The show starts off with a Half-Step> Franklin’s Tower combo, which is always so sweet, as it is here. A little bit later Me And My Uncle comes out and is a lot of fun as the crowd gets into it from the beginning, but really roars with the “We stopped over in Santa Fe” line. And we get a little double-shot of Bobby playing cowboy as he comes right back with Mexicali Blues afterwards. A really hot Althea spills forth next, which then goes into a fairly rare first set Women Are Smarter. Two songs later, they finish off the set with a smoking Deal that careens through a runaway jam that is just ferocious. There were certainly moments in the first set, and this audience tape really brings…

Our Dead of the Day takes us across the pond to Amsterdam and the middle of the 1981 fall European tour (because there had been an earlier ’81 European hop). After their shows in France were cancelled, the Dead announced from the stage in Russelheim, Germany, that they would be playing two low-key shows back at the Milky Way club in Amsterdam, where they had sat in for an impromptu acoustic set about a week back. With their equipment already in transit to the next set of gigs, the boys played on borrowed instruments. The first night was great, but the next – our Dead of the Day – blew the doors completely off. There is something fabulous about the Dead trekking halfway across…

Feel Like A Stranger storms out of the gate, opening the show in fine form. The Brown Eyed Women and Railroad Blues are also excellent in the first set. But, beginning with meandering noodling, the Let It Grow enlarges into the real crux of the first half with Brent, Bobby, and Jerry delivering up a sumptuous feast. Unfortunately, the Let It Grow heads into a Day Job to take it into the break. While the first set had its moments, the second is pure joy, beginning with the China Cat and its roaring, tumbling, inestimable jam as Jerry and Brent trade licks. Of course, China Cat eventually segues into I Know You Rider, which roars to life, taking off and soaring. After that, Playin’ comes forth, charging…