch. Very sad. Guess you had to be there.

This was the second time the band would play here during the summer, '92 being the previous, and the Shakedown scene was enormous and was even too much for the city of Albany. This would create problems the first night outside but things would be cool, but packed, inside.
In listening to your final show, so many years ago now, you can take off the fuzzy glasses or simply put them back on.
These two nights had some of the best moments of the final tour along with the harsh realities of life on the road for Jerry.
Touch starts off very promising, until Jerry takes his first solo, he is off key, but pulls it together but again Jerry struggles at the end.
They settle down and they hit the books with Walkin' and deliver a solid version. One of the run's highights is the next three songs. Roses was a total surprise and is played with that romantic poetic conviction that makes this song so special.Iloved it! Masterpiece may be the highlite of the set, Bobby at the helm and Jerry emotionally singing his harmonies, that was not always the cases of these later version, they knock it out of the park.All of us errupt into joyous acknowlegement. The So Many Roads is a unique version and is a must listen to, the ending being very strong with Jerry's guitar solo clearly very emotional and raw with distortion.
The Music is high energy, but Jerry seems to have volume issues in the end jam, but is played well.I liked the chord change they started doing in the final years with this jam as well.

My buddy wanted to go into the halls for the second set, we had front row seats on Jerry's side so it was a tough to leave them. Anyways Albany has a very cool dance scene on the floor level opposite the stage. If the usher were cool, which they were this night, they would leave the long black curtins open so you could see the band and the sound was quite good there.
The Help on the Way starts off ok, but it is clear Jerry is struggling, it gets worse in the Slipknot! that follows, this may have been one of th wrose one i ever saw, but starts to come together right before Franklin's. Franklin's which at 18 minutes may be one of the longest ones played. By the 3 minute mark Jerry has turned it around and is starting to hit his groove again. The song ends strongly and the audience being very appreciative and granted Jerry some much need latitude.
To follow with Samba is good and Jerry continues to get it going, it not the easist song for him to play either.
The real gems of this night start with a very good Estimated, that has Jerry in the front seat and his volume cranked. It is like night and day the band delivers an excellent version and they play it out witha nice slinky jam, arriving at a show stopping Terrapin.
It is not perfect, Jerry misses his cue for the first verse, but is an emotional one and it gets stronger and stronger as the song unfolds. It is interesting that we all respond and emphathize with Jerry's plight and roar with support for him this entire night at those key personal verses.

It is actually the bridge jam where Jerry really displays his mastery, painting a soft and lilting unfolding of emotions that is hearfelt and sincere. It is more reassuring than anything and when they arrive at the Inspiration verse the place explodes. Well done and Jerry ends it mightly.
There is a short jam and the D/S is quite good.We went back down to our seats for the ending. The space into Watchtower is almost 20 minutes long and is again reassuring but hs some interesting parts as well as Bralove's contributions. This version played is passionate, Jerry starts off on the midi flute and plays some nice runs but then goes raw and cranks up the distortion which end up creating a powerful version.Once again Bob really shines on this one.

Jerry noddles for a couple moments, not sure what he may have been thinking, but then pulls out Black Peter and this one is really good. Jerry sings his heart out and delivers the highlight of the night, tinged with that humor and irony that always made this song a favorite. His playing is passionate and the harmonies sweet. It has a rollicking ending too.
Around is played very well and they rock it out quite well too.
IFTL was clearly for the tour heads who were roughed up the night before and maybe for ole Jer too.
Except for some distortion post space this audience is quite nice.

Man, I sure miss those shows in Albany, NY...

What a party...

The inaugural three-night stand in '90 were my first shows and evolved into Foxboro, Buffalo, Denver and eventually Vegas by '95...

But the annual THROWDOWN in Albany were always among the very best. The boys just seemed to LOVE that town...

6/22 at The Knick was my last show. I was first turned onto The Dead in '85 when one of my oldest friends had Dead Set on cassette. Every morning when I picked him up to go to high school, he made sure that I got my daily dose of The Dead. I was hooked right from the start! I couldn't get enough Franklin's! I'm thankful to my friend Ed for introducing me to my favorite band.

