Tracks
Dancing In the Streets [6:52]
Samson and Delilah [7:35]
Space [11:27] Filler: Community War Memorial -Rochester, NY
9/2/80 |
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Liner Notes:1985 marked the 20th anniversary of the Grateful Dead - not that the band celebrated that sort of thing very much. Rather, they began their third decade by introducing more variety into their song selection, which lent renewed vitality to the music. The Dead played 130 different songs in 1985, more than in any prior year, including four new songs, and four others resurrected after more than ten years. For those of us who saw many shows that year the added variety was welcome indeed, but a varied setlist alone was no guarantee of a great concert. Fortunately Dick's Picks Vol. 21 - Richmond Colisem 11/1/85 - had both an uncommon song selection AND a superb performance. This night was the sixth show of the fall tour, which had begun in Florida and was cruising up the East Coast. Our travel was hampered by an early winter storm, which kept us cold and wet outside, but inside the Coliseum our spirits were high in anticipation of the show. It was the first of two nights in Richmond, following a Halloween show in South Carolina, the first and only Grateful Dead concert in that state. There were some really WEIRD moments in that Halloween show, and I could feel that some of that energy was still around in Richmond. The concert began with the surprising combination of "Dancing In The Streets" and "Cold Rain and Snow," two songs which individually were often played to jump-start the first set, but had only been played together once before - back in1966! What a great start! Later I was really excited to hear a truly wonderful version of "Jack Straw," especially considering they chose to play it close to the end of the set instead of its regular spot as the set opener. The song selection got even more unusual in the second set. After a rockin' version of "Samson and Delilah" that got me dancing immediately, the tempo quickly shifted to a very thoughtful and emotional reading of "High Time" from Garcia, a song that never fails to bring back fond memories of my earliest shows. Surprisingly, before Bob could get a song started, Jerry began "He's Gone," which had some beautiful harmonies and a moving, extended a cappella ending. After excellent versions of "Spoonful" and "Comes A Time," I was sure they were going to go into drums, but was shocked when the band launched into a flawless version of "Lost Sailor." The drums and space improvisations that followed contained some very weird sounds similar to the bizarre opening of the previous night's Halloween show. I was surprised and thrilled to hear "Saint Of Circumstance" evolve out of "Space" (I had forgotten about "Lost Sailor"), and it turns out this was the only time that the "Sailor/Saint" combination was ever played in a show split by another song. Next came an intense version of "Gimme Some Lovin'," a song that I saw when it was first played exactly a year ago (11/2/84 in Berkeley), with Phil and Brent sharing lead vocals. I though that Phil must have been saving up his vocal energy just to let it rip on this one. This set the stage for Jerry's heart-breakingly sweet "She Belongs To Me" (performed only in 1985) that really moved me, followed by Mr. Weir's piece de resistance, an absolutely thrilling version of "Gloria" that just whipped the crowd and the band into a frenzy. It was amazing the way Bob kept stoping the song with "WAIT A MINUTE" and then proceeded to crank it up a notch each time. I was screaming along with everyone else. This one must be heard to be believed! E-N-J-O-Y!!! Stu Nixon
CAVEAT EMPTOR DP 21 was mastered from the original digital tapes, our earliest foray into the digital domain to date. The master tapes are Beta PCM cassettes, with stereo digital audio recorded on the video track. We've aimed to make this release sound as good as possible, and we feel we've succeeded. Hopefully you will agree. Enjoy. |
Credits:Grateful Dead Jerry Garcia: Lead Guitar, Vocals Live Recording: Dan Healy
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