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This live track off of Without A Net is easily one of my least favorite Dead songs. Its only redeeming qualities in my opinion are its pacing, which would often whip the deadheads into a lather, and Bob Weir’s wailing on chorus and close. Who knew girls with hairy armpits could spin so fast without falling down?
This live track off of Without A Net is easily one of my least favorite Dead songs. Its only redeeming qualities in my opinion are its pacing, which would often whip the deadheads into a lather, and Bob Weir’s wailing on chorus and close. Who knew girls with hairy armpits could spin so fast without falling down?
Collectively, Without A Net is pretty solid and was one of my first introductions to the Dead. Before I began listening to them consistently, a high school teammate brought this double disc album to one of our away football games. I borrowed it on our bus ride home and really enjoyed most of the tracks. Some of the songs I liked most remain favorites today - Mississippi Half Step/Uptown Toodeloo, Althea, Cassidy, Bird Song, China Cat Sunflower/I Know You Rider, Looks Like Rain, Eyes Of The World, and Help On The Way/Slipknot!/Franklin's Tower. In fact, if you want a good introduction to live Dead (I’ve always liked the juxtaposition of those two words), this is a fine place to start.
Instead of reviewing the song or its album any further, I’ll tell you about my first of ten Dead shows. Coincidentally, it was in July 1990...around the same time as the recording of Without A Net. After spending most of June in Italy on a school trip, I was working as an office page for the late Senator Strom Thurmond (don’t ask). As fate would have it, the night that a group of us had lined up tickets to see the Grateful Dead at RFK, the (very) senior Senator from the great state of South Carolina had decided to join the pages in the courtyard of the Russell Senate Office Building for an “ice cream social”. We did our best to be cordial, ate our ice cream and ducked out as soon as possible.
By the time we had arrived at the home of my Washington Redskins and waited in an obnoxiously long will call line for our tickets, the Dead was well into their first set. We had missed all of Edie Brickell and her New Bohemians, and some serious storm clouds were rolling in above our heads. Undeterred, we entered RFK to the sounds of Tennessee Jed – the second to last song of the first set.
The show was interesting, but I wasn’t really a fan yet. And we were seriously out of our league. I remember thinking how painful it was to sit through Drums/Space (Drums - a lengthy section of every show where the two drummers experimented with multiple percussive instruments; Space – a “song” directly after Drums in which the rest of the band gave the drummers a break while tinkering with different sounds on their keyboards and guitars). Except for listening for what song might emerge from Space, I never really got my arms around that portion of a show. It frequently became a good time to use the facilities. That night, however, my fellow pages and I used that time to watch audience members slide head-first over the muddy stadium turf into a dicey looking mix of sludge and gravel. Ouch! I wonder what they were smoking?
I really could not have told you much about the other songs the Dead played that night without looking up the set list. If I had a chance to see the show a second time, knowing what I now know, I would have been impressed…
Set One
Let The Good Times Roll
Feel Like A Stranger (more Weir wailing)
Bertha (a personal favorite)
Just A Little Light
Queen Jane Approximately (Bob Dylan cover)
Stagger Lee (I had thought this was a Dead original until my folks busted out singing along with it in the car one time; I believe they knew the 1959 Lloyd Price rendition - not the 1924 recording of this popular folk song)
Cassidy
Tennessee Jed (where we came in)
The Music Never Stopped (how some feel after listening to jam bands)
Set Two
Box Of Rain (appropriate given the weather)
Victim Or The Crime
Foolish Heart
Dark Star (a fan favorite and rarity; played only 3 or so times throughout the entire 1980s)
Drums > Space (see above)
All Along The Watchtower (Dylan again)
Dear Mr. Fantasy (Traffic cover)
Hey Jude (Ladies and gentlemen...The Beatles!)
Touch Of Grey (the Dead’s only top-10 hit)
Encore
The Weight (a classic cover of this song by The Band; maybe one of my top 20 favorite songs of any artist)
Luckily, I was also able to stream the show while writing this blog entry. Isn’t technology great? Click here to enjoy for yourself.
