Been listening to this every chance I can all week. The band's so tight, Bobby's singing passionate and precise, Jer's musicality soaring. Amazing.

Exhuberent and triumphant. Closes out one hellofa 2nd set and kicks like a rocket.

Sweet and subtle: A beautiful come down after the muscular peak Eyes - but the set isn't done and they ramp it up again for more. A gem of a show.

Interrupted by bad fight in front of the stage. Phil goes bonkers, calls the security guard "Asshole". Weird scene/bad vibes.

Keith on organ just kills it. He's hot in the mix and the song has a totally different feel for it. Show overshadowed by Nov.-Dec. '73 but worth it.

Geez, I just can't get into this at all. It feels like soft-rock and smooth jazz with that dated keyboard sound and limp sax playing (I dig the midi flute believe it or not) - and I like a lot of Branford's straight ahead work and the cool stuff he did with Buckshot lefonque around this time. Sure Phil is - as always - a genius, but the solos themselves, including Branford's are just so many noodles. Does it showcase one of the last great creative eras for the band? Perhaps, but I can't compare it favorably to the coherent, driven, musically purposefully soloing of sooooo many of the great '74s and 73s, and the great '77s, and the great 80s versions with their (frankly) superior transitions into Estimated. Finally, I just think it's loose to the point of sounding unrehearsed at times. Jer's vocals come in right when Branford is stepping up to solo, twice, and the band is a bit sprawling when, once more, you compare it to almost any of the '73 and '74s. (Plus without the outro or at least a real transition to Estimated, it just isn't as good....) Hate to be an iconoclast, but them's my 00.02.

I don't think you can top the emotional power and personal strength behind the Sept. 17, 1970 acoustic version. Sure, it sounds like it was recorded from the bottom of a swimming pool, but even that adds to the intimacy and sadness at the heart of the song. As for other studio versions rivaling live performances, I'd nominate the 1972 Jerry Garcia studio version of "The Wheel", which is pretty goddamned amazing, and totally different than the GD's live versions. That said, I also loved seeing it live too, so maybe there's no comparison.

Starts off just a bit standard, but gets heady and heavy, then transitions into a monster OO. Fun stuff.

Nice mid-tempo version, neither the shit-kickin' bluegrass tempo nor the narcotic ballad of later years. If you squint your ears a bit, it almost sounds like a Mexican paso double, which works just fine. Plus it has that "let's do it differently and see if it works" feel that showcases everyone going a bit bananas all at once. Cool find.

Long, interesting transition jam. Sleuth gets it right again. In the ocean of China>Riders, this is one of the sweet spots.