Grateful Dead: Dick's Picks 28 (4-CD Set)

Grateful Dead: Dick’s Picks Vol. 28—2/26/73 Pershing Municipal Auditorium, Lincoln, NE 2/28/73 Salt Palace, Salt Lake City, UT. (4-CD Set) These two 1973 concerts take place about two weeks after the Dead added a large number of new, jazzy numbers to their repertoire, one of which (“Eyes of the World”) plays a central role in both shows excerpted here (though these are not complete shows, only one song, “Deal,” that was played either of these nights does not appear here in at least in one version). As usual, it’s the medleys that hold the most jaw-dropping feats of improvisational derring-do; the first night’s “Dark Star/Eyes of the World/Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo” is seamlessly sublime (or is that sublimely seamless?), while the second night’s “Truckin’/The Other One/Eyes of the World/”Morning Dew” covers a prodigious amount of terrain, from raucous to frenzied to lilting to lyrical in the space of nearly one glorious hour. Also noted with pleasure is the appearance of “Box of Rain,” which the Dead performed live sparingly. Presented in HDCD sound—never before available in stores! Songs: Lincoln, NE February 26, 1973 Disc One Promised Land Loser Jack Straw Don’t Ease Me In Looks Like Rain Loose Lucy Beer Barrel Polka Big Railroad Blues Playing in the Band They Love Each Other Big River Tennessee Jed Disc Two Greatest Story Ever Told Dark Star Eyes of the World Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo Me and My Uncle Not Fade Away Goin’ Down the Road Feeling Bad Not Fade Away  Salt Lake City, UT, February 28, 1973 Disc Three Cold Rain and Snow Beat It On Down the Line They Love Each Other Mexicali Blues Sugaree Box of Rain El Paso He’s Gone Jack Straw China Cat Sunflower I Know You Rider Big River Disc Four Row Jimmy Truckin’ The Other One Eyes of the World Morning Dew Sugar Magnolia And We Bid You Goodnight