Latter-day Dead is a hit-or-miss proposition. Despite fatigue in the 1990s, 1990 itself brings with it some of the band’s last peaks (though there’s plenty to enjoy in the ensuing years before Jerry’s death). The Cleveland shows are terrific, and night two is reproduced here with a nice dose of clarity and nostalgia.
This show marked the second night with Vince Welnick on keys, a major transition after Brent Mydland died in July of that year. His nervousness is clear at various points in this show (and the previous night’s gig), but fans rallied around him in support all night. Some hoisted banners reading “Yo Vinnie!” into the air. Check out his work in “Queen Jane Approximately” for a nice bit of soloing.
The mixing on this recording is pretty great, and the video shows a band deeply locked into the groove, many years into a weird journey. Lots of standout versions here: “Sugaree,” “Eyes of the World,” “Estimated Prophet,” etc. The gentle “Friend of the Devil” is about as fine an afternoon tune as you’re like to find today.
Setlist:
Hell in a Bucket
Sugaree
New Minglewood Blues
Friend of the Devil
Queen Jane Approximately
Loser
Cassidy
Deal
Eyes of the World
Estimated Prophet
Terrapin Station
drums
All Along the Watchtower
Stella Blue
Throwin’ Stones
Not Fade Away
One More Saturday Night
And a few more “vintage concerts” from our budding series:
AC/DC at World Series of Rock at Cleveland Municipal Stadium in 1979
Smashing Pumpkins in Tremont in 1991
Queens of the Stone Age at Euclid Tavern in 1999
Warren Zevon at the Odeon in 2000
This article appears in Sep 24-30, 2014.
Thank you for posting this man….just spent the night listening to it.
Yeah – thanks for posting! This was a fun show for sure. It’s cut out here, but the WHOLE gap between the final Not Fade Away and the One More Saturday Night encore, the audience kept the not-fade-away-mbop-bop chant going. Some people may say that kind of thing was cheesy, but the audience was just pouring out the love and encouragement and the vibes were undeniably over-the-top positive. The COLISEUM was probably never so brimming over with joy as it was that night!
haha “HEMP” was the the captcha word I had to type in to veryify I wasn’t a bot to post my previous comment anonymously.
I was at this show, and it was super fun. Never loved the cops at the Coliseum, they were kind of mean, especially if you were vending. But hey, it said no vending everywhere so you know the boys were trying to cut down on the exact type of behavior that contributed to bringing this train- train to a screeching halt. The show was good, they finally turned up the guitars in the mix after Brent flew off. Bobby had a nice new haircut, and Jerry looked really good. I was never a huge Vince fan, but I liked his colorful shirts and kind smile. He had huge shoes to fill, and with the kiddie casio they restricted him to Had his hands tied pretty tight. I never understood why they insisted he play that junky instrument, but the band never once called me to ask what I thought. Jeff real has been the glue for as long as he has been with them, and I love seeing Brent’s organ with that oh so familiar Stealie. He truly deserves to play that beautiful instrument! He out plays Bruce and Vince with an easy smile. Back to the Richfield run… The first night was great, and this night was really fun. My favorite bucket of all time, and the loser>Cassidy>deal left a smoking crater in my mind. I think about these times every day. Every damn day. I’m so glad the music never stopped, and can’t wait to see Wolf Bros at the Palace and can’t wait for the D&C summer tour dates! See ya on the road!