While “China Cat” may have suffered slightly due to the slower tempo that many of Dead & Company’s detractors like to point to as the main source of their collective disappointment with the group, those moments were few & far between throughout the evening, especially on songs like the traditional “I Know You Rider” which possessed a hard-charging locomotive quality thanks to Lane’s noticeably more upbeat playing style. “Rider” also stands among the evening’s highlights thanks to Weir’s handling of the song’s “I wish I was a headlight on a northbound train” line, a lyric which often stood among Garcia’s most emotional moments, particularly during his later years. The nightly “Drums/Space” segment, a tradition the Grateful Dead started in the late 70’s when they would often base their mid-second set extended free-form jams around themes such as “Reagan in China” and the “Qadaffi Death Squad”, allowed Lane, and Hart in particular, to employ the various musical gadgets and curiosities hidden among the massive drum kit in creating a mesmerizing soundscape that contained elements of house music and tribal influences. While the initial “drums” portion is truly a spectacle that deserves the listener’s attention, the same cannot be said for the latter “space” segment which featured the remaining members returning to the stage for what amounted to mostly aimless noodling for several minutes until Mayer mercifully started to strum the familiar opening chords to the Dead’s bluegrass special “Cumberland Blues”, which ended up working the crowd into a frenzy with Mayer & Chimenti chasing each other with increasingly impressive musical runs.Ī tear-jerking delivery from Weir on the latter-day Garcia/Hunter gem “Days Between” stunned the silenced crowd before closing the set with “Franklin’s Tower”, a clever nod to Benjamin Franklin and his lifelong Philadelphia residency.Ī welcome double-encore was helmed by the mournful ballad “Brokedown Palace”, which saw Bobby & Mayer trading verses before a boisterous “Casey Jones” sent the Philly fanatics home on a high note." China Cat Sunflower" is a song performed by the Grateful Dead which was first recorded for their third studio album Aoxomoxoa. The lyrics were written by Robert Hunter and the music composed by Jerry Garcia. The song was typically sung by Jerry Garcia. The first live recording of this song appeared on Europe '72, paired (as was typical) with "I Know You Rider". Lyrically, this song has many literary references, including Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, George Herriman's Krazy Kat, and Dame Edith Sitwell's "Polka". Grateful Dead - China Cat Sunflower / I Know You Rider (5-3-72) - China Cat Sunflower into I Know You Rider by the Grateful Dead. This was performed on at the Olympia Theatre in Paris, France.
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