| Identifier | 5482098 |
| Created At | Tue May 23 2023 23:54:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) |
| Media Type | shn |
| Media Count | 2 |
| Note |
JAY'S PERSONAL COMMENTS: As the "first show released in 2003", I figured I should make it a hell of a show to what I hope will be a hell of a year. I hope you agree with me that this show hits the nail on the head. LET'S BEGIN WITH A BIT OF "FYI TRIVIA": This is a little-known "set of factoids" about this show, which is almost always overlooked in the major "publications and set list" of Grateful Dead shows: this concert was simulcast over Duke's on-campus 50 watt FM radio station! On the date of this concert, the University's FM station (which was 94.7 MHz at that time) broadcasted it live; it's low power transmitter allowed it to be received by FM receivers within a 0.5 mile radius of the University grounds (per their FCC license). Many years later, in May of 1984, Duke University "donated" their RTR copies of this show to the Grateful Dead's Vault, when the station was undergoing renovation. Almost all of the oldest or "worst condition" equipment was being totally replaced with (at that time) "state of the art eight track cassette decks" and PCM decks; a brand new mixing consoles was designed and built by their engineering department students; and even a small, but very nicely designed, "live studio" was added, where bands could perform a song or two if they were doing interviews (live or for future broadcasts). To make room for all of this renovation, the station needed to "clean house" of all their archived RTR (80%) and cassette recordings (20%); these were recordings that the station personnel felt they longer were either required to keep (per FCC rules), or the large quantities of stored RTR/cassette media were no longer of any "musical and/or historical" value to the University as a whole. There were literally 1,500 RTR and cassette total recordings which were auctioned off (to past and present Duke University students and faculty only!), to help to defray the costs of the new equipment, and the renovation and expansion; any of the media which were not auctioned off were DESTROYED, not simply tossed into a dumpster. But, there were NO Dead/related concerts or interview recordings auctioned off! The students and faculty who ran the station agreed that rather than destroy the media that contained this particular show (and the other GD concerts and/or interviews which were made during previous Duke performances), this media would be better off going to their "rightful owners"; they shipped ALL of these recordings to the Dead! This was a very Kind gesture, and one which eventually led to a favor in return being done: the Phil "requested" (aka "demanded") that the Vault people clean up and send back to the University brand new copies of EVERY ONE of the donated shows! These were made on PCM, DAT, and other "modern day media"!. Because of this returned Kindness gesture, Duke's radio station will play these shows each year, on the day of the actual original performance, as a "treat to the students and faculty". This information has been verified by the both Lemieux as well as my MCS. LET'S GET ON TO THE SHOW: Mere words cannot come close to accurately describing what a phenomenal performance this was show actually was! Just the comedic overtones alone, in many parts of the show, have to be heard to be appreciated! Listen to the section where the Stadium's personnel were "asked to adjust the lighting"... it shows how "nice" Weir could be when asking that something be done! This show is a COLLECTOR'S DREAM! the size of the collection is irrelevant; just "owning" a good to high quality copy of this performance makes it invaluable to one's Show Library You need to LISTEN to this show, and to EXPERIENCE the dynamics (the loudness and softness of the overall volume during any of the songs performed) that the Dead pulled out their "Uncle Sam's Hat" with amazing results. There are possibly a dozen shows, over the 30 years the Dead had recorded their performances to crowds both large and small, which come close to, or possibly excel this evening's performance! This recording showcases the talents and craftsmanship of an "experience" which allows it to be admired and enjoyed, over and over, and you'll never grow tired of this recording. It was accomplished, not by "slight of hand", not by the people involved in the mixing and recording, not by some the guidance of some sort of a "higher power"... this was totally and completely the Dead doing this, both collectively as well as individually! They Boyz absorbed the energy from the audience and the venue were radiating, multiplying it to the umpteenth degree, and shot it back out, wave after wave after wave, to every atom of every individual inside the Stadium! This show was a unique experience for the audience... being able to both audibly and visually getting a glimpse of just one part of the overall "Grateful Dead Experience" which was very rarely heard, and even rarer to be experienced first-hand! This recording hopefully will allow you to mentally visualize what took place that night, and for you to be able to hear this most unusual version of their music and their manipulation of it. THE SONGS: Every single one was an excellent choice in and of itself; the order in which they were played could never have been scripted. Every song includes everything ranging from "well above average" to excellent solos, vocals which are to die for, perfectly performed jams, and each of the segues, with a single exception, all flowed flawlessly. Personally, I think the only song they should have played, and this concert would have been the place for it to be performed, would have been "Weather Report Suite", or at least "Let It Grow". All in all, this is one hell of an unusual show, but definetly NOT in any negative sense; it was a mixture of immense energy, fun and frolic, hilarity, musicanship of a calibre worthy the Dead, and 100% upbeat and strong... even when the slow ballads were played. By the SBD engineers not using the usual level of compression and limiting, in either the vocal or instrumental busses, the audience that evening, and us enjoying this classic recording today, this recording stands apart from almost every other show the band had ever performed. Some of the Betty Board shows have come close in this respect. And, in fact, until parts of "Drums" were peformed, or when Jerry went "vocally ballistic" during "U. S. Blues", the C&L equipment was set to "very conservative parameters", according to my MCS! THE MIX: Set I is good, for the most part: Keith's grand piano is clear, but not as audible (compared to his electric piano) as it should have been for the first 6 songs; Garcia's and Weir's guitars are also well balanced throughout the show, although Set II had their mix and channel balance slightly improved. The percussion could have been a little better in Set I, as Mickey's individual drums can just a little buried beneath everything else in the right channel... this did improve during Set II. Billy's mix and balance was great for the entire