Dead of the Day: 06-06-1991
Deer Creek Amphitheater
Noblesville, Indiana
Our Dead of the Day comes at us from that bastion of good music during the latter years of the band, Deer Creek Music Center. The show starts off with a fun, impassioned Jack Straw before really setting off with a spacey, jazz infused They Love Each Other that is off the charts. The Wang Dang Doodle holds its own with Jerry raging some serious MIDI, busting out a barry sax sort of sound. The Row Jimmy that comes next is full of ethereal goodness with Bruce laying down some stunning keys to complement Jerry’s great guitar. The Black Throated Wind and Big Railroad Blues are both excellent before giving way to a lovely Cassidy, which is fully jammed out.
A short, but groovy China Cat opens the second set before heading into the transition to Rider with so much energy and verve. The I Know You Rider itself ranges over a wide expanse, starting off tight and tasty with Jerry, Bruce, and Vince all dicing it up to a sensational level before becoming just a bit more sedate, allowing for some tremendous, soaring exploration. Bobby’s vocals are exquisite on the Estimated that comes next as the whole band delivers in that seamless, mind-meld sort of way that they were capable of in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. The Uncle John’s is quite good as well, though, even at ten minutes, it still lacks the deep jamming that the tune was capable of. But we get loads of that in the Drums and Space that follow, coming in at over twenty-seven minutes, all of it worth listening to. Out of the depths of Space, The Wheel suddenly forms on the horizon, coming ever closer before washing over the boys, though they never quite come together on the vocals. Still, Bruce’s keys and the shear excitement of the tune provide an able segue into a relatively short Watchtower that almost unravels in the blistering guitar, cacophonic drums, and crowded musical interstices. But Stella Blue then makes everything right with its reflective, perfectly paced, and appropriately jammed playing. Lovelight provides the rocking closer that the crowd was certainly craving before Phil offers up a Box of Rain encore. The highlights of this show might be in the first set, but the band certainly keeps things entertaining in the second.
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