Set Lists

March 23, 1974

Cow Palace ~ San Francisco

Dick's Picks 24 review

Dick’s Picks Volume 24 will no doubt get complaints as being incomplete since ten songs of the concert are missing, listed below.  Personally, I would have rather paid more for a three-disc release, and if there's room at the end put some filler on it, however, I'll gladly take what Grateful Dead Merchandise has released.  The music on these CD’s was performed on March 23, 1974, at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, CA.

The first disc on Dick’s Picks Volume 24 is from the first set of the concert (four songs from it were omitted). The show starts off with "U.S. Blues," a song that was at it's best in 1974.  Two songs were debuted this evening,  "Scarlet Begonias" and "Cassidy."  They are good, but don't “open up” as they do in later versions after the band became more familiar with them. For sure, the highlight of the set is the "China Cat Sunflower" > "I Know You Rider." This song was spectacular in 1974 and this version is evidence of it, complete with the "Feeling Groovy Jam" and the climatic peaks that make this song great.  Following it is another extended song, "Weather Report Suite" that clocks in at over fifteen minutes and featuring plenty of jamming.

The second set begins with the third and final sequence of the Grateful Dead’s famous "Playin’” medley, that is, "Playing In The Band" > "Uncle John's Band" > "Morning Dew" > "Uncle John's Band," > "Playing In The Band."    This is the third and final version of it and it is certainly awesome; the release is worth buying for it alone. 

The first part of "Playing in the Band" is surely the most experimental music of the whole show. After taking their time it leads into to a great "Uncle John's Band."   The transition is tight, but not as seamless as the next three within this masterpiece. The ending jam of "Uncle John's Band" has Garcia peeling the notes from his instrumental, incredible, how does he do that? The jamming continues and gets more intense and it begins to sound like they are still performing "Playing In The Band" and that the current song, "Uncle John’s Band" is an illusion.  The spacey playing continues as it transitions effortless into "Morning Dew." 

There have been many great versions of "Morning Dew" released; we now have one more. This one is quite different than the others from this period such as Dick’s Picks Volume 19, Dick’s Picks Volume 14, and Dick’s Picks Volume 7.  Clearly all the band members make themselves heard throughout the song. The second instrumental passage, especially towards the conclusion, is much more focused on rhythmic phrasing than the note building and the peaks and plateaus that the song is known for. It also includes some great interplay between Jerry and Bobby. The mighty crest that leads to "I guess it doesn't matter anyway" is left out as it replaced with a smooth transition back to  "UJB."  

The next ten minutes require the band to find their way back!  Several minutes of jamming on the "Uncle John's Band" theme leading back to a power building "Playing in the Band" conclusion brings the band and audience home, what a musical journey!