show. The mix for Set II had all of those little kinks and the balancing worked out; is about as perfect as one could ask for, especially for the 1977-1978 years! There is another version of this show in circulation, one which supposedly was worked on by a person named "J. Henry"; I will say, for the record, it is good in many respects. There is slightly more hiss (the Harpoon editing software confirms that there is an increase of +3.86 dB hiss in that version). I cannot tell you the reason for this, as the lineage for the "Henry" version states that it did not have any additional analog generations. The "advantage" of my MCS version has is that it is "direct from the Vault"; and it is one of the newly archived shows which have recently been made, using analog RTR media to keep the "warmth" of the audio intact and to keep the "harsher" sound of a digital recording from altering the overall sound. This "re-archiving" is an ongoing process the Vault personnel, with Lesh and Hart overseeing all the final details, are doing to assure that many excellent, and very rare shows, do not going to deteriorate any more than they already have. THE VENUE: The Dead had played at Cameron Indoor Stadium a number of times before. There seems to be something about this venue that always brought out the somethig extra in the Dead's performance. There always seemed to be a bit more "fun" to their playing there (I have several other shows from that venue to back up that personal statement). Maybe it was the "college campus atmosphere", maybe it was just the audience itself that always showed up; there's nothing I can't pin it down to, except to say that there was just "something" about Duke that made it more like a festival or carnival atmosphere. JACK STRAW kicks off this night's show, and it 1s a REALLY KIND rendition. While this was never an uncommon opener, you immediately begin to sense that this is going to be a "different" concert in some manner; a pair of very subtle (but necessary) adjustments to the mix are taken care of by the engineers at the mixing console in the first 2 minutes (bet you can't find them!); Donna's levels in the mix are right on the money... not too "hot", not too soft. Phil and the SBD mixing crew, during the sound checks, got it right when she's doing her duet with Bob. And it didn't change once the show itself began. Weir has got that unmistakable "crystal, but slightly edgey" effect set up for his 2 guitars this evening, which makes listening to his playing just that much more enjoyable. And you think all is well, and Jerry moves forward to the mike for his part of the song... HIS VOICE IS AWOL! You can hear his mike is on, as his vocals are bleeding over into the mikes picking up the stage monitor mix, but his voice is just not going out to the "house"! The Dead appear to be unaware of what's going on, as they can hear themselves in the stage monitors just fine. The mixing console is set up correctly; no one accidentally hit the "mute buttons" for Jerry main and vocal FX channels, and his mike is turned on. Listen closely, and you can hear the crew switching the input cables for Jerry's mike on the mixing console (there's a little audio sound that is the unmistakable sound of a cables being (un)plugged... but the question still remains: where's Garcia's voice gone? After JS is finished, the crew thinks they have the situation solved. DIRE WOLF kicks off. Still no dice; now, not only are we missing Jerry, but Donna's vocal levels lower, and now Bob is getting quieter in the mix, during the chorus. About 38 seconds into the song, you can hear when the engineers put Jerry's vocal channel into "PFL Solo" mode on the console (which means it only allows Jerry to be heard and all other channels are muted) for a few seconds. All this time, the RTR deck, which is being fed by the "house buss" mix" is picking everything up, including the burst when the PFL is tried. You can hear that Jerry's voice IS coming into the mixer just fine, albeit it slightly distorted, along with the audio from the stage amps and monitors. The "solo" mode is cancelled and the regular mix continues to be recorded. By the 1 minute mark, there's NO vocals left in the house mix at all. I know the crew is scurrying around trying to reroute cables and busses on the console (as that's what they're paid for!), but it's kind of funny to hear the Dead playing... and you KNOW they're singing... but the vocals that were so great in the opener have now faded away into the sunset. Let's forget about the vocal issues for a moment, and talk about Jerry's guitar solo during Dire Wolf. He has his FX pedals, and amplifier adjustments set just right, and it sounds exactly like he's sitting down playing a pedal steel! This is both spooky, yet so "comfortable", to hear this unique sound that Jerry was able to obtain for many of the '77-'78 era shows. His guitar sound, because of the effects pedals as well as his guitars' highly-modified pickups, is able to faithfully reproduce that unique "slightly twangy" sound which all pedal steel guitars are known for; you hear he is not using a slide, and you also can pick up Garcia's "trademark" fingering and playing style techniques, so you know he's not sitting down on the pedal steel's bench... he's just standing there upright, doing his little side-to-side wobble, and playing his heart and soul out on a regular old guitar. Dire Wolf is now complete, and there's a small bit of noodling going on; listen close, and you will hear (mainly in the right channel) one of the engineers yelling up to the stage, telling the band what's going on. You can't quite hear what's being said. And all the audience can do is hope that the problems have been resolved. BEAT IT ON DOWN THE LINE snaps to attention with a 12-beat intro; Bobby's and Donna's vocals are once again back in the mix, sounding good, with their levels back just like they had during Jack Straw. So, what's the verdict when Garcia is ready to sing his "answer phrase" during the chorus? SUCCESS! YIPPEE! Garcia's voice is resurrected from the ashes, rising up like the proverbial Phoenix! Well, ok, so Jerry's vocals are a little hotter than they should be, compared with the other vocalists singing; but at least the bearded one has his echoing throughout the entire venue, and onto the reel of tape! His levels were adjusted during the song, very professionally done little bit by little bit, and the show keeps on sailing along. For the 2nd verse, Bobby, Donna, and the rest of the band did a "quieter" opening portion of it, as they were trying to get this new rendition down pat. This alteration/variation from their usual version sounds really nice; remember, this is the Dead we're talking about, and they are staying true to their never playing the same song the same way tradition. I REALLY loved hearing this new version the moment I heard it... I wish they would have kept it for many more shows. But it was probably Phil was the one who vetoed this "change", and after a few more times they played this song in this new way, they went back to the old version. As Gomer Pyle used to say "For shame, for shame, for