Set 1:

Jack Straw , Jack-A-Roe , Cassidy , Row Jimmy , Mama Tried > Mexicali Blues , Stagger Lee , Passenger , Deal

Set 2:

I Need A Miracle > Shakedown Street , From The Heart Of Me , Terrapin Station > Playing In The Band > Drums > Space [1] > Playing In The Band > Casey Jones

Encore:

Johnny B. Goode [2]

[1] With Drummers

[2] Bobby wishes Happy Birthday to Chuck Berry before

This pretty typical early ’79 show from the Springfield Civic Center.  Keep in mind, when I say typical, that’s not a terrible thing, as the Grateful Dead were playing fairly high quality shows during this tour.  And in this case, the second set of tonight’s show is: I Need A Miracle>Shakedown Street, From The Heart Of Me, Terrapin Station>Playing In The Band>Drums>Jam>Playing In The Band> Casey Jones, which, as far as January 1979 is concerned, is about as good a setlist as you’re going to ever get.Most of the Archive reviewers are focused on the I Need a Miracle>Shakedown Street segment, which does feature a unique transition betwixt the two.  It’s cool once or twice, but it’s not exactly a Scarlet>Fire extended jam.  More like an interesting segue.  The Shakedown does rip, though.  Also, at the end of the set, the band plays a very good version of Casey Jones, which is not always the case with this song, so add it to your must listen list for the night.I’m going to say that the first set is actually pretty sub-par here – there’s lots of basic playing and Bob Weir ruins a couple of tunes with strange guitar interjections.   The energy is up, which is probably why people aren’t complaining, but, assessed objectively, there are much better first sets from this tour.One final thing that does stand out tonight is the quality of the recording, which is an A+ audience tape all of the way through.  If you want to hear the true power of a good AUD, you’re going to want to get this one immediately. 

Today in Grateful Dead History: January 14, 1979 – Utica Memorial Coliseum, Utica, NY

JANUARY 14, 2021 ~ There are only a few things about the Grateful Dead that remain consistent over the band’s thirty year career, but one of them is that, to my knowledge, they never played a bad show in upstate New York. Tonight’s show in Utica may not be the best of the lot, but it has a bunch to offer, and, coming when it does at the sloppy end of the Godchaux era, it’s surprisingly spritely.Before starting, lets get one thing out of the way. The only available recording of this show is an audience tape that is not a stellar example of the genre. However, it’s very listenable, and it improves a little after the first couple of songs. There are definitely some top outs and static throughout, but please don’t throw the baby out with the bath water here.I was surprised to find that my favorite songs during the first set are ones I don’t normally enjoy. Minglewood Blues is good fun, They Love Each Other has great Garcia soloing, and It’s All Over Now is a shiny example. (This is two days in a row that I’ve liked this song – things are strange). Just like yesterday’s show from 1978, the set closes with Lazy Lightning>Supplication, and while tonight’s pair of tunes is not as good as the one I wrote about yesterday, it’s still a good way to close a set.The second set is a strange mix of tunes that somehow works out. It opens with I Need a Miracle, which is definitely a burner, followed by a sloppy but spirited Bertha>Good Lovin’ combo. A little later, we get Estimated Prophet>Eyes of the World, which, as usual during these years, brings the house down. The jamming in Estimated is particularly intense, and Eyes chugs ahead manically, without losing structure like it sometimes does at this pace. After Drums comes a syrupy Iko Iko. Everything up to this point was pretty fast, but the band really slows this one down to a crawl, so much so that, 12 minutes later, when they are moving into The Other One, Jerry just starts vomiting notes out and the drummers pick up the tempo change until they pour full steam ahead into The Other One. The closing Black Peter and Around and Around are fine. There is, interestingly enough, no encore.I think this is a pretty solid early ’79 show – there aren’t a lot of mistakes and Estimated>Eyes is a good find. 

Weather

High: 27.2 °F Low: 16.1 °F Feels Like High: 23.3 °F Feels Like Low: 7.4 °F Wind Speed: 17.2 mph Humidity: 51.0 % Moonphase: 0.58 Partly cloudy throughout the day.