I had a lot of fun putting together that collection of Bob Dylan shows in 1978. So much so that I think I’ll do it more often. I probably won’t do entire years again as that was just a little too much, but it seems really fun to collect and share everything I can from different tours, or maybe a complete run at a certain venue. Or I could get creative and collect all the shows where an artist sat in with another band, or shows in a certain city, etc. Truth be told I’ve been getting bored sharing shows the way I have been and this seems like a fun way to spice things up. We’ll see how it goes.

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In September of 1989 the Jerry Garcia Band did a 12 show tour of the East Coast and parts of the Mid-West. For four of those dates Clarence Clemons joined them. Bruce Springsteen had recently told the E-Street Band that he wouldn’t be needing them for the indefinite future. With the band essentially broken up Clemons moved to Marin County, California looking for new musical adventures. There he befriended several members of the Grateful Dead including Bob Weir and Jerry Garcia. He guested on a few shows with the Dead and then joined the Jerry Band on this tour.

It is a great tour all around with Jerry in fine form. I feel like at this point Jerry often felt a little burnt out with the Dead. Their popularity was soaring and Jerry’s fame was enormous. With the Jerry Band even though he was more in the spotlight it likely seemed like a much more relaxed atmosphere. However he felt, his playing is on fire throughout this mini-tour.

What I love about Clemons playing on these dates is that he really feels like a member of the band. Often a guest artist tries to show off when he’s sitting in with another band. Here, Clemons gets in a few nice solos but mostly he’s just adding in texture and rhythm. It feels like he’s just another member of the ensemble.

The dates are as follows:

09/01/89
Merriweather Post Pavilion
Columbia, MD

09/02/89
Merriweather Post Pavilion
Columbia ,MD

09/03/89
The Spectrum
Philadelphia, PA

09/05/89
Hartford Civic Center
Hartford, CT

09/06/89
Nassau Coliseum
Uniondale, NY

09/07/89
Meadowlands Arena
East Rutherford, NJ
w/Clarence Clemons

09/09/89
Great Woods Center for the Performing Arts
Mansfield, MA
w/Clarence Clemons

09/10/89
Great Woods Center for the Performing Arts
Mansfield, MA
w/Clarence Clemons

09/11/89
The Centrum
Worcester, MA
w/Clarence Clemons

09/13/89
Seashore Performing Arts Center
Old Orchard Beach, ME

09/15/89
Alpine Valley Music Theatre
East Troy, WI

09/16/89
Poplar Creek Music Theatre
Hoffman Estates, IL

I’ve got at least one source from each show, but I’m still missing several available sources. As a completist I want them all so if anyone has any of the others please let me know.

Like a lot of collectors, I keep a list of all the bootlegs I own. Also, like a lot of collectors that list is in perpetual need of updating. A few years back I decided to move my list off of db.etree to a spreadsheet of my own creation. At that time I decided to separate my Bob Dylan boots from the rest of the list. Actually what I did was make a spreadsheet of all the Lossless Bob numbers and then indicate which of those boots I owned. I figured that way I could track both what I did have and what I was missing. The trouble is the LB numbers are regularly updated and I wasn’t keeping up with them. By this point, my list is pretty useless in that regard.

A couple of months ago I decided to transfer my Bob Dylan list to my regular bootleg list. It is a long process as I have a lot of Dylan shows, I was pretty casual about it too. Every now and then I would go in and move a few shows to the new list. Last week I decided to get more serious about it. I pretty much at random decided to tackle all the shows I owned from 1978. As I was fixing the list I decided it would be fun to collect as many bootlegs from that year as I could and then share them here. I downloaded every boot I could find from places like Expecting Rain and Guitars101. I reached out to friends I thought might have some of those shows.

It is still incomplete by a wide margin. As you might know, Lossless Bob tracks every possible source for every possible bootleg even if they are almost assuredly from the exact same source. I’m still missing over 200 LB numbers from 1978. However, I do have at least one source from almost every show Dylan performed that year. There are a couple of dates on which no tape seems to exist. There are also two dates in which there are sources but I don’t have a copy. That’s June 19 and October 14 if you are keeping track. I’d love a copy of those shows if anyone has a lossless copy and wants to share.

I will continue to add to this collection as I find more boots from this era. In fact, I have a collector friend who promises to send me what he has, but he has not yet had the time to do so. As new shows come in I’ll share them like I do my regular everyday shows. But for now, you can have what I have.

I quite enjoyed this project. Sometimes this blog can feel more like a job than a fun hobby but projects like this help keep it enjoyable. I think I’ll probably do some more projects like this in the future. Maybe not collecting an entire year but I think it would be fun to collect every source from a particular tour, or if an artist did an extended run at one venue, or maybe special projects where an artist sits in with other bands, etc. Stay tuned for more of that.

Just to continue the continuing saga of my keyboard…

As previously noted I spilled sweet tea on my Bluetooth keyboard twice, essentially breaking it. I plugged in an old wired keyboard which worked for a while until it didn’t. I looked around online to see if there was a solution to the unworking wired keyboard. Nothing worked. A few people noted that they plugged their keyboard into a USB extender and that worked. Nobody seemed to know why.

I didn’t think I owned a USB extender and I decided to buy a new keyboard rather than purchase an extender not knowing if it would actually work.

I ordered a new keyboard online. While waiting for it to arrive I started using my wife’s keyboard. A couple of days ago I dropped something under my desk and while retrieving it I noticed a small plastic package. Guess what was inside? A USB extender! I plugged it into the non-working keyboard and suddenly it worked.

Unrelated to all of this my wife recently purchased a new computer. Unlike me, who would have opened the new one the moment it arrived, she’s let it sit in our living room, unopened, for several weeks now. She’s wanted a new computer for months, but was now dreading having to move all her files and set up the new one.

Before I ordered my new keyboard we had a discussion about whether or not her new computer came with a keyboard. She remembered specifically not ordering a keyboard because she already had one. Thus I purchased a new keyboard myself. Guess what was in the computer box she finally decided to open? Yep, a new keyboard. Guess what arrived in the mail that very same day? My new keyboard.

To sum up I now have three working keyboards for my one computer!

I hope that adds a little levity to your day. At least I thought it was funny.

This year has been a challenge in so many ways. This little blog has gone through a number of changes. Thanks for sticking with me and The Midnight Cafe. I’ll be back in 2021 with lots more music to share. Happy Holidays my friends, I hope this season brings you joy, peace, and love.