1990/07/10 Carter-Finley Stadium, Raleigh, NC, USA [Grateful Dead]

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While I was praising the year 1991 a while back, I was a bit disappointed that the Shakedown Stream was turned into a 1990 show again. The previous show I saw from that year (the one on July 16 at Rich Stadium) is one of the weakest performances I have seen from the Dead so far, but if I have learned one thing from all the shows I have discussed here, it is this: not a single Grateful Dead concert is the same as another. Even if there are only a few days in between, such as 04/07/1989 and 07/07/1989.

And yes, indeed, this performance at Carter-Finley Stadium is another step in the right direction, but 1990 is far from my favorite year so far. It starts off well, though, with an energetic Jack Straw (it's also great how they give the song an extra boost during the "Jack Straw from Wichita" verse), as well as with Loser and an animated We Can Run. It's delightful how Brent Mydland suddenly spits out “We gotta ride on it cause it's the only fucking place we're gonna ride”... I know it's a song bursting with clichés, but Mydland delivers it in such an impressive way that I really don't mind. It's just a shame that there are quite a few interruptions between the songs themselves and that power outage during Promised Land doesn't do much good. Or maybe it does? It seems as if Weir and the rest are putting some extra pressure on to bring the song to an end anyway, so they can use the set break to investigate the problems with the microphones. It's also impressive how they manage to start at almost the same point as when the power went out; there was easily a 3-minute pause in between. Something Phil Lesh apparently found hilarious; I have rarely seen him laugh like that.

I always have to laugh at his choice of clothing myself, and this is no different. He remains a perfect clone of Bill Gates who plays bass beautifully, and although he swapped his typical whale T-shirts for a T-shirt with a baby on it this time (I suspect one of his own children), he is actually wearing velvet shorts (!) this time. When Garcia is wearing shorts too, you know it is hot. However, it starts raining quite quickly, which presumably caused the power outage? Mydland's piano is covered with towels, and Weir looks up angrily several times when a drop lands on his face. Mydland also changes the line “There's a hole in the sky where the light pours in” in We Can Run because of the rain, but was the heat perhaps also the reason why they turned it into a jam show? Iko Iko is still cool, but the Playing Jam, Drums, Space, and The Other One are a bit too much of a same thing for me. It was nice, though, to see Bruce Hornsby playing with Mydland for a change. I thought Hornsby had only joined after Mydland passed away, but Hornsby & The Range was the support act, so he was pulled onto the stage as well.

At first a bit awkward (he also disappears between Jack Straw and Friend of the Devil), but he forms a good combination with Mydland. So, a solid concert, but without any real standouts, and the second set is a bit too jammy for my taste. There is nothing inherently wrong with a good jam, but the balance is lacking here, and even a fine Not Fade Away can't change much about that. Brokedown Palace remains an excellent encore, but that's beside the point.

Tracklist:
  1. Tuning
  2. Jack Straw
  3. Loser
  4. We Can Run
  5. Me And My Uncle
  6. Big River
  7. Friend Of The Devil
  8. When I Paint My Masterpiece
  9. Bird Song
  10. Promised Land
  11. Tuning
  12. Iko Iko
  13. Playing In The Band
  14. Uncle John's Band
  15. Playing Jam
  16. Drums
  17. Space
  18. The Other One
  19. Stella Blue
  20. Not Fade Away
  21. Brokedown Palace


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