I was there. I know this band sounded better/ fuller/ more alive than what this portrays.

A little background: I first fell in love with the ABB watching their set at Woodstock 94 when I was 12 years old on bootleg pay-per-view. It was a different time. When I turned 16 they played in Hartford, CT near me, but my mother ended up getting sick and we couldn’t make the show. In 1999 when Derek Trucks joined the band they played two nights in my hometown of Wallingford and by then I had my first job and a car so we were able to see them for the first time. It was utterly mind blowing.

Smash cut to the spring of 2000 and by hook or by crook I was going to be at the Beacon for at least one show. I got to go to two. The energy, the musicianship, and the experience was everything I could’ve hoped for. Derek was already world class but still had a bit of impish youth to his playing. Dickey played and sounded wonderful. They unearthed a few old gems for the first time in years “Every Hungry Woman!” Nobody at the time could tell that this would be the end of an era.

What has been released officially from that run is an absolute travesty. Probably the worst produced thing they’ve ever put out. Given what happened in April of that year it almost seems like sabotage. Some here may know more behind the scenes of whether that was the case, but we know that the original tapes exist and with 25 years of hindsight, I would love if someone went back in and put out something proper of the first era of the band many fans my age fell in love with.

Peakin’ At The Beacon needs a remaster/ reissue