shame." Phil, as many of us know, was the one who really pushed hard for rehearsals, trying new things to keep songs from sounding stale, and the like; he always tried to listen a "quick mix to cassette version" of a few of the most recent shows during their travels to the next venue, and even when the band had a well deserved day off. Phil would say "let's keep this, or let's change that". A task master sometimes, a perfectionist ALWAYS... but he was also someone who has a very good "ear" for what worked more than just one time, and what was only a "one show wonder" version. And that still holds true at the present time, with his current bands and constant touring; his bandmates still play loose and slightly varied versions for the more than appreciative audiences, even though there is still the basic underlying sound beneath the various sound layers. Billy broke from his traditional percussion style, and used his cowbell more than usual during BIODTL (and a number of other songs this evening; just another example of this show being "something that is more than the usual great performance". There's something that I like to hear when a drummer/percussionist uses a cowbell, IN THE CORRECT MANNER (i.e., not going overboard or just "teasing us" with a cople of hits), that can add that "little extra something" to the correct song. It's not a piece of percussion equipment which (when played correctly) you notice being played, and pick up on ir right away; but it's unique sound when used in the right proportion rounds out the percussion sound. It's a matter of a drummer's personal taste or particular style of playing, and it's always something Mickey or Billy would use IN MODERATION... not like something Fleetwood Mac or the Stones (think "Honky Tonk Woman") would use to excess and not just as an adjunct in a more than just a couple of those bands' songs. MEANWHILE, BACK ON THE PLAYING FIELD... Garcia's vocals are pretty much back to where it should be by the end of the song; things are really back to their festive moods once more. FYI: According to my MCS, the TRUE reason for JG's "missing vocals" was the EQ unit, which fed the "house mix / RTR busses", had a defective mute/bypass switch. This is why, when you heard the little "burst" of Jerry's voice during Dire Wolf, it sounded very "flat" and unnatural (don't consider the distortion as part of the equation). None of the techs and engineers had looked at the level indicator on the compressor/limiter unit, which the EQ unit fed. No one looked at the little round VU meters for the input to the compressor/limiter. That would have shown them that there was no output coming from the EQ unit in the onstage equipment rack. That's what the yelling was all about, to tell Harry to look at the meters on that unit. Once the switch had been "played with" (there was just dirt on the switch's contacts!), there was now audio the mixer buss. Harry stayed at the back of the stage so that he could keep tabs on the unit, and be ready to bypass, or change the unit out if need be, without delaying the show. This is why Jerry could be heard in the stage monitors, as well as by the venue's audience, but not the recording decks; these EQ and C&L units were not part of the stage monitor feeds. NOTE: I was "requested to include this information" in this text file, so that anyone who wanted to know what actually happened would not have to play "the guessing game", or try to believe which of the many rumors (which are still being bantered about to this day) were true. Some people have said it was a bad mike, a bad cable, incompetance, and even done on purpose to get back at Jerry for an incident which allegedly took place a month prior to the show! For the last rumor, I have not heard any specifics on the alleged incident, so I have no idea where that one came from. PEGGY-O is the next song tonight... it's so sweet to hear a "younger" Jerry singing this one tonight. He had that "little innocent boy" sound to his voice at times (prior to his many health problems from the 80's onward), especially during ballads performed around this time. The intertwining of Weir and Garcia's guitars in this song is a thill to listen to. Sometimes Bob will play a short lead riff, then Jer would imitate it, and on a couple of occasions, you get confused as to who was playing what part! Never, and I mean never, will we hear playing like this again from any band. As the years passed by, Bob's guitar sound became less prominent in the mix, and his playing style become more "angular" (his term for the chord progressions and the runs of notes he would play that began in the early-to-mid 80's!); his guitar work became almost impossible to hear during some shows; some people and music reviews began to call his playing "obnoxious". The time frame from 1969 through 1981, in my opinion, was the best time to really enjoy Weir's guitar work, and to REALLY hear how excallent of a musician he actualy was! This song, played this evening, really showcased Bob's excellence as an extrememly competant musician. MAMA TRIED gets the house rockin' again after the really beautiful Peggy-O. You can almost sense the energy coming from the stage before the first notes are even played. Even following a very soft, sad, and one of the most "soulful" Peggy-O versions I have ever heard just being played, the Boyz are in a "playful mood". You can't always make out what they're saying between songs this show... but just the noodling, Keith's little piano passages (sure wish they had him mixed louder in the left channel), Bobby's little chord playing, Phils bass run, and such, these things all "add up" and tell the audience (and those of us fortunate to own this recording) that there's a hell of a lot more to come, and that it's ALL going to be good! During Mama Tried, you hear Garcia's 5th and 6th string low on the neck (the "tiger roar sound") run of notes, ones that he's played on many songs for many hears, and just one of his "signature riffs". As unmistakable as the growl from Duane Allman's or Brent Mydland's Hammond B3 (think of the opening of such songs as "Don't Ease Me In"), how the organ starts low and grown higher in pitch), Jerry lets a few of these little riffs and runs blare out in the opening minute; many of us remember just how great it is to hear the "old way" many songs were played. Durings the small solos, Jerry lets out with the "C&W bending twang" that many Southern musicians made famous in the 50's and 60's. Damn, you can hear the versatility in Jerry's repitoire of playing styles so far durinh this show, and we're only up to the 5th song! Keith is slightly louder in the mix now, but it almost sounds like he's banging, not just playing, on the keys in order to get the volume loud enough. That's definetly not Keith's style, and it sound like he's pushing things a little too hard just to get noticed by the sound people; Keith always was the "riff here, riff there, fill here, etc." type of musician when he's ticking the ivories, and this just sounded like he was not happy with the current mix levels. Everything segues right into a smokin' MEXICALI! No doubt this one was "going to be called", rather than "Big River" being chosen. The overall scene is just too cool, the pace is too quick, and everyone's having too good of a time to let any other song be played. Jerry's got his "Tex-Mex" playing style going full throttle (you can hear those "signature" 5th and 6th string notes I talked about, being played "loud and proud"); Bobby "put his cowboy boots and 10 gallon hat back on" to do some sweet, fast, down and dirty 3 and 4 string power chords throughout; Mickey's got his best snare groove going (most of his other drums are still buried in the mix); Billy has got to be smiling throughout this song, not with his usual stone face, really having a blast; and Donna, who's been absent for the last 3 songs, has to be off to the side of the stage, dancing and spinning for the crowd. Ok, this great version is finished, so it's time for a small break in the action. Wait a minute... what's this I hear? Funiculi Funicula? Not just played half-assed version, but totally out there, in all it's glory! Whoa! Where'd that one come from? "I don't know, it must have been the venue..." (Sorry... got carried away there. Now back to our regularly scheduled program...) A little noodling happend, Weir steps up to the mike to make an observation about the venue's illumination. The commentary begins to segue into a rant of sorts. Something doesn't quite go the way Bob wants it to, and now he's becoming "irked", in a little more than a tongue-in-cheek manner. Phil has to get into this fracus... I'm not going to reveal any more; just listen for yourselves. Like I've been saying, this venue brings out the "Best Of The Dead", in more ways than just music! I do believe that the "full-blown FF" that was just played was "requested" by the sound people, so that adjustments could be made to the mix. The reason I say this is that things changed a little bit beginning with... ROW JIMMY. Keith is now playing his usual laid-back style, and can be heard much clearer. Bith his grand and electric pianos are used during this song, and they are equal in volume. Gee, it only took a bit over 6 songs to do this (satirical mode off). Keith's fills and runs, during ANY song, can really help make any song sound full and rich, even if every other band member is a little more "incolved" in the song. You really do not know how much Keith's stylings can be missed until you realize they're not being heard (bad mix, or he nodded off). Jerry really gives us, both vocally and instrumentally, a quite satisfying and soulful rendition of this song; the "unique chord pattern", which is only played once during the song, is just somehow "accented" tonight. You always hear it being played (it's that little section right after they sing "And don't you run off no more"); but this evening, you just really "notice" this more than usual, and it kind of hits you like "Hey, this is new!". And it's strictly due to the dynamics of the music which have been put to "good use" so far this evening. MINGLEWOOD comes up next. No real surprises, just a very solid performance of this "better-than-the-original-version" song. Everyone does their part, and they're all done it "The Dead's Way". Everyone and everything's fast-paced, from the percussion and the back beat, to both Bob & Jer's guitar licks. Nothing laid back in this one. And Bob is belting this one out loud and proud! LOSER takes front and center next. Bob had a few problems with his EFX pedals, and you can hear him hitting a cord with his foot (little clicks) to get one of them to work. His volume then comes up to it's normal volume. Jerry's embellishing the words, adding a few well-placed accents in just the right places, not letting this song "go down". After the 2nd chorus, Mickey and Billy do what sounds like a "military drum beat" effect, similar to what they'd done many times during the last part of Wharf Rat. It sound weird when you read about it here, but if you listen to how it is done, it's actually quite effective, and tonight, it works well! As I said before, this venue brought out the best in the Dead, for whatever the reason(s). Jerry just wants to keep going when his solo comes up. Not the usual "one verse" length, but THREE TIMES the normal amount. And he's really working the upper part of the guitar neck like there's no tommorow. Sit back and you can picture him not wanting to let go of this song and let it come to an end... it sounds like he could have played "variations" on this song for the remainder of the evening. Even when the song finally winds down, JG just doesn't want to let that last vocal note go away. What a treat and a pleasure to sit through this song longer than normal version! Stepping up to the plate is the dynamic duo of LAZY LIGHTNING > SUPPLICATION. The pitcher gets the sign and he throws a smokin' fastball... the batters all take a big roundhouse swing, and connects! Going back... way back.... they hit it out of the park! Jerry's solo in "LL" reminds me lot of older "Slow Hand" Clapton licks: simplicity, yet with a specific flare and style and just the "perfect notes" being played! Don't expect an "all hell breaks loose, crazy jams, fire and brimstone energy" from this version, it's just REALLY DAMN GOOD; and the use of the "dynamics" in the songs (building crescendoes, then the band suddenly going "very quiet" to really place accents during parts of songs) shows up in this song! In fact, EVERY SONG, during set I has this happen, to some degree! Hey, maybe this band will become popular one day :) Some people may say that this performace sounds more like a "studio recording", and to a small degree, this argument holds water. But in the studio, you'd be using the mixing console and overdubs to do the dynamics, where as for this performace, it's done LIVE, in your face, no doubt about it's validity; no trickery, no smoke and mirrors (well, maybe for the drug crowd!), you simply can't deny this show and all it's excellence... and this is only Set I! And lets face it, in ALL of the Dead's studio work, their energy had never come through to any degree. Even the releases like "Without A Net" had the compression and limiting and more effects added, which dampened the energy that their dynamics would help unleash. I can only imagine what the audience was thinking during intermission. You've got to understand that at this point in the Dead's career, you had the Tour Heads there in force, the Faithful who couldn't go to many shows, as well as the "uninitianted" virgins here. I can't think of anything other than talk of "Whoa!" or "What just happened?" and "Did we just hear what we thought we just heard?", and other such collective discussions between brothers and sisters who simply loved this band going on. Well, the house light have gone down (hopefully The Dummy got it right!), and the members take to the stage again. Mind you, as I type these "Personal Comments", many times it's done "on the fly" as I am working on the show; this is the case with this show. I have NOT heard "note one" from the 2nd set yet. So, I'm in as much anticipation as anyone who attended this show was in. Let's see what transpired... BERTHA... ah, the