Saturday, November 1, 2008

"Thanks for your kind attendance."

Grateful Dead ice cream dancing bear100 Days
of the Dead

Day 40


Grateful Dead
November 1, 1990


Wembley Arena
London, England
11-1-90 a.k.a. 90-11-01 United Kingdom of Great Britain setlist & mp3 soundboard (SBD) download but not Flac
1st Set: Hell In A Bucket, Friend Of The Devil, Walkin' Blues,
Cold Rain & Snow, Mama Tried-> Maggie's Farm, Cassidy,
Stander On The Mountain

2nd Set: Victim Or The Crime-> Touch Of Grey, Playing In The Band->
Dark Star-> Drums-> Space-> Dark Star-> Playin' Reprise->
Wharf Rat-> Throwing Stones-> Not Fade Away

Encore: U.S. Blues

Zoooma here. I didn't have a ton o' time to type up the review I wanted to for the whole show, so here's a comment of two and then I think Sugarmag's gonna add a few comments, as well.

Unfortunately, the volume of this recording is a little low. The soundboard sounds great but it needs a boost. Before today I had never jacked up the volume of mp3 files but I tried it and I think it worked okay. I found a free download called MP3Gain but there are others if you wanna look around. One drawback is any noise (hiss) on the recording also gets boosted. No worries, with this show the very little hiss that exists is only noticeable during the quiet moments between songs... so no big whoop.

The show itself is a pretty good one. I wasn't totally looking forward to listening to this, not as much as others, but I was pleasantly surprised and even more than pleasantly a couple times.

Cassidy is my 1st Set highlight... abso-freakin'-lutely! Bruce's electric piano is magical. Cassidy wouldn't be Cassidy with Bob's vocals and Barlow's lyrics but musically here, Bruce and Jerry are driving this to near perfection. They achieve such a height that for me was... next to orgasmic. So close to perfect... wow.

To close the set is something that's practically completely foreign to a Grateful Dead setlist: the middle of three performances of Hornsby's own Stander On The Mountain. It was busted out in Paris a few days before and the very next show -- a month and a couple days later in Oakland -- it would be played for the third and final time. I thought that coulda been a neat song for say, third song in the setlist, after a smokin' Bertha-> Hey Pocky Way to warm the crowd up, maybe. Oh well. Then again, Bruce shoulda stayed in the band (and Vince never hired to begin with... oh well.)

One last comment for now from me on this show -- Victim Or The Crime is weird! Well, not really weird but different. Thanks for that go to Mickey or Billy as well as Vince, I think. Sporadically, there's a dark, kind of ominous Halloween-ish sound... could it even be Phil maybe? He's not so loud in the mix but maybe its his bass. In any case, there's that through much of the song and one of the drummers begins Victim with a bongo-ish sound. It's so distinct, disappears for awhile and then resumes near the transition into Touch. I really like this unique version. Very... London Tower-ish? Seems to wonderfully suit the location!

A pretty nice show, some minor flaws, but I've got no complaints!



Hey now it's me, Sugarmag. Just a few thoughts on this here Grateful Dead show...it's interesting what Zoooma said about Bruce and Vince, and how Bruce should have stayed in the band and Vince should never have been hired in the first place. I think that if Bruce had joined the band permanently he would have been real dead by now because of the Grateful Dead Keyboardist's Curse and he knew it. Now Vince is dead and Bruce is not, see? Bruce was smart that way. Whenever I listen to a Grateful Dead show I try to listen to all the parts and figure out what everyone is doing and I am especially interested in hearing Vince and Bruce. While I did not fully appreciate Vince back when I was going to shows, there are moments where he really shines. Some examples of this in the first set are Vince's performance on both Friend Of the Devil and Walkin' Blues. As I was listening to FOTD I was not sure at first if what I was hearing was Vince or Bruce, but then you can hear Bruce's piano so it is definitely Vince and it sounds good.

I did not enjoy the Cassidy nearly as much as Zoooma did because as I was listening to it on my MP3 player I got my mail and I received some upsetting news that was a bit of a buzzkill, so no orgasms for me while listening to Cassidy. Stander On the Moon was interesting, I don't think I had heard it before I listened to this.

Victim was very cool and trippy and as I was listening to it I started to put the news I had received in perspective, and then Touch of Grey started and all of a sudden I felt much better. I will get by! Good ol' Grateful Dead! Listening to a show always helps me feel better about just about anything.

Drums and space sandwiched between the two verses of Dark Star was pretty cool. Jerry's voice was a little raspy but it was still beautiful. I liked Bruce's piano in the beginning of space. Playin' reprise after the second verse of Dark Star was pretty cool and Zoooma, it turns out that ANY Playin' Reprise makes me blush, LOL. Wharf Rat>Throwin' Stones was cool and I enjoyed listening to it but that part was like so many other shows, with a nice NFA with plenty of audience participation to close out the set. It was always fun singing back to my favorite band. As an encore, U.S. Blues was pretty common but always welcome and althoug there was nothing unusual about it, it was always fun to hear. I enjoyed this show and I hope you will, too.

