This Latvala fave is the night after a candidate for best show of all time. But rather than hide in that shadow, they're known as a great duo. There are 14 songs repeated from the previous show - only 4 of which are played better. But that doesn't weigh at all on this show. Even with fewer aces, it's one of 72's greatest, and long enough that there will be a great section you'll like (2hr 2nd set). It's another example of why 9/72 was one of the greatest months. It was their 5th show in Jersey City that year, from 3 separate trips! For accurate representation of this show, you need some AUD and some pitch correction. I pitch-corrected TOO from the AUD and patched it into a pitch-corrected M Iller.94268 composite and was good to go. But hey, we got the DALAI LAMA.First Set.is decent but AUD-only. The SBD had no vox foruntil 5:45. The AUDs pick up the vox, but the berger-AUD is 3% too slow. Matrix needed. The set starts to settle in for-12. I like the uptempo '72 versions of, but the abrupt arrangement challenged them - it's a l m o s t an ace version.is where the show really takes off.starts careening and getting crazy andis even better than the night before. The rest is very solid andhas a bizarre, super-long intro while Jer gets his levels, and his mood really comes through(patched with AUDs) is like a 20min freebie after a full set.Second Set. Bobby is out of tune onbut Jer kicks a rubbery solo. At, the set goes strato and pretty much stays there. It doesn't seem like it's going to tighten up at first but after it blows up, Jer interpolates the riff from St. Stephen (one of a few times it happened this directly. The others are 5/20/73 & 5/17/74). Bobby: "Well folks, I think something blew up". Yeah, a LOT OF FUCKING MINDS.is off-kilter, with a bad set position (did you go "wait, they're done?!" and check the set list?). Compare it to the night before and you'll see why they thought they'd pull it off. Before an ace(Jer the whooole way through), there's a Mexican Hat Dance tuning - but in a minor key!is, like the night before, remarkable, but in a different, Phil/Billy way.this night is a helluva thing. 16min to the lyrics, a way out there jam, an old school/'69 sound, and an ending with a Moore/Renaldo breakdown. The He's Gone>Wharf sandwich is an hour long. Thoughain't much,works up a storm, and Jer's work is insane on.They didn't encore because they didn't NEED to.: B: A-Overall = 4½ starsHighlights:Black Throated Wind - tightest of the tourBig River - better than night beforeI Know You Rider - Jer inflects moodGreatest Story Ever Told - seems it won't tighten up at first, then the fabric of the universe tearsMe & My Uncle - Jer the whooole wayHe's Gone - the Phil/Billy solo is just one reasonThe Other One - bizarre monsterSugar Magnolia - a stormNot Fade Away - maybe 72's bestRun:9/26/72 - C9/27/72 - A+9/28/72 - B+SOURCES: There is no perfect source for this show though, overall, the miller.94268 is best. It compiles the best sources (and is slightly crisper and cleaner than the bertha.34162 ). However, it is a tad slow and. It has the same cut in The Other One as all SBDs (missing 22sec starting@12:28). The AUD has the complete TOO but runs way too slow, needingin most places. The bertha.ashley.27584 is about as good as the miller and though it doesn't compile the best patches, it does correct channel errors and is painstakingly de-blipped. The sir mick is also pitch-corrected.

This is a really spectacular show IMO. The sound is great and all instruments are clearly audible. Forget about Keef and Woody. Here is proof that Weir and Garcia (and Lesh) invented "weaving." The way they play off each other and respond to each other is beautiful. Show like this prove that Bobby is one of the most creative underappreciated rhythm guitarists of all time. I especially love to hear what he is playing when Garcia is singing. Not to mention listen to what Garcia is playing Behind Weir on songs like ElPaso and Bobbi McGee. Just one long continuous stream of beautiful notes. And there's even a Phil bass solo thrown in. Can't remember ever hearing one of those.

Excellent. Positively ***gorgeous*** sound - you can hear each instrument so clearly and balanced so well - this is Bobby's show, for sure - here's a perfect example as to why this man's playing was so integral to the sound - check Ramble on Rose, Other One, Brokedown (right after the 2nd verse). There are a few patches here and there - if full AUD supplements aren't your thing, or unbalanced mixes get your deadhead undies in a bundle, start this one with BIODTL and you still have something like 200 minutes of prime, grade-A '72 Dead. Playin' and the Other One are both fascinating in their own right - Jerry doesn't go over the top, but stays rather low and controlled with that banjo-thing he does....both jams glide through lovely ethereal jazz. Part of this show could very well have been released alongside 9/27, but hey, we got the LAMA - this is truly one of the prettiest soundboards from '72 I can remember. Listen for Keith somewhere deep into that maze on the Other One, that grand piano psychedelia....man oh man...

favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite

I can't think of a show that I like better than this one--hate to say favorite, but it would sure be my first pick if I had to choose just one. And that is a reasonably considered opinion: I have had a copy of it for 29 years -- it has NEVER gone out of regular rotation in that entire time.



What the other reviewers have said, I agree with. Most people are probably familiar with the high speed St. Stephen jam in the middle of Greatest Story--and that really smokes. A couple of tunes later, it starts happening. El Paso just cooks, then He's Gone. Easily the best version of He's Gone -- and nothing else even come close in my book.



Toward the end of the He's Gone Phil is laying down what almost seem like back beat notes--except they aren't notes: They are the most incredibly funky high speed runs I have ever heard him do. What Phil does during He's Gone makes me think of John Coltrane -- Down Beat magazine described his improvisations as "sheets of sound." To say Phil was feeling it this night is huge understatement: He is all over everything -- in the best possible way. I got to talk with Phil briefly when he was doing a book signing. I told him, quite honestly, that his playing playing in the Stanley Theater, Jersey City, 9/28/72 He's Gone was the coolest thing I had ever heard--to this day it makes me laugh with delight when I hear it--it is just too cool. (Phil indicated he didn't even remember it--I hadn't thought about it before then or before reading his book, but I guess I used to think they listened to their old shows--and Phil would remember what I was describing-- but I guess they didn't.)



It then goes into one of those everyday (not) Phil solos, which thunders straight into an unbelievably good The Other One -- which just jams - then they kind of harsh it out a bit--actually a lot--with Jerry doing tiger stuff -- and then out of those ashes comes a just unbelievably beautiful "Me and Bobby McGee" -- and the transition is truly seamless -- just breathtaking. Then back to "The Other One" -- more energy -- into Wharf Rat -- a really moving and beautiful version.



OK, I'll shut up. But if I have haven't been clear yet: It's good.



When Dick's Picks 11 came out, I truly had an agony and ecstacy moment: I really, really like 9/27 (I have two unopened extra copies of Dick's Picks 11 -- just in case something ever happens to my first copy, or its replacement), so I was really glad. But it was so close to being 9/28, but it wasn't--so that was a bit agonizing. Maybe someday . . . .



When BVD said that he went to all three Stanley Theater nights, the giant green monster invaded me -- jealous doesn't even begin to describe it. Too cool man--you saw the best.



And thank you Charlie Miller-- you have the Midas Touch. You are also one truly generous guy--and I know there are a lot of people who are truly grateful.

- August 23, 2013The Very, Very Top of the Zone