old standby! But, wait, something sounds different... hmmm... Mickey's now more in the mix, and Jerry's voice doesn't sound as flat! Looks like the techs got the job done during the break, and now I think we're gonna get an even tastier and toastier sound! And from the sound of things so far, I'm right. If you listen REAL close when Disc 2 begins, at about the 15 seconds mark, you hear Mickey ask "Looks Like Rain"?... possibly meaning he's not sure what song is to be played next. Even though Bob has been doing his "metronome" strum for a bit, and there were a few of the opening chords played softly, the tempo would have been too fast for LLR. It's possible Mickey didn't hear Jerry playing the chords, so he wanted to be 100% certain of the song coming up. Everyone needed to be on the "same page". Bob hears this question asked, and then a few beats later, stops the "click strum" and begins to draw his pick along either the 3rd or 4th string (you'll hear the sound)... just to be the "Confusion Prince" and comically add to the little bit of the "what's next?" question. The song goes off without a hitch (well, a few of the words were blown... big deal!), the mix is beautiful, and it sounds like tonight is going to continue to be one of those extra special nights! Donna did not doing her usual "screeching" at the end! (I knew there is a God somewhere!) And when Bertha's over and done with, they keep things moving with a really special... GOOD LOVIN'! "Rock Star Bobby" is in great form tonight, not just with the excellent guitar riffs, fills, and little solos of his own (let's not forget his sometimes "cheesy" vocals), but the energy and the vibes he's giving off as well. When Jerry goes off into his extended solo, you can hear "the leader of the band" very subtly switching back and forth between the Latin style "La Bamba" sound and that form of note progressions, and the good old American rock and roll style. He make is so seamless, so fluent, but you still can pick out where each of these two styles begin and end. I found it just so wonderful to hear this mixture of "cultures" from such a talented musician who kept perfecting and experimenting with his style of playing for the remainder of his short life. IT MUST HAVE BEEN THE ROSES. Can't beat this song to mellow out any crowd. Soft, slow, yet still giving off a sliver of positive energy all it's own. The opening riff, with Jerry and Bob playing that wonderful harmony, it's unmistakable as to what the song is going to be. A love song, a good ballad, and a simple yet complex composition. Like the Dead themselves, it's an oxymoron; you have this mix of a low-key song that still stirs some powerful emotions and conjures up some great images. A timeless song in the Dead's repritoire, I feel it is one which has never failed to be appreciated when played. A little lull follows, and the Boyz decide what's coming next. No real tuning or noodling to give it away. A single, heavy reverb, powerful dual tom-tom strike by Billy can only mean one thing: ESTIMATED PROPHET! Surprisingly, it begins without Keith playing. But it still sounds good. You know there's something missing, and you can't quite put your finger on it; but listen closely and you will only hear Billy's percussion (and Jerry's guitar, slightly lower in volume) until the first chorus. Then Keith kicks it into gear. My MCS say that Keith was NOT nodding out, but making some adjustments to his electric piano settings. During the middle, when Jerry takes off on a great solo, Keith's playing imitates, accentuates, and syncopates with almost every one Garcia's notes! People say "I miss Jerry"... well, I miss Keith's stylings and playing! I personally believe that his keyboard playing fit the band better than anyone else's, before or after! Sure, he didn't sing, but Donna did, and that added the other piece to the music puzzle and anomoly known as The Grateful Dead! At about the 6 minute mark, you can picture Bobby slowly stepping back from the mike, allowing his voice to trail off naturally; the audience knows there's going to be a jam coming up, the you can hear their applause and cheering, waiting to hear what magic is going to come from everyone's flying fingers and drum sticks! And the following jam should NOT dissapoint anyone to any degree! Phil kicks it off with his usual adjacent/tangent riffs and runs; and you just can't wait to hear what's going to be transferred from Jerry's brain to his hands. Garcia makes the audience wait a bit, allowing Phil to really set the mood... Jer wants to follow Phil's lead, not the other way around. Say what you will, but Jerry was NEVER one to intentionally steal the show; it just happpens that way some nights. But it took every other member to build the framework for Jerry to work around! The old man begins the first few notes with his wah-wah pedal almost half way down, setting the stage, by using this "sound" in the first set of notes that unloads begins an unforgettable soaring solo. It swells and quiets in little bursts, like a miniature ocean with it's tide rolling in and out in slow motion. After a bit of Jerry blowing everyone's mind apart, Bob purposely begins to play slightly louder; this is the cue to begin a nice and long segue / tempo change into the next song; everyone else in the band hears Weir's "change in style", and little by little, the tempo changes... the chord progressions begin to alter... the tempo begins to get faster and faster, and now we get another chance to hear one of the Dead's "staple" songs... EYES OF THE WORLD. Faster than "normal" in it's tempo, not your "usual" laid back version. Every note played, every drum beat, every little bit of this version could have been easily slowed down to a mellow and slow version, and still not lose anything. Played at about 1.5 times the usual the tempo, just sit back listen to Jerry's solo work. Now imagine it played at "normal Eyes speed". The notes still would fit perfectly, and even Weir's quick-draw 3-string riffs and fills would have worked; a wonderful song, and this upbeat and quick performance seemed to be just right and fitting, not only for evening's show, but because of the venue itself. As I said early on, this venue had some excellent past shows here (and more would come later), so this evening's concert was just another in a long line of "WOW" shows done at Duke. During the song, the drummers begin to purposely "slow down the tempo" to the usual speed version, and by about 4 minutes in, the song is now at the beats per minute "we" normally hear it played at in most shows. Listen at about the 7:15 mark in this song... Bob does something I have NEVER heard him do before (or since)... he begings playing the "harmonics" on the 5th, 7th and 12th frets, and with the tone settings for his guitat, it sounds just like a vibraphone (think "Lionel Hampton" for those of you who don't know what that instrument it)! Although it's only for a few notes, but when I heard it, I could picture old Lionel up there on stage, with the 5 mallets in his hands! This is another "effect" Bobby did only on VERY rare occasions in the late 70's... I wish he would have used it more, as it just added something to his effects repritoire and didn't require a ton of effects of MIDI samples. This song is edited down, due to the master having problems. Another version in circulation has many edits in this area, causing the song to NOT stay "in time", with the 4-beat per chord progression staying valid; some parts would have 2 or 3 beats missing (and this is unacceptable)! That being said, Eyes does end quite nicely... guitars, bass, and piano fading out slowly, and you can hear the Twins begin their tribal frenzy... DRUMS! (Disc 3 begins here) Ah, the "Percussion Pair" are going after each other! Billy and Mickey try to "screw with the other one" by changing rythmns in mid-stream, but it ain't working! 