Might As Well isn’t one of those songs that people typically rave about, and it’s not usually the song that defines a show or a set. Yet, whenever I hear it I can’t help but tap my foot and add my own voice to the chorus, which is so simply it begs for a singalong. I heard a version of Might As Well this morning on the way to a checkup for my two year old and thought to myself, “this is a great tune. Should I write about it today? Sure, might as well…”
The Dave’s Picks, Vol. 4 release was a limited edition run, but if you can track down a copy it’s worth it. A soundboard of this show never circulated so a lot of people were pumped when it was announced (there is a brief audience patch on the 3rd disc, I think during Slipknot!, but it doesn’t detract from the listening experience in my opinion).
Everyone must have been really excited to see the Dead on this evening in Williamsburg, VA. This track starts off with Bobby and Phil leading the time honored favorite game “take a step back.” Weir even suggests a “sharp jab” with one’s elbow to the person behind them so as to force them to step back. After this break in the action they launch into Might As Well.
The song starts off standard enough, and Phil does some cool sounding slides that give the tune a bit of extra bounce and at least one of the drummers, I can’t tell which, is doing some really cool rhythmic work on the high-hats as Jerry starts singing the first verse. Keith adds in some old timey sounding keys in the verse and Bobby and Donna both sound good on backing vocals as they complete the first chorus.
The second verse is Weir’s turn to throw in some interesting lead lines of his own. Phil adds a few more swooping bass slides in the next chorus, and the “oohs” from Donna on the bridge sound really sweet. Finally it’s Jerry’s turn to take a lead and, in typical Garcia fashion, he plays around with the melody of the song. If you listen closely you can hear Bobby playing more intricate figures under Garcia’s solo and not just straight rhythm. Keith gets his turn next and tickles the ivories for a few measures. Keith doesn’t go crazy on this song, but I do really like his approach and tone here because it makes me think of a barrel-roll piano player in an old Wild West Saloon. That just seems to fit the bouncy and rugged feel of this song to me.
If you compare the playing here to 1977, for instance, you can tell that the band isn’t as tight and that looseness adds a degree of intrigue because anything is possible. The song ends with another Garcia solo before a quasi-“million dollar ending.”
Complete Setlist 9/24/76
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I wish they would have ridden it once again, but like a lot of their excursions outside the lower 48, there were some issues…and then again, they never did do much just exactly the same again…
Bob and Phil beg the crowd to move back. Bob sounds kind of drunk. Apparently they comply, because Jerry leads off the song crisply and begins singing the tale of drug-free Canadian adventures. Read about it somewhere. Get used to that chorus because you are going to hear it a LOT at the end of the song. It sounds simple musically, but listen closer and those chord changes come at odd times and there are a lot of them. The bridge is backed with nice “ooohs” and Jer lights into a fine excursion on the ol’ Travis Bean guitar. This is a bit longer than usual, with the end turned over to Keith, who makes good on the piano. Back to the last verse, Jerry sounds quite happy. That chorus leads to another one, then an endless stream of “might as wells” that cross the line well into ridiculousness. Even that is nothing compared to the number of times Garcia plays the same part after that without singing. It’s as if he won’t give up until he finds the perfect lick to accompany it. The band seems to tire of it before he finally relents and cues the end. Weird!
A rainy Sunday in central IL found me looking back on some older posts here. I was working an ungodly amount of overtime in February (I’m a mailman) which explains why I missed some of this blog.
What struck me, Lunchbox, is that you said Might As Well isn’t a song that typically defines a show or a set. That’s probably true overall.
But on 6-6-91 it was the first set closer and it was spectacular. It absolutely defined the set if not the show. That was my 5th time seeing the Dead and the crowd went absolutely apeshit when they played Might As Well. The positive vibe hung in the air throughout the break. Both of those nights at Deer Creek were great but that was probably the highlight.
I only saw 47 shows from summer 90 to the end but this was definitely one of the highest moments I saw.
Cool Mike! Thanks for sharing. It’s definitely a fun song. I’m a big believer that not everything needs to be a cosmic exploration and sometimes a fun, energetic song is all that’s needed (some may argue that’s the role of the Chuck Berry tunes, but those are pretty stale to me).