tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5195590583641426943.post4212043608471163674..comments2024-03-26T23:10:34.814-07:00Comments on Grateful Dead Sources: February 4, 1969: Music Box, OmahaLight Into Asheshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06943335142002007213noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5195590583641426943.post-35878266817399189792017-10-19T15:48:32.205-07:002017-10-19T15:48:32.205-07:00I found another review to add! From the Daily Nebr...I found another review to add! From the Daily Nebraskan, the University of Nebraska student paper.<br />It's a massive difference - this time from a young reviewer who enjoyed the atmosphere at the Music Box, appreciated the "spaced out" audience, subdued lights & incense, and couldn't wait for the next show there. <br />He calls the Dead "the rock group that started it all" - I'm a little puzzled by his saying there were nine musicians (newspaper error?), or that they were "back on tour" after being "out of the picture" for a year, but those are small points. <br /><br />What's really exciting is that he shows there's a massive cut in the tape - he says after three numbers (about 30 minutes), they played a Lovelight that got the crowd dancing, then took an intermission before a long second set. <br />Our tape cuts off with Death Don't Have No Mercy, picking up with the Other one suite. Lovelight must have followed Death, and the Other One presumably started the second set. <br />He misjudges the time - Lovelight would have come over an hour into the set, after a lot more than three numbers - but there's no way he could mistake the song, or its effect on the audience. This is a nice description of how the Dead got the crowd on their feet - and it explains why Lovelight kept getting longer through the year. (Circle dances can't be appreciated on tape.) <br /><br />The same writer also did a review of the Dead's 4/15/69 return to the Music Box, which I'll post next.Light Into Asheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06943335142002007213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5195590583641426943.post-49501854741338023012017-10-05T18:15:11.127-07:002017-10-05T18:15:11.127-07:00This was reviewed by an older mainstream reporter,...This was reviewed by an older mainstream reporter, as evidenced by his close attention to the clothes of the audience and the shady atmosphere. Clearly "acid rock" wasn't his main beat; he's mainly struck by how loud, strident and forceful the Dead are, and says it was more theater than concert. (He doesn't quite describe how the audience "joined the act" and "added to the evening's drama," unless it was just by their appearance.) <br />He does note that after the first couple numbers (Schoolgirl & Dew), the Dead "lunged forward into an unending series of complex renditions," the Dark Star suite, from which he could make out some blues (Death Don't) and some Latin rhythms (probably the Eleven). When the "unending" music "lasted at least 30 minutes without pause," I'd guess that it wore him out and he left early to write his review (unless it was cut short for the paper), since he doesn't mention that they played yet another half-hour suite after that! <br />He's a careful reviewer, though - though it's evident he didn't much like them, he actually doesn't say anything negative - he's reporting, rather than judging.<br /><br />Deadlists says the opening group was the Liberation Blues Band (a Nebraska band), but this review says otherwise. The Unknown are, well, unknown to me; but my guess is the LBB actually opened for the Dead on their return to the Music Box on 4/15/69.<br /><br />The Live/Dead review isn't really notable (or enthusiastic), just saying that the Dead are better live than on their records, so the live album is an improvement but still "lacks immediacy." Light Into Asheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06943335142002007213noreply@blogger.com