3 strikes, you're in! They finally quite the "goofing around", and they begin to just get into their individual and syncronized grooves. Things slow down, and come down in power and volume after about a minute and a half. Billy goes off to the side and begins playing with his other toys, and Hart winds up wreaking havoc with the equipment! Just past 2 minutes in, Mickey hits a kick drum a little to hard, and blows out a diaphragm on one of the drum mikes. Listen closely, and you can hear Jerry moan "Oh, there goes the microphone" in the right channel! Hilarious stuff. I keep telling you this was a good venue! The techs replace it during Drums; you can hear them moving it, repositioning it, as well as turning the mike on and off a number of times. A while later, you hear Harry yell for Mickey to play louder, just to make sure everything else is going to hold up. And LOUDER IT IS! After a bit of time, each of the drummers sense that it is no longer time to "play off of each other"; so they go and begin the own unique grooves, beats, and playing on many different percussion equipment. It can sound very disjointed at times, and really, it is. But isn't this the whole point of a Dead show? I don't like when they did this, as I always felt they played so much better when they were in sync and working off of each other's beat and tempo. But other people like it when they played this way... and that's cool with me. After a while, they both get back in sync again, and although they're playing slightly different patterns, the basic tempo is the same (syncopation). And they must have been running arond like crazy, as you've got Billy going over and playing Mickey's steel drum set(!) at times, then going back over to his own toy set, and back and forth. I would LOVE to see a video tape of this show, in it's entirety. I'm sure that the AV Department of Duke has this archived somewhere. You can also hear when the mike(s) being changed, moved, and manipulated, beginning at around 10:00. How much equipment did they really go through this night? I heard a few drum sticks crack, and while those are pretty inexpensive, I know that the Sennheiser and Shure percussion mikes they often are not ($100 and up at that time!). And, just for the hell of it, Mickey reached over and bangs on one mike pretty hard with a percussion mallet (there's a really nice "thud" that put the SBD racks' compressor/limiter into overdrive!. Hey, it's a percussion sound, isn't it? You can hear the crowd begin to get whipped up into a frenzy as the remainder of the Boyz take the stage and begin plugging in. Jerry and Phil were near Keith's piano for most of Drums, drinking something fro paper cups. Slowly, the drummers begin working their way back to their own drum sets areas, seeming almost reluctant to do so... almost wanting not to let go of their playing on the steel drums and the other percussion toys. It's a very smooth transition, worthy of a Dead show. The segue, however, was really not smooth, as they do take close to a 10 second break. Again, maybe one or more of the band members were unsure of the next-up song. But once the next song begins, it's a definite winning choice. TRUCKIN' kicks off with only a few opening chords, and then "somebody blows the whistle" on them! Again, this is Cameron, so anything goes! The whistle was a cue to start over, just to screw with the audience. Either way, it was a nice way to get out of their segue flub. Truckin' begins again in earnest, and it is a very good version... I don't think there would have been a chance that they could have picked a wrong song this evening. And speaking of flubs, Weir once again blows the words to the first verse. And it's so bad that even he laughs at it! We all know that there's something about Truckin' that almost always threw Bob off and he would get at least a few words, if not an entire sentence wrong. But you DO have to admire musicians who admit when they make mistakes like this. I believe that this is the only song, in the Dead's very expansive repritoire, that Bob almost always had a problem with. A lot of us think "Jerry", when asked who was really bad at not getting the words right; but Bob is a very close second as far as I am concerned. I believe that Weir is too "conscious of getting the words right", and that is why he made so many mistakes with Truckin' over the decades. It's subconscious, that's al. Hey, if Garcia could get through Visions of Johanna on 7/8/95 without a hitch (and ket's not forget Jer's triumphant "fist in the air" movement!), you'd think Weir would get this one song down! But, it's live, it's fun, it's The Dead! For this song, it's Mickey who "leads" the rest of the band members in their "dynamics" during the performance. When everyone else is playing softly, Hart starts with a couple of really loud drum beats, and the rest of the band takes their cue from him. It sounds REALLY GOOD to hear him take control for a song. Mickey has that flair for knowing just where and when to place beats, and set the rythmic patters (not knocking Billy, as he is more than adequate when it comes to this); but Hart sometimes likes to play like a man possessed. Hell, I've seen him use actual bones from animals as drums sticks during many late 80's shows, all the way up to their final performance; not only during Drums, but during many other songs as well which had a strong percussion presence. Soldier Field in 1994 was a good example of Mickey using unusual drum sticks during Set II! During this song, this night, Mickey really shows he can be very much a leader as to how songs sound, not just being one of the guys playing the drums. WHARF RAT... man, here is one of the saddest songs the Dead ever played (outside of Loser, which is more of a desperation song). Bluesy and ballsy in it's tempo, faith and failure in it's words, what a powerful song, even when compared to Morning Dew. And tonight's version does this song justice; there is no doubt that the people who collaborated in this song were more than pleased when they heard this show! Every single member of the Dead plays their hearts out, backing up Jerry 150 percent. And Donna Jean, who had been absent for a few songs, puts her wonderful voice to good use when she does her duet sections with Jerry; she sings it in a heartfelt manner: not to loud, not to soft, and she had the knack to know how to belt out lyrics