Customer Reviews

Jerry Garcia Band: Live at Shoreline

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I bought this DVD for two reasons:1.I was at the show, and 2.It's the only, as of currently, available JGB on DVD. Having been at this show and remembering the general feel in the air after recently losing Brent, Jerry and the JGB stepped up and played in leiu of the cancelled Dead shows and inspired us all to carry on! This DVD is amazing and, as others have written, is a very down-home and heartfelt performance. Buy this DVD and watch it over and over!!

Dead fans consider Jerry Garcia to be the de facto "leader of the band." The perceptions are unshakeable, even though Garcia shared singing and songwriting duties over the band's storied career with Bob Weir, Pig Pen, Phil Lesh, and Brent Mydland.
Enter the Jerry Garcia Band, an "in between tours" project for Garcia that enabled the singer and guitarist to abandon the weight of being the ringleader of rock's most prolific touring carnival.
A-list musicians like Melvin Seals (organ and piano), John Kahn (bass), and Jackie LaBranch and Gloria Jones (vocals) joined Garcia to barnstorm the U.S. with a repertoire that featured originals and covers culled from Motown, Stax/Volt, the Beatles, reggae pioneers, Dylan, and blues masters.
While the Dead filled football stadiums with tens of thousands, the Garcia Band played to smaller but no less enthusiatic crowds in hockey arenas. These shows seemed to relax and energize Garcia, and "Live at Shoreline" showcases the JGB at the top of its game.
First set highlights include an extended jam of Lennon's "Dear Prudence" and a slinky, bump and grind of Peter Tosh's "Stop That Train." The light show bathes the band in muted reds and oranges, replete with closeups of Garcia's fingers nimbly taming his custom Irwin axe. A rolliciking "Deal" closes the set with an authority that rivals any version played by the Dead.
Set two is no slouch either. "Think" burns with Memphis soul and Gospel-blues fervor courtesy of LaBranch and Jones. "Lucky Old Sun," a favorite of Ray Charles, is a perfect ballad for an emotive Garcia, punctuated by a B-3 break by Seals that threatens to cave the roof. "Tangled Up in Blue" is read faithfully by Garcia with guitar heroics that enhance Dylan's epic vision.
Even though about fifteen thousand witnessed this punchy show, this DVD seems like an intimate club show. Enjoy the JGB in your living room for the first, and hopefully not the last, time.

This is in the ranks of the top 5 DVD releases starring Jerry. The show was obviously not recorded with a high profile release in mind, but there are more angle shots and the 'feeling of a concert' than previous reviews suggest. In fact, while I type this I see a bunch of bobbing heads and full stage setup on a shot from the soundboard. Great shots of Jerry. Kahn is a bit shadowed but there are still nice shots of him on each tune. The band just doesn't have a setup like, say, The Cure, which is contrived to be a show. This takes nothing from the DVD. The pictures are crisp, the sound is ALIVE, and Jerry is smiling the whole way through. What else can you ask for? The show is similiar to the self titled live CD that came out in the 90s that we've all listened to a billion times.

On a personal note, I've had this DVD for over a week now and still wake up and think of jamming that Dear Prudence. It has been years since I've done that, and I feel like I can truly rejoice in Jerry's performance rather than place a somber (or an overly historic) tone on it. His smile is just too big, and the confidence from the stage is enormous!!

Certainly the best release by the Jerry Estate to date, and the price is right.

Seven stars. I have a large number of concert dvds in my collection, and it is a rare thing when video can capture the magic of the performance. As a connoisseur of the live performance, this is one of those rare moments.

Jerry Garcia had many facets to his personality. He could take you to wondrous places....to the jazzy outskirts of the universe and back, down home to Appalachia, or to "church". It's that spiritual side that is revealed here...pure soul.

Void of technical disturbances and well balanced picture and sound allows you to get lost in the performance.

$13.99 to see JGB in all their glory while surrounded by 5.1 in the comfort of your home seems too good to be true. The show is amazing, as they all where, Jerry and Melvin being particularly "on". A friend stopped by and asked me how much I paid for the DVD, my response was does it matter? Those of you who were lucky enough to have seen this show now have a great memento, those of you who did not now can, and for less then the price of the ticket! My only wish is that DVD had been produced with a "visible lyrics" option... sure I know all the words, but reading them along with the show has always brought new incite for me... kick back and fire up the vaporizer, this one is a must have!

