In a gratefully welcomed return to the GarciaLive archival series, Volume 21 brings us back to February of 1976, when on a Friday night one could stand amongst 500 or so paying customers and watch Jerry Garcia and his band peacefully, pleasingly, and proficiently take over Berkeley’s Keystone club. The Jerry Garcia Band was a vital component of Garcia’s life away from the circus, and a grounding space to work-out solo material, nod to songs he was digging at the time, and just play. In the end, a JGB show would require an arena to accommodate the demand, but in ’76, a modest club date in the Bay was all he and his friends needed.
It’s a mostly mellow show, with a particularly slow take on Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door,” that may be among the more transfixed and affecting Garcia has performed. It’s in keeping with a set that darts between eventual staples of a JGB show- “Catfish John,” “After Midnight,” and “The Harder They Come,”- and contemporaneous homages, such as a beautifully Jerry-esque reading of the Rolling Stones’ “Moonlight Mile.” The mix tilts toward Jerry’s guitar, and fittingly, as there is plenty of his engaging fretwork, yet Garcia is quick to share the moments with his mates- especially with on-loan Dead keyboardist, Keith Godchaux, on a glistening “Mission in the Rain.”
Two songs pulled from a Palo Alto date two nights later serve as an “encore,” filling out the winning two-disc set. All in all, this edition reignites a GarciaLive series that’s been so adept at detailing the arc of Garcia’s solo excursions. Hopefully, this marks the first of another run of many releases to follow.
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