GRATEFUL DEAD Road Trips Vol.3 No.1 - Oakland 12-28-79 (2-CD)

Ah, those year-end Dead concerts in the Bay Area. Rarely has the band been so consistently brilliant as at these celebratory gigs, playing in familiar surroundings to an audience full of old friends. The group's archivists have already delved into this particular set of performances with Dick's Picks Vol. 5, which captured the Dec. 26 show; this 2-CD set brings us two days later to another excellent date that again shows the amazing degree to which keyboardist Brent Mydland had integrated himself into the band by the end of 1979.

Special mention should also be made of the sound, which comes from the original Soundboard concert recordings, recorded by Betty Cantor-Jackson and remastered in HDCD by Jeffrey Norman; the booklet includes photos by Jay Blakesberg from the Oakland Auditorium concerts and an essay by longtime Dead writer Steve Silberman. As for the music, each set that includes "High Time" promises just that; "It's All Over Now" drops a set of "Phil Bombs" right before it. Set two includes a medley that ranges from "Revelatory" to "Rockin'" in an hour-plus journey that begins with "Terrapin Station" and ends with "Good Lovin'.

The encore 'Casey Jones'/'One More Saturday Night' brings the night to a giddy close, sending the crowd into the streets for a party that had undoubtedly just begun. Available for the first time in regular music stores!