Dead of the Day: 08-29-1983
Silva Hall, Hult Center
Eugene, Oregon
Our Dead of the Day takes us back to 1983 and out to Silva Hall, a small little venue in the Hult Center in Eugene, Oregon. The Shakedown opener gets things going, warming it up for the smoking Minglewood that follows. Then the Friend Of The Devil, with Jerry’s voice just dripping pathos, takes off in the second half with a beautiful jam. Just a bit later, the Bird Song delights. To close out the set, Might As Well, not a song that normally warrants mention for us, really shakes. The band, led by Brent, but with some almost tuba-like bass from Phil, bring a roaring ragtime rock n’ roll to tune. The boys light up the second half right from the beginning, opening with a bright and heady China Cat Sunflower that takes the jam into new territory, maintaining an element of the ragtime feel from Might As Well through the transition into Rider. Estimated is certainly a fun ride and gets quite hot in the latter portions where Jerry and Brent drive the jam. That flighty jam eventually touches down on a terrestrial charge as the boys go it into Eyes, gaining speed and momentum as they plow through the song. After Drums and Space, The Other One recaptures the rapturous, fast-paced raging. Screeching right into Going Down The Road Feeling Bad, they sacrifice nothing as they focus more on the theme as Brent adds tasty fills. By Johnny B. Goode, it almost seems like they are racing, seeing just how fast they could play the tune out.
This tour took the Dead to lots of outdoor amphitheaters and other venues that held well over ten thousand people. Then they came to Eugene and settled into a three-show run in Silva Hall at the Hult Center where the capacity was 2448. To say that was an intimate venue for the tour is an understatement. The boys responded by throwing up some great sets, and the people who attended – and now us listening in – reaped the rewards.
One person who was at the show, Soul wrench on Archive, reports that
The hall was beautiful and the local maestro from the civic orchestra remarked to a local prankster/organizer after listening to Jerry riff and peak ‘The Dead can use this hall so much more fully than we can…’ indicating that the tremendous dynamic control the Grateful Dead exhibited really filled and stretched the capabilities of the acoustically wonderful Hult Center.
Lukerandall, another attendee on Archive, says he met Ken Kesey, who is from the area,
there outside and he told me two things 1. That you used to be able to walk across the Bering Strait and then the continents drifted apart. 2. That Jerry’s black T-shirt was not actually a T-shirt but it was a black tattoo on his body. I will never forget looking into his eyes. He might have been tripping. I was high but not on acid.
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