A three-hour live album from Grateful Dead is a real blessing. There is no shortage of bootleg material and alternative cuttings from the Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir-featuring band, but an official release of such quality is always a treat. Beacon Theatre, New York, NY, June 14, 1976, is not just a lengthy, matter-of-fact title, but a quality listen for dedicated Deadheads to sink their teeth into. Crucial to this release is understanding where the band were at the time of their performance. Just a year on from the release of their phenomenal Blues for Allah, and it sounds as though the band are still riding the high of their work there. Rightly so, it’s a magnificent achievement, and so too is their Beacon Theatre performance. Three hours of the band at a notable best with brilliant songs included. Impressive segues, wonderful instrumentation and effective elongations of their work is all to be expected, but it should never be taken for granted.
Beacon Theatre is a solid starting point for those wanting to get to grips with Grateful Dead’s live sound. There is enough in the way of bootlegged live material to enjoy after this release. A Record Store Day exclusive, but those who know where to find the Beacon Theatre show are in luck. Opener Cold Rain and Snow is an excellent place to get to grips with the nuanced playing style of the band. Groove-laden, ever-thrilling pieces of laid-back rock stylishness. It’s as crucial to their own songs as it is to traditional tracks and covers, which are found intermittently throughout this performance. A notably strong cover of Johnny Cash’s Big River and a Chuck Berry cover, Around and Around, are nice touches. The latter especially. It’s nice to hear a group so inherently moved by the early rock and roll scene that aren’t wanting to throw Johnny B. Goode or Roll Over Beethoven into their set. Neither quite fits the style of Grateful Dead shows anyway, but the temptation is surely there.
Cover songs are always a nice touch, a little extra from a band finding new love for old work with a fresh instrumental line. For Grateful Dead, it’s an extremely different experience. What the band manages to do with the likes of Lazy Lightning and Supplication, a tremendous segue of two Kingfish covers, is staggering. So too are the classics. The Wheel and The Music Never Stopped from the second set are ridiculously cool while set closer U.S. Blues comes at a time where any artist worth listening to could pass political comment with a breezy, fortified feeling to their words. Such is the case for Garcia and the band here, whose form is of a career best variety. Those who have listened to further shows by The Dead will no doubt want to return to this one, specifically for the guitar thrills from Weir and Garcia. Their impressive work is constant on the Beacon Theatre record.
What it highlights is how much had changed for the band, yet how little was different to their stage style. Grateful Dead shows are frequently peppered with covers and classic tracks from one discography or another, but the twenty-four songs assembled here are a roaring success for those wanting a generous helping of Garcia and the band’s talents. Dedicated Grateful Dead fans will already know the explosive power the group has on stage, but they’ll know of the slower moments, those softer touches which bring out the delicate and considered side to the band. It’s one of the great strengths of the group and here it proves, inevitably, to be a real thrill. Beacon Theatre is a strong starting point for a band with as much bootlegged material as their friend Bob Dylan.
