Up in the great white north the band brings out a steady swagger in the first set. A good “Mississippi Half Step” and “Minglewood Blues” gets things underway, and it kind of keeps the energy down as it meanders through the rest of the set. An unexpected and rusty, but decent ”Loose Lucy” manages to work its way into the lineup. The second half of the show starts out nice with a more upbeat atmosphere. “Hey Pocky Way” through “Estimated Prophet” is good and then they slow it back down with the dragging follow-up ”He’s Gone”. I don’t really care for the “I Need a Miracle” that has held a spot after the jam session in the second sets. The only good thing is, is that it’s typically held to four minutes. The band finishes up the show with a somewhat decent “Throwing Stones” and “Lovelight”. Nothing to exciting happening here.

Highlight: Mississippi Half Step

Recommendation: One for the Heads

   Here again in Hartford where the band follows up the first night with a better second. The first set has a great “Jack-a-Roe” and an excellent “Brown Eyed Women” surrounding the never pleasing “Picasso Moon”. I might rather enjoy “Passenger” with a follow-up of  ”Lazy Lightning”  than this song.  But besides this setback the rest of the first set is pretty good. Phil starts off the second set with “Box of Rain”. I find it amazing at how much the crowd loves it when Phil takes the reigns. They move through a decent “Foolish Heart” which kicks off the run of jamming. A very nice “Eyes of the World”  follows a solid “Playin’ in the Band” and then onward to the “Drum>Space” break. They do an excellent job of  making “Space” sound dark, cold, and mysterious, almost to the point of eerie. So when they turn it over to “China Doll”, it all comes together nicely. A good “GDTRFB” leads towards the end. Brokedown and tired they encore with “Brokedown Palace”.

Highlight: Brown Eyed Women

Recommendation: One for the Heads

The band is in Hartford, where historically they’ve performed well. I would say that this performance starts out right, but lacks continuity. And this tapes quality just isn’t very good, it is from multiple sources and I find the change in volumes annoying. The band doesn’t seem as “on” as they did just a couple days back, but I guess sometimes you’ve got it and sometimes it’s lacking. The “Shakedown Street” >”Little Red Rooster” combo kicks this shin-dig off right.  The rest of the first is decent, with a nice slow version “Friend of the Devil” and “Just a Little Light” mid set. It would be nice if one day they surprise everyone with the upbeat version of “Friend of the Devil” again.  The second set slows down after “Iko Iko”, but meanders interestingly from “He’s Gone” through “Truckin’ ” before Willie Dixon’s “Spoonful Blues”. This is pretty good, and it’s seems like it’s been  awhile sense they brought this one out.  A good “Wathctower” leads to a deecent “Morning Dew”,  but Jerry lacks the usual strong passion in his voice. They sound tired when they close with “U.S. Blues”.

Highlight: Shakedown Street>Little Red Rooster

Recommendation: One for the Heads

Another solid night at the Capital Center. The band plays a pretty good first set with “Touch of Grey”,  ”Peggy-O” and a surprise “Black Throated Wind” . I was actually surprised at how happy I was to hear this song again. A long jammed out “Bird Song” and a follow up “Blow Away” finishes the set. The second set kicks off with a high energy “Scarlet Begonias”>”Estimated Prophet” that carries on to a really nice “Ship of Fools”. On through a handful of good and typical second set jam songs the band flows easily into a sedating “Stella Blue”. They end the show with an okay cover of the Rolling Stones “The Last Time”. This show is pretty good and the band just seems to be getting hotter.

Highlight: Scarlet Begonias>Estimated Prophet

Recommendation: One for the Heads

A very full show in the month of March, fierce like a lion. This carries on with the idea of keeping 1990 an awesome year for music. The band gets the first set feeling good with “Jack ‘Straw” and “Sugaree”. They carry this forward with “Althea”, “Tennessee Jed” and a good “Cassidy”. Even Brent’s songs are done well. The second set becomes, yet again a stellar jam session, well, for the most part. There is almost always an exception to every show. They add on an interesting jam to the end of “Terrapin Station”,  billed as “Mock Turtle Jam”. This is a good complement, but lacks significant character in order to be named properly, as it name implies. The more Billy and Mickey keep “Drums” organic with toms and cymbals, bells and other non electronic sounds the more entrancing and really enjoyable . Luckily this is one of those instances. The band easily builds on this as it turns to a nice and trippy “Space”. The rest of the show is pretty solid and they decide to end the show with a rough adaptation of the Beatles “Revolution”, in a very “Dead” style.

