Getting ready to head into Fall 76 tour
and decided to just check out this show
which I have seen on a grainy black & white video including the Chimp.
I absolutely love the sound. Phil is way up in the mix!!!
Pick any tune but especially evident for H>S>F
& The Other One..
Nice and rare --Wheel>Samson
Ship of Fools claims the final ballad spot.
Another summer time show for the ages.

Great show with Phil leading the way - always makes it special.

check it www.justexactlyright.com to see a cool phil starfire bass t shirt.

Video of entire first set at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rR9PVXqpnGI

I grew up in jersey city, and this was my first dead show. Rode the back of my brother-in-law's chopper. Conned our way backstage, presenting ourselves as if from some sound system company.
Believe it or not, there are some videos (from film)of this show on youtube !
Also, someone has posted a few photos from the event on the net at http://jranderson.photoshelter.com/gallery/Grateful-Dead-1976-08-04-Roosevelt-Stadium-NJ-Before-the-Show/G00000umtgKcqZJA/P0000vqGLEGDVehw .
What a blast!
I'm bummed I can't download the files!
-- david

This is DEFINITELY the dead at the top of their game. As a previous reviewer wrote, the band (Jerr-Bear especially!) *LOVED* playing this venue. It was a favorite.

Some criticize 76' as being "too mellow"; granted, it doesn't have the spiking ferocity of 68' or 69' (or even 1970 for that matter!), but 1976 is in a LEAGUE of its own. Dead base rates this show as 11th of the year and 508th of all time great (GRATE?) shows. I have to respectfully disagree. I am *not* saying this is the best show of the year, but you Phil lovers are going to be in the zone in this one!

Highlights are DEFINITELY the Help-Slip-Frank combo (c-c-c-c-c-COMBO!)

The 14 minute Sugaree is no slouch either; and although I prefer earlier ("raw-er" sounding "Loser"s,) this one isn't half bad. Hell, it's not even 3/4ths bad! :) The Wheel is always a must in 76'. The only thing this show is missing to make it a TRUE top 5 contender for the year was the "Mission in the Rain", and as many of you true heads know, it was played (by the dead, NOT JGB!) a mere 5 times, all in 76'. The dates this GEM was played were as follows:

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06/04/76- Paramount Theater - Portland, OR
06/10/76- Boston Music Hall - Boston, MA
06/12/76- Boston Music Hall - Boston, MA
06/18/76- Capitol Theater - Passaic, NJ
06/29/76- Auditorium Theater - Chicago, IL
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In my VERY humble opinion, the 06/29/76 version (last time played by the dead,) was the absolute best version. It was almost like they perfected it to such a degree that there was no reason to ever play it again.

GETTING BACK TO THIS SHOW:

5 star songs:
Help-Slip=Frank!!! *****
Sugaree *****

4 star songs
Loser ****
Wheel ****
It Must Have Been The Roses ****

Everything else is at LEAST a three star song, with the SOLE exception of the encore (Johnny B. Goode to end a show like THIS?!?) I would lean towards five stars if they encored with a Brokedown or something of similar ilk; however, unlike a lot of reviewers on this site, I'll tell you how it really is:

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SOUND: 5
SHOW: 4.5
"Dead" Factor: 4.5
"Jam" Factor (smooth as silk throughout): 5


-------------------------------------------------


So, not to be stingy, (I wish they had half star ratings,) the encore killed this show for me, but: bottom line- do you want it?? YES! Do you NEED it??!? YES! Is it a top 10 desert island pick?!? Close, but, sadly... no. :(

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-------------------------------------------------
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-----> Therefore, 4 stars overall. <------
-----> **** STARS (4 stars) **** <------
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ps- from now on, I will MIRROR *ALL* my archive reviews at http://setlists.net/

pps- this is still top ten, despite deadbase's review, if you can get a *CLEAN* SBD of this show, preferably a CM version, then, by all means, DO IT!!!!

SLY in GREEN, FOXY in KIND,
(sig,fik,),
-=GREENFoX / aka / Jerryinapouch

(email for kind heads lookin'for this show?):
mightythefox@hotmail.(REMOVEFORSPAMROBOTS).com

Get it? Just remove the "(REMOVEFORSPAMROBOTS) part and that's how you reach me. ;) Peace.

