4/6/89 Crisler Arena, Ann Arbor, MI

First Set: Touch Of Gray, Red Rooster, Brown Eyed Women, Mama Tried > Mexicali Blues, Althea, When I Paint My Masterpiece, Bird Song, The Promised Land.

Second Set: Scarlet Begonias > Fire On The Mountain, Playing In The Band > Built To Last > Playing Riff > Drums > Space > I Will Take You Home > The Other One > Wharf Rat > Around and Around > Playing In The Band Reprise.

Encore: Brokedown Palace.

Source: SBD, Quality : A, Length 1:30 (set II), Geneology: M > C > circulation.

Comments: None.

Text: Preamble: I graduated from U of M in '87 and there was a large and rather sceptical collection of my former acquaintances on hand to witness "this Grateful Dead thing." The Dead could easily have played a couple of lame shows and split. (They did it all the time.) The ticketless hordes could easily have trashed the place. (They had just done it in Pittsburgh.) Nobody embarrassed me. Crisler Arena was the mellowest East-Coast venue I had ever seen. Most of the ushers were deadheads. When the lights went down everybody was relaxed and ready to dance.

First set: Routine.

Second set: Nice. Scarlet/Fire is absolutely flawless. So is Playing in the Band. Deep in the Playin' jam, Brent and Bob decide to get loud and go "out." Something happens to Brent's gear and it starts to ring like a telephone. It's still ringing as Jerry coaxes the band into Built to Last. Built to Last is an awkward song to begin with. The band is certainly not up for it tonight. At the earliest opportunity Phil and Bob whisk us back to our regularly scheduled program: Playin' jam.

Although the sequence bugs me, the second half of the set is tight. The Other One should build slowly out of Space. By the time Phil does his little intro lick, it should be barrelling down the highway at 120 mph. In Ann Arbor however, the bus came by and idled for 5 minutes while Brent sang his lullaby.

Since this will be my only review in this volume, I'd like to use this space to ask those of you who know me: am I a closure freak? Any "reprise" and I'm happy. Uncle John's Band, Sugar Magnolia, The Music Never Stopped; it doesn't matter. Thank God they never played We Can Run But We Can't Hide Reprise. I'd have had a seizure. Playin' Reprise is my favorite set-closer. They nail it.

By Joshua A. Solomon.