08/03/2022
July 27, 1973
Grand Prix Racecourse, Watkins Glen NY
The legendary Watkins Glen soundcheck, with a Hunter Seamons matrix and AUD from near the soundboard by Kidd Candelario.
"Great stuff here, although one really can't compare this to other "shows" - it IS a soundcheck, after all, and lacks that familiar dramatic arc that connects the entire experience of a Dead show together. This is just a bunch of tunes lazily sort of scattered together - they repeat a few the next night, so take your pick as to which are better.
"That said, there is some *seriously* heady music here - Bird Song glides along as easy as you please for damn near 15-20 minutes, and the big, famed jam that leads into Wharf Rat is, I think, the first time the band played around with Mickey's Happiness Is Drumming (aka Fire). Ironic that Mickey wouldn't be there for the "debut", as it were, of this oh-so-familiar chord pattern, but I think it does show just how connected he still was to the band.
"So, yeah, great stuff abound here, an easy five stars for the audacious ballsiness of the band's intuition to turn a soundcheck into a full-blown afternoon of music, the tunes themselves, and this beautiful matrix - I think is my favorite way to listen to this most famous of warm-ups. And, no, I do NOT think this is better than the actual show - the actual Watkins-Glen show is something to behold."
~doug_the_dude, LMA
Bird Song audio via The Bolillo
https://youtu.be/_anpGfMl_jw
Full show audio via Chris from Jam Buzz
https://youtu.be/I8im5C1_ph8
Set 1: Promised Land, Sugaree, Mexicali Blues, Bird Song, Big River, Tennessee Jed
Set 2: Mississippi Half Step, Me & My Uncle, Jam-> Wharf Rat, Around & Around
https://archive.org/details/gd1973-07-27.mtx.seamons.100410.sbeok.flac16
https://archive.org/details/gd1973-07-27.146057.sbd.miller-smith-berger-cloverman.flac1644
https://archive.org/details/gd1973-07-27.123407.candelario-smith.flac24
https://archive.org/details/gd1973-07-27.152005.moscal.mandel.sonyecm.flac24
đź“· Suki Coughlin
