19903 Los Angeles 16:10
Main theme at 7:35.
First verse at 8:58.
Tiger at 15:08.
Goes into Eyes of the World.
This starts out slow and deliberate. Immediately one notices Keith, on piano, is reasonably high in the mix for a change. By 1:30, however, he has switched to the Rhodes. Lesh gets them out of the two-chord scheme pretty quickly, and they venture into a dense and exciting thicket of sound that sounds like it’s on the verge of going somewhere somewhat different. They take their time and let it build, and then a little after the six-minute mark they ease back.
This leaves us in a transitional place, with hints of the theme popping up. By 7:25 they’ve taken it way down to almost nothing, and Garcia drops into the theme. The feel here is very laid-back and mellow as they ease into the verse, with Godchaux gently tinkling as the band plays softly. The mellow vibe carries through the verse and into the immediate aftermath.
Dissonant elements begin to emerge in the oozy space directly after the verse. At 13:12, Garcia starts bustling around in a manner that suggests a transition to more forceful playing preparatory to a meltdown. It’s on a slow boil, though. Kreutzmann briefly drops out at 14:08, but soon thinks better of it, and it picks up from there until by 15:10 there’s a kind of mellow Tiger jam going on, and this flickers in and out a couple of times before we reach a denouement of sorts and Jerry starts Eyes of the World.
This is a really excellent segment, although it’s a little too brief—I wanted it to continue, but it’s a very nice quarter hour.
What was said:
JSegel:
There seems to be good monitoring on stage so they can play quieter and hear each other.
Little hints at the intro riff while tuning, they start it together after a cymbal swell into it. Sort of slow intro, takes a while for Bill to come in with a beat as they roll into the groove. Lots of dynamics here, subtle changes. They sound very relaxed in the space, Jerry is being very delicate with the leads. Everybody is sort of rolling along, Keith has some wah on the piano occasionally. Phil gets caught up in a little octave riff after a couple minutes and it sort of coalesces the rhythm into something new, allowing Jerry to go modally outside occasionally, experimenting with chromatic leading tones. Bass is taking them somewhere, and they build it with a new progression for a bit. It lulls a bit at 4 min but then goes into a jazzy area at 5 minutes that barely contains the Dark Star groove, though Jerry refers to it, and at 6 min hits the A as if they are going to the theme, but it dissipates into isolated notes and trills, almost entirely dies off. A very bell-like electric piano continues, Jerry comes in with chords and they continue for a second though Phil tapers off.
At 7:30, it’s almost gone entirely again, and Jerry quietly starts the melody, they slowly come back to the groove. It’s very delicate still, mellow. Bobby stretching doubles stops downwards, creating a relaxing atmosphere.
Verse comes in at 9 min, a very intimate vocal from Jerry, delivered quietly and slowly through the verse. Slight build to the refrain, each line tapers off. The outro is perfect and lets us slide into the sea as they hit static notes and Keith has little noodles. It enters space. Cymbals are still rolling around. Bobby hits some warbling pedal, Jerry finds isolated notes in a chromatic area, very dark starry sky with the bell like piano. Phil starts some evil low notes, Jerry on chromatic wah-tones, Bill rolling around. It doesn’t really build much more than this, but continues with more. Jerry comes in low with Tiger-like riffing, some frenetic responses to this. The bass sound is moving around in space, little short fast riffs from everybody overlapping. It maintains and more Tiger riffing comes in by min 15 and everybody builds the meltdown, which cedes to jumpin’ Eyes of the World, a nice way over that hill.
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Really weird and cool version, very delicate, more than before even, and not much Dark Star groove or jamming, but the second half has some very odd chromatic weirdness. Cool build at the end that gives way to Eyes of the World
adamos:
Some shimmering cymbals and they're off, nice and easy. They glide along in lovely fashion, taking their time. Lots of pretty interplay. Jerry works a delicate line and Phil takes his time underneath. Subtle accents from Bob. There's also plenty of Keith and his wah work adds nicely to the overall feel.
After two minutes things start to build a little and it feels like they are spiraling upwards. The pace has quickened and they move along punctuated by Billy on the cymbals. They wind and weave and conjure up a pretty spell, cooking along (relatively speaking). Then they ease up after 4:00 and go a bit lower, pooling up and then shifting in a more fusion-y groove.
