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Grateful Dead: Road Trips, Vol. 4 No. 2: April Fools’ ’88

Rhino

Early in the first set from 4/1/88, one might wonder why anyone who wasn’t at the Brendan Byrne Arena shows would be interested in this set. The band is off in its time, over-sped and out of synch with itself—seemingly having a hard time hearing itself in this oversized basketball court. Then, on “Cumberland Blues,” the groove finally catches up with the aggressive New York/ New Jersey tempo. Eight months after touring as Bob Dylan’s band, the Dead summon him throughout—even in Bob Weir’s phrasing on “Jack Straw.” A rare take on Dylan’s “Ballad of a Thin Man” is a treat. This is a Weir-dominated show, peaking in a second set typical of the period. On a canonical “Estimated Prophet,” Weir scats and shrieks over the deep pocket dug by Brent Mydland’s ooky organ tone, Jerry Garcia’s reggae guitar chops and Phil Lesh’s spare bass line. On “Drums,” Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann practically invent dubstep. Shrugged off at the time as a retro act, this Grateful Dead is a fire-breathing beast—the bridge in “Wharf Rat” is as heavy as anything Metallica was doing that year. As it turns out, this show (and much of the Garcia-heavy 3/31, also included) stands the test of time.