Someone wrote: "I'm not a fan of Sunrise, but the Dead are the best with Donna. She and Keith are worth 20 Brents."

What nonsense. Brent was a great keyboardist and vocalist for many years. Sometimes Donna's howling was almost embarrassing.

1978 was a good year. But then they were all good years. Even some great shows in the '90s. They're all mostly 5 star shows to me and other real deadheads.

Very sweet extended intro on Not Fade Away. They start a half-octave below key and then modulate up @1:26. Pretty rare for NFA -> Morning Dew as well.

Top notch Half-Step as well.

I'm not a fan of Sunrise, but the Dead are the best with Donna. She and Keith are worth 20 Brents.

Typically shabby 78 show.

thirty-six, YES, THIRTY-SIX (36) "dontcha let that deal go down" refrains!!!!!!

My brother went to William and Mary and saw his first show there in 76.…..he worked in the kitchen on campus and as a previous poster said it was parents weekend and they were having a luncheon outside and the heads descended on it like a pack of hounds, hence they never played there again. Funny story. He split and went to the show. Great morning dew btw...read that two or three brothers died in a car wreck on the way to this show. First morning dew in the better part of a year.

In this show opener, half step, they do in 10 minutes what most bands don't do in a career. Simply blew the roof off. Listen to each Jerry solo, it is incredible. If anyone has found a version where he screams "ON MY WAY!!!" like this one, i'd be grateful, because i've never heard it. This ten minutes is just one of my favorite dead moments I've listened to. What an amazing song it is. Truly.

Was very fortunate to see this one, whole band on and animated Jerry on drums, Parrish on steel chair and hammer, just plain old good fun silliness. Thanks for Posting!

Saturday morning, 8AM. Bill Whitbeck and his date Meredith picked me up and we began partying. Drove from Norfolk,Va., to "CW" (Colonial Williamsburg) in his tan Ford Pinto, and when we arrived about 9-ish the parking lot was already half-full of die-hard NY, NJ, PA, New England and fans from all over. It was one big pre-show party. My stick-man, Bill, had attended W&M, graduating in '76 and knew lots of folks there, many whom I'd met over the years. We hooked up with Steve Wilkerson, Jim Puckett, Tom Puckett (No relation to Jim, just good friends). We were drinking some "cold ones" and toking off of a bong, right there in what the students call "The Drunken Gardens" (Sunken Gardens, according to the College), when I happened to notice that amid the assembled multitude of tie-dyed Freaks (My People!) there were an awful lot of students and their parents really dressed up, like Sunday-Go-To-Meeting clothes, suits, ties, formal dresses, etc. Well, needless to say, the entire DeadHead community "Threw Down" all day long, and twelve hours later when the show started, I was about ready to call it a night. When the band hit the stage the crowd erupted into pandemonium. The band picked up on the energy of the legion of fans and Tore The Roof Off The Sucker, to coin a phrase. Somewhere on the internet is a photo of Bill, Jim, and Tom(Puckett), which shows them standing pre-show talking to Bill. Jim is the one in the beautiful "Skull and Roses" Levi jacket, the emblem he created himself, multi-talented guy that he is, a regular Renaissance Man himself. (I was standing next to Tom Puckett, to the left, but am sure I was cut out of the photo since I was wearing a brown t-shirt with Zappa's face screen printed on the back! (Heh, heh) Well, long story short, the parents HIGHLY OBJECTED to the fact that the campus (established 1692 by King William and Queen Mary), and thought to be a bastion of conservatism, was "littered" with a legion of Hippy Freaks. Hence, no more Grateful Dead shows at the Hall. What a shame, it was the best place to "Have a big party with a band playing." Next year they played the Hampton Coliseum, which was at first a letdown (to me) after the relative freedom of the hall. For cryin' out loud,at the Hall, security was the campus police! Hey Now! Paisley Tom reporting