If you have seen the JGB before, you must get this DVD! If you have never seen the JGB before, you must get this DVD!
The version of "Just In Case We Both Were Wrong" is just SMOKIN'!

Maybe four-and-a-half stars. The really good news is the playing is spot-on and inspired - the band and Jerry are ON and razor-sharp this night, good enough to justify a CD release as well. This is the latter-day JGB in top form. The set list is definitely first-rate, as you can see. We get lots of at times brilliant Jerry solos (so much for the lame pronoucements about "1989 was the last great year," and the like we're hearing these days. Nonsense.); Melvin is playing really well, and even John Kahn is playing well. David, Jackie and Gloria are all at top form, too. From first note to final, the singing and playing are consistently fine. My favorites (of the moment) include a great Waiting for a Miracle, Dear Prudence, I Shall Be Released, a really soulful And It Stoned Me, an even more soulful Lucky Old Sun, and a killer show-closing, fervent Tangled Up in Blue.

The camera work and editing are merely OK, although at least nowhere nearly as frustrating as, say, some of the Vault series. The best part is there are lots of camera shots on Jerry's playing. But the overwhelming majority of this entire dvd are of face close-ups, way, way too many close-up's - pretty much most of this entire dvd. There are only a handful of group shots and only at the beginning and end of the songs, which is too bad. C'mon. Why do folks think bootleg videos are so popular? And, unpleasant as it is to report, we do get a dose of that hideous split-second, jerk-action effect during - sorry to say - Deal and Don't Let Go (which are otherwise great versions, although the Don't Let Go is a little truncated). Ugh!

A question for the producers: Isn't Jerry's playing riveting enough without these needless, awful effects? (At least we get this only during part of Deal and Don't Let Go, and that's it.)

But on the whole, this is an undisputed first-rate effort, and I'm glad I purchased it. We were once told there were no Jerry Garcia Band videos at all; what luck this proved untrue. It would be wonderful if there are more lurking in the vaults.

This Jerry Garcia Band release is the first (official) on DVD. Personally, I had no problem with the camera work. The audio is perfect as well. Melvin seals is quite prolific on keyboards. This EASILY trumps all of the View from the Vault releases.
You will see a Jerry in fighting form, energetic, leading the band, and having fun. Try watching the interviews before watching the show, as it gives great insight into the personalities and purpose of the band. Seeing Melvin and Jerry play off of each other is worth the price of admission alone... Brent could never reach the heights of Melvin Seals.

I have seen countless Garcia Band Shows. LOVE THEM! Besides Garcia, John Kahn is Totally The Man!!!! THIS DVD DROVE ME UP A WALL!!! All through it, all I kept saying was " why can't I hear John Kahn???" It totally bummed me out, and I can't for the life of me understand why anyone would even think of releasing a JGB Dvd and not be able to hear one note from this guy. This problem does not stop there. Through-out this dvd each performer on stage receives the poor sound quality treatment. I had a very hard time enjoying this concert because of it! There is a reason Jerry and John had been life long friends, and playing together like blood brothers is one of them. I gotta believe that if Garcia had known about this SOUND BLUNDER,(Him being all about quality sound and all), this dvd would have never been released. So if you buy it, I tried to warn you... I can't believe that I would ever give anything Jerry did 1 STAR. I also find it a little hard to believe that not too many of the other reviews don't talk much about this problem. THE SOUND QUALITY ON THIS DVD IS TERRIBLE-> The maker's of this DVD should be ashamed of themselves. The Jerry Garcia Band deserve way better treatment than this. Let us hope that someone can make it right someday. Also, WHY AREN'T THERE MORE RELEASES OF THIS GREAT AMERICAN BAND ????????????????

I have been to over 200 dead shows and 37 JGB shows and you can always see by the smile on Jerry's face and by the sweet sound he makes.brent had just passed away and Jerry took up the slack and tore Shorline up this night!!Everybody played so tight together-whew-