rcd@opus.UUCP (Dick Dunn) (06/18/85)
The Grateful Dead celebrated twenty years together with three shows at the
Greek Theater on the UC Berkeley campus, June 14/15/16. The audience and
the band congratulated each other for making it this far so well. The
Dead's longevity (sic) is particularly interesting because they not only
have made it 20 years, but have done so nearly intact--four of the five
original members are still with the band. (The fifth one died in 1973.)
The shows included a fair bit of material which they have played seldom, if
at all, in the last few years, including:
Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodleoo (rare)
Lovelight (seems to be coming back)
The Other One (parts not usually played in concert)
Keep On Growing (old Derek & the Dominoes song)
Stagger Lee (rare)
Smokestack Lightning (!!!hasn't it been at least a decade???)
Gimme Some Loving
Midnight Hour
She's an Artist (title (???); a Dylan song)
Lost Sailor/Saint of Circumstance (back again, I hope)
The Sunday show was just good; Friday and Saturday were exceptional, with
Saturday being one of the truly magical shows. They took advantage of
longer pieces (Terrapin Station) and naturally paired songs (China Cat
Sunflower->I Know You Rider and Lost Sailor->Saint of Circumstance) to
make the second set particularly cohesive.
I put a longer, more DeadHead-oriented article in net.music.gdead, also
under the title "Twenty Years So Far."
After the Friday and Saturday shows, staff at the exit had little
half-page handouts for the crowd. One side has the theme artwork for
the 20-year theme; the other has some bits of verse called the "20th
Anniversary Rag". Two comments show the mood of the shows:
"Thanks for 20 years of being
an audience which is the envy
of every other rock and roll band alive."
and best of all--
"Long as you keep coming
You got a band."
--
Dick Dunn {hao,ucbvax,allegra}!nbires!rcd (303)444-5710 x3086
...I'm not cynical - just experienced.