When looking at a Grateful Dead setlist, there are certain clues that indicate you’re probably going to get a clunker of a show. For instance, a six song first set that opens with Iko Iko. Or when the show features the Women Are Smarter in addition to Iko Iko. Or when most of the comments encourage you to skip it. Of course, I ignored all of this because I hadn’t tried a 1988 show in a while, and I was rewarded with . . . not a damn thing.
Like most shows from 1988, this one isn’t garbage, it’s just completely bland and uninspired. None of the playing tanks – it just doesn’t really go anywhere. There are a couple of Brent-related exceptions. After a few minutes of mindless work on Foolish Heart, Jerry decides to let Brent have a go at it, and he rips into a long solo that lifts the stage about three feet off the ground. Unfortunately, this lasts for all of two minutes. Later, Brent really seems to try to make Dear Mr. Fantasy>Hey Jude work – if you just listen to him and ignore the lifeless playing around him, you’ll enjoy these tunes.
Beyond Brent, the band gives Bird Song a last semester senior year college try. That’s about that.
If you really have your heart set on some 1988 Grateful Dead, this one isn’t going to hurt. But in all other cases, there’s not a lot here. Listen if you’d like: https://archive.org/details/gd88-12-11.aud.willy.16095.sbeok.shnf
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