Hello sports fans; you’re looking live at the county renowned Kempepdia log. Today we have another entry in my limited series, The First 20, celebrating the first 20 shows I got on tape. Today I heap praise and glory on 6/10/73 RFK Stadium.
06-10-73 Robert F. Kennedy Stadium, Washington, D.C. (Sun)
1: Morning Dew, BIODTL, Ramble On, Jack Straw, Wave That Flag, L. L. Rain, Box Of Rain, TLEO, Race Is On, Row Jimmy, El Paso, Bird Song, Playin
2: Eyes> Stella Blue, Big River, H. C. Sunshine, Around, Dark Star> He's Gone> Wharf Rat> Truckin, Sugar Magnolia
3: Train To Cry*, That's Alright Mama*, Promised*, NFA*> GDTRFB*> Drums*> NFA*, Johnny B. Goode*
*with Allman Brothers Band and Merl Saunders, Wet Willie, then Allman Brothers Band opened - first "That's Alright Mama" - first "Train To Cry" - final "Wave That Flag" –
You can stream the show here while you read
http://www.archive.org/details/gd1973-06-10.sbd.miller.tobin.patched-89730.90979.flac16
I picked this show off of the long forgotten Head’s tape list because of my relative closeness to Washington DC. Little did I know I’d see the boys at that venue more than any other one. I also had no idea that the Allmans opened for them and sat in for some crazy ass jamming in the third set.
Stadium shows were still a rarity for the Dead at this time. They were quite content with ruling hockey arenas across the US. But they did have this amazing sound system called the Wall of Sound. I’m not the best guy to explain technical aspects of a PA system, so let’s see what Bear had to say:
"The Wall of Sound is the name some people gave to a super powerful, extremely accurate PA system that I designed and supervised the building of in 1973 for the Grateful Dead. It was a massive wall of speaker arrays set behind the musicians, which they themselves controlled without a front of house mixer. It did not need any delay towers to reach a distance of half a mile from the stage without degradation."
The audience tapes from this era are outstanding. I prefer a lot of them to the soundboards. So it was an ideal system to fill the vast space of a football stadium. The boys played a two-night stand. The Dead opened for the Allmans on June 9th and then the Allmans opened for the Dead on the 10th.
They open with Morning Dew, with Phil carpet bombing the skulls of the audience. A typical ’73 set list follows. Highlights include Wave that Flag, which is an early version of US Blues. One great thing about having so many shows is hearing the evolution of the songs over time. Some of the lyrics for Flag would make it to US Blues. A swinging Bird Song and a typically spacey Playin’ close out a 14! song first set. I have the exclamation point because a few shows in the 90’s didn’t even have 14 songs total.
The second set opens with a gorgeous, soaring Eyes of the World. This was my first exposure to a live Eyes and it was amazing. The guitars and bass runs may be the most beautiful things the Dead ever wrote. I can remember clear as a bell listening to this in my old ’84 Plymouth Horizon as I drove out of the South West parking lot on a resplendent spring day. I was young and the world was bright and open to unlimited possibilities. Ah, the ignorance of youth.
The second half of the second set is where the Dead really spin some magic. Dark Star>He’s Gone>Wharf Rat>Truckin’ run sums up what 1973 was all about. Spacey jazzy runs in a 26 minute Dark Star flow effortlessly into a 13 minute He’s Gone. A shuffling Truckin’ and an always rocking Sugar Mag close out the second set.
The third set is all about the collaboration between brilliant musicians at their peaks. The Allmans and the Dead jamming together would be the modern day equivalent of Phish and Widespread throwing it down. The first three songs are covers of Dylan, Elvis, and Chuck Berry. What a way to pay tribute to their musical idols. Then a monster NFA>GDTRFB>Drumz>NFA to end the set. A 30-minute sandwich of intense interplay designed to fry what was is left of the audience’s minds. The encore is just the icing on top of an amazing space cake. Once again, the Dead thrilled my young mind to the summit of ecstasy and gave me a glimpse as to what the future held in store. I have Superball IX this coming weekend so everyone have a safe Fourth of July and don’t forget to wave that flag, wave it wide and high…….
Dave Kemp
BA American Studies
Ph.D. in Rock and Roll
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