Monday, December 2, 2013

4/2/76 video

I saw this at jgmf but it certainly warrants a reposting here and everywhere: 45 min of the JGB at John Scher's Capitol Theater in Passaic, NJ.


davidaron on livestream.com. Broadcast Live Free

A lot of heads aren't fans of the dinosaur's pace of the 76-77 era JGB and, while I can't exactly say I blame them (though I love it myself), I do think that actually seeing the band in action is pretty important. Maybe it's just me, but actually seeing what's going on can be the key to "getting" music that you maybe weren't connecting with before (this is what happened to me with Ornette Coleman and Sun Ra's Arkestra when I was a teenager: didn't get what the big deal was at all, then got to see them both play and something just clicked). Not saying that any 76-era JGB naysayers will necessarily be convinced by this, but who knows? If nothing else, this video certainly turns over the notion that Jerry & co. were simply stoned and slow rolling during this period. Look at how animated Jer looks! Look at his little truffle shuffle dance during Tore Up Over You! Look at how goddamn happy they all look just to be there. Look at the mind-meld going on with Kahn during Don't Let Go (did I mention that this vid has a complete Don't Let Go!?) and how Jerry's eyebrows show more life than his whole body would years later. Too much. So take 40 minutes to revel in this video, even if you're not a fan of this era. You may be surprised.

It's also the only circulating document of this show that we have (there's no audio yet), and the only video we have of this JGB lineup.

 fyi, 76 fans have been spoiled rotten lately. The mighty Voodoonola put these up not too long ago, also from the Capitol Theater:


Drink it up, folks.  Ain't the internet great?

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