The momentum builds a little and they get near Dark Star again without fully committing to it. Jerry takes his line deeper and lower and then comes back up higher, hitting some familiar notes after 5:50 but then letting it dissipate. He dances around in thematic territory a bit more and then trails off. There's some nice tinkly bell-like sounds from Keith starting around 6:20. They wind things down to a pretty, quiet space as Keith keeps his delicate playing going. And then out of this Jerry slowly returns to the theme starting around 7:25. They work it gently for a spell and then ease their way into the verse. Jerry delivers the vocals delicately, befitting what came before it.
After the verse they reset and quickly shift into fusion-y spacey territory. Keith inserts some runs and Billy works the cymbals again and then things start to get more feedback-y and freaky. They continue to take their time while letting the weirdness emerge. Keith plays some wah-ish bell sounds again. Phil brings in some stronger low notes and then Jerry ratches things up complimented by Bob. Things are getting heavier and weirder and yet still somewhat mellow.
More mini-runs from Keith and then around 13:10 Jerry starts slowly spinning up a meltdown. He pulls back a bit however and they continue on in dissonant territory. After 14:00 he starts slowly heading that way again and the collective intensity starts to rise and the Tiger comes out after 15:10 although it's held relatively in check. They work this semi-mellow but still intense freakiness and then get a bit Twilight Zone-ish punctuated by some heavier bass notes from Phil. This proves to be a transition as they let it go and move on to Eyes Of The World.
A really good albeit brief version. The opening segment is gentle and pretty with good interplay and nice contributions from Keith. The post-verse freakiness doesn't go ballistic but the intensity and dissonance is there and it fits well with the overall vibe.
Bill starts off Dark Star with some cymbal-rattling, and moves to the rest of the drums after 40 seconds. A very careful & considered opening, every note in place. Keith starts out on piano for the first minute, then switches to squawky Rhodes notes for a more outer-space feel. The playing is certainly slow & deliberate to start with, but around 2:20 the jam catches a spark and speeds up. They head away from the theme in a more expansive direction, Phil pressing an interesting chord progression. By 5 minutes it's getting kind of free-jazzy; but around 5:50 Jerry hints at the theme and they slow down again. But instead of carrying on the theme, around 6:15 they slide into a quiet spacey stretch with Keith tinkling prettily and Phil bouncing in stereo. This gentle childlike passage sounds like it could go anywhere, but at 7:35 Jerry brings up the theme again, and the others gradually join him. The theme playing is protracted and very mellow (with some sour-sounding low notes from the laid-back Jerry). It's almost a surprise when Jerry finally sings the verse at 9:00. The verse gets a soft delivery.
Then space, deep bass hums, tapping cymbal, Rhodes chimes, bits of feedback & guitar noise. This gradually escalates to a more threatening swampy morass. At 13:15 Jerry starts his Tiger tickle and the band gets all freaky. Phil's still bobbing around in stereo. Keith, contrary to his practice earlier in the year, is still quite active as they slip into the Tiger; the Rhodes seems to have inspired him with a new sonic palette. They linger in the freaky zone, and by 15 minutes it sounds like a ferocious climax is on the way... It kind of arrives, but it's more like a friendly purring tiger than a roaring beast. The band stays pretty relaxed even while freaking out. The SBD source cuts out after 15:50 and Dark Star ends in an AUD patch, Phil's loud bass distorting the mic in a rather gorgeous finale. Then all of a sudden, Jerry's strumming Eyes and it's over.
I was left wanting more. This felt like a mellow trifle, a tease almost. They're so laid-back here, things don't get very intense or dangerous. It's still very nice, easy to listen to, but doesn't go very deep. The main change I would point to is that Keith is a lot more prominent on the Rhodes than he's been before, with various changes in tones.
It seems like there are a lot of AUD tapes of this show, but they are actually all copies & remasters of the same original tape -- surprisingly, an AUD recording "from Jerry Garcia's personal collection, made by the sound crew at the soundboard." (There are a few tapes like this from summer '73.) This copy is said to be straight from the master; although I also like this brighter-sounding alternate copy. Really excellent stereo quality -- this is really the way to hear this show: Jerry's guitar has extra sparkle & Keith really comes through. The spacey freakout of the last five minutes stands out a lot more on this tape, sounding like a galactic thunderstorm.
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