Grateful Dead : Dave's Picks 23 Volume Twenty Three : Mac Court ! – " The Pit !! " ( aka. ' McArthur Court ' ) – University of Oregon ( Duck U. !!! ) – Eugene, Oregon ( OR ) : January 22, 1978 ( 1/22/1978 ) : 3 CD : 2017 (1978/2017) Grateful Dead Productions, Inc. / Rhino ( GDP, Inc. / Rhino ) - R2 557455 : Limited Edition Individually Numbered ( of # 16500 ) : " The Dead At Duck U. !!! "
" The Legendary " … Mac Court ! – Duck U. !! – 1/22/78 Show !!! - in " The Pit !!!! " … Featuring one of the Most-Creative ! – Mind-Melting !! – & Life-Altering !!! Grateful Dead ' Segue-Transitions ' of All-Time ! … Close Encounters Of The Third Kind !!! > St. Stephen !!!!! Indoors at the Very-Proud Home ! of the Mighty Oregon Fighting Ducks !! … on a Sunny ! ( just kidding -- Rainy !! ) Sunday Night … in Good Ol’ Eu~gene !!! Holy !!! – Grateful !!!!! - Dead !!!!!!!
Oh Wow ........ Ahhhhh, well – I guess my life is now ... Officially " Complete " ? Sure wasn’t expecting This ! here in 2017 ?!? My spine is tingling just even ' thinking ' about this-one, and I haven’t even listened to it recently either – at least over the last few ... Hours !? Ha !! – as I’ll betcha my own ' personal-count tally ' on This-Show ! might-just break the meter ? Smmmmaaash … I haven’t been able to ' properly-describe ' This-Show for like 30-years now – and should I even try ?? Just wasted words ??? Dang, I just don’t know … Duck U. ! – Mac Court !! ( " The Pit !!! " ) – 1/22/78 !!!! – a completely-intimidating task, for all those who are already well " in the know " on This ! " Monster-Dead-Show !!! ". Alright … so, Is This " The Best " Dead Show Ever ? ... probably not. Does this Show offer " The Best " Garcia Axe work of All-Time ? ... probably not. Hmmm, a bit of a dicey-start ? But ….. is this " The Best " Dead Show from 1978 ? ... yes. Does this Show offer one of the Hottest !!! Live-Dead ' Segue-Transitions ' of All-Time ? ... yes. And … is there any better-place to see The Grateful Dead ' Live ' on Planet Earth – other than ... on " Planet Eugene " ??? ... No ! And … is this my own personal-favorite Dead Show of All-Time ? ... yep ( well, you know … this ' and ' 6/30/85 MPP !!! – Ha ! ) No … but with all-seriousness ( well, you know – as much as I’m actually capable of ) --- This-Show !!!? .. .. .. " It " single-handedly derailed my Entire Life ( well, you know … ' derailed ' meant in a ' Grate-Way ' – Ha ! – Grate ! like " The-Euge !! " ) And, I’m not kidding at all on this either - not-a-bit ... The 90 Minute Analog Cassette Tape ( Maxell XL-II S ! ) I acquired way-back in the '80's – of this 1/22/78 Mac Court ! Show ? … It Forever-Changed My Life ( ahhh, yes … " Dead Tour !!! " ). Or, to be a little bit more-specific here … " This-Show ! " was actually how I picked - " My College ! " ( Duck U. !! – " Quack " !!! ) – well, you know … that, and of course " Animal House " ! – Ha !! Naturally-though ... right ?! A " True-Story ", and I’m most-definitely sure you'll also remember The-Shirt quite well --- “ COLLEGE “. I mean … Whoa !?! I used to go to Duck Hoops Games ( even when they stunk ! ) – just-so I could ' Look ' at where Garcia did " It ". I used to even play hoops in there ( " The Pit ! " ) – just so I could go & stand right-where Jerry did It. Hell, I used to even go & ' clean-up ' Mac Court after Ducks Hoops Games with the Oregon Ducks Lax Team – just so I could sit in all of the different levels & seats looking-on from the various / different ( glorious ! ) vantage-points ... just so I could admire time & time again where Jerry Did It ! I even found a bag of dank in one of the aisles one time under a seat, after a game - I mean ... just Imagine-That !?! in Good Ol' Eugene ! - Ha !! I even went & saw Bob Dylan in there in the '90's ( a few-times … ), so I could closely hear exactly what the acoustics were like inside " The Pit !!! " Live ! - when Jerry did It. And, by " It " – you know, or will know real-soon just exactly what I’m talking about … " CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND !!! >>> ST. STEPHEN !!!!! ". The Finest ! Grateful Dead Segue Transition !! … Ever !!! – of them ALL !!!!! And, trust me I know ' all-of-them ' quite-well ( very-well " Studied ... " ). Are some tighter ? – cleaner ? – delivered with better timing & tempos ? Sure … you bet they are. But ..… are any of these others my own personal " All-Time " Dead Favorite ? ... Not even close. I mean … not to down any of them ( as if I would even think about doing that ... ) – but, here it is like 40-years later after Garcia " Bestowed " This-One ! upon our collective Deadhead-Heads !! And I’m sitting here writing about it intensely & even a tad bit frustrated ( 40-years later ) that I’m not even ' nearly ' achieving the Rightful-Justice ! that " It " well deserves. I could spend a whole lifetime trying ( and actually, I kinda have ?? ) – and I still could-not do it near-justice … as it is " Simply-Heavenly ". There has never been a more ' Creative ' Guitar Player on Earth than Jerry Garcia … and 1/22/78 Mac Court is just yet ' another ' pinnacle-example of how he once again widens the gap, leaves the rest behind – and, for lack of a more " PC " way to say it ? … basically makes the rest of them eat his dust ( well, you know ... maybe other-than " The Jimi/mys " ). I drove 3,000 miles once to just ' look ' at Mac Court once - to live by it & play in it – and on that drive … my buddy & I ( R.I.P. ! ) just casually referred to Garcia as " The King Of Rock & Roll ". You know - something like ... " Let's listen to some Early-'80's King Of Rock & Roll next ... in the Tape Deck ! ". I even went to Mac Court one time just to see the very-last Ducks vs. UCLA Game inside " The Pit ! " ( yes … just so I could ( once again ... ) " look-right-it " where Jerry did It. ) – and I was quite pleased to even see Bill Walton in there too ! See … he was probably ' really ' just doing the exact same thing I was ( Laser-Focus >>> " Mac Court ’78 ! … Mac Court ’78 !! " ) – but, with the one big difference being that he also went to see the ' Real-Thing ' … on that Sunny ! ( Ha ! ) Eugene Sunday – back in ’78 !! Dang … I guess I’ve still got a lot of catching up to do ? But wait ? … there's nothing left to catch-up-to anymore ?!? Uh-oh … So, I just simply said to Bill – " Hey Bill – I haven’t seen you since ’93 at Shoreline ! " – as he stands there as " Honorary Game Captain " in his Vintage U.C.L.A. Letterman Jacket … and then replies " So, Where’ve You Been ?! ". Then … I just couldn’t resist it . . . " Hey Bill – So ... What’s Your Favorite Dead Song ? ". And, the ' Golden-Reply ' was .. .. .. " The Next One ! ". Ha !!! You k