this show slaps. fine tuned and crisp. soundboard on point.

Hot show from beginning to end. Especially Lazy Lightning and Supplication and Estimated Prophet and the Chuck Berry tunes to end both sets. Smoking stuff from the band. Thanks to the Internet Archive for having this available to us it makes life a bit easier nowadays with all that is going on. Keep on trucking!

.....rode w/ bro to get his tixs, didn't have a clue then, but managed to get seat on bus from RVA to NorVA to the scope to see them in 1982, found my own way in.

Gotta say my stretch from 1982 until TOG was phenomenal, peeps that never saw those times can't even imagine how chill it was!

This record is real good, Jerry somewhere in his prime. maybe just a few years beyond? Those Hampton shows , like, five years later, well.......sublime.

Was a sophomore at University of Richmond in '77. Went with a friend to the Mosque box office the day of this sold out show (just for kicks). The guy in front of us in line returned two seventh row center seats because he couldn't make the show. What an incredible show in that magic year of 1977!

This is a great venue.....the sound is incredible....saw REM there in 85.....Michael Stipe can out with a paper bag on his head....he was introduced as 'Michael Stipe on lsd'...good show..minute men opened for em. This show is incredible...I mean the dead show...the whole damn show...for anyone not familiar with Richmond the James river runs through it....there is so much history there grew up about an hour away...to me the wharf rat is very poignant....way down down down by the docks of the city.

This show is equal to Barton and Buffalo!

Those were the days. Great show, great venue, great friends, and we got home without hitting a tree. Looking at old photos helps us remember our childhood. In the same way, listening to this helps me remember. And it was good.

that is the most serious and meanest other ones i have ever heard

Well, people make claims that Barton is the best show of 1977, or Swing which had the first Terrapin, or the run at Winterland in June or Boston, or the first show in Chicago at the Auditorium Theatre, or Buffalo or Englishtown NJ. or the Pembroke Pines show that became a Dick's Pick.

Nope. It's this one.

combo..The 2nd set is tight and well played and the Scarlet>Fire gets it!!!!!!!!hot as a pistol but cool inside..so yes GIVE IT A WHIRLcombo..The 2nd set is tight and well played and the Scarlet>Fire gets it!!!!!!!! The He's gone was hot as a pistol but cool inside..so yes GIVE IT A WHIRLcombo..The 2nd set is tight and well played and the Scarlet>Fire gets it!!!!!!!! The He's gone was hot as a pistol but cool inside..so yes GIVE IT A WHIRLcombo..The 2nd set is tight and well played and the Scarlet>Fire gets it!!!!!!!! The He's gone was hot as a pistol but cool inside..so yes GIVE IT A WHIRLcombo..The 2nd set is tight and well played and the Scarlet>Fire gets it!!!!!!!! The He's gone was hot as a pistol but cool inside..so yes GIVE IT A WHIRL

Exactly perfect! Great show all around.

I've never really given this one it's due. I guess it's because I've always found the Half-Step and Scarlet>Fire a bit bland compared to the heavy hitters of the month, but I've really been missing out on some of the other tunes. Set 1 has a great Cassidy, LL>Supp, and BEW.

Set 2 from Estimated is just transcendent, though. Now, there are several great Other Ones in 77 I've recently discovered, which never really used to be a favorite year of mine for the tune. 3/20, 5/13, 5/18, 5/21, and 11/5 are all fantastic, but this might easily be the best post-hiatus Other One I've ever heard; Jerry is absolutely fucking possessed and all over the map. It's the must hear part of this show, and just another amazing example of his endless genius. Wharf Rat and the Wheel are incredibly beautiful, and Round and Round sends things out on a very high note.

I guess there is a reason this show is so popular and now I think I finally understand!

Ive searched for so many shows and this is one that ive been searching for. I consider myself a conosour and this is wonderful please listen, love zen!!

After listening to this whole tour, if I only had one show -- er, three discs -- on a deserted island, the second set from 5/15, with the first set Dancin' thrown in for good measure, would make the cut. The other half would be this first set, plus Scarlet/Fire. My personal Spring '77 hybrid show -- absolutely raging from start to finish.

Nice Betty Board, well recorded, good performance. Almost anything from May 1977 is worth a listen.

