DF 7: 2/26/81

2/26/81 - Uptown Theater - Chicago, IL

Forget what you've heard about early 1980s Grateful Dead. Forget those allegations that the band wasn't playing up to par, that Brent was still finding his way. The fact is, while the early 80s didn't deliver the consistency that most of the seventies did, this period certainly serves up some shows that are as good as any.

The Dead began 1981 with a three-show stay in Chicago, and while the second night of this trio of shows tends to get most of the attention, I think this first night deserves a nice spot in anyone's collection as well. In fact, I think it stands up to the second night as an equally impressive show.

The sound quality on the soundboard is outstanding, but things don't start off very well. "Feel Like a Stranger" is plagued with muddled instruments and confused channels. Too bad, as it's a well-executed earier version of this song. "Go To Heaven" is still the most recent studio effort from the band, so another song from this album follows: "Althea." By this point the sound problems have been solved, and this version is a nice laid-back bluesy one, with Jerry delivering a great solo toward the end. The drummers are both very impressive here, backing everyone up wonderfully.

A turgid "Rooster" follows, with all members putting in stellar performances. Brent's organ work at around 4 minutes is the kind of stuff he does best, and I was wishing upon first hearing this track that he was a bit louder in the mix. As it is, he's getting a bit drowned out by the guitar's simple E-A-B patterns. I love listening to this song in my car with the windows open. It's grown on me in recent years, and I definitely prefer it to "Walkin Blues," Bobby's other 80s blues showpiece. The stuff that comes after Brent's organ is exactly the sort of stuff I love to hear loud with the wind blowing through my hair. If I had a convertible, it would be perfect.

"Bird Song" starts a little shaky, but turns into an all-time version of the tune. The early 80s had plenty of great "Bird Songs," owing mostly to the acoustic performances at Radio City and The Warfield, but this plugged-in version rocks. Amazing soloing by Jerry (won't be the last time during this show) makes for the bulk of the middle part of the tune. The "Me and My Uncle" > "Big River" duo comes next, and it's a rocking and rolling affair the entire way through. Jerry's work on "Big River" is especially outstanding.

"Peggy-O" is its normal pretty self, but the "Passenger' that follows just rocks. This song kind of confuses me sometimes -- it's not a typical Dead song, but it's good, and they almost become a different band when they play it, especially when following it up with an old Dead standard like "Tennessee Jed." Maybe it's just me, but it's a likeable but weird little tune. A quick note on some tag strangeness: when I download this show and listen to it in WinAmp, "Peggy-O" is tagged as "Tennessee Jed" and vice-versa. Someone goofed along the way -- don't get fooled by it if you create labels for your CDs.

"Jed" is great, but has lost a little bit of steam. I think this song peaked in 1977, particularly in the Fall. I hate to draw attention away from the show at hand, but here is, in my opinion, the best version of "Tennesse Jed." Enjoy.

The first set ends with a great version of "The Music Never Stopped," and although I think this was a great song to have Donna Jean sing on, Brent's vocals are really nice here, as is his keyboard playing. Jerry, not letting anyone forget that he is an absolute monster this night, turns in some wonderful noodling in the jam part of the song. The entire band is listening really well here -- this is almost Dead at its best. The best kind of improv in music is when you can hear the band members reacting to each other. Listen as Mickey and Billy ratchet things up a bit in response to Brent and Jerry's playing (4:45) and then as Bobby steps in with some nice fills at around 5:05. The main theme is entered again around 5:15 -- not as gracefully as it could have been, but still very nicely. Jerry stokes the fire again just after the seven minute mark, and then brings the song to a close. This is as good of a first set as I've heard in a long time. Make sure you include it in what you burn for your collection.

Set 2 starts with a nice laid back "China Cat." Nothing too special, but it does lead into a nice Rider, with a cool guitar tone from Jerry (that you can actually hear him switch into around the 1:48 mark.

Jerry, once again, is ON for "Samson and Delilah." He stumbles a couple of times trying to do too much, but he recovers in time for the instrumental descent into the final "If I had my way..." And when he does, Brent accompanies him wonderfully on the organ -- which is the perfect instrument for this song. The "He's Gone" that follows is an absolute treat. A bit more mellow than usual, perhaps, the song itself is played with a deliberate care that foils perfectly the relative chaos of "Samson." Great setlist choice here. The song itself evolves into a nice vocal jam between Jerry, Bob and Brent, with the drummers playing slow fills in the background and some slow noodling from Jerry. After a couple of minutes, this gives way to a pure instrumental jam -- free form, slow, as deliberately played as the song that preceded it, and beautiful. Things pick up quicky, and it sounds like they're going into "The Other One," but it's only a tease! For the next five or six minutes, we get another nice example of the Dead listening to each other, a pleasure to listen to when done right. Things get a little strange in the last few minutes, but it's nothing the boys can't handle. While not for everyone, the fast-paced guitar soloing from Jerry and Bob is at least interesting.

Drums and an extremely short Space come next. In fact, I wouldn't even call this one a Space, it's more of a pre-Truckin' jam with even more "The Other One" teases. By about 1:15, it's fairly obvious what Jerry wants to go into, and "Truckin" is released in all its glory after about 1:42. Pretty good version, but the "Black Peter" that follows is even better.

The end to the show is a fairly good GDTRFB > Johnny B. Goode with a nice "US Blues" encore. Nothing spectacular here, they just finish a top-notch concert with a fine ending. I'm tempted to say that the first set surpasses the second here, but I can't quite bring myself to say it, due to the strong "Samson", the great "He's Gone > Jam" and the gorgeous "Black Peter." In any case, both sets are a worthy addition to your CD stacks.

For next time, I think I'm going to do a Pig-era show. I just got my copy of Dick's Picks 35, and it's nice to hear the Pig rant and rave again after listening to so many 80s shows. So in a couple of weeks, DF8 will appear, and will probably be from 1970.

Till then, Happy Listening!