This was my first Dick’s Picks release. I was only just getting into the Grateful Dead and I wanted a title with Bruce Hornsby playing. After all, it were his covers of “Lady With A Fan” and “Black Muddy River” which introduced me to the Dead’s music in the first place. This was obviously the best option back in 2003. However, I really didn’t like what I heard and I actually stopped checking out furthur live music by the band for a while. I’ve only revisited the disc once for my rateyourmusic.com list of live recordings where I concluded “you only need this for the bonus Eyes Of The World, if at all”. But when I read somebody praising this release on a forum recently, I thought it was time to give this another chance. So here we go.
It starts off with a bit of a messy “Help On The Way”. Jerry’s vocals are not good and his guitar solos are pretty boring. Once we get into “Slipknot!” things are already getting better. Bruce Hornsby excels on piano, interesting MIDI technology and, most importantly, some fine guitar work from Jerry. Even better is “Franklin’s Tower”, Jerry really lets loose and Bruce Hornsby’s piano gives the song a wonderful middle section. A confusing finale doesn’t ruin the fun, this is actually a quite good latter day H>S>F.
We’re straight into “Walkin’ Blues”. Like Jerry, Bob’s not really in fine voice, but the piano/organ combo from Hornsby and Vince Welnick gives the song something special. “It Must Have Been The Roses” is well received by the audience, but to me the band sounds really tired and the song’s 6 minutes sound longer than a 30 minute Dark Star to me. Followed by “Dire Wolf” which has a lot more tempo but misses the fun of some of the best versions.
“Queen Jane Approximately” gets a place in the Dylan slot. I prefer the version on Formerly The Warlocks, but this one’s not bad with Bob singing nicely and some fine Jerry guitar. “Tennessee Jed” benefits from Bruce Hornsby’s piano style and interesting MIDI technology in the second half. Bob wraps up the first set with a relaxed “The Music Never Stopped”, an interesting jam halfway through is the most pleasant surprise of the show so far.
“Victim Or The Crime” opens the second set. I know I’m in the minority here, but I’ve always enjoyed this one as a very good 2nd set song, especially when it’s used as an opener. However, this version is just bad. There’s no energy whatsoever in the song, the explosion sound effects are very annoying and in the final minute sounds like nobody knows what to do. “Crazy Fingers” is somewhat better, Jerry’s singing may sound a bit bored, but his guitar and Hornsby’s piano fit the song’s dreamy mood.
Finally, when the band hits “Playing In The Band” everything just falls into place. Bob’s having a good time, for the first time in the show there’s some great double drums and the jam at the end is superb, especially when Jerry and Hornsby hit it off. Eventually Jerry hits the first guitar notes of “Terrapin Station”. It takes a while before the rest of the band joins in, when they do it turns into an interesting but unspectacular version. There’s some jamming between “Lady With a Fan” and “Terrapin Station”, but it doesn’t really take off. The band tries to deliver a heavy version of the Terrapin jamming section, but the drummers fail to provide the energy the jam needs and Hornsby’s piano sounds out of place.
The “Boston Clam Jam” which follows is better. With Hornsby staying on a bit longer than the rest of the band, this is a very interesting transition into Drums>Space. Out of Space comes the first ever “That Would Be Something”, a bit of a disappointment after something that could turn into a Mind Left Body Jam. The return of “Playing” is disappointing as well with annoying MIDI technology. “China Doll” is yet another uninspired slow song, fortunately it’s followed by a fine “Throwing Stones”. Not one of the best versions ever performed, but in this very inconsistent show it certainly stands out. A solid “Not Fade Away” closes out the set, “The Mighty Quinn” comes as a fine encore.
This leaves only the bonus material from March 31 1991. Strangely, the bonus material is a lot more interesting than the main show. “Samson and Delilah” right away has a kind of energy and intensity that the audience in Boston could only dream of. One of the best recent versions of the song. It segues into what is the absolute highlight of these 3 CDs: a 23 minute “Eyes Of The World”. After a long intro and the first verse and chorus, we right away get some amazing Jerry soloing. After a couple of minutes Hornsby takes over on piano, soon to be joined again by Jerry on a MIDI flute. Jerry switches back to guitar before we finally get to another verse and chorus. After that, there’s more Jerry guitar with the band slowly jamming towards something more quiet. Phil is at his absolute best. When we finally return for the final verse and chorus at the 20 minute mark you’re still left wanting more. After the chorus we get a lovely conclusion in which Jerry, Phil and Hornsby excel.
In the end, I haven’t really changed my mind about this release. Sure, the bonus material (especially Eyes) is superb and the versions of Franklin, Playing and Throwing Stones are good. But the main show doesn’t really offer anything that makes this stand out among average early 90s shows. Unless you’re a completist I’d suggest you’d spend your money on Road Trips Volume 2 No. 1 instead. That title features the same line up a year earlier in much better form.
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