A Pair of Aces: 30 Years Ago 9/19 & 20/90

insane that was 30 years ago.

I was at these two!

My first and only time in New York City.

Quite the experience.

Both shows were great, but the 19th was just brilliant, and one of those special nights you never forget.

I brought my ol' Pentax K1000 out of retirement for these two shows, and they are also the last concert photos I've taken.

What a good time, what great memories.

 

 

amazing, badass, beautiful, goose bump raising...all that comes to mind when i listen to these shows.

the jam after UJB 

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I saw a good hundred shows post Brent and 9/20/90 is my favorite of them all. 9/19 is no slouch and it's interesting to hear people prefer this night. 

All six shows of these shows stand the test ot time and should be put out in a nifty box set. 9/16 was a DP release but the mix is terrible.

>>>9/19 is no slouch and it's interesting to hear people prefer this night<<<

I know that a part of why I like the 19th better is my overall experience from that epic day.

My friend & I flew in from the BA that day. We had juuuust enough time to get to our hotel near Times Square, throw our bags in our room and make our way in a drizzling rain to MSG, figuring out how to get into that bizarre place & down to our 12th row floor seats juuuust in time for the first song.

I was also running on very little sleep from working hard & very late the previous two nights, and that along with my fear of flying drained me big-time.

Basically, I was completely gassed as we got to our seats and the lights went down, but the moment we squeezed into our row I looked up and there was the band I knew so well, with Jerry just turning & ready to play, and when they broke into Jack Straw I had an adrenalin rush like few others I've ever had, and away we went. I was LIT the entire night from the entire experience.

But even still, over all the years that I've listened to both shows since, I've always liked the 19th better overall than the 20th. The 1st set is so strong, and the song arraignment of the second set, opening with Playin' and with that 2nd set Let It Grow coming after UJB, is just so good.

I think the Dark Star always gets the bump for the 20th, and that was a fun show too, but personally I think from start to finish the 19th is the better overall show.

No matter, I loved them both and I'll be forever grateful to my old friend Jeff for setting me up for these great shows.

He offered me the tix about three weeks earlier at a JGB show at Shoreline, and when I told my friend about it later that night she said, "LET'S GO!!!" and talked me into it that same night.

I'm not a travelin' man, and my more sober thought process after that JGB show had me seriously regretting agreeing to go, but damn, I sure did enjoy that trip.

It was a lifetime experience for me, and because of that I'll always have a place in my heart for Jeff Davis, who was a great but very complicated guy, and as it turned out didn't have much more time in this life.

pretty hard pressed to find a better opener: bertha>jack straw -  from the hundreds of shows they played in the 90's. it's like a locomotive train at full speed the entire time during those two.  i've spent hours on these shows, and the power of them is just crazy...

More fun anecdotes from the show on the 19th.

After the ripping Big River I'm floating two feet off the ground when I get a tap on my shoulder. I'm from the Bay Area, who the hell do I know in New York City???

It turns out it's someone I work with, two rows directly behind me. She says, "Hey Tom, I'm right behind you and I can't see. How about you & your friend switch seats with me? It's only a couple of rows, and then I can see!"

I was in a transported state at that moment and I couldn't answer her before the next song, buy hey, I'm a nice guy so I trip on this all during It Must Have Been The Roses. 

Ultimately, I come to the conclusion, "Sorry, but I just defied my fears and flew 3,000 miles to get here, and I'm not moving!"

Yet, being a nice guy I worried on this the rest of the set, but then at set break when I turned around and looked behind me I realize that I'm significantly taller than EVERYBODY behind me, all the way to the back of the floor, so I tell my work friend, "If I say yes to you, I have to say yes to ALL the short people!"

I remember having a laughing fit during the break thinking, "Damn, we grow 'em taller on the west coast!"

Hahaha! Great.

To paraphrase what Bill Walton would say to people complaining about being behind him:

"Pissed about how tall I am? Go talk to my mom!"

You did the right thing in that situation, IMO.

 

I clearly remember one of my roommates at the time in Humboldt went to the last few shows of that run

and called the house after the 19th just RAVING. I was like, yes I'm sure it was great but it's just 

after the show and you're high and blah blah blah.

Heard the tapes shortly thereafter and went:

Um, yeah. Great stuff.

Thanks for the stories and photos. 

 

OK, one more little story because I'm thinking about it.

On the 19th, as the band goes into Bertha and I'm reveling in no longer being exhausted but exhilarated, I take out and fire up a nice fatty, and the guy next to me DRAGS me down into my seat and says, "Are you CRAZY? They'll throw your ass OUTTA' hea'!!!" (My attempt at an east coast accent)

He then shows me a little flyer that was on my seat that said, "There is no smoking in Madison Square Garden. Anyone smoking will be evicted from the venue."

My thoughtful eastie seat-mate then said, "And they WILL!"

I thought to myself, "Damn, I'm not in the Bay Area anymore."

For many that might be a small thing, but in my provincial naivete it was a bit of a revelation.

So for the greater good, and also for my own satisfaction & self-preservation I did spend more than a bit of time those two nights sitting in my seat.

I imagine since I was wearing my Giants hat that there were some who thought I was a fucking westie meat-in-seater, but really I was just the tall guy trying to keep the peace and enjoy myself without hassle.

New York, they just won't let you be.

As Tatters mentioned 9/16/90 was released on Dick's Picks 9, I'll need to listen to that again today.  For some reason 90's GD does not get a lot of airplay at my house :-)   I did not remember that the mix was bad, surprising for a Dick's release. 

I think a lot of the Dicks Picks are poorly mixed. The older stuff is better but most of Dick's modern era mixes are strangled and strangely flat.

i stayed with my gal in a mitsubushi compact hatchback around the block at a paid parking lot run by a kind puerto rican fella.

Had 3rd row center on the 20th and a sweet sister dancing with me all through 1st set. Took a piss break between sets and left my stub in my flannel shirt at the seat.  Watched Dark Star from nosebleed in the back.  Damn....

Metro North

Towards the end of the run the conductors stopped checking tickets or patrolling the train cars

Hackey sack, tie dye, balloons!?!, liberal puffing and just about anything you would see in the parking lot after a show happened on those train rides

I like trains

>>To paraphrase what Bill Walton would say to people complaining about being behind him:

>>"Pissed about how tall I am? Go talk to my mom!"

I was at a show in Hartford, aisle seat on the floor next to the sound board. Everyone was up and standing on their chairs for some reason. The aisles in Hartford are kept empty by Gestapo security force. I felt a presence to my left which was strange because who was allowed in the aisle. When I turned to look there was Bill the same hight as me standing on my chair. The security didn't fuck with him. 

The 9/16 show was the only one I caught on that run. Also was my last east coast show. 

I got inspired by this thread and took a listen to 9/19 today. Absolutely sublime, in many places, both sets. The Jam into Drums is really special, Playin' is very solid; the whole show has great energy. I always liked Bruce. The first few months (or weeks) with Vince are known as being kinda 'off', and you can hear it in the first few September shows, but they had things running pretty smooth by Europe. The majority of those shows are top-notch Dead for that half of their career. It appears they had it dialed in a little earlier here, which I never knew. I'll be listening to 9/20 tomorrow. Can't wait for the Dark Star. Thanks for the recommendation!