Paumgarten's fine article about the GD mentioned this show - which I had not listened to previously. WOWEE! I cannot find a single fault with this show and consider it now the best I know of from 77. Everything is working - the playing? Simply amazing! Vocals? Everyone just nails every song! Capture? Well this is as fine a SBD as I know of.

Here is the link to Paumgarten's great piece in the New Yorker:

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/11/26/121126fa_fact_paumgarten

Wow!

http://www.dead.net/features/daves-picks/daves-picks-volume-1

My first show was 3/29/90 @ 17 yrs old. Saw some great shows in the 90's, but there is nothing better than the Dead in the late 60's to the Late 70's. I get chills listening to most shows from 70/71', 73', 74' and 77'. Sure wish I was older.(and wiser)

Great show!

really good stuff here! you can tell that the energy is right on! Half step sets the pace, good jack straw follow and than a perfect TLEO! good start, and great finish to a great show.

it seems like from about 4/77-6/77 the dead were at the peak of their run with Keith and Donna

A bit subdued. I think that the 1/2 step opener was amazing, but the vibe is cool and aimed more at the heart of man then his adrenal gland. Cassidy had me fluttering. I like the D'ohing at the beginning of the tune, interesting to here it at the end. The breaking drum beats at the beginning had me all ears. The rythmn devils really are the horse power in this show IYAM. I prefer promised land earlier in the first. BEW puts the glint back into the eye only to fade into set break. Want me leaving more! I like the estimated eyes combo too, but the He's Gone does fit well with the tempo this show. Other one is really good and starts to bring the boogie train to town (as if it could fit!) Around & Around had me out of my seat... who needs the mens room, lets do it right here baby! btw if you can remember why I called Big River for next show half way through Other One... let me know.

p.s. I'd eat all those left nuts laying around to have domed this one pops!

timtane said he went to the bathroom between the first set and rubbed one out, without missing a tune.

Who the hell jerks off during a Grateful Dead concert? LOL I guess he didn't miss a tune. I know he sure as hell didn't miss a beat! LOL

And they ask me why I fucking drink...

This show is 'DA BOMB'! It's as good as any show in 1977. I would put it right up there with Boston Garden, Cornell University, Buffalo Memorial Auditorium, and Pembroke Pines for '77. Heck, I would have given anything to be at any of these concerts back in 1977! But I was stationed overseas in Okinawa at the time.

Download the Charlie Miller remaster:

http://www.archive.org/details/gd1977-05-25.sbd.miller.87591.sbeok.flac16

Half-Step, Jack Straw, and Peggy-O are simply amazing! Now if you really want a Half-Step that is in a class by itself, then check out the one from 5-8-77 at Boston Garden!

And the 2nd set speaks for itself! Any time you get Wharf Rat sandwiched in the middle of the Other One, then you are in for a treat.

Check out my other reviews from other awesome Grateful Dead shows!!

Danny from Northern Virginia outside of Washington, D.C.
East-Coast Deadhead
rfkrox44@hotmail.com

PEACE-OUT!

Hands down, best show ever. This is during a period when the boys, mainly Jerry, would tune incessantly between tunes. I went to the bathroom between the first set and rubbed one out, without missing a tune. I did the same in the 90's, but during Samba in the Rain. See ya Vinny

The way Jerry gathers it up and leans into the 2nd half of the guitar break, peaks it, then brings it back down for 'come stepping down the stairs..' is positively sublime.

The rest of the show isn't bad either!

See what people said below. 5/5. This show stuns me!

Other people have said this might be the best of May 1977. That is certainly a valid and strong argument. I first thought 5/8/77 was the best (or maybe I should talk about favorites) - the playing is almost perfect and the sound is the best found on this site. Then I migrated to 2/26/77 as my favorite, and that is still my favorite version of Estimated Prophet. The first is always the best, no?

Then much later on I heard 4/23/77 (the Springfield show) and I just loved that Scarlet > Fire. There are some second set Palladium shows which are also simply superior. But now I'm on this concert. This very well might be my favorite of all May 1977. Scarlet > Fire is just off the hook, it's a great second set, the Other one is fabulous (but the one a few days earler at The Fox in Atlanta is better).

