Last Show at Alpine Valley: JGB, September 15, 1989

Jerry smiling at Clarence Clemons, Alpine Valley, 9/15/89. Photo credit: Todd Darrow.

The Dead played this space all (and very often well) throughout the 80s. Garcia played it once, and it was his last time there. There must have been plenty of room to boogie on this night, as the place was half-full, but Jerry sounds great and the show, as most of its tourmates were, is strong throughout. This is the penultimate show of  twelve in the two-week tour. Nice closing with a good, relatively long and weird "Don't Let Go" and the briefly-revived "Lonesome And A Long Way From Home", which never gets out like it used to be still comes off well. Bonnie Bramlett and Leon Russell wrote this great road tripper. Garcia's version followed Delaney and Bonnie's more country arrangement than Clapton's earlier-recorded R&B take, but Jerry took it out into some weird places, with some 70s versions clocking in at well over 20 minutes. After getting tons of play with the Keith and Donna era Jerry Bands (with both Tutt and Buzz Buchanan drumming), it reappeared twice in '81 (7/26/81, 8/20/81), then made five appearances on this tour (9/3/89, 9/5/89, 9/9/89, 9/11/89, 9/15/89) before being shelved for good.

Clarence accompanies the proceedings well enough, and it sounds like a good ol' time.

Jerry Garcia Band
Alpine Valley Music Theatre
2699 Highway D
East Troy, WI 53120
September 15, 1989 (DOW)
SJ MAC all-1 shnid-118330

--set I (7 tracks, 6 tunes, missing one song, 48:42)--
[MISSING: How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)]
s1t01. crowd and tuning [0:50]
s1t02. Stop That Train [8:00] [1:15]
s1t03. Forever Young [8:34] [1:02]
s1t04. Run For The Roses [5:36] [0:34]
s1t05. Like A Road Leading Home [8:35] [0:06]
s1t06. My Sisters And Brothers [4:11] ->
s1t07. Deal [9:#46] (1) [0:14]

--set II (9 tracks, 7 tunes, 79:53)--
s2t01. crowd and tuning [1:01]
s2t02. Harder They Come [11:16] [1:33]
s2t03. Mission In The Rain [1:17] [0:33]
s2t04. That's What Love Will Make You Do [9:56] %
s2t05. crowd and tuning [1:04]
s2t06. I Second That Emotion
s2t07. Waiting For A Miracle [6:36] [0:20]
s2t08. Don't Let Go/ [20:44#] %
s2t09. Lonesome And A Long Way From Home [5:54] (2) [0:02]

! ACT1: JGB #21b (THE Jerry Garcia Band)
! lineup: Jerry Garcia - guitar, vocals;
! lineup: John Kahn - bass;
! lineup: Melvin Seals - keyboards;
! lineup: David Kemper - drums;
! lineup: Jacklyn LaBranch - backing vocals;
! lineup: Gloria Jones - backing vocals;
! guest: Clarence Clemons - saxophone.

JGMF:

! Recording: symbols: % = recording discontinuity; / = clipped song; // = cut song; ... = fade in/out; # = truncated timing; [ ] = recorded event time. The recorded event time immediately after the song or item name is an attempt at getting the "real" time of the event. So, a timing of [x:xx] right after a song title is an attempt to say how long the song really was, as represented on this recording.

! Jerrybase: https://jerrybase.com/events/19890915-01

! JGC: http://jerrygarcia.com/show/1989-09-15

! db: https://etreedb.org/shn/8295 (MAC shnf); MAC (shnf); https://etreedb.org/shn/84359 (Holtz Mac); https://etreedb.org/shn/99084 (Holtz MAC); https://etreedb.org/shn/118330 (this fileset);  https://etreedb.org/shn/141680 (Markson s2 flac24); https://etreedb.org/shn/141874 (Markson s2 flac16); https://etreedb.org/shn/142021 (Ted C. and Nat F.).

! band: http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2012/01/jerry-garcia-band-personnel-1975-1995.html

! map: https://goo.gl/maps/DDSYmjCX2F22

! JGBP: https://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2011/09/alpine-valley-theater-2699-highway-d.html. The Dead played this space a ton throughout the 1980s. This was Jerry's only show there, and his last time overall.

! listing: Milwaukee Sentinel, September 15, 1989, p. unk;

! ref: Billboard, October 7, 1989, p. 45. Show grossed $237,517 on 13,946 tickets sold. Venue held 25,000. The band got a $60k guarantee earlier on tour in Hartford, so it was probably in that range.

! historical: Bob Weir and Rob Wasserman acoustic duo opened.

! R: field recordist: SJ

! R: field recording gear: 2x Audio Technica 2-ATR-35 > Sony PC-39 > Sony WM-D6C

! R: field recording media: 2x Maxell MX-90

! R: Transfer: Harmon Kardon TD-302 playback (heads aligned to tape) >
Zoom H2 wav recorder @16/44.1 > SDHD > tracking and editing w/ wavepad > flac and checksums w/ traderslittlehelper, analog > digital transfer by arfarf on July 8, 2011.

! R: this isn't the greatest tape in the world, but it's totally fine and captures the vibe really well - the taper and his/her friends seem to be having a great time.

! P: s1t02 Jerry sounds very lively.

! P: s1t03 FY very good

! P: s1t05 LARLH so nice!

! P: s1t07 Deal gets pretty hot

! R: s1t07 Deal tape flip @ 8:41

! s1t07 (1) JG: "Thanks a lot. We'll be back in a few minutes. Thank you." Then the taper notes about his tape flip, correctly: "I never would have made it."

! P: s2t04 TWLWMYD features great guitar work, totally characteristic of the period. Check out the tones he works with in the 4-5 range, on top of totally fluid picking. Really nice.

! P: s2t08 DLG man JG just sounds so great here. By 9, things start getting weird.

! song: "Lonesome And A Long Way From Home" (s2t09). Bonnie Bramlett and Leon Russell wrote this great road tripper. Garcia's version followed Delaney and Bonnie's more country arrangement than Clapton's earlier-recorded R&B take, but Jerry took it out into some weird places, with some 70s versions clocking in at well over 20 minutes. After getting tons of play with the Keith and Donna era Jerry Bands (with both Tutt and Buzz Buchanan drumming), it reappeared twice in '81 (7/26/81, 8/20/81), then made five appearances on this tour (9/3/89, 9/5/89, 9/9/89, 9/11/89, 9/15/89) before being shelved for good.

! s2t09 (2) JG: "Thanks a lot. See y'all later on. Bye bye."