I thought all shows were real good,fall 73 into 74 was about my all time fav era,so I always have good thing s to say. Just wonderful there are always spots in shows where I here something new!!!

The middle show of the run is an average '73 show; maybe a bit hotter than the next night (neither of which are like the first night wallop. The SBD runs at fast forward - as much as one key up - and has a long wow (up and down pitch). The official release used a program to analyze and shift to a baseline (ending up consistent and only slightly fast). The correction for this (and general wow & flutter) was a technological achievement that made the show worth releasing. There was a partial FM broadcast as well. This was 1973's only Winterland run and the first home shows since the great Kezar show. Aside from the previous night, however, the more renowned shows occur over the next couple weeks. Still a nice show, with a strong second set sequence.

First Set. Other than a strong Jack Straw it's a bit lackluster until the set takes off at Deal. Rather than end of the set, Jer launches it here to inject a Feelgood vitamin shot. He pushes and swings the beat so perfectly in the solo. On Mexicali Jer's hot now; Bobby and Billy not so much. The SBD has a few seconds cut on Tennessee Jed, but it's complete on the official release. Billy false starts El Paso but things are back on track for Brokedown - another weirdly placed one (though it also appeared in the middle of 2nd sets in '73). It starts as if Jer's the only one into it, but they tighten it right up; packed. Beat it on Down the Line-9 (was it supposed to be 10? Either way it's 8 as far as Phil's concerned) is average but dig how Jer palm mutes and pinches harmonics. And go Keith! Row Jimmy starts a bit sour, gets better (it's on the official release). The intro tuning of Weather Report is cut on the official, complete on the miller_clugston source. Most of the '73s are way fine and this is typical, with a long jam section.

Second Set. The starter tuning has a Tico-Tico No Fubá. Jer then starts Carmen-Habanera, immediately switching to the Mexican Hat Dance, stops when Bobby concurrently starts Merry Go Round Broke Down, then plays Spring Song. It's a Tuning's Greatest Hits! There's a couple minutes of this sequence edited from the official release. The first 6sec of Playing are missing on the original SBD, but are restored on the miller_clugston source. It's a cool segue into Uncle John's, and this 43½min sandwich reverses on the Morning Dew fulcrum. Jer hits the Dew chord and everyone falls right in, building to a starry zenith. There's just enough here to realize X factor. The official has a patch from 11/17 - for no apparent reason whatsoever - from 2:19>2:50, removing 2:14>2:44 of the SBD. The miller_clugston source switches channels in this segment for a few seconds, but is otherwise fine. The very full sammich ends with the usual '73 Donnaskreech™. There may be more adventurous examples of Big River from '73, but this is brisk and tight. Billy sticks to a hyper-marching-drill and Bobby is nailing intricate rhythm while singing. So good. Stella Blue is exactly the way they wanted it performed; not one of those soaring stadium versions, but technical perfection. Truckin' becomes interesting after 9min when they fall into a kewl jam and have a reason for gettin' back truckin' on. There's a 5sec cut @5:30 and a cut @9:52 that's missing probably less than 20sec or so. The official release still edits out 9:51>11:01 of the SBD, missing over 1min of the peak of the jam. Wharf Rat is perfect playing, but without a real jam or solo it's a bathroom break. The SBD has only the first couple mins of Sugar Mag, but it was restored on the official release, along with the double encore of One More Saturday Night (Winterland is the local skating rink, natch) and Casey Jones. It's getting a bit sloppy by this point and Bobby goes hoarse with frogs.

1st Set:  C+
2nd Set: B-
Overall = 3¼ stars

Highlights:
Morning Dew - a late-'73 best and the peak of a fine sammy
Big River - Bobby/Billy mind meld
Stella Blue - technical perfection

SOURCES: One noisy, airy SBD source with extreme pitch problems, and long wow & flutter. It has an incomplete Weather Suite and is missing Row Jimmy. The long wow occurs within tracks, but on average you can correct the errors. Bertha and Truckin' need a whopping -5.5% pitch correction. Jack Straw, Stella & Wharf need -5%. Loser, Dew, Playing & Sugar Mag need -4.5%. UJB & Big River need -4.25%. The rest all need -4%. There's a newer partial source (pcm_miller_clugston), probably from the FM broadcast. It has the complete Weather Suite and the Playing tuning into Big River (and calls Tico Tico et al "F'n Around"). The pitch errors on this source are comparatively slight. WRS needs +1% pitch correction. 1st Playing, both UJBs and Big River need -1% (Dew and the rest are OK). The discs for this show in the Winterland 1973 box run just slightly fast and need -1% (and the channels have been switched). Morning Dew is patched with 11/17 and Truckin' has a 1min edit.

I was there for this middle night of the run. 2nd set blew me away.

I need to buy the box set of this 3 day run!!

(My 1st show was Maples 2/9/73...then Kezar in May 73. What a year!!).

This source is too fast.

Maybe an off night, but fun.

