12784 Oakland 14:50
Main theme at :06, 3:01, 3:48, and 12:35.
First verse at 3:58.
Second verse at 13:03.
Goes into Bertha.
Now Brent Mydland is on the scene, and he tinkles along in a more or less pleasing way; Garcia is on the Tiger now. The intro gives way to a snappy and sort of funky assertion of the theme—it’s mostly comping until Garcia fires off a line at :34, but this doesn’t lead anywhere in particular. They seem kind of unsure how to get into it, and the band is much more rhythmically oriented now, so this almost sounds like a backing track for a while. At about 2:10 there’s a little uptick in energy, but this is almost immediately reversed.
They slip into an intriguing space that seems like it might lead somewhere. The theme reemerges, and then Garcia ventures forth a little more. He soon brings it back to the theme, and that’s it for the introductory section, as he quickly goes to the verse. The appreciation of the crowd can be heard on the SBD recording as the vocals begin. The band bobbles the chordal reverse in the second couplet this time; I don’t think all of them remembered it.
As they swing back into the jam, Jerry seems more determined to make something happened, and then Lesh starts playing more forcefully too, but Weir and Mydland go back to comping. Oddly, after a short time Jerry starts comping too. Nobody else steps out, so he brings the lead line back. He brings them to a peak as we cross the seven minute mark, with Weir pushing a bit now. The band is starting to sound particularly good now, but we haven’t heard many ideas yet.
8:00 sees a more laid back, spooky segment beginning. Mydland comes to the fore a bit more but his playing is fundamentally ornamental. As Garcia moves them into a minor key zone, Brent plays some tinkling flourishes, but if anyone moves things forward it seems like it’s not going to be him. Reaching the 10 minute mark, the vibe has started to disperse, and then they pull it together—Jerry relies on repetition here and elsewhere to get a little energy going. The ensemble has a more delicate balance by 11:00, almost like chamber music. Like everything else noteworthy here, this proves to be brief.
Garcia kicks on the distortion at 11:20, and soon the drummers kick back into a more laidback groove. Oddly, this evaporates after a few bars; there’s a promising moment where it all gets spacey, but Jerry brings the theme back and they go to the second verse. They pedal along for a little while after the verse and then Jerry strikes up Bertha.
The band sounds good here, as far as cohesion goes, although if anything there’s too much of that. Phil Lesh has ceased to be a source of ideas and a driving force; Weir is mostly playing accompaniment; Mydland adds little aside from decoration; even Garcia, surprisingly, seems almost like a spent force here. It’s not unpleasant music, but other than that it’s a whole lot of nothing.
What was said:\