6/22/74 – Miami, FL
Bertha and BIODTL start the show lethargically, but GSET comes along and Jerry's ever-fantastic wah soloing kicks it way into high gear. Deal is fine but it's back to lethargy. Bobby McGee is pretty excellent. Scarlet Begonias is pretty nice. It never reaches full potential, but you can tell the guys are trying. Lots of nice stuff going on, it just never fully lifts off, imo. FINALLY, probably the first truly awesome performance of the night, Jack Straw is chill but is uptempo with Jerry throwing out perfectly beautiful leads like slicing butter with a hot knife. Check out this Straw!!!
Thankfully the sleepiness has subsided and the new energy brought on by Jack Straw continues into an excellent bouncy Loose Lucy. Sugaree is excellent. It's still not the mammoth monsters of '76 and '77, but it's a chill breath of fresh air, wonderful air. After a great The Race Is On, a gorgeous Roses follows. But then the first monster of the show rears it's mammoth 29-minute head. PITB starts out great and just continues upwards into outer space from the word Go! Fantastic jamming all around. Sometimes it's worth mentioning certain parts or jams or segments and other times the whole is all it is. Check it out. 29 minutes of AWESOME!
Set two opens with the slowest, chillest China Cat I've ever heard. Soooooo chill. Like, if it was played in '76 this is what it would've sounded like. :D China Cat itself is really long at almost 10 minutes and it is EXCELLENT once it gets going. The transition jam is one of the coolest I've heard. One of the hottest MAMU's I've ever heard follows. CHECK OUT JERRY'S AWESOME BACKGROUND SOLOING!!!!! An excellent Eyes>Wharf rat follows. Jerry's solo after the first verse is just insanely good. Same goes for Phil tonight. Soloing perfection! This show ends with a rocking Sugar Mag and Johnny B Goode. Overall, a solid B+ show. Definitely not one of the best of the year, but some definite major highlights for sure.
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