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Jerry Garcia Band - After Midnight: Kean College, 2/28/80 Audio CD

A fair review of the Jerry Garcia Band "After Midnight: Kean College, 2/28/80" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Jerry Garcia Band reviews here, or go back to the Jerry Garcia Band tabs.

Jerry Garcia Band Band: Jerry Garcia Band
Title: After Midnight: Kean College, 2/28/80
Rating:
Release Date: 2004-09-28
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Sugaree [#] 2: Catfish John [#] 3: That's What Love Will Make You Do [#] 4: Simple Twist of Fate [#] 5: How Sweet It Is to Be Loved by You [#] 6: After Midnight [#] 7: Eleanor Rigby [#] 8: After Midnight (Reprise) [#] 9: I'll Take a Melody [#] 10: Tore Up Over You [#] 11: Knockin' On Heaven's Door [#] 12: Harder They Come [#] 13: Tiger Rose [#] - Jerry Garcia Band, Robert Hunter 14: Promontory Rider [#] - Jerry Garcia Band, Robert Hunter 15: Mission in the Rain [#] 16: Midnight Moonlight [#]

How Sweet It Is


I've spent years (wait. . make that decades. . . time flies when you're having fun) building up a more than respectable collection of Grateful Dead recordings, but my collection of Jerry's solo material is pretty thin, so I went on an online quest to find out which of his recordings have gotten the most accolades. "After Midnight. . . ", along with a couple of others, rose to the top pretty quickly.

After having given this show a couple of good listens from start to finish, I agree, as many have said, it represents Jerry at his peak performance in every way. His and his band's playing is fluid and intense at the same time. As Jerry's longtime songwriting partner Robert Hunter says in the liner notes of the CD, early 1980 represents a period of extraordinary lucidity on Jerry's part. He does some hair raising meandering leads while simultaneously, and incredibly, is able to coax backup guitar parts from his guitar. The show has a laid back, jazzy and relaxed feel about it, and the sound quality is fantastic.

Those of us who like to attend concerts with more frequency than most people, do so in order to try and capture those fleeting moments of transcendence between performer and listener that we're occasionally fortunate enough to experience every now and then at a live show.

Any live band or musician, The Dead included, at their best, succeed in producing many such moments, but when they don't, the next best thing to experiencing those magical moments that literally defy time and space, is to simply get lost in a song at the same time the musician or band is getting lost in the song. There are many examples of that on "After midnight. . . ".

This is definitely a must have for any Deadhead, and a great starting point for those who want get into Jerry's solo work. The only reason I give it four, instead of five stars is that there are a few duds in this show, but overall, very very good.




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hot stuff


The price of admission is fully compensated just by the astonishing
medley "after midnight/elanor rigby/after midnight". This is a fine, fine performance all around. Jerry rips it up, then rips it up some more.

The other nice parts, like the songs from Hunter, are frosting on the cake.


I've Heard Better
I think that all too often the ardent followers let their deadication get in the way of a reasonable assessment of the music. I have been a Dead, particularly a Garcia fan since the 60's, but would never consider myself a "Deadhead". I bought this CD because I was in the mood for some Garcia solo work, something I often find more enjoyable than listening to the Dead. This particular album had good reviews, mostly from people who appear to be ardent Deadheads. It was primarily these reviews that led me to choose this CD above the many others in Garcia's catalog.

Maybe it was the back up band - too much synthesizer with tunes that would have been better served by a B-3. The liner notes made mention of having the opportunity to hear Garcia handling the rhythm as well as the lead guitars. Guess what? It doesn't work. Overall, it sounded thin.

This isn't said to take away from the many things that are enjoyable on this album. Garcia is in good voice, hitting his idiosyncratic style without the notes going sour. His guitar lines are melodic and fluid, ( but would have benefited from a more solid backing. . . see above). I would have liked to have seen some more Garcia original tunes included in the repertoire, but the covers were a good mix. While I enjoyed listening to all of the tunes, I found that "After Midnight / Eleanor Rigby Medley" was the only stand out.

So, I am happy with the album and it's had some frequent listening, yet I still can only give it four stars. . . . and that is stretching things a bit. If you are an ardent Deadhead, hit the order button now. You will surely enjoy the results. But, if you aren't a fanatic and simply enjoy Garcia's music, you may want to take a pass on this one. There are better things in his catalog.
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No Money for Koontz
since my first Dead show in 1973. I have spent thousands of dollars on Jerry and Dead shows, albums, etc.

I was about to purchase this item on Amazon when I saw the references to the Garcia Estate aka. Koontz.

I believe she is the antithesis of the Dead spirit and is only looking to make a buck. As a result, I pass on this purchase and will only buy through GDM - non Koontz profit. .


Not the best JGB
I'd start with the 1991 double disc recordings, then I'd go back the Saunders/Garcia era. 3 stars is way too harsh for this recording, but there are better JGB discs out there. Check out the Legion of Mary vol. 1 from Rhino, or the old Keystone discs. The problem with these discs, is that it's all Garcia. It's Jerry jamming, with 3 other guys backing him up. There are great moments in it, but in my opinion there is just nothing too special about this show that warrants this release. .


You can see a complete list of all Jerry Garcia Band discography, or go back to the Jerry Garcia Band tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.

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