Brent's playing goes far outside of the rhythmic structures the rest of the band is using to support him, shaking them out of their complacency.

Acceptable slide playing from Bobby. Nice extended organ solo, MIDI sax solo. Whole band playing blues choruses gives first set particular vibe.

Looser and hotter than its more famous brethren from the following night, but Garcia gets buried some in the mix.

To my ears, the Betty Boards usually have a fair amount of Keith. Come hear why.

F me. Setting aside the fact that they're a different band by this time in their career than they were in the 1970s, this truly is a great version of this song (especially considering its nearest contender is the B- Mosque version).

The vocals and harmonies in “He’s Gone” are well-done, and I enjoyed Brent’s organ filigree. I’ve always loved Garcia’s playing around/with the melody here, and I strongly believe that he writes some of the best bridges in rock music, period. Bobby’s doing something cool with an effects pedal (ca. 24:35 ish?), which one of the drummers picks up into the cymbal pattern. While I don’t think the sound tonight is particularly special, I do like the crowd’s energy during the final vocal part, which also contains some blues-inspired interplay that’s worth a listen. The whistle transition into “Truckin’” is cool.

Jerry’s sequences before the move to E major in “China Cat” don’t seem to go anywhere, and he seems like he’s struggling to get his footing throughout the rest of the solo (and into the vocals, blowing the first part of the next line). He bears down in the next solo, mostly by focusing on where he wants the sequences to go, and then chomps into some tasty rhythmic chordal playing once Phil bites in too. There’s a nice repeated riff at ca. 4:22 ish), and the transition into “Rider” is nice (with some fun contributions from the rest of the band). Some of Jerry’s licks in that tune are a bit more on the minor/blues side that I typically remember hearing. The mix doesn’t strike me as all that great (things sound a bit muddy during the verses, with little differentiation between the guitars and far too much cymbal for my taste). Jerry works his way into a higher position ca 9:40, and plays some interesting lines there before moving back down. To my ears, he’s playing well, but without much direction (no clear melodic peak, for example). Without a doubt, though, this is a nice little version.

This is a great version. Not to take away from 10/29/77, since they're fundamentally in different eras, but I do love the extended bridge jam. It reminds me of the many great '77 versions of "1/2 Step."

This really is fantastic stuff. Each band member at some point throws out an idea that spins out a different jam. A masterpiece of interplay and focused, intense listening.