Sincerely,
-=Greenfox.

This is a pretty sweet recording. It's great to get some audience noise and response to the thrashing Dead without the hiss and poor quality of an AUD. Sometimes soundboards lack audience noise all together, which to me is important. It's part of the energy.

The second set Help>Slip>Frank>Dancin'>Wheel>S&D has the audience hootin' and howlin'. Great energy through this segment especially. Very audible Phil bombs and Bobby twangs. The drum fills are absurd and you can tell that the rhythm devils are still getting used to functioning as a unit, and are overdoing there presence... in a good way.

Great recording of a great period in Dead history.

I was at that show and had a blast, it's great to hear the stuff I missed... I do remember Mr Jiggs and an arial view of the stadium. Well at least I was there!

the dead played in hartford on 8/2 as scheduled.

this show was scheduled to be the bicentennial show of the year, for both the dead and the stadium...july fourth. my buddy and i had ten days scheduled to fish the ausable river up north of lake placid, but when we heard of this show we bought the tix and resigned ourselves to fish the catskills, altho it would be too warm to fish days and we would therefore have to fish from dusk to dawn.

on june 19th a kid was stabbed to death on his way to a "yes" concert(i also have that show), and the local officials decided that, if this is what happened at a yes concert, what might happen at a dead bicentennial concert, so they cancelled the show. we were all informed well in advance of the cancellation and were offered either refunds or to simply use the tix for admission when the show's new date was announced. so we were able to fish the adirondacks after all.

when the show's date of 8/4 was announced, as luck would have it, we were to take another ten days in the adirondacks, but again changed our plans to fish the catskills so we could attend the 8/4 dead belated 'bicentennial" show.

and on the way back to the stream after the show, my cassette tape ended, and the radio came on. all we heard the announcer say was, "so remember-this friday at the country kitchen, "kingfish!" we had to listen to the radio for a long time to get the call letters, phoned them in the morning so we could find out where this "country kitchen" was. it was in kingston, some thirty miles east of where we were fishing, so we got there at five p.m.

after a long delay due to sound issues, kingfish played a wonderful first set. when they took a break, all the audience left. as bobby took the stage for the second set, he turned around and said in wonder, "where did everybody go?" we said, "they left..." so bobby said, "we're scheduled to play a second set...do y'all mind?"

they played a full second set for six of us, with our chairs pulled up to the very front of the stage, which was only some six inches high...kingfish played a private concert for us!!

to johno99,marshall tucker did play that day along with muddy waters!I remember the tucker boys kept saying fiddle tennessee I think for charlie daniels came out and played a bit! missed some of muddy waters show but ate some killer blotter acid and the trip was on!! the mr. jiggs show at intermission began just i was peaking and from there on it was just a jumbled haze!! I am so glad to find this show on archive !!! IT"S NOW coming back to me after all these years !!!!! THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES !!!!

http://www.photog.com/gdead/70s/Rsvlt76/Roosevelt76.html
Cut n paste to see the groovy pics.
Summertime,done comin' on ,my oh my.Good Sugareeeeeeee!

This seems to have been many people's first Dead show and it was mine too. I remember it was a brutal hot Aug day and most of the crowd had been hanging out in the sun for many hours before the Dead took the stage. I remember my group was pretty lethargic by the time the show began but the audience reaction on the tape seems to indicate otherwise. I also recall there was a strange show during the band's break. Involving a chimp?

i could have sworn that Marshall Tucker opened for them on this date. can anyone confirm that? i do remember it was a hot hot day.

john

this is the ONLY show I've ever been able to find that has Phil's bass louder then everyone else and it work's beautifully.

There is lots of great stuff here, dancin, NFA, hot other one. Enjoy this...

A worthwhile 76 show. Good sound, good song selection - Has that nice mellow dreamy, yet confident 76 spirit infused. The band seems relaxed, jerry's solos seem to flow easily out of him and coat the walls of this room. The Other One is a great version, inquisitive in sections but effortlessly confident and jazzy at times. Recommended

My first show as well. Drove up from DC with a buddy and a Jr. High School teacher (we were 14 Y.O.) I recall nearly busting a gut with the whole Mr. Jiggs intermission extravaganza, and then remember almost getting trampled in the tighly packed infield moving ten spaces left, ten space right ten spaces up and back. After getting used to it, it was actually cool... And then there was the Jersy guy who only wanted Jerry to play "Twuckin'" It seemed for hours we heard his request over and over again "Play Twuckin' Jerry!!) They never played it.. But that guy gave us some sort of inside laugh for years to come. To that Jersey guy, I hope you finally got your Twuckin!, and thanks for the laughs! PS By the way, the show rocked as one can tell from the download, but probably not the best to listen to...

