7/19/74 – Fresno, CA – Dave's Picks Vol. 19 **
A rocking Bertha starts the show. Very nice solo from Jerry. A very by-the-numbers-but-still-excellent Mexicali follows. Up next is an excellent, but extremely chill Deal. It's very nostalgic sounding for some reason. That seems to be the mood of the set – energetic-but-chill. BIODTL is a perfect example. Lots of energy and some great background soloing from Jerry, but there's that low-key vibe throughout.
Bobby McGee is SUPER CHILL and just downright wonderful. CHECK OUT JERRY'S FREAKIN' COOL SOLO! After a few negligible performances, Scarlet Begonias makes a wonderful comeback tonight. The month long break seems to have done it good. CHECK OUT THAT GUITAR AT 4:40 WHAT IS THAT?! :D Jerry turns the distortion on full-throttle and it almost sounds like he's broken out a slide. This is the nastiest Scarlet solo I've ever heard!!!! This Scarlet, overall, is fantastic from the first second to the last!!! MUST-HEAR!!!!
Up next is a picture-perfect El Paso and T Jed. Up next is an excellent and exploratory 30 minute PITB. Now, some PITB's are multi-part performances while others are more just one massive conglomerate of jam. This is the latter, therefore saying that it is just an excellent overall version will suffice instead of giving a massive blow by blow. :)
After the psychedelic workout of PITB, the chill-but-upbeat vibe returns with an excellent BE Women. After MAMU, we get a lovely Roses. Jack Straw is excessively chill (the word of the night!) but gets cooking pretty good. Shoutout to Billy's drumming.
Up next is the next highlight of the night – a 15 minute He's Gone. EXCELLENT! Very, very relaxed and bluesy. The kind that seems to go on and on and on forever....and you want it to! So great! This eventually dissolves into a rocking US Blues.
Next up is an unbelievable WRS>Jam>Eyes>China Doll. WRS is 28 minutes of some of the greatest jamming this side of the ultraverse. Thsi includes 9 minutes of great space. This space jam is truly exceptional. Jerry breaks out the distortion that he tried out in Scarlet. Actually, you could probably just call this a Spanish Jam. Truly AWESOME! Phil's bass is just earth tremblingly good.
Eventually the amazing Spanish jam runs it's course and Bobby introduces the Eyes theme. Jerry picks up on it and before you know it, segue be damned (actually, best segue ever), we are into Eyes. Eyes is tremendous. It starts out on the rough side, but once things coalesce around 10 minutes in, we get some of the best Eyes playing of the year.
Unfortunately, just like the previous show, it comes to a SCREECHING halt. Dammit!!!! They sound like they were gonna keep going, but then someone slipped up on the beat and the whole thing crashes down into a China Doll. I'm not bemoaning CD, but rather the unnatural end of Eyes. Grrr. I'm angry. I feel cheated! :( China Doll is short but nice.
Too bad the show ends so quickly with a perfunctory OMSN. Oh well, still ¾ a fantastic show! :)
No comments:
Post a Comment