Search - Grateful Dead :: Road Trips: Vol. 2, No. 2 - Carousel 2/14/68 (2 CD)

Primal Dead

Dark Star-The Other One | The Bus To Never Ever Land | 09/18/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This show is one of the most prized shows among tape traders and was always one of the cornerstones of just about everyone's collection. The thing was that for many years people only had copies of the second set but know we have the whole show!!!



Valentine's Day of '68 found the band sharing a bill with Country Joe and The Fish at the Carousel Ballroom. The band were in the process of recording both live and studio stuff for what would become their second album that Summer. The first set kicks off with a great Morning Dew which is followed by a then common Good Morning Little School Girl. The first set concludes with short, hot, early versions of Dark Star->China Cat Sunflower->The Eleven->Turn On Your Lovelight with Dark Star being just over 6 minutes and The Eleven just over 5! For the cd, we get some great filler to round out the disc: Viola Lee Blues from 1-20-68 in Eureka, CA; Beat It On Down The Line and It Hurts Me Too from 1-22, 23-68 Seattle WA and Dark Star from 2-2-68 Portland, OR. The bonus disc also includes songs from these shows.



The second set starts with excellent versions of That's It For The Other One->New Potato Caboose->Born Cross-Eyed->Spanish Jam. The playing is over the top and part of this show was actually used in the making of Anthem Of The Sun. After a pause, the band starts back up with Alligator. Unfortunately Pig's voice is very low at the beginning but it gets taken care of and soon we're hearing Bob singing "Burn down The Fillmore, Gas The Avalon". This leads into an epic jam that finally gives way to Caution loaded with massive amounts of jamming before Feedback. The encore is a ragged Midnight Hour.



"

Delicious '60s Dead

John Riggs Fulmer | Portland, OR | 07/09/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This item is a must-have for any aficionado of early Grateful Dead. 1968 marks the full entry into the 2-drummer era, when the Dead's exploration of polyrhythms and cascading runs of melody and sound from all members really began to flower. 1966 is glorious surf-rock psychedelia, all circus Farfisa and quavering vocals, 1967 the liminal space, where the tinniness began to drop away and the real savagery emerge, but 1968 is when they really came into their own.



Awesome. My only complaint is that the entirety of That's It For the Other One on Disc 2 will not play. It's a big complaint, but unrelated to the music, which is superb. Worth every penny, especially as it's sold out on the GD website."

For those Deadheads who've searched forever!

T. S. Saliba | Dothan, AL USA | 07/08/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you, like I, have had this show on cassette for decades, you can now have that best ever version of Alligator complete without have to flip your tape. The whole show's mix is identical, straight from the soundboard. Gritty, yet pristine. I'm generally an LP guy, but this CD has been instrumental in catapulting me into the modern age of audio.

The only thing I can complain about, is that it includes a few extra tracks from another show during the same time period. Although they're good, they don't quite live up to the Carousel show. They had to put them on the end of the first disk due to time constraints. Would have been better as it's own disk, just like the bonus disk, which also is from another show. That, though, is the beauty of CD. You can just push-button away, and hear them as you wish.



If you consider yourself a Deadhead, you'll know this is a must-have!"