tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5195590583641426943.post1094383307436237973..comments2024-03-26T23:10:34.814-07:00Comments on Grateful Dead Sources: October 23, 1970: McDonough Gym, Georgetown U, Washington DCLight Into Asheshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06943335142002007213noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5195590583641426943.post-72897273991143490332021-04-03T00:50:26.578-07:002021-04-03T00:50:26.578-07:00I added another article from the Washington Post a...I added another article from the Washington Post announcing the show. Zito had recently seen a few Dead shows at the Fillmore East ("never less than five hours," he says), and he tries describing the course of a typical show. The Dead didn't play an acoustic set in Washington, but NRPS still delivered the country-western set. <br /><br />I omitted a few paragraphs on Eric Clapton's recent history, describing him as one of the great blues guitarists fleeing the spotlight of superstardom and trying to escape Cream's shadow by playing with less-hyped bands. (Zito also slips in a complaint about undiscerning rock audiences as well.) Since there was no Derek & the Dominos album out yet, Zito didn't know what kind of material the band might play, but heard it might be "a mixture of R&B and old rock 'n' roll." They aren't directly compared, but it's notable that Garcia & Clapton are implicitly paired as guitarists who've gained rock-hero recognition outside of their respective bands.Light Into Asheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06943335142002007213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5195590583641426943.post-59147310019410003152020-07-03T00:04:26.849-07:002020-07-03T00:04:26.849-07:00Music researcher Ron Fritts found a couple more re...Music researcher Ron Fritts found a couple more reviews of this show, one of the most-covered shows so far on this site with five reviews! <br />The other reports were from student newspapers, but these are from the mainstream DC press (the Post and the Star). They are less detailed - not naming songs the Dead played or more than two bandmembers, for instance - but still interesting. <br />Both reviews mention the crowded gym, the heat, the hour-long break between sets (in which the band "supposedly went back to their hotel"). The Post notes that, despite the concert being a campus event, only a fraction of the audience were students, and the venue was too small for the thousands who came to listen. (An earlier planned Dead show in Washington DC had fallen through, and they wouldn't return for two years, playing American University the next time.)<br /><br />Tom Zito had covered the Dead before, writing about their Fillmore East shows that July, and he was a fan. Oddly, his review cuts off just as the Dead's show starts - perhaps the editors didn't give him much space or he just had to leave early. (Both reviews seem to end abruptly.) But he gives a good description of the scene up to that point. <br />(One picture of Garcia is captioned "the head Dead.")<br />Holland doesn't set the scene much, but writes entirely about the Dead. He was less familiar with the band - he hadn't seen them before and doesn't seem aware that the New Riders were a separate group. But he's impressed, and particularly struck by their "remarkable jazzlike improvisations" (which were kept short at this show), and he even describes Garcia's "magic" guitar style at length. He was a careful listener - it's a rare reporter in any year who would distinguish between the styles of Weir & Garcia. Light Into Asheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06943335142002007213noreply@blogger.com