Grateful Dead - Dick's Picks 28 2/26/73 Lincoln, NE & 2/28/73 Salt Lake City (4CD)

These two 1973 concerts take place about two weeks after the Dead added a large number of new, jazzy numbers to their repertoire, one of which ("Eyes of the World") plays a central role in both shows excerpted here (though these are not complete shows, only one song, "Deal," that was played either of these nights does not appear here in at least in one version). As usual, it's the medleys that hold the most jaw-dropping feats of improvisational derring-do; the first night's "Dark Star"/"Eyes of the World"/"Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo" is seamlessly sublime (or is that sublimely seamless?), while the second night's "Truckin'"/"The Other One"/"Eyes of the World"/"Morning Dew" covers a prodigious amount of terrain, from raucous to frenzied to lilting to lyrical in the space of nearly one glorious hour. Also noted with pleasure is the appearance of "Box of Rain," which the Dead performed live sparingly. Presented in HDCD sound never before available in stores!