review: [negative] Jaffe 1980; Jaffe not into it. Here's the template, as he sees it: "five minutes to tune up, another five to find the right riff; five minutes later, the vocals came, and then jamming with the same guitar leads for five more minutes. It was like the Jerry Garcia Machine: take a classic song, ... drop the record into the slot, and [sic] comes out sounding like the Grateful Dead. ... incredibly repetitive ... great music to fall asleep by." Didn't like the hourlong intermission, bemoans idolatry of the fans, in whose eyes Garcia "can do no wrong". "A mild indulgence of this sort of aimless shuffling is harmless, but addiction to the Grateful Dead, my friends, is a sad sickness."
review: [negative] Wald 1980; Wald describes the concert as an ordeal, and Garcia as unbudging and stagnant. "Total lack of regard for the audience" show opened an insensitive 45 minutes late, 30 minute Hunter set, then another 45 minutes for Garcia to come on, so ca. 11 pm. "No apologies or helloes were offered, just an evident feeling that Garcia would rather be doing more drugs backstage" ouch. "no Dylan being played", so reviewer doesn't know Masterpiece. Almost another hour between sets, then languid and tedious set, then another half hour wait for the encore! "lassitude ... insensitivity ... appalling "