I'm also thankful for the opportunity to see a number of great shows over the following 10 years which was culminated by a Help>Slip>Franklin's at my final show. I could never get enough Franklin's!

If you get confused, listen to the music play.

I was lucky enough to get miracled and walked into the first set at the end of masterpiece. The so many roads was truly unique and inspiring. You could feel Jerrys emotion and i was amazed at how long he kept the chorus going...it was "easing my soul" to say the least. I saw from highgate on down through the last RFK show. It was evident that Jerry was ill and not feeling well on this tour,but contrary to everyone putting down this whole tour there were definatly some highlights. These two shows at the Knick were hot, the band had a good energy to them and you could tell they were having fun. I think the fact that these were the only indoor shows of the summer had something to do with it. The sun wasnt beating down on Jerry and it was relatively cool. The second set was a classic dead set with a new tune tossed in there but i beleive you can put it side by side with any dead set from any era and it stands the test of time. The dead were refining their sound in late 94-95 and i think if they had more time to evolve this sound we would have heard some more realy great music, kind of like a nice old wine, they were getting better with age.

Its been 13 years since these shows in Albany and I still cant describe how awesome it was to be there. When I got back from tour, everyone asked 'how was the shows?'... to which I said, "I cant even describe how cool it was. You'll just have to go next time." As it turned out, there was no 'next time', and left a void impossible to fill. RIP Jerry.

Great recording from the GREATEST band ever.

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Really good estimated terrapin worth a listen. Great times a great 95 show right ko.

This was my last show and for the most part, I thought it was good, particularly for this tour. Three stars...the recording is great.

masterpiece then so many roads..priceless.

I was at both these Knickerbocker nights. For the quality of the playing, particularly Jerry's, there was still a really energetic vibe from the band. Jerry was trying and it was a preety long show. Regardless, people who like later years should listen to the So Many Roads, probabley one of the most unique versions played. As the song came to the "So Many Roads to ease my soul part," Jerry kept singing it over and over but never really hit that emotional point that the song often evokes. Instead he switched up the structure and started to only sing "ease my soul" to a different melody. I've never heard another version like it. Regardless, this kind of rejuvinates things and as this "ease my soul" vocal part builds he starts into this really beautiful guitar part that morphs into a truly powerful (for any era) guitar solo. This, solo for those who love the Dead, should be heard.

SEE 1992,2,21 'getting them all!----

Well, this was it for the Dead at what I always thought was the best east coast venue. This is the one year that they couldn't quite pull out all the stops and bring the house down. I really can't muster more than 2 stars for this one. Nothin' against anybody who thinks it merits more, just my opinion. I miss the Dead at the Knick eternally!

Nothin' like the Knick, the place raged both inside and out!!

not bad considering jer's sick, a nice so many tho

The Black Peter at this show is eerily prophetic. It also turns out to be the last Peter also. Jerry struggles with the vocals and guitar solo, however, but it remains a symbolic performance with the band holding on just long enough to support a further-weakening Garcia. RIP. The rest of the show is rather ordinary.

He does his best, but Jerry is unable to coax himself from the meandering issues he had on this tour some nights.

Pretty sloppy indeed. On the plus side, Garcia does a good job with lyrics, it's the guitar work that is inconsistent. So Many Roads is a highlight

This was it for me, and what a way to wrap it up. Maybe its pure nestalga, but I have fond memories of this show.
I've listened to it a few times, and now it will collect dust.
Albany was just such a kind scene for heads, the cops were mellow, the city was into it, just pure good vibes every year.
I was with my friend Brad "Clevy" for this show, and is'nt it ironic, I was with the same guy when we heard the news in August....

Thank You Jerry.... For a REEL good time....................

The dead played a good show this night. There were many songs that i really enjoyed. Masterpiece was played very well. And the ending Estimated Prophet-> Terrapin Station-> Drums-> Silent Way Jam-> Space-> All Along The Watchtower-> Black Peter-> Around & Around, was just awesome. Download this show it has pretty good sound quality.

Of the two sources available here, I think this is definitely the better one.