By October 1990, the Grateful Dead were deep into one of the more emotionally complex stretches of their career. Brent Mydland had died that July, a loss that hit the band and its community hard, and by fall they had brought in two keyboardists to carry on: Vince Welnick, who would become the permanent presence behind the keys, and the legendary Bruce Hornsby, who joined as a touring partner and genuine creative collaborator. The result was a keyboard-rich, texturally unusual lineup that gave the fall 1990 shows a distinct character — warmer in some ways than the lean Brent years, still searching, and marked by that particular bittersweet energy that follows grief. This was a band playing through something, and you can hear it. The Gruga Halle in Essen, in the industrial Ruhr Valley of western Germany, was a reliable stop on the Dead's European routing — a mid-sized indoor hall that could hold a few thousand and had reasonable acoustics for the era. The Dead had a loyal European following who treated these tours as pilgrimages, and the crowds at continental shows often brought a fervent, slightly different energy than domestic dates. There's something about hearing the Dead drop into "High Time," that aching country-soul ballad from American Beauty, in front of a German audience that has a certain displaced beauty to it.
It's a song that asks for space and patience, and when it lands right, it's devastating. The surviving setlist fragment here also includes "Maggie's Farm," the Dylan cover that the Dead could turn into a rollicking rocker when they were in the mood, and "Knockin' on Heaven's Door," another Dylan staple that took on additional weight in 1990 given the losses the band had recently endured. "He's Gone," one of the great Garcia vehicles for collective mourning and release, is always worth seeking out in any configuration, and with two keyboard players in the mix it would have had a particularly lush quality during this run. The segue into "Drums" suggests a second-set placement where the music was allowed to breathe and expand. Recordings from the European fall 1990 run vary in quality, and what's available from the Gruga Halle tends toward the audience-tape end of the spectrum, so come prepared for some room ambience — but that's half the charm. Put on headphones, close your eyes, and let yourself into that hall in Essen. This one rewards the listen.