Dead of the Day: 06-04-1978
Campus Stadium, UCSB
Santa Barbara, California
Given the solid playing and good time vibes, we head to the 1978 show at UC-Santa Barbara for our Dead of the Day. The Bertha opener is as spacious and voracious as they come. Initially, it seems, the band heads off in the standard direction. But, quickly, Jerry tears off and everyone else follows, leading to a ripping and altogether interesting start to the show. The Good Lovin’ is more standard, but there is nothing wrong with that. A few tunes on, Jerry puts down some steamy picking to open Big River, laying the groundwork for a hot Bobby tune after a solid Me and My Uncle. The rest of the set is upbeat and oh so hot, but the closer – Jack Straw – takes the cake with Jerry alternating between blistering runs and haunting, measured licks.
The second half is fairly outrageous from top to bottom, starting off with a fiery Samsom and Delilah. The Ship of Fools that follows is a bit short, but full of absolute loveliness. Then, things start to heat up even more during the Estimated; it seems as if Jerry is feeding off Bobby’s determined vocals, ramping up his guitar to seismic levels and melting faces with the warped and determined sounds he is able to produce. Eyes kind of stumbles out of Estimated, but it is instantly clear – with the fast pacing and jazzy, rolling jams – that the rendition will be otherworldly. Eyes eventually heads off into Drums and Space, the latter of which features Mickey on pans, some ethereal noodling, and, towards the end, a Hells Angels’ motorcycle putting a stupendous topping on some serious exploration while pointing the way towards a Not Fade Away. The jammed out NFA> Going Down the Road is awesome, except for Donna’s – and to some extent Bobby’s – vocals which involve way to much screaming for our ears. Not too much later, Bobby provides some perfectly semi-sensical banter on either end of a US Blues encore before the boys put a final cap on the outstanding night with a hot Sugar Mags.
Apparently a band called Wa Koo opened the action to good effect before Elvin Bishop – who seemed to never play a bad gig in front of the Dead – tore things up, helped along by Garcia on guitar. But then Warren Zevon took the stage, chastising the crowd for being a “bunch of 60s burned out acid freaks” while he played – terribly – through a drunken stupor. Word has it that Zevon was chased off by the stage manager before coming back with Bonnie Raitt, who made him apologize to the audience for his behavior.
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