02-28-1973
Salt Palace
Salt Lake City, Utah
While there is much that is very good in here, including a wonderful TLEO and He’s Gone in the first set, other parts do not quite seem to reach the outer limits that we know the band is capable of. For instance, the Sugaree is good but not earth-shattering. And, the China> Rider, despite a funky little jam before the transition, does not plumb the full depths of those two tunes. But complaining about 1973 is for losers!
And the second set does end with an awesome Promised Land, Truckin’> Other One> Eyes> Morning Dew, Sugar Magnolia and then an enchanting We Bid You Goodnight encore. Sadly, none of the recordings that are out there seem to capture the entirety of it with the exception, of course, of Dick’s Picks Volume 28. Even with the Dick’s Picks, you still need to lay your hands on the album because those missing tunes are “album only” on the MP3 download off Amazon. The Dick’s Picks is definitely worth hunting down as it is those last few tunes that turn this into something truly special that, I imagine, made Dick Latvala want to send it out into the world from the Vault.
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