Fast, nearly 15-minute Dancin' highlights the set. Standard fare for set two, but it's well-played. Always pleasing Lazy Lightning->Supplication Jam to close out set. Band goofing off, wish both Mickey and Billy a happy birthday, then go into Finiculi Finicula. Not quite as mellow as '76, neither as tight and bound as '77, it's somewhere in between, stretching and meandering, and adds a bluesy-rock-psychedelic edge. Pumped up, 'LAAAAWW come to get you if you don't walk right.' '78 has this sort of drippy sound that I really actually like.

Keith getting in on the action on Tennessee Jed. Donna and Bobby singing nicely off each other. Sweet, emotive versions then follow of It Must Have Been The Roses and Looks Like Rain. Double dose of Jerry is followed by double dose of cowboy Bob on Me and My Uncle->Big River.

Mellow, but groovy and meanders some near the end, in a good way. Solid half-step and the franklin's is nice. Your journey can now progress with no end in sight. How exciting to be able to encounter something new with each and every step instead of treading the same old walkway! It does feel a little daunting doesn’t it? If we have become used to routine, something unexpected or new is likely to startle us. Just hold your arms out, take a deep breath and follow that blade. Although you are likely to be better supported you will still need your wits about you so don’t lose that concentration.First Half-Step->Franklin's Tower combo opens this great spring '78 show at the Uptown Theater. If you find yourself at the top of the cycle, why not take a moment of pause and look at what is reaching out before you. Go on, step off onto the blade. You will realise it is not the edge you are on but the face of the blade itself. Surely that must feel more stable underneath you? Yet you chose not to take that path, even though you have passed it many times. At times we feel we are walking on a knife’s edge fearing the drop either side of us. At other times we end up just going round in circles, failing to realise we have trodden that same ground many times before. So what is it that keeps us on path? Is the drop really that daunting? We can continue on the current path believing it is the safest option, yet with safety comes repetition and stagnation.

Ace of spades blogger