Came into town of Williamsburg from just outside of DC, little town called Poolesville which was home base and got me to a 100 or show shows in a 6 hr radius, remember driving into town and the home folks kinda staring, wondering what was coming into their town, it was LOVE BABY, love for the music, love for the fellow heads, love for the freedom, and the show was fantastic, I wonder if anyone else who attended this cool show, it was general admission and all the gals picked the back left end corner of the gym and put their shoes and purses and bout anything else they did not want to carry, as the show started all I heard was as the heads started their ritual dance was (she had rings on her fingers and bells on her shoes) the heads that used to go to under 3,000-5,000# venues remember the sounds, guarenteed and I remember sitting there at the end of this show ,totally exhausted and watched the gals match shoes, find their purses and not one shoe was lost nor 1 purse taken, thats the shows I wish some of the late 80's,90's heads could have experienced although it was all beautiful from start to end, remember people only party when they need it the most, I had good ride from start to end, I'd like to take that ride again, archives brings back some great memories, afta I moved to FL in 89 missed a bunch of buds back in DC area, if any of you run across this, email me at james.steve11@yahoo.com Long live the music cuz the dead did'nt play the music, the music played them for all of us to enjoy 4ever...PEACE

Idk about best dew ever, its up there though. Thing about this Dew is there are so few surrounding it, therefore its sound is very unique, which many of us Dewheads search for. I believe its impossible to declare one the best of all time. I believe morning dew really encompasses the dead well, shows many of their great facets in one song. That being said this is a great unique dew, and a must listen for anyone who loves the tune as much as i do. The round and round is also quite good. Havent given the rest of the show much attention. Sound quality is nice as well. Good stuff and a must listen dew, special...

...Guaranteed to make every hair on your plot stand endwise...absolutely amazing. It sounds like Jerry is about to cry in his vocals. Nice NFA segway too.

Thanks for the stories about this show folks. Glen...once again you bring some life to an old tape. I really appreciate the setting, as it makes the listening experience that much more tinglingly intense. I found this show as i hunt for the greatest 1/2 step ever... this one is really good, but not quite as rollicking as I would like. Hey did anyone else notice the buzzing sound starting during good lovin? Could it be something on the bass.. thats what I'm guessing. The Bertha was really quite nice and extra smooth, passenger has akward with a guitar scream as donna tries to wail- bizarre. I think the best moment is when Donna lets a scream duing good lovin and the song goes from dull to exciting.. you hear the crowd start to pick up on the energy about 30 secs later and the band starts the engine ack up. I think this Dew is top notch... not too haunting, but well played and nice drumming. I might venture its really about as good as Stanley theater 72-> pretty close for this later year. Lastly Candy man is trippy as I lost what song it even was for a few confused glorious moments. Cheers!

What a perfect day, warm springtime in Virginia. After a real snowy cold New Jersey winter, and driving down Rt.13 thru Delaware with my '65 Corvair with a bad universal joint, it was a fantastic show. I remember Jerry stomping and kicking the stage floor during El Paso with these great accents that he and Billy were doing, the Morning Dew is so soulful, Jerry playin' some drums during the drum segment. This remains one of my top 3 or 5 shows of my @150 show trip. I found a universal joint at Al's Exxon the next morning and we changed it on the picnic bench in the campground and headed back home with smiles.

glen did you forget the keg party on the lawn and the band that played during the party and all those pretty young southern bells. What a prelude to a great dead show that night. I had gone to VA. Tech the night before with 8 buddies from NY (it was some ride), The whole atmosphere at VA. Tech was subduded and then the dead rock the house. Then the next day at William and Mary the hole scene was totally different. The people were ready to party. Each Show stands on its own and this was an excellant show. BTW this was my first road trip to see the dead.

My opinion of these tapes is that we are very fortunate that the band took such a hands-off position concerning them.I feel this was and still is because as good as they are nothing compares to the live event and the moment of creation that is intangable and gone forever after the original air wave vibrations enter the ears and are transformed into magic in our brains.
That being said,this was the one show that stands out in all my experience as the greatest Grateful Dead Concert I ever attended.The circumstances that brought my friends and I to the show were memorable in their own right,for another telling.
It was as if the crowd were a single undulating organism,of one mind and body...the psychedelic agents present were as great as legend portends.From the first note to the last it was pure magic and how can magic be examined under the stark light of day and still be magic...

These April 1978 shows are all very consistent. Not other-worldly, but solid and well performed. The sound here is top-notch. Good versions of 1/2 step, candyman, Let it Grow, and Around and Around. The Dew is a pleasant surprise, but I've heard better. It makes up for having to sit through Sunrise.