Source: Soundboard>
DAT> CDR> WAV> SHN

Audio Quality:
London 11/1/90 @ Archive.org:

Soundboard: Listening Only
or you can download the AUD

or Download the SBD Right Here
10/31/85 a.k.a. 10-31-85 a.k.a. 85-10-31 320 kbps SBD
Grateful Dead -- 11/1/90 -- Part 1
Part 2 -- 11/1/90 -- Wembley Arena

Hey -- if you download, how about leaving a comment!? Thanks!

Grateful Dead Wembley Arena handbill 10/30, 10/31, and 11/1/90, London, England

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks Zooma,

I think a friend of mine went to this and I will point him in this direction.


Love!

Fancy Schmancy said...

Hi, sweetie. I wish I could listen to your MP3s, but I guess I'm either too cheap or technologically challenged. But I can still leave comments!

Deadman said...

TC isn't dead...

Though not yet a member of the Grateful Dead, T.C. played prepared piano on the group's second album, Anthem of the Sun, and formally joined them in November 1968, to supplement Ron "Pigpen" McKernan's organ playing. He also played keyboards on 1969's Aoxomoxoa release, as well as on the Live/Dead live album, then left the band in January 1970.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Constanten

Anonymous said...

Nice post Zoooma (and a GREAT poster to go with!). I've had copies of 10/22, 27, 28 and 30 from this mini-European tour of 1990 for some time but they don't get listened to a lot. It's not that they aren't good shows, but they are like a warm up tour for the Hornsby years (1991 through the spring of 1992). These shows seem to all have a very mellow mood and the "feeling our way" feeling as Vince is worked into the band. By the spring and summer of '91, Hornsby is ready to push and trade licks with Jerry and things really start to fly. That energy seems to be lacking in these european shows. The set list for this show certainly isn't lacking. I'll certainly give it a listen and maybe change my opinion. "You just gotta poke around," right? Thanks again! Adam

Zoooma said...

Nope, you're right, Deadman, T.C. isn't Dead. I think most people forget about him.

Maybe the key to being the Keyboards Survivor on Dead Island was to only be in the band a short time. Anyone longer than 4½ years... R.I.P.

Fancy schmancy - I was technologically challenged once. Sugarmag was, too. Well, I was more like technologically ambivalent. To a large degree I still am.

You can listen to these shows if you want to. One way is to go to Archive.org. Can't listen to Jerry stuff there but you can most every GD show.

Another way is to just click the .rar links. Download them.

Go to:
http://www.rarlab.com/download.htm

Download WinRAR 3.80 (the very first choice.)

Your computer might have a program to unzip .zip or .rar files... but if not then Winrar can do it.

It's a Free download, it expires in 30 days, but you can use it indefinitely without paying.

With that, you can unzip or Exract the .rar files. You can then pretty simply have all the mp3 files for a show on your computer to listen to.

Any questions -- just ask :)

Zoooma said...

Hey Adam, thanks again for commenting!

I know exactly what you're sayin' about not listening to this specific time a lot. Part of me wants to approach all periods of time the same... but I just know it won't be perfect like other eras can be. There's always something, though, that makes me appreciate the post-Brent show from the 90's... and often that something is Bruce.

In this show -- wow, what a Space. I said to Sugarmag that it's like Bruce Hornsby's Space with the rest of the Grateful Dead. This makes me want to listen to more Bruce-era GD! I love Bruce-heavy tunes! Very interesting. And right after that it's as if the 2nd verse of Dark Star is played within Space because what follows really more resembles Space than Dark Star or a Jam.

U.S. Blues felt like they were ready to head home but I think this is a nice show to end this tour.

Timmy said...

Zooma, I am kinda ashamed of you. You are entitled to your opinion, & after all this IS your blogsite, but why the abominable attitude toward Vince? He was a far better fit in with the Grateful Dead than Bruce OR Brent, in my humble sense. He brought new, refreshing ideas to the semi-stagnating band, in thier later years. His playing was superb, & his vocal stylings were a welcome addition to all the shows he dedicated his life to, at that time.

Zoooma said...

Timmy, my friend... did you hit your head? Are you okay? (Just kidding.)

Vince's first couple years in the band, it was like he was invisible 90% of the time. But during that time, Bruce's piano was prevalent like 60 or 70% of the time.

Brent kicked ass and later on Vince began to fit in more but for awhile Bruce's piano gave this band such a complete sound. With just Vince, they may have floundered for awhile before he found his groove. But with Bruce... wow, some amazing music was played. They'd've been so much better had he stayed in the band and Vince was never brought on board. Vince might play well on a lot of tunes but Hornsby is a genius.