Highlight: Drums>Space

Recommendation:  Not too Bad

Well if the all of the 1990 shows are as good as this one, it’s going to be a very good year. The first set doesn’t start off really any different from any shows that have come before, but it is a good set with “Peggy-O” being the highlight. The crowd is screaming for Phil, so he leads the band in Bob Dylan’s “Tom Thumb’s Blues”. Not the biggest fan of Phil’s singing but at least he’s going for it. The second set is astoundingly good. The dance party begins with an excellent “Scarlet>Fire” that tops just about every version I’ve heard in the last eight years. Without slowing down they rip into “Playin’ in the Band” and top it off with “Terrapin Station” before “Drums>Space”. This hour of music is genius. The “Drum>Space” break offers some rest for the feet, as does “I Need a Miracle”. A nice “Stella Blue” mellows everyone out before “Lovelight” sends the crowd home.

Highlight: Scarlet>Fire

Recommendation: Excellent

  The only New Years show I have for the band in 1989, and it’s the first of the usual holiday run.  The first set has an always welcomed “Althea”. If there is a song I wouldn’t mind them playing more often and even just beating me with, this would be a good one. This comes after somewhat of a slow take off. “Cold Rain & Snow” just didn’t open as strongly as it has done in the past. They play through Bob’s “Tom Thumb’s Blues” before a languid jam in “Bird Song”, and finishing the set with “Promised Land”. The second set is much more of a party, not unusual. A rather decent  “Iko Iko” kicks the spirits up a notch as they start to unwrap into the jams in “Playin’”> on. I like that they hover on “Playin’ ” a bit more here than they have been this year, before moving onto ”Uncle John’s”. And I also like that they place  ”Crazy Fingers” in between them. “The Wheel” cleans up the “Drum>Space” break and “Morning Dew” is really the only good thing about the end of the show. Here come the 90′s.

Highlight: Playin’>Crazy Fingers>Uncle John’s Band

Recommendation: One for the Heads

The third night at the Great Western Forum, and from one look at the set list I could see there were a few songs missing from this tape. This tape is the entire first set, and part of the second set, missing the jams and the “Drum>Space” break. So the first set is pretty good with a solid “Sugaree” and actually a decently jammed “Victim or the Crime”. After “Victim” Bobby announces that they are going to bring out another guest to play with. I guess I missed the first guest, which happens to be Bruce Hornsby, and now Spencer Davis is joining them to take over some guitar and vocals. They jam “CC Rider”, which hasn’t been coming around lately, and then they move onto “I’m a Man”. This is an original song by The Spencer Davis Group, it reminded me a lot of Santana’s “Fried Neckbones”. Carlos and the boys must have borrowed the sound to jam one day and came up with their own song. The second half of the show, what I have anyway, isn’t to bad. A good Jack Straw gets things going again and later “Stella Blue” settles the mood down. “Baby Blue” calls it a night.

Highlight: Sugaree

Recommendation: One for the Heads

        Just the second set for the second night at the Great Western Forum. The band kicks it off with a pretty decent “Foolish Heart” before really taking everyone for a ride when “Playin’”  gets underway. I think I heard a few hints at the “Spanish Jam” in there somewhere. This comes to a “Drum>Space” break that becomes a little bit hard to endure, but it comes around a half hour later to “Dear Mr. Fantasy>Hey Jude”. I’m surprised everytime this comes around, at how much I enjoy listening to this combo. After “Lovelight” they close shop with “Heaven’s Door”.

Highlight: Playin’>>Playin’

Recommendation: One for the Heads

               “Let the Good Times Roll” gets a first set, that takes a bit to take off, underway. When “Beat it on Down the Line” comes around the band starts cookin’. This second half of the set is great, and incudes a nice “Ramble on Rose” and “Cassidy” that lead to a ‘”Blow Away” that gets carried away till the set ends. The second gets on with the dance party, starting out with “Help on the Way>Slipkont!>Franklin’s” , good stuff. This slowly breaks down into “Looks Like Rain” and carries on to a decent and never rushed “He’s Gone”. The remainder of the set is typical and decent, I don’t really enjoy the trippy synth voclas on “The Other One” that much, it was a cool change up, but it’s run it’s course for me. A very solid “NFA”  comes in last before the band resurfaces for the “U.S. Blues” encore.