This show aint perfect, but it's better than some of the negitive comments given, that's for sure, and stands up on it's own.
After all, this is 1978, everyone is down on the year, that it's easy to over look the hidden gems. and this period is before they started to open up to the shakedown material in the fall and winter, so it can be heard as the inferior late 77 tour. But really, keith is still active, even if he's more delicate and hallow.
The Brown eyed women is not a choice cut, but it's not as bad as many would have you belive, it's just falling victom to some loose playing at the time. The Mississipi is not as great as some would lead you to belive, but certainly worht hearing. broome county and the boston garden half steps are okay, so too is the winterland from june, but half steps are king in 73-74, dp1, kezar, march in buffalo....
The real meat of this show is the Playin' ITB which is great all 77 and into 78, where as the dark stars to follow and the other ones are lacking enginuity, the PITB is still fresh and thought provoking, now used to get somewhere other than donna's loud screach.
Let It Grow is equally hot, first picked up again in October 77, from 76, there's a lot of life in the exit jam.
And the Only Dew in 1978, sure not a 72-74 dew, but as people love barton hall for it's simliarity to the one drumber dew era, this dew sould be liked along similar lines, with a hint of jerry's reinvented strings. The only caution in 1971 fromj 3/18 casts that show as a gem, maybe not for the entire performance, but for a unique portion found in it. This show's got that type of find with the dew, playin' and Lig.

Okay, I haven't listened to that many Dead bootlegs. I listened to this one because I went to that show. Having said that, it's the best among those I've heard. Garcia's guitar notes shine, his voice is a little better than average. I could do without "If I had the world to give," but for the most part, quite good.

Some of the other reviews mentioned what a shock to Williamsburg this show was. My friends and I stayed in a campground, and didn't sleep at all (wonder why?) I think we were happy purchasers of that gray blotter another reviewer mentioned. Anyway, in the morning about seven of us thought we'd go to Howard Johnson's for breakfast. We were wearing our best Dead/camping clothes, and smelled like wood smoke. Who knew that HoJo's was the after-church hangout for the town's finest elderly citizens?

It got noticably quieter, and all the heads turned our way as we came in. I guess the freak show was already the only thing they were talking about that morning. We were seated way in the back, near the smell of disinfectant, and then never waited on. We left through the back door while one of our friends was still in the restroom.

For years I had this on tape and this half-step was one of my favorite all time Dead moments. Since that time I've always looked for other versions, especially from the 77-78 period which might compare. Another reviewer mentioned the version from Broome County 11/7/77 which is indeed a mighty fine version. The famed Boston show 5/7/77 is another fantastic version. Recently, I got my hands on the Englishtown 9/3/77 which has been released as Dicks Picks 15. If I had to pick a definitive version of Half-Step it would be the Englishtown show. Its just tremendous. Yet, like I said this version is really amazing. The final jam is so heavy with Jerry and Keith flying together accented by the drummers into super tight locomotive finish.

The
Bertha

is wonderful.
The
best
I've
heard. I didn't notice a single tape sound quality issue , some feedback towards the end but the feedback was from the pa/monitors/instruments/speaker wiring/power supply

Props to a nice version of 'Candyman'. Always puzzles me how they could play that slow and soulful with that much coke in their systems ;-)

For anyone that gave this a 1 you need to take a hard look at whether or not you belong on this site.....

Half Step is one of the best ever, El Paso, Brown Eyed Women, Let it grow has an unbelievable rif Jer busts out at 18:30 (so its long too)...

BTW GLEN THAT IS A HILARIOUS STORY THANKS FOR SHARING THAT - NICE VISUAL AND LOL. I am suprised you did not offer to guard the marine base with fireballs from your hands and a postive energy circle ;0

This is the one that started it all for me! From the run down from Jersey, crashing on the campus, and one Hell of a Party! The Dew stands as one of the finest and the ONLY one in '78! Definitely a "Special Night". Great recording!

One of the best shows ever. No; really. Here's why:

The show was held at William & Mary College in Williamsburgh, VA. If you've never been, Williamsburgh is a restored colonial town for the tourists -- everywhere you look is ye olde candle maker and the town crier. This was before the insane mid-80s outburst of MTV Deadheads, but even so, the Deadheads took over the town in our own friendly way. Walk in to ye olde ice cream parlor, and there are Deadheads helping the counter help apply extra whipped cream to sundaes, and discreetly breaking up mushrooms in to their milkshakes.