I mean, I just can't get enough of 1977. I like this year so much because it's jamming with an underlying rhythm. Sometimes I'm not into 1970-73 because the jamming can get quite spacey on Dark Star, The Other One, and at times Playin' and Eyes of the World. I do like those concerts, but I personally like jamming within a framework of a song. All years after this with few exceptions are just not as good.

It's a shame that late 1977 just doesn't match up to Spring 1977. Many of the soundboards have Keith jacked up, plus he's playing his piano (I think) in a different mode which I don't like as much. The Lazy Lightnin' > Supplications start getting progressively worse in the fall 1977 and continue to decline into the late 1970's and early 1980's. I just love this time.

What is so un-five-starlike about this one here? This is, after all, by the way, have you not noticed -- THE GRATEFUL DEAD!!! Was there ever a question that you would be rocked hard and gently and around and around. All the arguing that follows doesn't move our understanding of this show in the most important way -- you might give it a listen now. Transcend the bickering, the details needn't bog us down, the music is timeless, the experience is yours today. Cheers, all! You have love.

my mother would be angry o if i gave this show less than 4 stars, might even give another star to donna for being in key most of the show.

"Like I said, I chased the 80's. I save 4 and 5 for the shows I actually saw"

Why not just rank the best shows "no stars" and the worst shows "five stars"? That makes just as much sense as carpet bombing every pre-1980 show with your uninteresting history lesson.

I am not a huge fan of this era but this show has a nice vibe to it and I like what the drummers are doing. Check out the Cassidy.

Just because you saw the dead regularly after their golden days does not mean you can't recognise that the seventies were way better. may 77 is the shit. this show is top notch

Like I said, I chased the 80's. I save 4 and 5 for the shows I actually saw

only reviewing to note that 3 stars in no way does this show justice - 5 to get the average back up in the 4 to 5 range.

btw, beautiful venue - similar to fox

Ths show is fantastc, and is classic '77 but the sound iers low, in comparison to say, somethng wth lttle argument as A+ material lke Cornell for example. Even 2.26.77 is mre 5 star quality. For what it s worth, rate this sound as a 3 stars and performance as 4.5- 4 stars overall.
ScarletFre is quiet. He's gone s sleepy and quiet. Fire is where the jam s on ths show. Estimated is also standard but the 'post' jam s great and noodly. I have wanted to get ths for a while and have not bothered tryng due to qualty. stream these via a cdr player and record to disc...va an fm transmitter. Nce quality.. just decded to get it now for 'completists' sake. Not one fo the better scarlet fires...but hey, it is '77 dead right here, so enjoy!

i just love this show. such great quality and and excellent preformance.

May 1977 (all shows) maybe the musically best run the Dead ever did.

the incredible other one is the highlight for me (there's a few other heavy other one's from 5/77. e.g. 5/13/77)
check it out for sure

I'm not THAT old. 1977 is 30 years ago...

This is a great show too. Shredding LL->Sup.

Great show start to finish. Sound is very good and recording is very good. Performances are excellent ~ very few annoying flubs.

guess I'll be the first one to point out Jerrys Dark Star licks at the end of the first Other One (~12:20)

This was the second Grateful dead concert I attended. My brother got a job helping set up equipment and running errands for them at this show. They kept him so busy he didn't get much out of this one. I was jealous of him until I found out he didn't really get to enjoy the show.I was sitting about 15 rows back from the stage. If you've ever been to the Mosque (Now called the "Landmark Theatre") you know it was made for music! The acoustics are outstanding, and the band took full advantage of it. This was a nice laid back show with Jerry playing extra well. Of all the shows they did in Richmond Va. this was my favorite. They did well at the coliseum but the sound in the coliseum does not compare to the Mosque.It was a shame they never came back to the Mosque, but it doesn't seat that many people and with their fan base swelling to ridiculous proportions they had to start using larger venues. This show is a true gem among gems!

This concert is great from beginning to end. The playing and singing are clean throughout the songs are done with ease. I particularly liked Jerry's guitar work near the end of He's Gone. The band seems very mellow in the first set and the slow tunes are soulful and well sung. Scarlet/Fire is very good, but not outstanding. The '78 version from Dick's Picks 18 is my favorite and I think more energetic. However, this is overall a great concert and I listen to it over and over again. A don't miss.

