Dicks' Picks 13 comes from a complete show on 5/6/81 in New York, with a hidden Scarlet->Fire at the end of disc two from two years earlier.

Set 1: Alabama->Greatest Story Ever Told, They Love Each Other, Cassidy, Jack-A-Roe->Little Red Rooster, Dire Wolf->Looks Like Rain, Big Railroad Blues, Let it Grow->Deal

Set 2:New Minglewood Blues, High Time, Lost Sailor->Saint of Circumstance, He's Gone->Caution/Spanish Jam->Drums->Jam->The Other One->GDTRFB->Wharf Rat->Good Lovin'

E: Don't Ease Me In

Pros

-Solid, if not spectacular, first set

-The Jam after He's Gone is incredible

-I love this Sailor-Saint

Cons

-Lots of boring typical songs, like Minglewood, Don't Ease, Rooster, TLEO, etc. drag both sets down

-Wish the filler (which is good) on set two would have been different tracks, rather than making Saint 43 minutes long

First Set:7/10

Second Set:9/10

Overall:8/10

This show starts off with an average first set with a mostly average setlist. The Alabama->GSET opener is very well played, as it usually was around this time. The only real hot part of the set is the closing Let it Grow->Deal, both of which are played nicely and Brent is contributing well to the mix of the new Dead post Donna and Keith. Bobby and Jerry are both responsible for contributing songs that are quite "blah" this set, including a boring Little Red Rooster, slow They Love Each Other, and a restrained Looks Like Rain. The Dire Wolf is a nice suprise though, a song that I wish the Dead would have played more often. Overall, the first set is unspectactular, but it's still the Dead playing well, so it's worth the listen. However, this pick was released soley because of the second set, that much is average.

The second set is incredible. The set starts with a Minglewood, High Time, both of which are played adequately, but don't let that fool you. The Sailor->Saint is played very well, and is one of my favorites. After the Saint is a Scarlet->Fire from 1979, and is probably one of the longest versions of the combo they played. It is also played slowly, which just means it's all the more groovy! Brent and the drummers, actually, make it great, as both are doing interesting things throughout the song as Jerry and Bobby lead the way. (Phil was noticeably absent, or at least low-key) The third disc is the strongest of the release. The He's Gone was dedicated to Bobby Sands, an Irish hunger striker who died that day, and when I die, I could only hope and dream that such an epic jam would be in my honor. The He's Gone is above average, with some nice blues licks and vocal layering by Jerry and Bobby, but the jam after it makes the show. It starts with an Other One like Jam, that becomes a full charging Caution Jam. This makes way into a Spanish jam, and the whole thing is just terrific. Again, Brent is playing terrificly as is Jerry, but everyone is contributing to the beast. Finally , the jam slows down into a great Drums segment. I always thought that the late seventies and early eighties were the best time for drums, and this release backs me up. This makes way into a spacey jam that finally results in average but well played versions of The Other One, GDTRFB, Wharf Rat, and Good Lovin'. All are standard except the GDTRFB seems to have more energy than normal, which may be why it is missing it's typical AWBYGN ending. The encore is Don't Ease Me In, one of my least favorite encores the Dead did.

This is one of the better 1980's Dead shows. Buy it for the He's Gone, keep it for the solid playing.

8/10