To add to the adventure, it turns out that besides being income tax day (April 15) it was also parent visitation day at William & Mary.

A beatiful crisp spring day as the sun went down. Suddenly someone appeared in the parking lot with a large bag of rather gigantic blotters for sale at very low prices. The rumor was always that the band was connected in some way to this. Who knows?

Inside, the stage was VERY low to the floor -- maybe a foot off the ground, making for a very intimate setting. The ushers were all college students, and it was refreshing to see that no matter how wasted we were, they were more wasted. John Scher, the east-coast's answer to Bill Graham tried to get us to calm down and move back from the speaker towers, while spaced out ushers tried to whip us up in to a frenzy with their flashlights.

Those who could still talk when the second set started saw Billy and Mickey come out and start swinging their arms back and forth and spinning on their stools before the show even started -- like two wrestlers getting ready to grapple.

The rest of the show speaks for itself in a dozen crackling ways, especialy the Morning Dew. When they played Around and Around, we really DID believe that they would "never stop rocking" -- they're going to play all night!

Well, no not exactly. I DO miss the One More Saturday Night encore on this tape. The band came out and Bobby said, "Guess what night it is?" and our busy little minds scrambled..."Uh... New Years? Halloween? Someone's birthday?" No, it's SATURDAY NIGHT. Whee!

No room here to tell you how after the show with our faces painted day-glo we wound up at Camp Perry Marine Base instead of our campground. (Camp Perry also being a CIA training center). The nice guard with his nice shiney boots and nice rifle showed remarkable restraint, and pointed us toward our campground.

OK? OK.

Glen

one more sat nite should be the E

Some great versions of songs in this show but there are a couple real stinkers that must be sorted through to get to the good ones. The mentioned Brown Eyed Women in particular is tough to endure. But the rewards are a fine 1/2 Step, Let It Grow, & Morning Dew. Sound quality is crisp like most shows from this era.

Worth the time if you have already taking care of '77, if not hit the back button and go knock out some more from that year before you get this one.

At 3:29 or so, Garcia lets out a ferocious warble.. He lets another good one fly at 11:50ish. Fairly crisp sound. In Deal, Garcia starts off with a solo so low key, you figure he might pack it in after one time thru. His next one starts uniquely in the very low register. The singing at the end is spirited; Garcia tries to improvise, and Donna does, too, here and there.

Very interesting Morning Dew. The only one in 1978, it sounds like no other. Garcia's first solo is exciting. After an extended scalar run, he suddenly trills the chords, something he usually saves for the end. They seem a bit uncertain how to bring it back to the verse, so they just basically stop, dead. Out of this complete silence, Garcia begins to sing. At the seven minute mark they start the quiet part, leading to the expected crescendo. Probably not among your top five or ten versions, but great fun.

[the rhythm in Brown Eyed starts all screwed up, as if half the drummers are trying to give it a reggae beat; they don't pick up the straight ahead 4/4 beat until they sing the first chorus, and then, lose it again when they get back to the next verse! Bizarre. Garcia's solo here starts all off balance; you start to wonder what tune they are playing. Passenger is also troubled; Garcia butchers the ending of his first solo. On A&A he starts strong; but once they make the jump to warp speed, he quickly runs out of gas. So, despite some clear high points, this really might be only an average performance on balance].

This show was performed at a level that obsoletes superlatives. While everyone showed up for this one, Jerry in particular is white hot from the first chords and it just keeps getting more and more amazing as the show unfolds.

The 'Let It Grow' toward the end of the first set is one of the most amazing things my ears have ever sent to my brain. How this one could have ever been written or performed by human beings after serious rehearsal, let alone the highly improvised work of genius it was, simply defeats rational thought. BRAVO!!

The band was cranked for this show. That's evident from the energy on every song they played that night. There may be other Dew's that are peers, but this one is incredible. Beautiful spring day, freaking out the parents that were visiting the campus for "Parent's Day" (no wonder the Dead were never invited back! Ha!), and some of the most incredible playing from all of 1978

This is indeed a very nice half step. For the best one ever, check out 11-6-77. It will wipe you out. ;-)

Probably the greatest Mississippi Half Step ever...and that's saying a lot. Animated Garcia.