Dave's Picks Volume 8: Sunday, November 30, 1980 Fox Theatre, Atlanta, GA

Grateful Dead

Dave's Picks Volume 8

11/30/80 Fox Theatre, Atlanta, GA

First Set:

Feel Like A Stranger

Loser

Cassidy

Ramble On Rose->

Little Red Rooster

Bird Song

Me And My Uncle->

Big River

It Must Have Been The Roses

Lost Sailor->

Saint Of Circumstance->

Deal

Second Set:

Scarlet Begonias->

Fire On The Mountain

Samson And Delilah

Ship Of Fools

Playing In The Band->

Drums->

Space->

The Wheel->

China Doll->

Around And Around->

Johnny B. Goode

encore:

Uncle John's Band

Grateful Dead: Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann, Mickey Hart, Brent Mydland

This volume in the series is very unique  in that it mixes a soundboard tape with an high quality audience tape recorded by Robert Wagner to create a matrix mix. Matrix mixes have been around a while but this is the first official Grateful Dead archive release to do this.

The Grateful Dead had a strong year in 1980. They introduced several new songs at the beginning of the year, celebrated their 15th Anniversary while  playing acoustic sets in September and October. These acoustic sets also saw the return of songs that had been put away for a while. The band was also recording shows that would make two live two l.p. set releases the next year.

This show marks the fourth show since the Radio City Music Hall show. The band's mini November tour started on the 26 and by the time the 30th rolled around, the band was on a roll.

The first set starts with Feel Like A Stranger and it takes a few adjustments to get everything dialed in just exactly right. That doesn't stop the band from building this to a high octane jam. Loser starts with a nice tempo and builds to a cool finish. Cassidy is short and well played but the jams are only hinted at during this era. Ramble On Rose is stretched out nicely with Jerry firing it up during the solos. Little Red Rooster gives Bob a chance to show off his blues chops. It's also nice to hear Brent's electric piano up in the mix which doesn't always happen. Next up, a real treat in the first electric Bird Song since September 1973. Bird Song had been brought back in the acoustic sets but this was it in it's new arrangement for the first time in an electric set. The Me And My Uncle->Big River moves along at a nice clip while It Must Have Been The Roses is sweetly played. It's another song that was brought back during the acoustic sets. The first set ends with hot versions of Lost Sailor->Saint Of Circumstance->Deal.

The second set begins with a hot Scarlet->Fire that, while not a super long version, is still a standout. Samson rocks hard and the ballad Ship Of Fools is very well done. The long second set jam starts with a 15 minute plus Playing In The Band that goes to some cool places before drifting into the Drums->Space segment. I guess that there are some out there that don't like Drums->Space segments but I do. Out of Space, we get a mellow The Wheel and a pretty China Doll. Bob rocks the set to a close with a Chuck Berry medley while Uncle John's Band is a great encore. All in all, everybody is on and it was a very good night for everyone.