Rocking the Cradle: Egypt 1978 (2008) [Grateful Dead]

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The Grateful Dead occasionally crossed the border, but on September 14, 15 and 16, 1978, they went a bit far: they gave a show at the pyramids of Giza! An undertaking that was a financial drain because it had been agreed in advance that all ticket sales would be donated to the local Department of Antiquities and the idea to make a live release of the three shows was thrown in the trash due to technical problems. It was not until 30 years later that the recordings were officially released and that of course became this Rocking the Cradle. A hodgepodge of the best sounding recordings of the three shows (with the exception of Jack Straw and Stagger Lee - those are from September 15 - all recordings are from September 16, so there is nothing from September 14 on this album) and although a number of band members have indicated that these were not their best concerts, I think it still has something. I have a soft spot for this version of Looks Like Rain (in which someone - my guess is Phil Lesh - imitates cats howling during the verse "Did you ever waken to the sound of street cats making love?") and with this release you get, in addition to 2 CDs, a DVD with recordings from September 16th. Admittedly, it's not the entire concert and the tracks are also in the wrong order, but still... It was a day with a lunar eclipse and it just looks impressive to see the band playing at the pyramids. It's also cool that the Vacation Tapes have been added as an extra. That's exactly what you can expect: a digitized 8MM film in which you see the band, crew members and friends visiting a number of tourist attractions in Egypt. The full shows can be found on Archive.org as audience recordings and the one from September 16 is still worth listening to with the last time the band played Sunrise, I haven't checked the other 2 shows myself. However, I follow the opinions that the band has played better, although here at least a cracking version of Deal can be found.

Tracklist:
  1. Jack Straw
  2. Row Jimmy
  3. New, New Minglewood Blues
  4. Candyman
  5. Looks Like Rain
  6. Stagger Lee
  7. I Need a Miracle
  8. It's All over Now
  9. Deal
  10. Ollin Arageed
  11. Fire on the Mountain
  12. Iko Iko
  13. Shakedown Street
  14. Drums
  15. Space
  16. Truckin'
  17. Stella Blue
  18. Around and Around




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