By the spring of 1981, the Grateful Dead were a well-oiled machine in the truest sense — not mechanical, but finely tuned through years of road work and a lineup that had found its footing. Brent Mydland, who had come aboard in 1979 following Keith Godchaux's departure, was no longer the new kid. His Hammond organ and piano work had grown into the band's fabric, adding a grittier, more muscular edge to the sound than the Godchauxs' era had offered. Jerry Garcia's guitar playing in this period carries a certain focused ferocity — less exploratory drift, more deliberate fire. The band was touring regularly and rehearsing new material that would eventually surface on their 1981 studio effort, and the European runs of this era have a reputation for tight, energized performances with crowds that were hungry for something they couldn't easily get at home. The Grugahalle, located in Essen in the industrial heart of Germany's Ruhr Valley, was one of Europe's larger multipurpose arenas — a concrete hall more accustomed to trade fairs and hockey than psychedelic rock and roll. That said, the Dead had a way of making any room feel like theirs within a few bars, and European crowds in 1981 brought a particular intensity that often pushed the band to deliver. Essen isn't San Francisco, but by the end of a good first set, it didn't much matter.
The two songs we have confirmed from this show offer a nice glimpse into the evening's personality. "Greatest Story Ever Told" — Bob Weir's charging, Bob Dylan-indebted opener — is the kind of tune that tells you immediately what kind of night you're in for. When the band hits it hard and Garcia's leads slice through Weir's rhythm work, it crackles. "Good Lovin'" is pure release, a crowd-igniting R&B howl that the Dead inherited from the Young Rascals and made entirely their own. Brent owned the vocal on this one with a raspy, jubilant conviction, and its placement in the set usually signals the band was in a generous, celebratory mood. The recording circulating from this show is an audience tape of reasonable quality for the era — not a pristine soundboard, but listenable enough that the room dynamics come through and you can feel what it was like to be there. Listen for the rhythm section locking in behind Brent during "Good Lovin'" and Garcia stretching out between verses — that's where the magic tends to live. Give it a spin.