I liked the first set. Jerry must've been in a romantic mood, playing TLEO and then Peggy-O. The 1/2 step and the Cassidy are sweet and well done, though I would've like to hear more of a jam on the 1/2 step.

Phil plucks out a really funky baseline to Scarlet, and the main body of this Scarlet is excellent and lots of fun. The Scarlet jam was a bit spacy for my taste, though. Donna moans like she's conducting some sort of tribal ceremony ... or like she's in labor. I much prefer the 11/30/80 Scarlet jam.

Fire is good, but nothing particularly special, IMHO. Same for Estimated. And, I find Estimated>He's Gone to be sort of a let down. I much prefer Estimated>Eyes. Eyes is just a much more fun and uplifting tune.

The "Other One, Wharf Rat, Other One" didn't do it for me, either. Wharf Rat is such a melancholy tune. Somewhat romantic, but very melancholy. Its so sad to think of a guy spending half his life in jail for someone else's crime and the other half stumbling around drunk on burgandy wine.

I just couldn't enjoy the rest of the show after getting into that state of mind.

I don't know. Jerry seemed to be a mood for slow songs this night. Excellent sound quality, good tunes and well played, especially the first set. Second set just didn't do it for me, though.

epic night! wookies on the screen...wookies in the crowd!

This is an overlooked gem. Pure Gold right here. Streamed it at work all moring and had a smile on my face all day.

this is excellent music that needs to come through good speakers, like the ones in your car.

if you stream the songs until the gray bar goes all the way across then you have them in you internet explorer temp internet files. increase your cache memory, create a my music file for the show. drag, drop, and share the love.

pay no mind to computer illiterate heads who will castigate you for tranferring your files from a temporary spot to a more permanent location. it's not like you are selling these shows. why do i want to sit in an uncomfortable chair and listen to great music through shitty speakers? it sounds spectacular in my iPod!

I don't usually write reviews of dead shows--they are so subjective. I have listened to almost every Dead show from 1977--I even attended 9/3/77-5/8/77-11/4/77 and 11/5/77 and I can say that 5/25/77 is probably!!?? :) the best dead show of this amazing year.I still think 11/5/77 is the best show I have attended but listen to this show--every song blows you away-I am not kidding--probably the best show of the best year ever--1977!

The May of 1977 run is what the Dead are all about. I get goose bumps everytime listening to shows from this era. I was 19 yrs. old then and went to the Cornell show and thought that was the Dead at it's finest hour......then I hear the other shows from this period and they are all magical. Long live the music of the Grateful Dead!

You know, It's so nice to read all these reviews. You here of the stories of how people got to these shows or how some were at these shows but can't remember being there. This band and this music has us so consumed, they are as some would a phenomena. There are so many of us that love to listen to this music. I've been a deadhead ever since 'Truckin'' hit the air waves. This is truly a great show. I just happen to find it today. This is also my first review. Don't mind the babble. I just have to say thank you those who allow this music to be accessible.
This is uncut music history!!!

One Happy Deadhead!!!

Hey Now, This is a fine show, a real pleasure to listen to in 2006. good song slection ,nice sound, i'll bet everyone had a real good time at the Mosque. Grateful Dead were just good at making music, Internet Archives are just good at preserving the past. I can't say enough Thank You's to explain how happy I am listening to this show today. Back in 1977 the GD were just trying to put their music out there for the fans to enjoy.Taking their time to let the song work. The sonic qualities were as important the song itself. "Today's music just don't got the same soul" Internet Archives presents real ART. Something that's timeless. thanks

This has to be up there as one of the top 5 of 77, in my opinion. Next to 6-9-77 this would have to be my favorite.


Jim

This would be a really nice Scarlet/Fire, but hearing it now again, I am reminded of what Donna did to me at the show in the jam. All in all, she was pretty on for this show, and I'll agree there wasn't the usual overload of off-key caterwauling, but her moaning here bugged me then and bugs me now.

