04-18-1982
Hartford Civic Center
Hartford, Connecticut
The first set gets off to a blistering start with a Bertha into Promised Land. And while the Friend Of The Devil that comes next brings the pace down, it is rich and lustrous with its own scintillating jam on the back end. The CC Rider, like so many from the early eighties, is a beast. Then a first-rate Ramble On Rose gives Jerry a turn before a double-shot of cowboy Bobby with Me & My Uncle into Mexicali Blues, Brent’s keys, like a player piano in an Old West saloon, adding so much to the atmosphere. Jerry comes back to the fore for a solid Althea. Afterwards, a pregnant pause gives way to Looks Like Rain, building momentum as it goes, culminating in a feverish section mixing Bobby’s passionate vocals and Jerry’s equally fervid guitar work. From there, Big Railroad Blues – with the boys lighting off in the interstices – takes it to the set-closing Let It Grow, which gets pretty out there as the band creates a beautiful auditory landscape.
The second set picks right up where they left off, beginning with a bold Cold Rain & Snow into a towering Samson. Then we get another stellar tune in a soaring Ship Of Fools. The band then turns to Playin’ In The Band, sending such a robust, multifaceted version that it is hard to believe it is only ten minutes before they stumble into Eyes Of The World. The Eyes is as breathtaking as any, sizzling along lusciously before the rest of the band cedes the stage to the Rhythm Devils. Coming back together for Space, things seem standard enough until Phil suddenly announces, “The Barbary Coast in 1906, the wickedest place in the world,” and the band, led by Phil’s deadly bass, provides a sonic tribute to – maybe “re-creation of” might be a better word – the 1906 San Francisco earthquake that had torn the city by the bay asunder 76 years earlier to the day. Phil’s Earthquake Space is a special listen, but apparently it was even more powerful in person as his bass shook the arena to its core on two separate occasions, freaking more than a few of the attendees out and leaving a lasting memory. The Other One gathers in fits and starts at the tail end of the jam before suddenly pouring forth fully formed. A standard, which is to say awesome, Black Peter comes out afterwards before the Dead put a rocking end to the set with Sugar Mags back into Playin’ before capping it all with a final Sunshine Daydream. A feisty Don’t Ease Me In encore finally closes out another great show in Hartford.
We have Barry Glassberg’s excellent front of the board recording cued up here. But there is also a Charlie Miller soundboard and Hunter Seamons matrix that mixes Mark Cohen’s FOB audience recording with the aforementioned soundboard.
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