“It is said that, if you lined up all those who have ever been to a Grateful Dead concert head-to-toe, the line would stretch around the moon, and about halfway back. And nobody would complain!”
WSLR is slowly coming back with a very sparse number of live studio programmers, albeit with very specific instructions as to how to protect both ourselves and our fellow WSLR volunteers.
Grateful Dead
Civic Center, Roanoke, VA
July 27, 1974
2 Source Matrix by Dave Usborne:
Soundboard:
SBD > Master Reel > Cassette > Dat > CD > EAC > SHN
All Transfers and Mastering By Charlie Miller
Audience:
AKG D200e’s > Sony TCC152 SD > mac > rr > dat > cdr
Taper unknown, transfer by SIRMick.
Disc 1 – Set 1:
- tuning
- Bertha
- Mexicali Blues
- Row Jimmy
- Jack Straw
- Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo >
- It Must Have Been the Roses
- Me & Bobby McGee
- Tennessee Jed
- Playing in the Band
Disc 2 – Set 2:
- China Cat Sunflower >
- I Know You Rider
- Me & My Uncle
- Ramble on Rose
- Big River
- U.S. Blues >
- Promised Land
- Brokedown Palace
- Not Fade Away >
- Goin’ Down the Road Feeling Bad >
- Johnny B. Goode
Reviews from this recording:
REVIEW: Upon the Blue Ridge mountains…
A heck of a place to see the Grateful Dead.
REVIEW: Thanks Archive
Another great 74 show,and a matrix to boot! Great sound,decent 74 setlist with a monster Playin to end set
1.Good variation in set2 but i dont see any big jam numbers(other one etc) but ive yet to hear the rest..
REVIEW: Nice Show. Nice Matrix. Highly Recommended.
I always like reading everybody’s reviews before I write my own. And the concensus from many is that this
show is somehow recorded (or better put, played back) fast. With the overall year of 1974 reminding me of a
twelve month long, group qualuude trance, my impression is the same. But if this really is actual speed, this is a
very peppy show for 1974. Either way, I don’t have any problems with it since I like the up-tempo feel. And the
matrix is very well done too. But in saying that, Jerry is in especially good voice tonight which is a plus. Any
time Jerry is in superior voice, I try to add a star – just for it’s rarity. Roses right out of Half Step is a treat which
I don’t think I’ve ever heard before, and the U.S. Blues Jam into Promised Land is a hoot. This is a very
listenable, solid four star show that, with the matrix, I’m going to up to five stars which I do very rarely. I don’t
consider this a “bells and whistles” blowout “X” Factor show. But this is a thoroughly professional,
straight-ahead presentation with a decent finale; a reserved Donna; only one recording flaw (that David handled
very well); good instrument clarity with no bad or overly hot vocals; no cheese – and no complaints from me.
Thanks Mr. Usborne for your fine work on this new creation. Highly recommended.
Reviews from other recordings:
REVIEW: Good, workmanlike performance
This was one of the first Dead shows I ever saw. I can’t categorize it as a 5* performance, but I find it to be a
very well-played show with pretty good singing throughout. Nice ‘Playing in the Band’, ‘ChinaCat’, ‘Mississippi’
and a few others. Unusual show in some regards. Almost like two first sets.
REVIEW: Donna
Donna ain’t here, friends, & the boys don’t seem to mind too much. A somewhat refreshing perspective from this
era, eh? It’s a good, tight, and unusual show, in an unlikely town, which you should probably check out.
REVIEW: No Donna?
I can’t believe that no one gave this show 5 stars. This is a Great show. Yea, there’s no Donna but thatÂs not
why you should download this one. It’s a Great show. A great China/Rider the way I remember it was played.
Jerry is outstanding. Promised Land and Brokedown Palace in the middle of the 2nd set with a great US Blues
followed by a nice US Blues Jam. . . and just listen to Jerry play. . . Fantastic!
REVIEW: If this isn’t 5 stars, then what is?
Every song is so solid in this show. The boys are on without a doubt – jazzy, funky, and liquid. Lots of original
playing here. They explore lands rarely explored. Need an example? Check out the US Blues>Promised Land!
Or Half-Step>IMHBTR! Every song is great – even the ones I usually don’t like: Mexicali, MMU, Me&Bobby
Mcgee! This show makes a good case for 1974 being the best year of Grateful Dead. Is this the greatest It Must
Have Been the Roses? Definitely a top 10, as is the Brokedown Palace. And for those of you that only care
about the sound, it’s good.
REVIEW: pretty good (It is the dead, afterall…)
Despite numerous highlights (mostly instrumental, though some vocal as well), I thought the show started a bit
sloppy and though it certainly picked up, it remained somewhat unrefined compared to many ’74-’77 shows I
have heard. The band did have lots of energy, but they usually did back then. I think that tighter vocals would
put it at a 4 (I wanted to rate it 3.5).
REVIEW: I Was There
Donna was there…she had some stomach problem said to be from something she ate, so she didn’t sing much. It
was a great show, though, with the Wall of Sound. When it was over, Ramrod kept tellin’ us to leave as the crew
took down the Wall…last audience members there…we finally did!
REVIEW: Roanoke`
This show doesn’t sound fast to me at all, it sounds just fine…hmmm
5 stars for the mix
5 stars for the recording
5 stars for the performance
REVIEW: U.S. Blues>Jam
this show is pretty nice. some very good moments for sure, though not as well played as a lot of other summer
’74 shows. certainly a far cry from the big boys of July, 7-19 and 7-31, or even the sweet, somewhat overlooked
7-29 show. but the U.S. Blues>Jam is not to be missed. though not perfectly executed (it sounds like at least half
the band wasn’t expecting it!) once it hits its stride it gets REALLY, REALLY hot. ooowww!
REVIEW: Donna was there
I was at this show, my brother and I got a friend to drive us from VA Tech, and Donna was there because I
distinctly remember her singing on Row Jimmy (you can listen for yourself). I also remember Phil Lesh doing
the Drums/Space thing at intermissio. Can’t vouch for the so called encore (Eyes of the World)as our ride had to
leave while the band played the last two numbers, he was a tad worn out after hours of listening to music he
didn’t quite get (He was a Jethro Tull fan).
REVIEW: Roanoke was great, if you were there
I love this show. I was there and I was enjoying every minute. I also recorded it and listened to it a lot on my
cassettes. THe US blues >JEt was a freak out if you were there and of course had never heard anything like this
before. Just imagine being a dead head for two years and 20 shows and hearing this come out of the blue, like a
new China cat Rider or Scarlet Fire. the Bobby Mcgee was great as was the Miss 1/2 step. But the real thing that
zinged your mind was Jerry spacey jam in the middle of Playing. If you were where I was in the front of his
stack of speakers you would have heard him short circuit like a blown 50 watt amp and turn into a brain splitting
alchemist. I’m not sure how else to word it but listen carefully to the Playing jam and listen for the middle jam
and you’ll hear jerry short circuit. IT WAS GREAT!!Drove home that night back to Washington DC along
Skyline Drive. What a night!Oh the Playing Jam freaks at around the 17:00 point if you were zoned and
following this, it was like Jerry was tickling your brain.
REVIEW: My First Show
Been hooked since
From Mr. Usborne :
A reviewer at archive.org says “This was a weird event-the band was somewhat scared of the crowd which was
yelling at them the whole time.” and “There was no encore at this concert-the eyes thing is an error perpetuated
through the years starting with deadbase. The Dead left after Johnny B Goode
and I think they were glad to get out.” Whether this is true I don’t know but this recording doesn’t bare witness
to there being an unhappy audience.