65th Street Jer

If i was a half decade older, i probably would been there!
Oh well...

Jerry Garcia & John Kahn
11-18-84

Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center
New York City

1st Set
Deep Elem Blues, It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry,
Little Sadie, Friend Of The Devil,
Run For The Roses, Simple Twist Of Fate

2nd Set
When I Paint My Masterpiece, I've Been All Around This World,
Oh Babe, It Ain't No Lie, Bird Song, Goodnight Irene

Mmm! What a treat. At Lincoln Center in a beautiful hall built for the New York Philharmonic, here's an hour and a half of just Jerry on acoustic and his longtime musical partner, John Kahn, on bass. The sound is just about amazing. Jerry's vocals seem a wee bit lost behind his guitar at times but for most songs everything is sounding beautiful, especially his pickin' on that acoustic!

They get the show kicked off with a really nice Deep Elem followed by an even nicer Train to Cry. While one could groove a little to Deep Elem, after that the music isn't like a typical dance your ass off Dead show. No, not at all. It's so much more like a kick back and relax and enjoy the music kind of show. So sweet each song is and in each it seems there's that one pinnacle that Jerry reaches and the crowd acknowledges with joy.

Run For The Roses was a pinnacle in itself for the first set... finally a tune that rocked. That ain't sayin' anything in the first set was bad. HA! I've already said, everything was sweet but rocked, well, as much as a song could rock from these two without a full band helping add some steam. One more from Dylan, Simple Twist of Fate, closed out the set. Jerry has been of course leading the way and always the main focus but here John really has some room here to show off his bass playing. Simply gorgeous.

After the halftime break, this night enters the books as a Dylan tribute... or at least a Dylan trifecta when Jerry opens Set 2 with Masterpiece. After hearing this from Bobby so, so many times, I never could really get fully used to hearing it by Jerry. (I never got to see him play it, after Bobby started singing it with the Dead in mid-87, Jerry only sang it a few more times outside of the GD.) He doesn't do it badly, just a little different by Garcia, especially in this two-man setting. One thing's for certain, the song, like oh so many he does with Kahn, really allows him to shine on acoustic. Without the full band sound, gotta really wow 'em somehow... and he does!

My second favorite moment of the night came next in the form of I've Been All Around This World. Just beautiful! This song went on hiatus from the Dead's repetoire when the acoustic sets at Radio City came to an end four years earlier. Unfortunately it never got to be resurrected. But since Halloween 1980 it lived on with Jerry and thankfully so!! For me there just aren't enough words to describe this here. There might be a better version and someday I just might find that out but this one just stopped me dead, no pun intended. Wow!

Even though it had been in regular Dead rotation for four years, from the very first notes, Bird Song was the audience favorite of the night. When it was done, it was mine, too. Holy cow. Jerry & John blew this out of the water, or off the island, I suppose... they blew it off Manhattan island, scattering its remnants over the entire tri-state area, from the Westchester to Sandy Hook, from the Ramapo Mountains to Montauk. Would you pay for one song? For this I would!

After a nice Goodnight Irene, a memorable night was in the books. It wasn't the best way to end the show following that particular Bird Song but oh well. Still, being there would have been worth every cent and listening to the show is worth every voice and cough near the mics. Despite some minor flaws like those on the master tape, this is a 4.5 out of 5 stars audience recording and almost a perfect show, as well.

Recorded by Kenny Mance
on TDK SAX C-90 no dolby
AKG CE-1>Uher Cr-240, 4th row center

Thanks Kenny!

11/18/84 @ SugarMegs for listening
(the site is currently down)

Download The Show Here

11/18/84 Jerry & John Kahn - Lincoln Center - 1st Set

2nd Set - Jerry & John Kahn 11/18/84 Lincoln Center

11-18-84 aka 11/18/84 aka 84-11-84 setlist 320 kbps mp3 soundboard SBD download