i gotta Chime in here about bobby;s slide playing and playing in general. First of all he played next to the most cocksure impactful lead gutarist ever, he could had simply played low simple repetative chords and gotten layed for 30years of that alone, but he didn't, he almost.... well actually did get fired but stuck around, sometimes people don't see the forrest through the trees and on paper Bobby ain't gettin on any top 100 guitartist lists anytime soon, thats because he was an artist on Garcia and phils canvas, caught between a tiger and a lion, Bob is subbltle and profound all at once, he had the toughest job on that stage, everyone else was sure of where they fit in and what to do, he fell into the x factor portion. I could go on and on but speaking of his slide in particular, I would never compare and contrast and doing that everyone would wither to Duane Alman, listen to 3:13-3:16 and 6:33 in of this althea, also Phils face is priceless at 2:45
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQFeuAbLHro
I thought it was feedback I didn't realize it was Bob's slide until a couple of listens, that sound comes not from his gear, his ear, his whatever guitar, skills, influences or whatever, that comes from his balls and absolutley kicks ass!!! It's just when under a microscope the sum of the parts are not equal to the whole, ill shut-up now sorry for ranting, just wish i was at a show, i think we all wish that.......