Struggling Man
I don’t think it will take you long to figure out who the “struggling man” was in the band.
Jerry really struggles from time to time in this show. He forgets the words during Simple Twist of Fate and Midnight Moonlight, and just doesn’t sound himself.
There’s some energy in this sow. Lay Down Sally is always a fun tune, Struggling Man sounds good, and The Way You Do The Things You Do starts to go off into space.
But Jerry just wasn’t with it, and it shows. I’m not sure if it was the drugs or the age or just plain fatigue. This isn’t the Jerry Garcia from those great 1993 Jerry Garcia Band shows, that’s for sure.
Anyway, check out SHNID 141479 for the complete concert if you want to listen. It’s actually not all that bad, aside from Jerry’s occasional mistakes. And it’s not like he’s making mistakes all over the place, either.
Jerry Base notes that this was the second consecutive non-sellout for the Jerry Garcia Band. This was as the old Warfield Theatre in San Francisco, so it’s not like they were trying to sell out a huge stadium. When you listen to this, you get a feeling that the gravy train years are over, and that the novelty of the act is starting to wear off.
It still is good music, but there are certainly signs that the end was at hand.