Rhino

At the core of this latest Road Trips offering comes a well-known and revered concert: Philadelphia Spectrum, April 6, 1982. From the opening notes of a bustling “Cold Rain and Snow,” it’s clear that the band is in synch with a dynamic energy and flow that only escalates as the night lengthens and the set list intensifies. It’s as if Bob Weir and Jerry Garcia attempt to progressively one up each other with every number. While the first set sports a grooving party feel with a handful of covers (a revved up “Promised Land,” a spunky “It’s All Over Now” and a bluesy “C.C. Rider” with some great slide guitar work from Weir), some country ramblings and hopping “Might As Well” closer, the second set’s where things really heat up.

Phil Lesh’s thunderous opening introduces a sinisterly good “Shakedown Street.” Weir increases the intensity with “Lost Sailor” > “Saint of Circumstance.” “Terrapin Station” follows, highlighted by Garcia’s octave-effected guitar leads. Later, Garcia again delves into the emotional canon with “Morning Dew” and show closer “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue.”

The one disappointment here (and on other Road Trips ) is filler placement on disc two – in this case excellent material from the April 5 Spectrum show. The smooth departure from “Space,” which ends the disc, fades fast before it moves into the filler of “Deep Elem Blues,” “Althea” and “Man Smart, Woman Smarter.” Wouldn’t it have worked better to keep the main show going through disc two ( “Truckin’” > “The Other One,” which start disc three) and put all the filler at the end of disc three? It’s hard to say, but at least this great show would have travelled end-to-end, as it should.