Grateful Dead
Road Trips Vol. 2 No. 3: Wall of Sound
Real Gone
Jul 14, 2021 Web Exclusive
In 1974, Grateful Dead unveiled the massive “wall of sound” that had long been in the works to achieve how they could best present their live experience. Road Trips Vol. 2 No. 3: Wall of Sound is a two-CD set that offers highlights from two shows during that period, each on one disc: 6/16/74 at State Fairgrounds, Des Moines, Iowa and shortly after on 6/18/74 at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Kentucky.
The set’s booklet provides details and photos of the behemoth sound system, which came to be built as a wall behind the band due to some smaller venues on the ’74 tour being unable to otherwise accommodate the mountain of equipment. With audience members gazing up at the structure, Bob Weir noted at one show, “Yeah, and to think we once had to cancel a gig because we couldn’t find an extension cord.”
Turn up these discs and imagine standing before that sound monster. At the Des Moines show, Phil Lesh’s bass sounds are downright bulbous on their own during “U.S. Blues,” bumping out in a friendly thunder, as Keith Godchaux’s piano runs along with Jerry Garcia’s lead guitar. Garcia also tears into a particularly entrancing run as they stretch out on “Playing in the Band,” where the band jams like they had been waiting all day for that moment. As the song eventually reaches nearly a half hour, the Dead heads for space and orbits happily, seeming reluctant to reenter the atmosphere.
With a jam at the Louisville show that moves from “Weather Report Suite” through “The Other One” and beyond, this set makes a fine stop on the Dead’s Road Trips series. (www.dead.net)
Author rating: 7/10
Average reader rating: 4/10
Most Recent
Comments
Submit your comment
August 9th 2021
12:25am
They had been the house band for the kool-aid acid exams. In addition, they performed an astounding 500 special documented songs for the duration of their legendarily improvised concert units. Oil And Filter Change Service In Dubai they also have been pioneers and innovators for concert sound. The thankful dead have been arguably the most crucial, and most successful live band ever.