with Jer, or lay back and just be her part of the whole. Her voice blends with Jerry's "angelic" young sounding voice (at this point in his life) in a manner than defies description. Just sit back and enjoy these two voices and souls blending and weaving the tapestry which this tragic song is made of. Every other band member knows that this is "Jerry's time to shine" in the show, almost more than during any other song this evening. They're all in sync, their dynamics are totally on the mark, and even Bobby knows when to strike a harder or softer chord, or even put insert a very slow strum. Keith does a number of one-handed fills, just loud enough to be heard but not alter the musical balance. Mickey is alternating between snare beats and rim shots, while Bill is doing some soft tom-tom rolls. It's almost pure perfection! And I would be amiss in NOT stating that this song also involved the engineers at the board! Making sure that the mix brought out EVERY little nuance, especially during this song, where the quiet passages reveal all the subtle things that this group of individuals are able to pull together so well. I can't really call it a "team effort", since everyone on stage has their own peculiarities and styles; but we have always known the Dead can be so versatile, I don't believe there was ANY genre, or form, of music they could not perform, and be able to pull it off without compromising their individial ways (EXCEPT with the exception of "Hip Hop" music, but not the "Fire On The Mountain Rap" that Mickey did)! From opening note to the final fade, this version of Wharf Rat is nothing short of total bliss to listen to. Everyone knows we're coming to the end of this show, so you got to break down the walls of Cameron with a high-power closer. They chose AROUND & AROUND to caps off Set II. (SEE "KNOWN PROBLEMS" TO UNDERSTAND THE NEXT FEW SENTENCES) I tried my best to make sure that the necessary crossfade between Wharf and A&A was as "clean" as possible. I opted to go for the "making sure the drum beats match up" over several other possible ways to get around the problem. This method turned out to be the "cleanest sounding, least harsh, and more pleasing" of any of 8 versions I attempted and listened to over and over. Yes, a few words of Around are missing, and were not at full volume, due to the process chosen. Or would you rather just one song suddenly stop and the next one abruptly begin? That last option was never one which I would choose to ever perform, unless it was a totally "last resort / nothing else to do / only way out" situation. I would say that the "last resort" option may only have had to be done only ONCE in a couple hundred instances of reel changes or tape flips. Granted, most people do not have the studio equipment (both hardware and software), nor do they have the expertise to do what I am capable of doing in my Studio; so I would not flame anyone if they went and did the "chop" option. People can only do things with what they possess. Bob can't resist the urge to inject a little humour into thr lyrics when he gets to the point "When thr police knocked"; again I won't spoil the surprise. Otherwise, this is a great closer, shooting back the energy to the audience at full force. They haven't let up with their energy levels all night long. And even though this has been a great and enthusiastic show to this point, even if they left a little bit out, I wouldn't blame them. NOW, ONTO THE SHOCKER OF THE CONCERT: THE ENCORE: U. S. Blues... Okay, it's an "old song" by now (played SEVENTY THREE times prior to this show, and used many times as an Encore)... And okay, probably more than "a few dozen" people decided to bolt for the exits when the first chords of this song began to be played. It initially sounded like a "typical show closer", just being played for the sake of having something to play, and the Boyz just wanting to get it over with. All that I can say to the people who left early is: "TOO FRIGGIN' BAD"! When I think that they missed out on what has to be the BEST version of this song EVER PERFORMED LIVE! EVERY single member of The Dead are still totally immersed in this inexplicable "Cameron Energy Vortex"! They have proved that they are "A Band Beyond Description" for the past TWO HOURS AND FORTY-THREE MINUTES! They have given the audience a performance that is aurally reflected in this recording; taking colors, which represent the many huge and many subtle aspects of performing in this show, and painted a picture which no one can describe but everyone "understands". The encore in this show had to have the building shaking to a point where people outside the venue may have thought that there was a 8.0 magnitude earthquake going on inside the building! Jerry is literally going crazy on stage, like an whirling dervish who downed 2 gallons of Starbuck's finest brew! Never have I heard him sing ANY encore with such enthusiasm and volume levels that made him appear to be a "screaming wild man" bouncing off the padded walls of an asylum! And there's nothing that can stop release of energy that was being bottled up prior to this song... it prevails, it pulses, and it's permiating EVERY atom one each of the band members. I know Jerry was up there on stage, grinning from ear to ear, for the entire song; Phil was off into his own universe of the cosmos; Bobby had to be doing his Rock Star act "Vaudville-style"; Keith isn't tickling the ivories, but banging on them like some guy trying to get a bartender's attention in a crowded pub; Donna's dancing her butt off, whirling and spinning near her microphone; and Mickey and Billy are just playing like 2 peas in a pod... so identical in their riffs and styles and sounds, and yet still being unique in their own ways. Jerry's vocal and guitar playing levels, starting in the first third of the song all the way to the very last string plucked, that you KNOW the sound people are constantly adjusting his compression and limiting, not to mention the mixer channel levels, just to keep any distortion at bay! You can hear them making adjustments once they realize what is going on. So even though you KNOW that Jerry is screaming into his mike, the recorded sound is not as loud as you would imagine; but you certainly can tell how much he's pushing the envelope! I'm wondering how many throat lozenges he had to toss back once they began to unwind after the show... THE AFTERMATH... CRAWLING FROM THE WRECKAGE: After U.S. Blues is complete, when the band is ready to exit the stage for good this evening, Bobby does his high-pitched farewell "Thank You"... but the icing on the cake is when Phil does an eerie (and VERY close to actually imitating the voice perfectly) "Wavy Gravy impersonation" thanking the audience and saying good night! The Grateful Dead are finally walking off the stage for the last time this evening (actually, it's past midnight!), and one has to wonder about the audience... I know it had to take a few minutes the experience to begin to sink in, and the people are finally realizing what just happened to them! "Whadda hell just happened" had to be the "community thought" going through everyone's