I'm not a big fan of "Drums", but this sounds like Gene Krupa & Buddy Rich.

probably the best dead show/setlist I have ever hear.

for bringing me more joy than I could ever know by letting us stream a show LIKE THIS

I'm only contributing 1 comment to this discussion...the situation now a days with being able to stream shows is 100 times better than the old days of having to wait weeks to get a crappy tape copy through the mail!!!

To my mind the remaining fellas are merely trying to take care of their families...nothing wrong with that...so quitcher bichen and listen to this awesome music play!!!

As he said on Letterman w/ Bobby:

"After we're done with [the show] they can have it."

You need to learn more about the Grateful Dead my friend... Why do you think they let everyone tape the shows???

Jerry would CHARGE you a fee most likely, as he mnetioned talking to David Gans. But he might also let a 3rd party take care of it to avoid all the whining.

Hook your computer up to your stereo and enjoy!

too bad we can't download this show...bastards... WWJD - What Would Jerry Do?

First off, thanks to the reviewer who pointed to GD Live -- this is a must have for anyone who loves Spring '77 shows and, really, anyone who loves the Dead. Great set lists, playing is magnificent, energy is poppin'!! I my humble opinion, this show is (GASP!!) even better than Cornell, Buffalo, Atlanta, and the rest -- all of which are amazing -- this one is Tops!! Get it!! Frankly, I'm surprised that GD Merchandising doesn'e do a box set of May '77 Soundboards for purchase...

not to get way off subject or anything but... other happenings in enterainment history on this day, 5/25/77...

-- Star Wars opens in theatres.

My rating was only cast because i had to. but who really needs to know if a SBD from may of '77 is any good?

The excellent sounding SBD is still available for DL at gdlive.com. I just bought more blank cds for all the great concerts I've been finding! I taped this from the radio (WBAI) a while back, but now I'll have it on disk - worth the effort for this one!

The contents of this show have been pretty well described here - flawless and excellent all the way around. What can't be overstated however is the exceptional quality and tone of this recording which is near perfect album quality. The Syria Mosque is a small venue but has incredible acoustics which is part of the reason this sounds so good. Definitely one of the very best of this stellar run in '77, and is among the all-time best. They just don't get much better than this one - full 5 stars.

This is another under reviewed and under viewed show. All the vocals are smooth and Donna manages to do a great job without any off key shrieks. The overall sound is top notch and the set list is great. Its nice to hear He's gone with that punchy 77 bass sound. Add this one to your collection.

This show demonstrates how hard it is pick a favorite of this year.

Low points: Mexically blues is uninspired.

Hightlights: Jerry smokes on Cassidy and Deal. As other have mentioned, He's Gone is great (back after being for the most part of the set list). Another excellent Estimated Prophet. The Other One is one of the best since 1970-71; it has some of it's original fire.

For me, from Estimated on, it's all gold (except for the drum solos).

Thanks to The Archive, I just got a second chance at my first show. As I remember it this show was an add on to the 77 tour, but I am not positive that was the case. I had just graduated college in Tennessee and was hanging around with a friend in Charlottesville, VA at his mother's farm. We had been lazing around for a few days when on the morning of 5/25 we heard on a Richmond rock and roll station that The Dead had added a show to their tour, at least that is what I thought we heard. So we decided later that day to raise up out of our post graduation summertime haze and drive an hour over to Richmond to see if we could get a ticket to our first Dead show. No problem getting in, but frankly getting the ticket was about the last thing I remember about the show. As I remember the grog weed was more potent than the show, and I think I even fell asleep during space. Whoops guess there wasn't any space, but I just left my body somewhere during the second set . Actually didn't hardly remember that I had seen the Dead until a month later. Fortunately the following year, I saw the band again in Blacksburg, under the right chemical conditions and was finally "on the bus".
So I must say now 28 plus years later, and a hundred or so shows later, I have gotten the chance to hear this show again. And I must agree with those other reviewers, this was one great show. And I that is with a totally clear and unaltered mind that I listen to this show. Glad to have a second chance. And I am totally amazed at the sound quality of this recording. Thanks to whoever did such a great job. tal

My dad passed this show down to me

The version of Brown-Eyed Women from this show will bring tears to your eyes for sure

This is equally as magnificent as 5/8/77! Miss 1/2 step has always been one of my favs, and here it is played as brilliantly as ever!....as an opener...WOW! The rest of the show is just cookin'!! Get it now!