MR. Jiggs!! I remember sitting on the outfield grass just past where the shortstop would have played. My buddy and me were sitting next to a guy who looked just like Sonny Bono. Poor Mr. Jiggs! He was getting pounded with light stix and change. He actually fell over on his roller skates a couple of times which prompted the trainer to yell the famous "please don't throw anything at Mr. Jiggs" line. The band was smoking this day. They were much better than when I saw them at the Capitol in June of the same year. I later found out that Garcia was sick during those shows so I'll give them a pass. This show was great and good to hear again. This was my fourth time seeing these guys at Roosevelt. Great every time.

Pounding Phil throughout.

Best help ever again Lesh leading the way. Listen to the beginning of the Help and bow to Phil.

this was show # 3 for me but first out door gig.. After reading reviews mr. jiggs came back to my mind... god!a very tripped out crowd ..all day in the field of decaying old roosevelt stadium.. lots of florescent green shirts and glow sticks... oh yeah and the dead showed up and played just like they said they would. this is a decent recording... the band really started to get there groove going by the end of spring 76.. this show is a smoker.. .. a great show to recollect on.. out of the 8 people that came to this show with me it was the first for 5 or 6... .. this was the summer we graduated h.s and the dead were on the road for all of us.. the start of a looong strange trip....

i love the dead of 76, but this recording cannot stay on my pc.....oh well i wish i was there like the rest of you guys, but sbds don't lie

Strange that this was so many's first show. I too remember Mr Jiggs the chimp. I also remember sitting all day in the hot infield sun with the rest of the fans. By the time the Dead took the stage the crowd was pretty low key. But it didn't seem to effect the quality of the preformance.

I think yer mistaken...this too was my 1st dead show and boy is it etched in my collective conscious... remember the biker and his chick in their sleeping bag at the back of the infield getting it on? if so then you too were there. Was not close enough to the stage to see mr jiggs but dont doubt his bizarre performance. This show was originally scheduled for an earlier date due to a mishap at roosevelt stadium at a Yes concert about a month before, as i recall a couple of large mirrors that were on the side of the stage apparently fell or blew off causing some serious damage to a few concertgoers- I was at that show as well. Also i believe there was some real bad weather the day of the original show and that may have had something to do with the postponement. Nevertheless, i had a ball with my 1st hi school sweetheart who was a big deadhead at this show and i'll not soon forget the odyssey we took to get there that day and home to her portchester house right afterwards! and, coincidentally, my 2nd show was Cameron Indoor!

This was my first Dead show and it had me coming back for more. The recording quality is fairly erratic, bassy and multiple AUD patches which are a little unsettling at first, but the show was a hot one. The whole show was a highlight, but the best were Sugaree, Loser, Scarlet Begonias, Help>Slip>Franklin's and The Other One. Between sets there was actually a trained chimpanzee performing on stage and his handler pleading with the crowd on the field "not to throw things at Mr. Jiggs". How could I not go back after a show like this? And the long strange trip continues...
5 for the show, not the sound quality.

this concert was never schedulded earlier.(see,August 6 1974 roosevelt staduium).However it is the last 9 shows played in Jersey city which included the Stanley Theatre. Garcia had stated many times both roosevelt and the stanley were one of their favorite venues to play.As a matter of fact in 1972 they were supposed to play only the July 18th stadium show.They loved it so much that they played four more dates in Jersey city during the later part of September.As I have been going to dead shows since 1971 and live 5 minutes from where Roosvelt Stadium once stood I was lucky enough to see all of these shows.they were always on the top of their game evey time they played here and this show is no exception. The Sugaree and scarlet in the first set can't be touched as Well as the Help and wheel of the second set.

This concert was originally scheduled for July 2, it's still a complete ripper with some great editing done