Short but sweet

I don’t understand how this is in the top 3. It’s really not that great. The July ‘78 shows are all pretty overrated in my opinion. There is some decent playing on the tour, but Bobby’s goddamn slide playing ruins about half the songs.

Godness or goodness? Either way it works. Perfect version here.

I saw you refer to Brent’s playing once as doing his “tinker toy keys” which I got a kick out of. As far as under the radar shows go, I’m not sure how under the radar or top tier any of these may be, but I’ve always had a soft spot for 12/18/73, 6/29/76 and 5/4/77 (which I’m sure you’re already familiar with). The Dark Star on 12/18 gets a little spacey for me, but the rest of the playing is top notch fall ‘73. Tennessee Jed opener is very cool. 6/29 just has a nice overall feel to it, and it’s cool to hear one of the few versions of Mission in the Rain. 5/4 probably needs no introduction... Honestly it’s hard enough for me to keep up with the official releases that I find myself rarely even listening to anything unofficial lately. Pretty much the only time I venture to archive or relisten is when I read something on here that I just gotta hear!

You ready for this, Grendel? Here’s Dave’s response to my email re 10/29/77: “I love that show, too. I always am blown away by how good it is whenever I hear it.” I’d say that’s good news if I ever heard it!

Well in the seaside chat for the Get Shown The Light box, Dave said that after all those betty boards came home they're only missing 2 shows from '77 - one being 6/4, and the other he didn't specify. I wonder if the other one is 2/27 (which they're missing 4 out of 5 reels for - the 5th reel we just got on DaP 29) or if it's another show entirely. Either way the odds are good that 10/29 is in the vault! October '77 is also pretty underrepresented in the official catalog - I think the second Road Trips is the only official release from that month. You may be well ahead of me on this, but you can send Dave an email at vault@dead.net requesting this show be released. He said in the seaside chat introducing the Dave's Picks series that they read all the emails they get and take people's suggestions very seriously and actually encourage people to send in their show requests. He did say to make sure you put "Grateful Dead" in the subject line, so he knows to read it. Anyway, back to the show - this is one I was not very familiar with until I checked out the St. Stephen at your recommendation. Wonderful show! The Space > St. Stephen > Drums > Not Fade Away > Black Peter is all phenomenal. The Black Peter may be the best I've ever heard. That bluesy solo at the end is unlike anything I've ever heard from that song before. Jer was certainly in a bluesy mood that night. Fortunately the circulating Charlie Miller board does sound fantastic, but it would be nice for this one to get the Jeffery Norman treatment. I did actually just send Dave an email asking what other '77 show is missing from the vault and put in a good word for 10/29/77.