Listened to the start of this second set this morning, on Jerry's 63rd b-day, and this He's Gone is pretty darn spectactular... Perfect...

The whole show is a must-have...

He's gone is amazing, so slow ,so hypnotic.
Great show, great sound.

I used to have an AUD. tape of the 2nd set that I wore the hell out of. Happy to get a SBD of the entire show, which stands up to anything from '77. The Estimated > He's Gone > Other One, is spectacular, but I miss the ambience of the old tape. Chronic malcontent. 5 stars for one of the best.

The Scarlet Fire made me cry. I can't believe I have never heard this show. The sound is also one of the best I have, I think it's as good as it gets. I would recommend that everyone should have this show. It is amazing.

I rarely give a Dead show 5 stars...I think they're handed out much too generously on this wonderful site. But this show is simply smoking, so well-played. Definitely underrated.

.

I don't know what happened that time in 77 but they were CRANKING out some good music. I think every head will agree that the late 77's were probably the best they ever played. I can't get enough of the late 70's (post donna). They must have aquired a good hook or something.

Anyone know where there is another fast version of They Love Each Other? I have one I think from RFK 73 but it's not enough!! I need more!!
the woodman

Ready for the most perfect Peggy-O ever? Ready for the most smoking Brown Eyed Women ever? Get this show - it's is one of the best shows from one of the best runs ever in GD history. Enjoy!

How is this show not as infamous as Cornell, or the Swing, or Veneta, or Wembley???? It's got maybe the most solid first set ever, and the second set has the key to open any heart. Favorite show ever? After preparing my mind, and having my heart grow lucid wings and fly out of my mortal body- how can I say no?

One caveat- I'd have to suggest that the best Peggy-O was born a couple weeks earlier in St. Paul! Also, give the one from the 5th (New Haven) a listen. Much love!

~zuben

This is the show that got me into the band so long ago. Even though it isn't the best of 77, it holds a special place as a starting point for the love of such great music. Check it out, you won't be disappointed.

This was the day Star Wars came out.
How many people saw the movie in Short Pump,then went to the show?
Next Star Wars show 5.21.80

cool first song...."on the day that I was born daddy sat down and cried...!" seriously born in 77 and have been a native richmonder all my life. this particular show is special to me and it sounds wonderful. typical amazing mastery from may of 77. -scott

Of the 3 great peak periods of the Dead(1973-1974, 1977-1978 and 1989-1991), 1977 could be my favorite year. Both the spring and fall tours were the SHIT! This particular show is special in that the 2nd set is so solid. The combo of setlist AND playing makes this worth downloading. I especially like the Estimated>He's Gone and Other1. Indeed this is your typical Betty Cantor-Jackson board from 77.

This year for the dead never ceases to blow me away, no matter how many times I listen. Always something new to discover, whether it makes your jaw drop, or a great big smile. I guess thats what the dead is known and loved for. Even the same show is NEVER exactly how you remember it, and is always different

this 1/2 step is fantastic, one of my favorites.
The jam is extended at the end will a couple of runs through the skins by Billy and Mick.

Had this on Dat years back and it always found a way into my deck.

thankyou archive.org

robert

The Mosque was a great small hall and I went there with good friends. We all loved the show, though I think the first three songs are really the high point.

The second set of this smoker is INSANE. Jerry just goes into a whole new galaxy with his playing during the Estimated > He's Gone > short drums > Other One > Wharf Rat > Other One > Wheel. The music between the Other One > Wharf especially is unique and at times Jerry playing solo. Wow.

I'm going to have to agree with Dr. Flashback on this one. This has been a long time favorite of mine as well. Great playing and great song selection.

How Dick's Picks could have released so many 1977 shows and missed this one is beyond me. One of the great all-time underrated shows.The playing is exceptional on every song - Half Step, TLEO, Peggy-O, Cassidy, Loser all shine. But the 2nd Set is a "Dream Set" folks. Scarlet>Fire, Estimated,Other One,Wheel, Wharf Rat- what DON"T they play? One of the last shows in the great May'77 run. Get this one fans. The Dead were on a mission from God in May 77 and this proves it!!!
Dr. Flashback :-)