The Dead is Chunky & Winterland is Funky
PHILIP S WOLF | SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, CA. USA | 06/21/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Right after The Grateful Dead, returned from Egypt in September of 1978, it was announced that the band would play five nights at Winterland, San Francisco. The desert weirdness was coming to the city by the bay!
Volume 1, No. 4 of the: "Road Trips" series features the highlights from this last stand of The Dead at great arena before it's December 1978 closing. The shows I have heard from this year of touring have their highs & lows, but the: "From Egypt With Love" stand from Winterland, are one of the great moments of GD magic.
Most of the music spread over these two CD's comes directly from the second sets of 10/21/78 & 10/22/78. Some first set magic is captured as well with Sugaree and Stagger Lee. A bit of the Egyptian music section is one here as Hamza El Din, and his Nubian singers and percussion army perform: "Ollin Arageed" as a taste of sounds found on the Nile River on any day of the week. The Dead, takes Ollin Arageed and morphs the tribal chants of the ancient river into a savage rendition of: "Deal" a journey from The Great Pyramids to an old west card game.
"Passenger" takes The Dead, as close to the Punk bands of the day, as they will ever travel. "Sugaree" is streched out in some different directions with some fine slide guitar. "Sugar Magnolia" is a wild ride in a Jeep right down the middle of California's deltas between Fresno and Manteca on a warm summer afternoon.
The drumming onslaught of: "Not Fade Away" shows what the band had learned from the tribal chants and drum circles of Egypt. A fine: "U.S. Blues" raps up the music of disc one, and a excellent rendition of: "Goin' Down the Road, Feelin' Bad" concludes disc two.
The band sells this at their Official Web Site, for much less cash than it is offered here, and that is the place to seek it out. But, you need to purchase these sets early to receive the third bonus that is only available for a limited time before the vendors are the only ones selling this set in it's complete form.
The graphic work featured here is amazing, and makes for a very attractive package to house this music in. The music speaks loudly of just what The Grateful Dead, are all about. Musical journeys that span the globe and a thousand centuries. The live music of The Grateful Dead, as only they can produce.
This is great: "Live Dead"
4.5 Stars !!!"
From Egypt With Love
Dark Star-The Other One | The Bus To Never Ever Land | 09/18/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"The Dead returned from Egypt and played five nights at Winterland Arena. This release has it's major focus on the last two shows of the run, October 21st and 22nd.
The first disc recorded on the 21st, starts with a groovin' and movin' Sugaree followed by a rockin' Passenger. Stagger Lee and I Need A Miracle give the hometown crowd a preview of two new songs. The remander of the disc is filled with the last half of the second set. I Got My Mojo Working is a good version coming out of space with War's Lee Oscar filling in on harp. The Other One is massive before flowing into one of the best Stella Blues out there. Sugar Magnolia is a nice set ender following on the heels of Stella while U.S. Blues is a fitting encore.
The second disc recorded on the 22nd, features Egyptian percussionist Hamza El Din and his choir on Ollin Arageed before leading into Deal. Next up is a sweet Peggy-O followed by a hot Jack Straw. The Scarlet Begonias->Fire On The Mountain is hot followed by an equally impressive Not Fade Away->Goin' Down The Road Feeling Bad with legendary guitarist John Cipollina guesting on the last half of the release.
The bonus disc is made up of four songs from the 21st with the last two from 10-17-78."
Probably for Deadheads only
David White | Fairport, NY | 10/14/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Don't get me wrong, I like The Dead a lot. I bought LIVE DEAD when it came out in '69, and that was my first exposure to a Dead concert. The Road Trips series picks up where Dick's Picks left off, and this CD has plenty of good music on it. Three things make it not so great: Donna Jean Godchaux sings off pitch at times, Bob Weir's guitar tone is set at an odd setting for him, and finally, there are points in at least two songs where the original recording was lost or damaged, and what sounds like an audience recording is spliced in. You can buy the two CD version for less at the Dead website. The third bonus CD's are very expensive on Ebay, since they are no longer available and are collectors items."