I'm glad you're here, I appreciate you clicking to and commenting but we'll have to respectfully agree to disagree, my friend. I like Vince just fine... but Bruce was immediate magic while it took Vince a long time to come into his own.

Zapple100 said...

Thanks for the show.
IMO the problem with Vince was that they made Bruce play the piano and Vince got stuck with the cheesy keyboards. After Bruce left and Vince played piano, he fit in a lot better. I also like Vince's voice. Brent's voice was good when it was mixed right.
zapple100

Anonymous said...

Thanks alot. Just jammin out while enjoyin' the election results. :))
Obamas gonna heal them ol is blues.

freakypete said...

PS WE WERE FRONT ROW JERRY SIDE EACH NIGHT AND BACKSTAGE PASSES ON THE LAST (THIS ONE). SO I TOOK LOTS OF GREAT PHOTOS OF JERRY AND RECORDED THE SHOWS ON A PORTABLE TAPE WALKMAN UNFORTUNATELY MOST OF THE TAPES WORE OUT AND SO I HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR THIS SHOW FOR YEARS. I'M 'MADE UP' THANKS
AND THANKS FOR THE MP3 GAIN THATS FAB. STICK IT IN THE TEXT MORE OFTEN AS I'M SURE LOADS OF PEOPLE WILL LIKE IT.
SORRY TO HEAR ABOUT THE DOG BUT CONGRATULATIONS FOR ELECTING A HUMAN FOR PRESIDENT. THE REST OF THE WORLD HAVE BEEN IN DESPAIR AND CONTEMPT (NOT TO SAY HATRED) OF THE US FOR BUSH AND HIS NAZI MONKEY MATES.
NOW I CAN BE PROUD TO BE AN AMERICANOPHILE AGAIN.
do you have the other 2 nights as i would dearly love them and yes have a halloween show each year
yours gratefully
pete robertson

freakypete said...

MY FIRST COMMENT GOT LOST SO I WRITE AGAIN THAT I WAS AT ALL THE WEMBLY SHOWS WITH MY 2 DEADHEAD MATES AND MY THEN GIRLFRIEND (A DEAD VIRGIN) WE WERE TRIPPING OUR TITS OFF ON MUSHROOMS ON THIS NIGHT (VERY BRITISH AT THIS HALLOWEEN TIME OF YEAR) AND IT IS A VERY DARK AND WIERD SHOW, THE SPACED AND DARK STAR WERE SO INTENSE THAT SHE FREAKED OUT!LISTEN TO THEM COS THEY ARE THE DARKEST AND STRANGEST I EVER HEARD. THE WHOLE SHOW WAS WIERD BUT AMAZING, THE GERRY BREAK AT THE END OF SPACED WAS LIKE DAWN AFTER A VERY DARK COLD NIGHT. SPEAKING OF WHICH WHEN I MADE MY REQUEST FOR LONDON, WEMBLY, YOU WERE HAVING YOUR OWN DARK NIGHT. GLAD TO SAY THE DAWN HAS COME. HAVE A BEAUTIFUL DAY.

freakypete said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Sugarmag said...

Hi Freakypete, I don't know why you think your comments were deleted, they are all there. About your comments, I'm not a Bush supporter, Zoooma is, whatever, the election is over and McCain lost. Btw, McCain also spoke of mistakes in Iraq and Afghanistan and I believe that if he had been elected his approach would not have been all that different from Obama's, but we will never know and it's a moot point.

I'm glad you like this site and that you comment buy could you do me a favor? Could you please turn off the caps lock? It looks like you are shouting and I don't dig that.

You asked what Jerry would say, I have no idea what Jerry would say because I didn't know him personally, but I'm not sure if it's relevant anyway because Jerry was not Jesus. I don't recall him telling people who to vote for and I think it's kind of dumb to vote for someone because a musician said to, ya dig?

Sugarmag said...

Well, Zoooma, this is your blog and you can delete comments if you want. It's your blog! Everyone is free to start their own blog and then they can say whatever they want.

freakypete said...

sorry about the caps lock thing.
i didnt know that its internet for shouting, i didnt mean to im a bit short sighted now that i,m getting old!
look, i was in favour of the war when it began liberation sounded good (i knew a lot of iraqis in exile who had been tortured)
i,m not as liberal as you think. i would fight and perhaps die to prevent muslims running things (we have a hell of a lot of them over here, its getting rediculous.
i just assumed that you probably would have been happy to see a change and was just trying to be cheerful.
there are loads of dead sites but i like yours, i like our cosy little chats, if i got a bit ranty zoom, you gotta admit you did too. anyhow we love the same music and it is about the music.
last night i played the nov 1 show to my friends who were there at the show with me and we had such a great night and its thanks to you.
in scotland we say 'whoever you vote for the govenment gets in!'
and for us to fall out over such an abstract would be daft.
thanks again

one says one number and the other another
but they were set at the same time. Hmmm...

i love you amy uzarski.  always!
 
Calvin and Hobbes in the snow -- animated