newspaper article on 4-24+25-70

[Uliteute]

My "clipping archive "went for scans to hanno a year ago
he writes:I remember not scanning this one - I did scan 99 % of theothers, but this one was in too bad a condition (umpteenth photocopy), I couldn't get a decent scan. So I transcribed it. You'll see some holes,those were the unreadable parts.

Enjoy,

Hanno

Thursday, April 30, 1970
Colorado Springs
The Sun

Magic Exists....

Graeful Dead Stuns Crowd

by Mike DeLong
SUN Reviewer

DENVER - Magic is alive and well. It exists in the form of one of the
few truly unique bands rock has produced,
the Grateful Dead, which graced Devner with its presence last weekend,
at Mammoth Gardens leaving
at the conclusion a stunned audience literally begging for more.
The Grateful Dead produce music on a level that most grops don't even
know exist. The songs themselves
are only frameworks, only foundations on which the Dead build their
dazzling multi-layered skyscrapers of sound.
Garcia's intricate lead notes darting in and out of the melody, Weir's
rhythm abruptly becoming a second lead,
the two drummers sustaining a solid beat while weaving other percussion
patterns: a breath-taking
explosion of unified talent.

The Saturday show began with a boring hour provided by simplistic,
unimaginative acoustic bluesman John Hammond.
Each of Hammond's songs was characterized by its formlessness, lack of
melody and inane lyric, typical of bad blues.
After a while, the lyrics were as grating as his weezing harmonica.
After a very long ?? minutes, the Dead came on.
The first part of their set showed a completely new side of the band.
Garcia and Weir, armed with acoustic guitars and accompanied by the bass
and a drummer,
did a series of folk-styled songs with a country flavor which were often
catchy and (God forbid) commercial-sounding. This enjoyable new
dimension
of the Dead deserves to be ??? .... ???, the idea of a million-selling
Grateful Dead single is amusing as well as staggering.
The ecltric guitars were brought out after a full hour of
unamplification. The band moved into a couple of unfamiliar numbers that
had all their
trademarks: Brilliant solos by Garcia; rich, full textures of sound,
backing him; beautiful high harmonies.
Apromixately 90 minutes into their set, they began "Dark Star," a
complex instrumental structure that included a segment that
could only be described as experimental electronic. This probably has
its roots in the Dead's earlier feedback experiments, but they have
extended the idea
intro even more exotic territory. "Dark Star" evolved effortlessly into
an exuberant, joyful "St. Stephen" that, as usual, served as springboard
for a fantastic musical
interplay - Garcia soaring, really excited for the first time, Lesh
throbbing, twisting notes out with obvious hugh pleasure. Weir erupting
from his rhythm pattern to scorch the air with his own lead.
The band built in an excruciating climax and then caught its breath to
build to another, and another wave after wave, crescendo after
crescendo, finally
floating down to catch the "St. Stephen" melody again, which dissovled
incredibly enough into "Good Lovin'".
Pigpen sang it, grasping the microphone like Jim Morrison belting out
???? ... ??? Pigpen fashion. Abruptly, the song was James Brown's "It's
A Man's World", which metamorphised back into the "St. Stephen"
instrumental. A final climax shattered the already gaping crowd.
The biggest surprise was that the song was over - one had the feeling
that the entire universe consisted of this perpetual motion machine
known as Grateful Dead music. It had lasted 80 minutes, and it seemed
like 5. Over an hour and 20 minutes, nonstop, and not once was it even
slightly boring. The Dead left the stage, and their subjects screamed
and stomped for at least 10 minutes for them to return. Wisely, they did
not, after that devastating medly, anything else would have been
painfully anticlimactic.

Understatement of the Year: The Grateful Dead are terrifyingly good.
They are an overwhelming, almost mystical experience.

Magic is alive and well.

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