Sep 26, 2012

February 28, 1973: Salt Lake City

ROCK SHOW ROLLS 'EM INTO AISLES

It has been written more than once that the Grateful Dead were put on earth to play in concert, not in the recording studio. Wednesday night at the Salt Palace they did their thing once more and upheld their reputation as one of the best concert bands that rock has ever produced.
From start to finish the show was first cabin. The sound system was elaborate, the light show by Heavy Water was super, and the warm up band, The New Riders of the Purple Sage, was magnificent.
The Dead have a tendency to play very long sets, so the show time was moved up to 7 p.m. to allow for it. The New Riders were greeted by a happy, dancing crowd. They mixed country sounds like "Louisiana Lady" and rock and roll like "Willy and the Hand Jive" and the Salt Palace floor looked like a party was taking place.
The Dead, led by wooly-bear lead guitarist Jerry Garcia, eased into a long and relaxing set of mostly sit and listen music. But that didn't deter the audience.
There was dancing in the aisles, hand clapping, and singing along with the familiar songs. The band, in fact, seemed to go out of their way to keep things calm by taking extra long breaks between songs. But the music they played was great. It was soft, rhythmic, and highlighted by Garcia's clean, spare lead guitar lines.

(by David Proctor, from the Salt Lake Tribune, March 1 1973)

This was included in the Dick's Picks 28 booklet.

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