Rating  - Yes this is good
But it left me wanting more.
I have many other music dvd's, Roger Waters, Yes, ELO,N.Young.G.Dead Etc
All very fulfilling but these 2 song per band tidbit dvd's are in a way annoying allthough still very good.
Rating  - Dead Certain
I write this from the perspective of a deadhead for deadheads. Okay, a night in a small club with a youthful trio of Santana, the Grateful Dead, and the JA, what could even compare today? How many visual opportunities exist to see Pigpen put his signature on "Hard To Handle"? For these reasons, this is a must buy for all, and not even a second thought for deadheads.
Still, if you've listened (and watched) enough Grateful Dead in your life, you can tell the truly great nights from the good nights, despite any hype or advertising. This was a good night, not a great night (at least for the Dead). The "Hard to Handle" is a treat with Pigpen in great (Workingman's Dead era) form, thinned down from the mid-sixties but not yet gaunt and sick from '72 until RIP. Yet, within a year or so, the Dead would find magic with the jam portion of this song. Simply listen to the Hollywood Palladium show from 8/6/71 or from their final show at the Fillmore East on 4/29/71 to hear what Hard To Handle sounded like on a great night.
More of the same with China Cat Sunflower/I Know you Rider. This version is a good 1970 version. However, by 1972 the Dead had taken the suite to a much higher level, and continued to develop it well into 1974 and later.
The Santana songs are quite good. The highlight of the Airplane portion is the bass solo in "The Ballad Of You And Me And Pooneil". Jack Casady was simply one of the coolest rock stars of his time and his sound and style are vividly on display. This is Airplane on a very psychedelic night (as opposed to political night).
Then comes the All Star Jam... Well again, how many other dvds can you go out and buy that have Garcia, Santana, Kaukonen, et. al. playing together simultaneously on the same stage? None, I believe. Still, musically its not anything that would make the hair stand up on your back. Its a lot of cooks in the pot.
Thirty-seven years later it is a joy to have this show play in our living rooms. For years I owned a vhs copy of this show (I think bootlegged from WNET). It is a surprise and pleasure to now have it on dvd. However... they did nothing to improve the sound (like even get it to stereo, let alone 5.1). Further, the artwork for the sleeve is funny, as they managed to get song titles and band names mixed up.
Go out and buy this dvd. Just know the Dead reached heights much higher than this night - as cool as it must of been to be at the Family Dog that night.
Rating  - Fantastic
Utterly amazing performance by the Airplane and amazing performances by the others. We are really lucky this film was preserved.
Rating - Way Back When
It was quite a surprise to see this video on sale - and I immediately ordered it so I can take a great "trip" back to those days - I remember when this was first broadcasted on PBS in the early, if not primordal, 70's. In fact, I was able to record the sound track on my ol' Roberts (Akai) reel to reel x-Field Tape Deck when it aired on PBS back then. Somewhere there's that reel (if it has not been melted down into some form or another), but alas, it has never been found nor brought back to life. Then this DVD came along - POW!!!! BAM!!!! It was to me a "must have".
Although the clarity is fair to good - not like you would expect today of any live concert on DVD - it still was quite entertaining seeing (although at times rather murky but acceptable) Santana, the Dead, and the Plane all doing their thing separately and also at the climax of the DVD in a "Superjam". To be honest, the Superjam sounded like the Lexington Avenue subway in NYC after not being lubricated for 20 years - but it was interesting to see and hear these legends all on the same stage at once.
So, if you'd like to "experience" the 60's without ever having to travel back (or try to remember those days - which most of us are unable to due to the ossification of our brain cells on all sorts of pharmacopia ingested over the last four - yes FOUR - decades) OR if you are a Gen X'er curious what it was like musically during those days, then give this DVD a chance - you may just wind up dressing in beads, a ruffled shirt or tunic (with or without a cape and/or a peace symbol chain), brikenstocks, headbands, flowery bell bottoms, and perhaps a pair of "granny glasses".
See you out there!
Best,
Paul
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