An absurdly good show. I recognize what Jerry & the Gang was going for here and in the couple nights ahead. For those who really know the Dead - it's a tangible sound that they have in the 74 years. Later on it gets different. But, what I like about this show is how they are really trying. Not like going for the middle all willy-nilly but really going after what's out there. I get that this is for the movie, but it's no wonder they used so much of THIS show in particular (I could be wrong about that fact).
Listen and judge for yourself, but I'm on day 2 of the festival in my head and it sounds great so far. Not perfect, but that's not what they were going for right now. I believe that came much later. For where they are right now in 1974 it's exactly perfect. Or damn near close. 4 STARS.

This is, overall, the best show of the band's original "Fare Thee Well" run at Winterland. It also has the single best set. The show's kind of weird, mixing the best of the run with some of the worst (albeit in the typical Dead fashion we love). The Movie Soundtrack, as with the rest of the run, misses half of the best material. The 1st set is mostly a wash but the third set (the second Dead set, as the Seastones project was in the middle) is insanity.

First Set. Average to below average for '74 (apparently the piano lid slammed down during the opener) until the great China Cat>Rider. The Let it Grow is great - better than the one chosen for the movie, from the following night (the entire WRSuite has been released). The Must Have Been the Roses was used for Steal Your Face, but the best one is the 20th (as with Half-step Mississippi).

Third Set. Starts with a sorta crummy Scarlet (crazy Donna wail, all-but-trainwrecked, but the jam is better) and then blows wide into technicolor. Both guitar solos are brilliant (the 1st one brilliantly underplayed) for Big River and the piano solo is beautifully rendered. It's an angular solo for Ramble on Rose. By Mexicali they're on fire. He's Gone has incredible playing and tone from a song that can be such a trudge sometimes. It turns into a very bluesy jam, Phil launches The Other One and it's instantly tugged into a mongrel creature taking over 15 minutes to resolve into a true TOO. The official release calls this He's Gone>Jam>Weirdness>The Other One>Spanish Jam>Mind Left Body Jam>The Other One. It groks from Rock to Blues to Jazz, to acid jam. Ladies and gentlemen please join us for a complete tour of the universe right inside your skull. There's a great Sugar Magnolia, though the ending is cut from the official release, so you'll need the board. Though the Casey Jones isn't one of the year's notable ones, it was used for Steal Your Face and the Movie Soundtrack. However, on the latter, the 2nd verse is cut (@1:20>2:05, on SYF). A 2nd edit is jarring: right as the solo starts it jumps to "trouble with you is..." (@1:40 on Movie Sndtrk). Then there's a 3rd edit @2:00 where one chorus iteration is removed!

1st Set: C
3rd Set: A
Overall = 4 Stars

Highlights:
China Cat>Know You Rider - adventurous
Let it Grow - best of run
Big River - nailed
Ramble On Rose - angular solo FTW!
Mexicali Blues - prime example
He's Gone>Long Jam Out>Other One>Stella Blue - a mother jam into a classic Stella
Sugar Magnolia - total vibe

SOURCES: A dozen songs are on the Movie Soundtrack, and the entire Weather Report Suite is on the Beyond Description bonus disc; but for complete versions and for the rest, I liked the Barbella source best (due to the clarity). Two more (plus a complete Casey) are on Steal Your Face, but sound better on this source.

There are some great parts to this and overall the show is pretty solid however, I do think there are better shows earlier in the year. Very nice to listen to and a keeper.

To visualize and hear spectacular sound on this Other One>Spanish Jam>HHTF Jam>Other One, Rent or buy the new DVD of The Grateful Dead movie and play the bonus songs on DVD #2 (this one listed simply as The Other One). Phenomenal sound quality here on all these bonus tracks. If you watched DVD #1 and noticed the substantial sound quality difference between the movie and the bonus footage on #2. Watch the documentary on DVD #2 "the making of the movie" interesting sound restoring/mixing techniques revealed while recovering these gems from the vault. Given the amount of work they put into restoring these bonus tracks this will be by far the best recordings you will hear of these select performances from this run. They mention another possible bonus DVD to this run/movie because they found so many fine performances of other individual tunes. Hell, in that case, choose one of the shows, remaster/mix and release one of the full shows on CD. My rating pertains to the incredible recording work and performances on The Dead Movie Disc #2.

This show could be the sleeper of the "farewell" run at Winterland. And, if you leave out Phil & Ned, and use some creative fading, the whole thing will just about fit onto 2 80-minute discs. 1st set is solid, nice to hear F.O.T.D. and I like the direction they were going with Jack Straw in the period. Excellent WRS, as well. Interesting stuff in the 2nd set, and I'd wager the Casey Jones sounds better here than it did on Steal Your Face. I think this show stacks up against some of the better shows from earlier in the year but may not get as much attention because it was part of this run.