Ps. Our school trip had us in Italy during their hosting of the 1990 World Cup, but we weren't allowed to go to any games - those damn British hooligans scared our parents and chaperones. It was the first trip for the US to the World Cup since 1950. And it was the first of three World Cups in a row for which I was "in country" - Italy 1990, US 1994, and France 1998. I only attended games during the one in held in the States. I went to two games in...RFK stadium.
PPs. “Brickell” is not just the way to spell Edie’s last name, apparently it is also a neighborhood in Miami...
Instead of reviewing the song or its album any further, I’ll tell you about my first of ten Dead shows. Coincidentally, it was in July 1990...around the same time as the recording of Without A Net. After spending most of June in Italy on a school trip, I was working as an office page for the late Senator Strom Thurmond (don’t ask). As fate would have it, the night that a group of us had lined up tickets to see the Grateful Dead at RFK, the (very) senior Senator from the great state of South Carolina had decided to join the pages in the courtyard of the Russell Senate Office Building for an “ice cream social”. We did our best to be cordial, ate our ice cream and ducked out as soon as possible.
By the time we had arrived at the home of my Washington Redskins and waited in an obnoxiously long will call line for our tickets, the Dead was well into their first set. We had missed all of Edie Brickell and her New Bohemians, and some serious storm clouds were rolling in above our heads. Undeterred, we entered RFK to the sounds of Tennessee Jed – the second to last song of the first set.
The show was interesting, but I wasn’t really a fan yet. And we were seriously out of our league. I remember thinking how painful it was to sit through Drums/Space (Drums - a lengthy section of every show where the two drummers experimented with multiple percussive instruments; Space – a “song” directly after Drums in which the rest of the band gave the drummers a break while tinkering with different sounds on their keyboards and guitars). Except for listening for what song might emerge from Space, I never really got my arms around that portion of a show. It frequently became a good time to use the facilities. That night, however, my fellow pages and I used that time to watch audience members slide head-first over the muddy stadium turf into a dicey looking mix of sludge and gravel. Ouch! I wonder what they were smoking?
I really could not have told you much about the other songs the Dead played that night without looking up the set list. If I had a chance to see the show a second time, knowing what I now know, I would have been impressed…
Set One
Let The Good Times Roll
Feel Like A Stranger (more Weir wailing)
Bertha (a personal favorite)
Just A Little Light
Queen Jane Approximately (Bob Dylan cover)
Stagger Lee (I had thought this was a Dead original until my folks busted out singing along with it in the car one time; I believe they knew the 1959 Lloyd Price rendition - not the 1924 recording of this popular folk song)
Cassidy
Tennessee Jed (where we came in)
The Music Never Stopped (how some feel after listening to jam bands)
Set Two
Box Of Rain (appropriate given the weather)
Victim Or The Crime
Foolish Heart
Dark Star (a fan favorite and rarity; played only 3 or so times throughout the entire 1980s)
Drums > Space (see above)
All Along The Watchtower (Dylan again)
Dear Mr. Fantasy (Traffic cover)
Hey Jude (Ladies and gentlemen...The Beatles!)
Touch Of Grey (the Dead’s only top-10 hit)
Encore
The Weight (a classic cover of this song by The Band; maybe one of my top 20 favorite songs of any artist)
Luckily, I was also able to stream the show while writing this blog entry. Isn’t technology great? Click here to enjoy for yourself.
Ps. Our school trip had us in Italy during their hosting of the 1990 World Cup, but we weren't allowed to go to any games - those damn British hooligans scared our parents and chaperones. It was the first trip for the US to the World Cup since 1950. And it was the first of three World Cups in a row for which I was "in country" - Italy 1990, US 1994, and France 1998. I only attended games during the one in held in the States. I went to two games in...RFK stadium.
PPs. “Brickell” is not just the way to spell Edie’s last name, apparently it is also a neighborhood in Miami...
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