I Know You Rider of the Moment

Grateful Dead - MSG NYC - 9-20-90 

This whole show is a doozy, as were all the shows Hornsby sat in on following Brent's passing. Bruce really sparked something in Garcia, and pushed him to dig a little deeper. After the darkness of the 80's, for both the band and the culture, Bruce seemed to breathe some new life into this next, final era.  Watch the whole show here:

Or just skip ahead to the Rider at 1:12.

This final show of a 6 night run at MSG was released as Road Trips Vol. #2 No. 1, so it has it's bonafides in order. Jerry songs in the first set are Althea, Ramble on Rose, Brown Eyed Women, each standouts for the era, and he closes it off with US Blues. Ain't nothing wrong with that. In addition to the China>Rider, the second set includes a jam in and out of Dark Star and Playin', and closes things out with Throwin>Touch of Grey, which was a nice but too rare pairing from the era, as NFA usually followed Throwin. The two most triumphant tunes from the comeback played on the biggest stage, this was surely a moment to celebrate. They cap things off with a Lovelight encore. In addition to way Hornsby impacted the band's playing, he also had caused the setlists to be shaken up, something that was sorely lacking in the following years. Buckle up kiddies.

1: Stranger, Althea, All Over Now, Ramble On, El Paso, B. E. Women, Greatest, U. S. Blues

2: Truckin> China Cat> I Know You Rider> Woman Smarter> Drumz> Dark Star> Playin Reprise> Dark Star> Throwing Stones> Touch E: Lovelight

last "El Paso": 04-03-89 [113] - last "Playin Reprise": 07-04-89 [92]