"The Music Never Stopped"
More on Santa Fe--The Music
It was my intent to express my feelings and emotions about the concerts I attended, so the music was for a large part neglected in my first few blog entries. Every Dead Show and String Cheese Incident I attended left me in awe to the point of nearly being overwhelmed by the energy and passion for the music, so I couldn't listen to it objectively. Thanks to Archive.org, we can revisit those shows and maybe present the music more objectively. I still won't try to review the show song-by-song. The Grateful Dead Listening Guide does a much better job of that than of which I am capable.
I often had the feeling that the concert would end too soon, and, indeed, even if a Grateful Dead show were to last eight hours--a purposeful exageration--it would still seem too short. The Dead had a knack of always leaving you wanting more.
The first set of the September 10, 1983 show at Santa Fe Downs was a journey through the Grateful Dead's past, with such familiar songs as Old New Minglewood Blues, Tennessee Jed, China Cat Sunflower, Big Railroad Blues, and I Know You Rider being played with an energy that doesn't come across on over the counter releases. While many of the shows in the early 80's had nearly fifty percent of the set lists devoted to songs from Terrapin Station, Go to Heaven, and Touch of Gray, the first show of two at Santa Fe was mostly a trip down memory lane. China Cat Sunflower was especially well played with a jam that took the energy level to a height from which we didn't return until after the end of the show.
The reason this show is being revisited here is because of the second set. It began with Man Smart, Woman Smarter, then went onto a spirited version of Cumberland Line. The Jam actually began with Playin' In The Band, with the band creating some truly joyful sound. China Doll seemed as though it was part of the jam, added as an interlude, because after the chorus--which sounded like a band of angels to me at the time--Jerry returned to the theme he began during the jam segment of Playin.' That theme actually continued into the Drums segment, and even during the Space segment, Jerry picked up the rhythm from time to time to what he was playing earlier.
Bill and Mickey brought a different set of "toys" to each concert, and, at this show, those toys included a set of at least 24 toms and timps, a big gong, and some bicycle horns. They made use of all of these during an exceptionally long, but very satisfying Space segment, which finally blended, very naturally, into The Other One. The Other One turned into Going Down The Road Feeling Bad, which was followed by One More Saturday Night, which ended the set. The encore was a very appropriate Cold Rain and Snow.
To me, even now, the set seemed special compared to other shows in the early eighties, and, though the set wasn't anything exceptional in itself, the energy generated by the band and the way they utilized it was truly exceptional.
I often had the feeling that the concert would end too soon, and, indeed, even if a Grateful Dead show were to last eight hours--a purposeful exageration--it would still seem too short. The Dead had a knack of always leaving you wanting more.
The first set of the September 10, 1983 show at Santa Fe Downs was a journey through the Grateful Dead's past, with such familiar songs as Old New Minglewood Blues, Tennessee Jed, China Cat Sunflower, Big Railroad Blues, and I Know You Rider being played with an energy that doesn't come across on over the counter releases. While many of the shows in the early 80's had nearly fifty percent of the set lists devoted to songs from Terrapin Station, Go to Heaven, and Touch of Gray, the first show of two at Santa Fe was mostly a trip down memory lane. China Cat Sunflower was especially well played with a jam that took the energy level to a height from which we didn't return until after the end of the show.
The reason this show is being revisited here is because of the second set. It began with Man Smart, Woman Smarter, then went onto a spirited version of Cumberland Line. The Jam actually began with Playin' In The Band, with the band creating some truly joyful sound. China Doll seemed as though it was part of the jam, added as an interlude, because after the chorus--which sounded like a band of angels to me at the time--Jerry returned to the theme he began during the jam segment of Playin.' That theme actually continued into the Drums segment, and even during the Space segment, Jerry picked up the rhythm from time to time to what he was playing earlier.
Bill and Mickey brought a different set of "toys" to each concert, and, at this show, those toys included a set of at least 24 toms and timps, a big gong, and some bicycle horns. They made use of all of these during an exceptionally long, but very satisfying Space segment, which finally blended, very naturally, into The Other One. The Other One turned into Going Down The Road Feeling Bad, which was followed by One More Saturday Night, which ended the set. The encore was a very appropriate Cold Rain and Snow.
To me, even now, the set seemed special compared to other shows in the early eighties, and, though the set wasn't anything exceptional in itself, the energy generated by the band and the way they utilized it was truly exceptional.
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