Highlight: Blow Away

Recommendation: One for the Heads

The band is back on their home turf to start the seasonal good spirited holiday tour. Can we please get a nostalgic “Run Rudolph Run”? The band comes out swinging with a nice “Shakedown Street” to get the party thumping.  They sound good and their playing is really tight tonight, a good example of this is  ”Jack-a-Roe”, superb. The first set is decent with a handful of excellent songs and a couple of good renditions of lame songs. They continue on in the second set with a great “Scarlet Begonias” backed by a short “Sugar Magnolia”, and then bring out a special guest. “The Big Man” himself Clarence Clemons joins the band on stage  to jam the saxophone. This is a great replacement for the annoyingly placed synth horns Brent had been playing over the Fall tour. He adds his smooth sound to the majority of songs in the second set. The band takes “Terrapin Station” out for a long walk tonight and they explore it’s depths before they carry on to the “Drum>Space” break. An outstanding “All Along the Watchtower” boosts the energy to the top before  they slow it up a bit with “Standing on the Moon”. They finally come around to “Sunshine Daydream” before they polish everyone’s frontal lobes with a coma inducing “Black Muddy River” for the encore.

Highlight: Terrapin Station, All along the Watchtower

Recommendation: A pretty good show overall.

The second night in Miami and the band turns up the heat with a great show. The first set is littered with some classic country tunes mixed with other good tunes. I was happy to hear “Brown Eyed Women” mixed in with this bunch. “Little Red Rooster” is also done well. The second set becomes abstract art after a typically good “Estimated Prophet” gets things moving, and a solid “Blow Away” follows up. The band tunes up for their venture into a deep “Dark Star”  that gets insane as it travels for almost a half an hour. This transitions into “Drums” and then to “Space”, which sounds a lot like what they did in “Dark Star”, good and crazy. They turn it over to “The Wheel”, “Watchtower” and then “Stella Blue”. The band does a good job getting in some crowd pleasers blended with their experimental music, which isn’t as common place as it should be. This tape has a handful of cuts in it that tend to annoy, but at least the songs aren’t entirely cut off. The band bids a short goodnight after a solid “NFA”.

Highlight: Dark Star>

Recommendation: An excellent finish to the October shows.

Brent’s synthesized horn sounds have been getting pretty annoying lately, but at this show in Miami they are subdued, and besides a good “Just a Little Light”, so is Brent. “Sugaree” is excellent and so is the first set, besides the ever dissapointing “Picasso Moon”. This is the first of two songs involving the moon over Miami. A good “Playing in the Band” gets the second set going and they carry on into a typically decent “Uncle John’s”.  At one point Jerry botches the lyrics as Bobby carries on singing, they pull it together for the next line, which seems more relevant than ever before, “Whoa-oh, what I want to know, how does the song go?”  They get the jam out on it and then have a rough transition back into “Playin’”. The band follows this up by slowing it down with a dragging “Standing on the Moon” before shifting gears back to the rock of “Truckin’”. A good “Wharf Rat” and a nice finish with “U.S. Blues” helps make  this an enjoyable second set.

Highlight: Playin’>Uncle John’s 

Recommendation: One for the Heads 

The band opens with “California Earthquake” in another tribute to the people of California. It’s nice and feels more appropriate here at the beginning of the show before they move on to the party. I think this is the first time “When I Paint My Masterpiece” really caught my ear, sounding solid mixed in amongst pretty good versions of “Loser”, “Bertha” and an excellent “Let it Grow” that closes the set out. The second set gets underway with an upbeat “Touch of Grey” that always brings a good spirit to a show, before a gentle “Looks Like Rain”. “We Can Run” and “Crazy Fingers” keeps the tempo and mood mellow. Besides “Terrapin Station”  and “GDTRFB” they keep this feeling going through out the entire set. “Attics of My Life” is a nice finishing touch to this pretty chill show.

Highlight: Let it Grow

Recommendation: One for the Heads

                   A first set tape here for another October show that is now moving into the South. The band kicks things off with a decent “Foolish Heart” that puts everyone in a groovy mood. Though I prefer a nice lingering  jam on ”Mississippi Half Step”, they forfeit the time to a good “Minglewood Blues” and  ”Queen Jane Approximately”. This keeps “MHS” to a meager six minutes. The band also does a very nice job of taking “Bird Song” out for a long spin before the set ending “Johnny B. Goode”.

Highlight: Bird Song

Recommendation: One for the Heads