Grateful Dead: Dick's Picks 28 (4-CD Set)

Grateful Dead: Dick’s Picks Vol. 28—2/26/73 Pershing Municipal Auditorium, Lincoln, NE 2/28/73 Salt Palace, Salt Lake City, UT. (4-CD Set)

These two 1973 concerts take place about two weeks after the Dead added a large number of new, jazzy numbers to their repertoire, one of which (“Eyes of the World”) plays a central role in both shows excerpted here (though these are not complete shows, only one song, “Deal,” that was played either of these nights does not appear here in at least in one version). As usual, it’s the medleys that hold the most jaw-dropping feats of improvisational derring-do; the first night’s “Dark Star/Eyes of the World/Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo” is seamlessly sublime (or is that sublimely seamless?), while the second night’s “Truckin’/The Other One/Eyes of the World/”Morning Dew” covers a prodigious amount of terrain, from raucous to frenzied to lilting to lyrical in the space of nearly one glorious hour. Also noted with pleasure is the appearance of “Box of Rain,” which the Dead performed live sparingly. Presented in HDCD sound—never before available in stores!

Songs:

Lincoln, NE February 26, 1973

Disc One

1. Promised Land
2. Loser
3. Jack Straw
4. Don’t Ease Me In
5. Looks Like Rain
6. Loose Lucy
7. Beer Barrel Polka
8. Big Railroad Blues
9. Playing in the Band
10. They Love Each Other
11. Big River
12. Tennessee Jed

Disc Two

1. Greatest Story Ever Told
2. Dark Star
3. Eyes of the World
4. Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo
5. Me and My Uncle
6. Not Fade Away
7. Goin’ Down the Road Feeling Bad
8. Not Fade Away

 Salt Lake City, UT, February 28, 1973

Disc Three

1. Cold Rain and Snow
2. Beat It On Down the Line
3. They Love Each Other
4. Mexicali Blues
5. Sugaree
6. Box of Rain
7. El Paso
8. He’s Gone
9. Jack Straw
10. China Cat Sunflower
11. I Know You Rider
12. Big River

Disc Four

1. Row Jimmy
2. Truckin’
3. The Other One
4. Eyes of the World
5. Morning Dew
6. Sugar Magnolia
7. And We Bid You Goodnight