The only tape circulating for the Garcia Band show at Stages in East St. Louis, May 23, 1983, was recorded using the built-in mics of a Sony D6 by one Steven Shayman. Looks like it entered circulation in June 2004 as a shn fileset put together by Dr. Chris Ladner (neo_levo) as part of the MisSHN in the Rain offshoot of the The Music Never Stopped (TMNSP) project to canonically archive and circulate, well, everything.
I have always loved that tour, and consider 5/31/83 to be an all-time great Garcia Band show. There are lots of great tapes from known tapers using fancy gear, in venues we know and love such as the Cap, from the back end of the tour. The band plays encores the last eight shows of the tour, and eleven of the last twelve -- and not always "Midnight Moonlight", but some killer "Rhapsody In Red"s and other stuff. It's hot.
The early part, by contrast, wobbles a little bit. I know the Saturday Rainbow show in Denver was a late-add and didn't sell out, though I like it pretty well. The next night north of K.C. was canceled for reasons unknown --I presume that ticket sales were just too slow for a room that was much too large-- and the gig at the incredible Shea's Theatre in Buffalo on the 25th gets a "meh" from me, though that may be because the tape is kinda rough.
Anyway, for all of these reasons, I suppose, I have utterly neglected little ol' 5/23/83. And I was wrong to have done so.
The tape is actually quite a delight. It sounds really fresh and nice. Shayman must have found a good spot, and the D6's built-in mics pick everything up. As any taper will tell you, location > gear. There's plenty of the sellout crowd, and everyone seems to be having a great old time. Jerry hadn't played St. Louis outside the GD since 1976, and everyone seems enthused to have hime come through. A review from unidentified publication (Durrwachter 1983) captures the vibe nicely, invoking a happy crowd packed onto the club floor, dancing a vital, lively, tight band. All of that comes through on the tape.
He even looks pretty good!
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| Jerry at Stages, East St. Louis, May 23, 1983. Picture credit: Madeline Dames, via https://www.gdao.org/items/show/826463 |
I don't have a ton of @@wowwowwowwowwows in my notes. I hear some fanny goodness in "Catfish John," a rockin' "Let It Rock," and some of the period's chacracteristic beautiful spirraling guitar figures in both "Harder They Come" and "Dear Prudence". Not a lot of the metallic, hair-on-fire burn here, even in "Deal", at least not that I noted. The show has a cooler, smoother, sweeter vibe than we'd hear after another week-plus on the road. It's just a really nice listen from both a recording and a performance standpoint. Don't make the same mistake I did and leave it neglected for 17 years.
Tour table follows, then listening notes.
Table xxx. Spring '83 JGB tour
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