Dave's Picks 15 is a masterpiece.
Guys, I'm on my third spin, this time on headphones, and I love this f#@king show! The whole band is ON, but it's a Jerry night for certain - no question about it. His vocals are emotive, his energy is high, he's engaged and creative, and his timing is Dead-on.
There are a few general factors I mentally rate a show on, and this one gets an A+ in all categories - the sound quality is great (and I don't just mean the fidelity is good - the mix is also excellent, which is incredibly difficult to achieve in a two-track master - it means the band was mixed perfectly on-stage that night, and they were singing in flawless unison); the band is playing tightly / in sync; the energy level is high; the lead vocals are excellent; the backing vocals are excellent (and this is key - when they're out of harmony, the whole song drags); and the set list is great. They carry this quality throughout the entire show.
This is definitely a 1977 show with the extra punch I generally attribute to 1978, which in my mind (right or wrong) is due to the raunch and tone of the Irwin Wolf. On this night, you won't find the sloppiness that '78 is often cited for. One thing Dave is spot-on about in the liner notes, is the end of the show - where 1978 shows are often criticized (and rightly so) of losing steam late in the 4th quarter, it's not the case here. I want to say it reminds me of the 5/25/77 Mosque show from DaP 1, more so than even the 4/24/78 show two nights later, in terms of the tight-smooth performance (both vocally and instrumentally) and the sonic quality of the recording (i.e. just exactly perfect).
This may be the best show released from 1978. If you think about it, The Closing of Winterland is really the only other complete show release; all others are either incomplete or amalgams from multiple nights. And NOW I understand why Dave didn't put filler on this thing - it would have completely ruined the ebb and flow of an otherwise perfect show. The sum of the parts would surely have equaled less. I suppose if you tacked some filler at the end of disc 3 it wouldn't have done too much damage, but it would have been folly to do as was done on Dick's Picks 34 (i.e. disrupt the normal running order of the show with bonus tracks).
In classic armchair quarterback fashion prior to this release, I questioned the lack of filler material, and I questioned the selection of a show that was two nights prior to DaP 7. Once again, however, we armchair QBs got it wrong and Brother Dave got it right.
And I have to put in a plug for my boy - Keith Godchaux is stellar throughout. There is some particularly great playing on Estimated Prophet's outro jam.
If you didn't buy this show because 1978 was the wrong year for you - you're missing an outstanding show.
Review culled from dead.net forum.
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