So happy to get to hear this night here. Farewell Box Set Blues. Thanks IA.
I respectfully cast my vote with Psymon, A Craig, and Geolectro.
No matter how wired and jangly the boys felt, I doubt they said "Hey let's do El Paso" in D# tonight!

a deep Playin'>UJB>Dew>UJB>Playin'

Bertha starts slow but the solo gets things moving
Jack Straw has some great speed up/slow downs with a perfect Jerry
Loser
LLR is thankfully knocked out of the way early.
Deal is a good call to regroup, and it does so well.
Mexicali pushes us into yet higher energy.
TN Jed the jam gets nice and weird as a good, befuddled Jed should.
El Paso is spot on, nice energy.
Brokedown in a placement I would usually accuse of being a momentum killer is performed well enough to keep things moving nicely.
BIODTL
Row Jimmy, unfortunately, the energy was crippled a bit after the consideration of the last three songs.
WRS>LIG, while the suite takes a bit to get going nicely, the LIG has some fantastic jams the closer it gets to the finale. They throw a fun little Tico Tico tuning to the end of it, which actually comes before the 2nd set, not right after LIG, but for CD reasons it was included under LIG.

PITB>UJB>Dew>UJB>PITB
What a way to not only cook a meat sequence, but to open a set! The PITB jam leading into UJB is nice and thematic, doing some great exploration within the theme. Within the 7th minute Jerry does a masterful swirl that would be a hallmark of this period, and he weaves a tapestry throughout the jam in general. The UJB blazes! As it slows down they execute a swiss watch transition into Dew. The Dew doesn’t really do what the Dew is supposed to do, by nature of its placement in the thick of the sandwich we miss the crashdown. However, the Dew is still a nice trip, in the middle of a nice trip. The return to UJB is perfect, and it then breaks down for several more minutes of spacier jamming before the PITB reprise closes out the sequence.
Big River
Stella is beautiful with a nice crash down.
Truckin>Wharf Rat>Sugar Magnolia
A second meat sequence to close out the set. The Truckin’ isn’t as high speed as I would like, but gathers energy nicely for a huge explosion at the end. After the detonation, they head into a slower, typical post-Truckin’ blues jam. The Wharf Rat’s highlight is Keith’s cascading riffs nearer the end of the song. Sugar Magnolia closes out the set rocking.

Double encore of OMSN and Casey Jones

Performance Summary
The first set is on the cusp of having great energy, but doesn’t maintain it long enough for me to give it top ratings in this category. The LIG is nice, though the WRS is a bit dull. The 2nd set got top rankings, though I generally expected more out of the final trio.

Sound Quality
Perfect (official release)

"Playin' In The Band-> Uncle John's Band-> Morning Dew-> Uncle John's Band-> Playin' In The Band" with it's little Tico tuning and "Let's see you folks do a little mambo" was for years one of my favorite Dead selections. Somewhere in the depths of "Playin'", this became on of the all time great sequences the band ever played.

The show is ok - although plagued by technical problems - until Playin'... then it goes to another level: a 10+ minute playin' which is as jazzy/improvisational as it gets (reminds me of Mind Left Body Jam) and THEN we go into Uncle John's... magic !!

Amazing, I was listening to this and it was playing along fine and then when it got to UJB the levels just went thru the roof. Be forewarned.

Someone mentioned the speed correction thing and they may be right, I don't know, but it sounds close enough to me.

I was at this show and it was a great time in the ol' town hall. I have heard others mention the party atmosphere in Winterland that night and I concur. In fact, the whole weekend was a nonstop lovefest and joyscape never to be re-created. The music was really so psychedelic that it transcended the need for self-medication.

Performance merits a 5, but the sound is a little rough. I think perhaps the levels went unattended. Oh, well, can't have it all, all the time. This is definitely worth the entire stream.

I was also there that night and I agree with xtifr that they were on edge the whole night. It was a very intense show that never reached the all-out party mode that most Winterland shows reached. They saved that for the next night which was one big party from start to end. Still, some very intense playing and well worth a listen.

I tuned my guitar with a tuner & played along, and it is pitched up a half step, which seems typical with old cassette tapes when you play them back on modern machines. Maybe there is a cassette gen here.......

I was there, and I remember this show very well, because it was the first time I went to see the Dead on my own (not counting the times my mom took me to see them play free in the park when I was a little kid). And I definitely remember that they sounded very wired and jangly that night. And having listened to this source, I have to say that I *don't* think there's a pitch problem. I think that's just the way they were playing.

That said, I have to rate this as a pretty average show for this era, even though it has a special place in my heart. It does have some fine moments, though. And this era was one of their finest....

Agree with psymon. Not quite Alvin and the Chipmunks, but at times heading in that direction. Potentially great show.

Jerry rages throughout this one. I don't hear a pitch problem, must have been the chipmunk blow.

Not familiar w/this version or speed problem. But I hope it gets fixed, as the 2nd set "circle" jam is really great. Other parts vary, but the
Playin->UJB->MDew->UJB->Playin is a must have.

Caveat emptor