This week's Deadpod has been on my request list for quite awhile, and in reviewing that list I decided it was time to pull it out. This show comes to us from April 15th, 1983 at the War Memorial Auditorium in Rochester NY. There seems to be lots of good memories of this show, and while I don't think it was their strongest outing of the year, it is an enjoyable and generally wellplayed performance I think you'll enjoy. A Shakedown opener is always a great way to start out a show and we're treated to a good one here. Brent's keyboards add a nice, uptempo feeling here and Jerry does a great job with his leads and vocals - listen for how he changes the words at one point. 'My Brother Esau' follows in the second slot - a strange position for this number, I think, and frankly I think it takes the band a bit to work into the emotional feel of this number, following Shakedown. I enjoy this number, but to my ears there's a bit of dissonance here. A nice Brown-Eyed Women follows, but it is marred by microphone problems which steal from us Jerry's first couple verses. Little Red Rooster has the additional Brent verses that often popped up during this period. Dire Wolf follows, a personal favorite, then Lazy Lightnin'->Supplication, followed by a nice set ending Deal.
We'll hear set 2 next week,
War Memorial Auditorium, Rochester, NY (4/15/83)
Shakedown Street
My Brother Esau
Brown Eyed Women
Little Red Rooster
Dire Wolf
Lazy Lightnin'
Supplication
Deal
You can listen to this week's Deadpod here:
http://traffic.libsyn.com/deadshow/deadpod040315.mp3
Thanks for picking this up and for your kind support! You're the best!
With the closing of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on LI after this year's NHL playoffs, how nice it would be to hear a show from that venue.
ReplyDeleteI love Brent's Little Red Rooster verses. I have this alternate universe fantasy: Brent joins the Grateful Dead in 1979 and the band, instead of continuing with the 50/50 Jerry/Bobby set lists they had settled into after Peg Pen was gone, they evolved with Brent to something more like a 50/25/25 JG/BW/BM lead vocal mix, starting by assigning Pig Pen's old repertoire.
ReplyDeleteThe Deadpod has really turned me on to how great the 80's Dead could be, but there's not podcast I've heard from this era where Bobby's deteriorating voice and his misplaced delivery of rhythm and/or blues numbers hasn't made me cringe. I have never been smitten by Mr. Mydland's own compositions, but I would have loved to hear the 80's Dead revisit Mr. Charlie, Lovelight, Hard to Handle, Hurts Me Too, and any number of other songs with Brent on lead vocal.
If anyone has a tape from this alternate universe, please let me know.