Super loose in the joints and fun. They seem to be searching for the '71 sound throughout the run here but I like this one.

High powered and super charged. The last third of the first set is a real killer.

Not the best show, but the best Rat of this run. 4th ever, but the first one to stretch out and become its full self.

Want to be present at its birth? The infant Bacchus emerges. I love this song. This is the 1st time they nail it.

Passes through many phases, always exploring new riffs and hinting at further jams without ever losing its essential feeling and sound. Great stuff.

Cruel cut. This could otherwise have been the top version.

Uh, did you not know that they took their country music pretty seriously, and that they'd been doing so as the Dead for the past three years at this point? Or maybe had you ever thought that genre bending wasn't just some happy accident of their repertoire (hellooooo, Dark Star>El Paso), but in fact deleriously fundamental to the musical-aesthetic and cultural projects that these artists gave their lives to, not to mention a transcendal gift you can experience in the infinite facets of the nightfall of diamonds that is their œuvre? And finally, would you please consider that referring to Donna in this way is, if not only vulgar and crass, then basically just disrespectful not only to her and the band and their musical choices, but also to everyone else who loves the band and about 50% of the human species?

Freakin' amazing document covering extensive rehearsals of VLB giving us a deep glimpse into their process right there at the beginning. It's so cool to sneak a peak at them while they're working, and the sound is remarkably balanced and clear for an old rehearsal tape - thanks to Bear, who you can also hear during some of the banter.

Always loved the expansive emotional range and wide-open cartographic mystery of this suite, which never seems to get the respect it deserves. This is one of the Weir-Barlow classics: human, cerebral, transitive, emotional. I loved being part of it live. I love it now.

Hey Glyn, Where'd you find the full 20 minutes? The only AUD on the Archive drops us into the jam, which is smokin' hot like the best of Fall '72 Playin's. Is there another source out there? Send links, brother....