1979-07-22 [Sun]

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Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica, CA

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Jerry Garcia - electric guitar, vocals
John Kahn - electric bass
Merl Saunders - keyboards, synthesizers, vocals
Ron Stallings - saxophone, vocals
Gaylord Birch - drums, vocals
Ed Neumeister - trombone
Set 1:
Don't It Make It Better , Someday Baby , Fast Tone , What You Won't Do For Love , The Jealous Kind [1] , I'll Take A Melody

Set 2:
Tellin' My Friends About You , That's What Love Will Make You Do , Mohican And The Great Spirit [1] , Lovely Night For Dancing , So Far From Time > Dear Prudence

[1] Final known performance
Audio
Images
Notes
  • Avalon Attractions. Sue: Wage was $5,000 flat guarantee on gross potential of $25,500. Employer provdes sound and lights. Estimated expenses are $17,763.25. All expenses are to be documented no later than [see p. 2] . Sound check 4 pm, 11 pm curfew.
  • The old filesets purporting to present material from this show, shnid-11048 and shnid-17257 actually present material from 6/16/79, except for TWLWMYD, which is from 6/22/79.
  • mention: "Points West," Cash Box, July 21, 1979, p. 18
  • listing: Los Angeles Times Calendar, July 22, 1979, p. 70
  • review: [negative] Goldman 1979. He leads with the Deadheads there to worship Jerry, continuing "perhaps an undiscerning crowd is exactly what Reconstruction needs to bolster its ego during formative stages. Though the individual musicianship is above average, the group's mixed brew of rhythm and blues, traditional blues and rudimentary jazz never moved beyond the realm of the ordinary. ... Jerry Garcia is a marginally talented guitarist. His solos --often employing clusters of 16th notes executed in ascending registers-- are rarely inventive, yet his every note was treated as if it were nectar from the gods." He concluded that w/o JG to draw the adoring fans, Reconstruction might be "a more likely candidate for a Holiday Inn lounge". (The band did stay at the Holiday Inn this night, at 120 Colorado Ave. in Santa Monica, though there's no indication whether they played the lounge.)
  • review: [mixed] Rogers 1979. Some on idolatry of fans. "Merrill [sic] Saunders", heh heh. "show was interesting but inconsistent and on only a couple of occasions dynamic". Garcia "just another jazz guitar player," but with "enough of a reputation that a group virtually unknown in Southern California sold out the large [Santa Monica] Civic Auditorium on the basis of his name." The horns "played their jazz riffs at a decibel level approaching that of the GD, which to say the least made things interesting". "If the show wasn't a total success, his reputation as a brilliant guitarist came out of it more than intact".
    • Historical
  • 1979 Ba'ath Party Purge: Iraqi president Saddam Hussein arranges the arrest and later execution of nearly seventy members of his ruling Ba'ath Party.
    • Torrents for Date
    Weather
    High: 74.0 °F
    Low: 62.9 °F
    Feels Like High: 74.0 °F
    Feels Like Low: 62.9 °F
    Wind Speed: 17.2 mph
    Humidity: 75.7 %
    Moonphase: 0.96
    Partly cloudy throughout the day.
    Time
    7:00 PM
    Ticket Price
    $8.50