Terrapin Station Is Burning Down
Grateful Dead, May 6, 1990
Terrapin Station Is Burning Down
This is an interesting show, to say the least.
The first set is absolutely stellar, with one great version after another. There’s a lot to like here. The opening Mississippi Half Step is absolutely fantastic, and hits all the great harmonic notes. Brent then sings about this being one crazy afternoon in Feel Like A Stranger, and it feels like the band can’t get anything wrong.
The second set starts off well. The Weight is here, though it doesn’t quite get the same reception that it did on April 2:
Despite the lack of enthusiasm on the part of the crowd, it really is a good version of The Weight.
Then Terrapin Station comes, and things start to get kind of strange.
Jerry uses a totally bizarre guitar sound during the “Terrapin” part, leading us into drums in kind of a strange mood. Drums quickly gives way to Space, which is mostly a build up for The Other One, and then the show goes on.
The Other One, by the way, is totally bizarre thanks to the Healy vocal effects. It kind of ruins the effect, though it must have been crazy to see live.
The post-Drums show is not quite as good as the pre-Drums performance. My guess is that the heat had something to do with that.
Length And Setlist
The Weight is always welcome. Everything else in this setlist is pretty standard for the year.
This show is just shy of 3 hours, and is a little bit long as a result. The post-Drums slowdown makes it feel longer.
Sources And Reputation
Though there are a few interesting audience recordings to choose from, they all have massive problems. I recommend going for the ultramatrix, which is SHNID 141263. Dan Healy got the right blend between audience and soundboard.
This show gets no love at all on Heady Version:
I suppose I can understand this to an extent. There’s no official release, sure — but there also really isn’t anything particularly memorable going on here. It’s a solid show at the beginning, but it’s also the sort of show that only people really into the band are going to listen to.