woods@hao.UUCP (Greg Woods) (08/07/83)
This article is a review of the latest Grateful Dead show at Ventura
County Fairgrounds in Ventura, Ca. and is intended for other DeadHeads.
Boy was it hot!! Both the music and the weather. We got there about 1am
the night before, and as usual at Dead shows, they were prepared for us. For $5
we got to camp right behind the stage for three nights, and they had full
bathrooms (plus a few port-a-potty's), including showers, which were mandatory
after the shows because the fairgrounds is a dirt surface and it was unbeliev-
ably dusty. I flew out there, since Saturday (7/30) was my birthday and I
figured I deserved a good birthday present (.| .| Happy Birthday to me .|.| now
get outta here, you knuckleheads, I love you). Really hot first set the first
day. They opened with China Cat --> I Know You Rider, usually an ending tune,
and it was uphill from there. Brown Eyed Women, Cassidy, and they closed the
set with Music Never Stopped. There were some aerial acrobatic flyers overhead
who went into a great routine during this song, dipping their wings when Bobby
got to the line about "keep on dancing" and everyone went nuts. New tunes,
including a really hot new Bobby song apparently called "Hell in a Bucket", and
a new Jerry tune, "Touch of Grey" (second day encore). An oddity--this was the
first Saturday show I ever saw where they did *not* play One More Saturday
Night! They played it on Sunday instead. (By the way, we forgot to play this
yesterday!) One question: is Bobby turning political on us? Some lines from
new songs include "shadowboxing with the apocalypse" (Brother Esa), what the
hell is he talking about? Anyone have the full words to this song? And also
"politicians throwing stones" (Throwing Stones, also known as "Ashes,Ashes")
I realize some of these songs are nearly a year old now, but this is the first
time *I* had heard them. Other new tunes include "West LA Fade Away" (Jerry),
and "Day Job" (Jerry). I'd say they have plenty enough for a new album, where
is it? Anyhow, I should be getting pretty good tapes from that show eventually,
because someone I know from Boulder was there with a really hot taping setup,
and he had his mikes mounted dead center on the front of the mixing tower.
The shows were excellent, and I'm defintely looking forward to 3 nights at
Red Rocks next month. If I'm lucky, I might make one of the Stanford shows
too, as I'll be in the area then. A band beyond description....
I may be going to hell in a bucket, but at least I'm enjoying the ride,
--
GREG
{ucbvax!hplabs | allegra!nbires | decvax!brl-bmd | harpo!seismo | menlo70}
!hao!woods