Don't Tell Me This Town Ain't Got No Heart...10/10/81 Bremen
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Hey now it's me, Sugarmag. I've been having one of those kind of days where I have been incredibly busy but have gotten very little done. Well, I got some of it done, but I don't know where the day went. The most worthwhile thing I did today was listen to this here show:
The Grateful Dead ~ 27 Years Ago Today
October 10, 1981
Stadt Halle IV, Bremen, West Germany
1st Set: Shakedown Street-> Bertha-> Minglewood Blues,
Friend Of The Devil, El Paso, Tennessee Jed,
Me & My Uncle-> Big River, Bird Song-> Let It Grow-> Deal
Set 2: Man Smart Woman Smarter, Sugaree,
Lost Sailor-> Saint Of Circumstance-> Eyes Of The World->
Drums-> Space-> Truckin'-> The Other One-> Wharf Rat->
One More Saturday Night
Encore: Casey Jones
This is such a good show! One of the things I thought as I was listening to it is that one of the things I love about The Grateful Dead is that unlike many other bands who play the exact same songs the exact same way every single night, they tend to shake things up and do different weird things. There was this feeling that at a Grateful Dead concert, anything could happen.
This show started off strong with a hot Shakedown Street into a smokin' Bertha. In Minglewood Bobby sang, "A couple shots of whiskey, these German girls start lookin' good!" Hmmm, as a German girl myself, I'm not sure if I should be insulted ;). Later in the song Bob sang "T for San Francisco..." I guess maybe he was starting to feel a little homesick? Minglewood was followed by a really pretty version of Friend of the Devil. I loved the jam in the middle, there is an instrument I didn't recognize but I think it's Jerry with a synthesizer because I can hear Brent, maybe not, now I'm confused and need to listen to it again. Do me a favor, will ya'? Listen to FOTD and tell me what you hear during the long jam. During El Paso, Brent does this cool thing with his organ that sounds like an accordion, it being Germany and all. What else can I say about this show? Bird song is so pretty, but isn't it always? Same with Let It Grow...how I love that song, but is it ever bad? Methinks not! I love Lost Sailor into St. of Circumstance and man oh man, they were smokin' on this night. I like when Bobby sings Weee! at the end of the jam, know what I mean? Of course you do. Anyway, 'tis my favorite part of the song. Bobby sings, "What the fuck you gonna do now?" Eyes of the World seems to be played really fast on this night, I am used to a slower version but I really like it this way. It has a lot of great energy. Space is interesting and worth listening to, especially the Phil parts. Bobby is full of little improvisational lyric changes on this night. During Truckin', instead of "Livin' on reds, vitamin C and cocaine" he says "Ever since she had a sex change..." LOL...The transition into The Other One was really nice, then Wharf Rat was inspired. Of course, Casey Jones was a great encore, that's kind of obvious and also an understatement. What can I say? It's The Grateful Fucking Dead!
| Source: Soundboard> Master ?> Cassette> Cass2> WAV Audio Quality:  | 10/10/81 Bremen at Archive.org: Dload an Audience source or Listen to the Soundboard |
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Here's a video of Shakedown Street at another show in Germany,
a few months earlier.
I leave you with this thought: When was the last time you sat down and really listened to a Grateful Dead show? I mean just sat and listened and did very little besides listen? Another thought: one of the best things about Germany is drinking good beer. So...do yourself a favor and follow this advice: first, download this show. Next, crack open a good German beer, then sit and listen and drink beer and do nothing but those two things. Have a Grateful day ;).
filed under...
** Grateful Dead related,
*** Dead: Albums and Shows
4 comments:
I am a grateful recipient to your wise instructions... "Do nothing but these two things"... HELL YEAH!
Hey now Timmy, don't forget to listen carefully to FOTD and let me know what you hear in that long jam. Thanks for reading what I wrote!
Unfortunately, Shakedown is kinda flat because both guitars are almost non-existent in the mix. Around 3 minutes in Jerry is finally noticeable but only quite faintly. For the most part, it's a Shakedown by Phil & Brent & the drummers. Around 8 minutes, Bob's rhythm guitar kicks in, louder than Jerry's lead; Garcia's still in the background, least heard of all. Despite next to no geetar, it does pick up some steam and gets into a nice groove.
A pretty sweet Bertha suffers somewhat from lack of Jerry's guitar (still.) It's there but not up front like it oughta be. Right up into Minglewood, there's a ton of Brent but something still ain't right in the mix.
A really nice FOTD finally has Jerry's guitar more up front where it should be.
An interesting accordion sound Brent plays at the beginning of El Paso, almost like he's mimicking a traditional German Hofbräuhaus oompa band sound... or something like that.
A moment in Tennessee Jed got me wondering what the heck it was like in that room. Bobby yells, during the tune, "Wake up!" Like the El Paso before, TN Jed isn't exactly a song to boogie to and what were those Germans doing? Sitting and sleeping?
I'm not sure a combo like Uncle-> Big River has ever been a highlight for me but if people were next to snoozing, these two songs surely got everyone up to dance! (Because of the recording and the presence of Jerry, it's clearly better, at least to me, than Shakedown-> Bertha.) But not better than Bird Song. Mmmm. And then there's Let It Grow! Holy Moly, so sweet! Just beautiful and my ears were really picking up Phil there at the end. I don't know why but I thought Deal would spoil the end (Let It Grow woulda been perfect to close the set) but it didn't disappoint at all.
Having some cassette generations shows a little here and there but generally only during quiet moments between tunes; some light noise (hiss) is heard. Other than that, a pretty nice recording.
A couple places in Women Are Smarter it sounds like they're in a good mood and having fun after Halftime. Sugaree has some great smokin' Jerry. Nice crescendo bridging Sailor and Saint but Eyes is way too quick. Methinks this tune just shouldn't be played at lightning-fast speed.
Because of a cut in Drums, we're into Space pretty soon and before long someone's blowing a whistle to launch into Truckin'. Who blows that whistle, I wonder?
"Ever since she went and had her sex change," Bobby sings in this one. How many times for that, I also wonder.
As the song is essentially done before the brief jam into O1, Brent, for only a quick minute or so, rolls out a little bit of a Nobody's Fault But Mine Jam. Kind of a neat little thing thrown in there.
Despite its brevity and Bob beginning a verse by mumbling the first few words (that he momentarily forgot,) The Other One packs a potent punch. Wharf Rat is nice and OMSN does a good job to end things on a really high note. I'm sure about Casey Jones as an encore, though. Eh.
Overall, a decent show. (It couldn't be worse than that, could it? Not to me!)
Sweeeeeet!
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