blown minds! And luckily, we have my Marin County Source to thank for sending me this most unusual show to give to all of you; PLEASE SPREAD THIS SHOW, UNALTERED, TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW WHO IS INTO THE DEAD! I really have no clue how to finish this Personal Review. Right now, I am at a loss for words! And you folks know that is a very difficult thing for me to have happen! BOTTOM LINE: JUST ENJOY! SSSB SIDENOTE: Outside of the technical problems on my copy, which I overcame as much as possible, I hope you all understand why I made a few of the decisions I did, in respect to correcting them. The U.S. Blues one is going to be talked about for a while, and I still believe I did the right thing. Hopefully, people who are trying to learn how to properly edit and process shows will learn by listening to this version of the Vault's copy, and the "corrections" I had to make; to see that subtle edits, crossfading, and processes like the ones I did, can be accomplished by using the built-in options which are found on many of the less expensive/free music software programs, can be done. It takes time and it takes patience. Sometimes it takes trying multiple versions of a "fix", and having to walk away from your work for 30 minutes, just to clear your head. Never be in a hurry to release a show. Take your time, take pride in your work, and if need be, ask someone who has more equipment and/or experience to lend you a hand. Take the piece of audio that needs work, and send it to people willing to help you learn. Quality over quantity is going to allow the shows you work on to be more sought after... this takes a while. For me, I've been an audio engineer for over 30 years... and I am STILL learning new techniques! Yes, having a full Studio to work with beats just having a simple DAW sitting on a desk, but everyone has to start somewhere. The biggest point I can make is that people should never release crappy shows into circulation just for the sake of "giving back". That is sometimes looked at as being worse than a "file leech"! Don't be afraid to ask someone for advice on how to do things. Many knowldgable people will be more than happy to give you pointers, tips, and sometimes will yould your hand the process(es). Not everyone is going to agree on software, techniques, and the like... but the more options and opinions you have at your disposal, the better off you are. Hey, my $47,000 editing software I beta test is going to blow away programs which run $40... but you would be surprised at how many of the same "options" are available in either software package. You may be limited in what you can do, compared to what I am capable of doing, but again, you have to begin learning somewhere and somehow! I began to edit shows using the old splicing block and Scotch tape as a way to remove error! Hell, nobody really does that anymore, since damn near everything is in the digital realm now. But it taught me the importance of PATIENCE, as well as knowing what exactly was needed to be done. When us "old farts of yesteryear" made those edits using the "cut and splice" method, there was NO GOING BACK! There was no "undo" button on a keyboard that allowed you to do things over again! If you screwed up, you had to go and make another copy to work on! This taught us that taking our time, and doing things right the first time, takes less time than having to do everything over again from the beginning! A perfect recording we had worked for hours on could be easily ruined because of the final edit we performed! I've had that happen... I've made my share of mistakes over the years. But I have never made the same mistake twice. E-Mail me, or others who release excellent shows to the legal music servers, and ask us for advice. Most of us will be more than willing to help people who are willing to take out advice. Yes, there are a handful of people who won't share their "trade secrets", and to me, that's a piss-poor attitide to take. That's being selfish and greedy and egotistical. . . . KNOWN PROBLEMS WITH THIS RELEASE: D1 TRACK 01: "JACK STRAW" Due to a media defect on the ADAT copy I received, Jack Straw had 9 small sections of diginoise which were not able to be corrected without being noticed. I used a different copy of this song (the "J. Henry" version), and replaced about 15% of the song with this "alternate version". I was able to match up the audio, as far as the sound quality, EQ curve [comparing it to the original version] and such, so the replacement is 98.266% identical to the original. This percentage is what the Harpoon editing software displayed to me when it performed the 27 unique and separate comparative processes required when asked to show how close two pieces of audio are to each other. There were also 2 spots on this song, which were, allegedly, PURPOSELY ALTERED by someone who worked on this "replacement version" earlier in it's life. I can say this will near 100% certainty, as the alterations occur in the same riff in the same place where they appear. These "alterations" were corrected by myself as much as possible; small, yet slightly noticable, remnants of this can still be heard. The first one appears at 02:10 and again at the end. If this was NOT done on purpose, then I could have easily taken the 2nd riff, and replaced the 1st one with it. NOTE: This is very similar to a type of "alteration" which was prevelant during the heyday of DAT trading, and was done by 2 "very respected" traders! The premise of doing the following "alteration" was to insure that only these two people (besides the Vault) would be in possession of the "complete" shows; this was to assure that these could be used as "prized trade bait". What this pair of Un-Kind people would do is to insert about 0.1 second of silence somewhere during 1 or 2 songs (usually the opening song was chosen, and the gap would almost always appear during the 1st verse); they would then delete a different amount of the show's audio (about 0.2 to 0.3 sconds long, so the "gap" could not just be "closed" or "cross-faded" to repair without being noticed. This "practice" quickly became highly frowned upon by many people who received these shows within about 90 days after they began to appear; most of the shows affected by this were on 1993 > 1995 high quality SBD shows. |
| Source Info | MCS 24 bit/96 kHz ADAT > SSSB (SHNTOOL used and verified)SBD > GD Master 2" 8 Track RTR 15 i.p.s. (2 decks) > GD Vault 1" Mixdown Safety RTR @ 15 i.p.s. > |
| Trades Allowed |
Performance
| Grateful Dead 1978-04-12 Cameron Indoor Stadium, Duke University, Durham, NC | |
|---|---|
| Set 1 | Jack Straw Dire Wolf Beat It On Down The Line Peggy-O Mama Tried > Mexicali Blues Finiculi Finicula Row Jimmy New Minglewood Blues Loser Lazy Lightning > Supplication |
| Set 2 | Bertha > Good Lovin' It Must Have Been The Roses Estimated Prophet > Eyes Of The World > Drums > Space > Truckin' > Wharf Rat > Around & Around U.S. Blues |
| Set 3 | |
| Comment | Jerry Garcia - Guitar Bob Weir - Guitar Keith Godchaux - Keyboards Phil Lesh - Bass Bill Kreutzmann - Drums Mickey Hart - Drums Donna Jean Godchaux - Vocals |