I'm a "veteran" of many shows from the 80's and 90's and this night was pretty fun. We brought my 11 year old son to his first "Dead Show" and it was a good venue to do that. The "atmosphere" was pretty calm here and the venue was a quarter empty... The music sounded great and Warren held his own. I especially enjoy the version of "Doin' That Rag" they are doing and it was cool to hear it that night. Love hearing the "old stuff" and how they are playing it. "Splitting" Terrrapin was odd... but they are obviously not following the old "rules"...so anything goes... and that's cool too. The music was "tight" but did feel the crowd was not a factor with its lack of "motivation" for the band.
Yes, the show lacked tremendous "energy." No...this is not "The Grateful Dead". But at the same time it was very, very GOOD and I enjoyed myself...and so did my son. Brought him to Philly as well and great energy there...but same old Spectrum with its miserable facilities... dangerous stairways...etc.
it's about music and the music was solid... and these recordings are excellent. This is a great line-up. As I said...It was a great deal of fun.
