09-01-1979
Holleder Stadium
Rochester, New York
A bright and lucid Half Step opens the action with Jerry’s voice just filled with pathos from the opening line onwards. The Franklin that follows is top shelf material, and it becomes apparent, if it was not clear already, that Jerry is on fire this night. In the next two tunes, Bobby takes over the bulk of the vocals, but Jerry doesn’t let up a bit on his furious picking, continuing to lay in sensational runs. And the rest of the boys are keeping up and then some throughout; just check out the drummers work and Brent’s luscious, furious keys in Big River. The first set continues in resplendent fashion, closing with an elegant Lost Sailor into a furious Saint of Circumstance.
Mississippi Half Step-> Franklin’s Tower, Me & My Uncle-> Big River, Friend Of The Devil, Looks Like Rain, Don’t Ease Me In, Lost Sailor-> Saint Of Circumstance
Set 2
Scarlet Begonias-> Fire On The Mountain-> Drums-> Wharf Rat-> I Need A Miracle-> Bertha-> Good Lovin’, E: One More Saturday Night
Greg Kihn then The Good Rats Opened
The second set kicks off with a raucous Scarlet> Fire. Mickey and Billy take command in the Fire, overshadowing even Jerry’s jamming and setting off on a massive percussive exploration on through Drums and into Space. But as they always do, the rest of the band reasserts themselves somewhere out in the distant galaxies and, eventually, brings the ship, rather abruptly, but oh so sweetly, right down by the docks of the city and Wharf Rat. The set is long from winding down at this point with a Miracle and Bertha> Good Lovin’ still to come.
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