Dick's Picks, Vol. 5: Oakland Auditorium, Oakland, CA, 12/26/79
By the end of the 1970s, the Dead had modified their nuanced, multifaceted sound and had become much more of arock & rollband again. What they lost in subtlety, they made up for with aggression. This 1979 show comes from their annual year-end run in Oakland and features recent addition Brent Mydland on keyboards, not to mention a near-metal edge. Jerry Garcia often sounds like Chuck Berry gone mad (well, madder); the band covers three Berry tunes as if to illustrate the point. However, this one was a prototypical "Bobby show," with Garcia struggling at times to keep up with the rest of the band, although he does seem spurred on by Weir in many spots. Raw, angry, and frayed,Volume Fivesports the Dead at their roughest.--Marc Greilsamer