3/22/73: memorial auditorium, utica, NY.

in august of ’69 the dead began their push into upstate new york at the woodstock festival. by 1970, the band’s itinerary included a number of performances due north of new york city. sam cutler had stripped down operations and had the boys touring with abandon. the goal was to get a paid, as many nights as possible. this included touring with the nrps and a new format, "an evening with the grateful dead," which featured acoustic dead sets most nights. the tour featured gigs at SUNY alfred/delhi, harpur college, and the U of rochester palestra. they ventured north of the hudson again in the fall ’71, touring in support of skull and roses (which warner brothers reinforced with a $100K worth of FM broadcasts).

the next time the dead traveled upstate was the spring of 1973. the tour began with three dates at nassau coliseum. to get through the week and onto the larger venues ahead, they had to at least cover expenses, and that meant playing at a smaller facility. the utica memorial auditorium was a typical multi-purpose civic center of the era. it was erected in 1960 and had a capacity of 5700 for floor events. for the most part, it was used for minor league ice hockey, and the AHL utica comets still call it home. the increasing size of the dead’s sound system in 1973 made one-nighters harder to justify, so the citizens of utica were lucky enough to get two nights of the good ol' grateful dead. thanks to the tapes, we know that the band absolutely killed it in utica—as they did most nights in 1973—and anyone from oneida county who got to see either of the shows was lucky indeed.

the tape of the second night from handshake city is plum archetypal ’73 dead. the 18 song first set is nearly two hours long and has a bit of everything. the short tunes are all solidly played, including my favorite take on the briefly performed loretta lynn song, you ain't woman enough. it's sublime the amount of twang garcia gets out of his strat on this one. some great first frame jams abound as well, with stellar versions of birdsong, china cat > i know you rider, and playing in the band. and there's even some playful banter in response to the local fire marshal (who apparently asked the band to make an announcement about keeping a fire isle clear, and that smoking is dangerous for you). in classic prankster style, lesh & garcia charmingly bait the municipal officer, with lesh leading the way with a stoned public service anouncement. a chuckling jerry responds: “yeah, try to keep your fires in the fire aisle.”

the back half of the show opens with an absolutely scathing big river. it's one of those early 70's versions that surely could have earned the quintet a place at the grand ole opry. a few cuts later, they roll out here comes sunshine, one of their new wake of the flood numbers. it's a good early take and hints at the jazzy direction they're heading in. billy tinkers with his snare and phil plucks a few familiar bass notes that signal the arrival of truckin'. like the europe '72 versions, tonight's take really swings. seven minutes in, we're treated to a sweet early instrumental version of nobody's fault but mine; garcia's open D solo is fluid and expressive, and adds a mournful feeling to the mix. the boys shuffle back to truckin' proper for a brief jam and then launch full tilt into the other one. it's a gorgeous performance with inspired jamming that draws us out of the basic theme and into a space of attunement, rich in complexity and ambiguity. kreutmann's drumming is other wordly throughout, pushing the ensemble deeper into the music. in time the other one theme returns, weir offers the second verse, and the band segues gracefully into eyes of the world. the second single from the album—released as a promo with mono and stereo mixes—eyes of the world is the perfect vehicle for exploration and thematic jamming. and tonight's take is no exception, with it's rich samba carioca feel, jerry's signature Emaj7 vamping, a dramatically framed coda and, as they did so nicely in the '73-'74 versions, it is elegantly paired with china doll.

the band isn't done yet—they still have two weir sung tunes left in the tank. sugar magnolia is rocked out with a classic extended finish, and the one more saturday night encore is more than acceptable. it's a fine ending to a dynamic show with many impossibly good moments. from a business standpoint, this mid-week utica stopover gave the band a couple of modest paydays during an already fruitful spring tour. their upstate history was starting to reap financial benefits and the fires would continue to burn in this region of new york for years to come.

culled from betty cantor jackson's 10" master reels with a digital transfer by jamie waddell, this tape purrs from start to finish.


https://archive.org/details/gd1973-03-22.136267.sbd.GEMS.flac16