Grateful
Dead:
Nightfall of Diamonds
CD081 - 2 CD
Meadowlands Sports Arena, East Rutherford, NJ. 10/16/89
Grateful Dead: The Band
Jerry Garcia Lead
Guitar, Vocals
Mickey Hart Drums
Bill Kreutzmann Drums
Phil Lesh Electric Bass, Vocals
Brent Mydland Keyboards, Vocals
Bob Weir Rhythm Guitar, Vocals
CD ONE
Picasso Moon 7:10 Weir/Bralove/Barlow
Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo 6:40 Garcia/Hunter
Feel Like A Stranger 7:38 Weir/Barlow
Never Trust A Woman 7:15 Mydland
Built To Last 5:20 Garcia/Hunter
Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again 9:20 Dylan
Let It Grow 11:59 Weir/Barlow
Deal 8:39 Garcia/Hunter
CD TWO
Dark Star 11:55 Garcia/Hart/Kreutzmann/ Lesh/McKernan/Weir/Hunter
Playing In The Band 8:02 Weir/Hart/Hunter
Uncle John's Band 9:36 Garcia/Hunter
Jam 9:15 Grateful Dead
Drums 6:05 Hart/Kreutzmann
Space 6:01 Garcia/Lesh/Weir
I Will Take You Home 4:27 Mydland/Barlow
I Need A Miracle 4:02 Weir/Barlow
Dark Star 5:20 Garcia/Hart/Kreutzmann/ Lesh/McKernan/Weir/Hunter
Attics Of My Life 4:45 Garcia/Hunter
Playing In The Band 4:00 Weir/Hart/Hunter
We Bid You Goodnight
3:10 Trad. Arr. By Grateful Dead
Recording:John Cutler
Mixing:Jeffrey Norman
Tape Archivist:David
Lemieux
Album Coordination:Cassidy
Law
Archival Research:Eileen
Law / Grateful Dead Archives
Assistant Engineer:Rudson
Shurtliff
Cover Design:Randy
Tuten
Press Release:
Grateful Dead and Arista Records proudly present Nightfall Of Diamonds, the latest in a long line of precious gems from the Grateful Dead vault. Recorded at New Jersey's Meadowlands Arena in October 1989, this two-CD set captures the Dead in a peak performance, beautifully mixed and digitally mastered from the 24-track analog source tape.
The birthday boy kicks off the show in fine style with a solidly rocking rendition of "Picasso Moon," appearing here for the first time on a live Grateful Dead release. Other highlights from the show's first set include: "Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo;" the title tune from the Dead's then-new album "Built to Last;" a gorgeous version of "Let It Grow;" and a roof-raising, set-closing "Deal."
The second set lifts off with "Dark Star," receiving only its fourth performance of the 1980s, and the band sets its sights on deep space from the start, making the set one of those patented seamless aural tapestries, interweaving "Dark Star" with "Playing In The Band," "Uncle John's Band" and plenty of freewheeling jamming. Brent Mydland is represented by the tender lullaby "I Will Take You Home" (a world apart from the rancorous blues of "Never Trust A Woman", his contribution to the first set). Weir's rocker "I Need A Miracle" turns the intensity way up, then gives way to the heartbreakingly beautiful "Attics Of My Life" --which in turn morphs into reprises of "Dark Star" and "Playing In The Band." After that, nothing more needs to be said but "We Bid You Goodnight." Which is just what the band does, with the old Bahamian hymn of that name.