This show was a landmark one because it was the Wall of Sound warm up. There were a few changes made to the massive sound system before the band hit the road in May 1974, but for all intents and purposes this was the Wall of Sound we’ve all come to know and love.
As for the Deal from this show it just jumped out as a fun version when I was listening to Dick’s Picks 24 recently. I know a lot of people are critical of the vocals from the Wall of Sound shows, but you can hear how all of the instruments are separated here. In other words you can really hear how the whole deal goes down on this recording.
The familiar Deal shuffle rolls out and Bobby teases the audience, suggesting it’s easy to pinpoint those audience members who won tickets on the radio. Perhaps they simply didn’t groove when an obvious grooving song came through the PA. Nevertheless Billy is in fine form, as was typical for the period. Jerry guts out the verses with a little something extra. And listen for Bobby’s playing during the verses, he adds some excellent accents at just the right moments. Not only do we get a nice Jerry solo here, but Keith is really banging away at the piano and Billy seems determined to lead and not follow. It makes for a very energetic solo section. Keith continues his valuable contributions in the successive verse and chorus. Check it out. As the song winds down the energy ramps up. Jerry plays his lick to signal the song is ending but clearly they could (and maybe should?) have kept up their current trajectory for quite a while longer.
Complete Setlist 3/23/74
Previous Deal DFAY Selections
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