This entire show is a smoker

AND THAT'S JUST THE FIRST SET!!! C'mon, that's not even fair. The second set is killer too. An excellent Estimated, a shimmering Eyes and, a personal favorite, a second set Sailor Saint! Oh yeah and a perfect Wharf Rat. This show is insane.

The best part is it sounds great. I love listening to soundboards for Europe 72 and May 77 but honestly there's nothin better than an Aud like this one to transport you back in time right into the middle of a mindblowing show. 147 stars for this one.

don't sleep on this space--> lost sailor.
This space is interesting and would like to have it go on longer.
I saw the first 3 shows of this tour at the Uptown in Chicago in February, the summer Midwest tour from Oklahoma->KC> through Alpine and St Paul... Then got to see some early December shows for a week.
The playing was authentic, set lists interesting and unique and the fans were still there for the music> the party.
Looking back over my notes I loved that third night at the uptown, the To Lay Me Down at Rosemont, the ending first set China Cat> Rider.
At the Uptown shows my buddy (Love you Gary) said "we are only 3 & 1/2 years removed from that '77 tour. Its so close at hand.
I miss that connection.
Just saw Bobby at the Chicago Theater two nights march 11&12 here.
Still loving it.

Nice quality audience tape. Excellent early 80's versions of Eyes and Wharf Rat. Thanks to Jim Wise and Jamie Lutch for bringing us this little gem.

Highlights: Shakedown Street, Jack-A-Roe, High Time, Cassidy, The Music Never Stopped, Cold Rain And Snow, Space, Lost Sailor

Man, the headiness of a live show really comes through on this audience tape. Awesome stuff. The band was on fire.

This was the Dead of the Day on gratefuldeadoftheday.com, which is a cool site that has turned me on to a bunch of shows.

Really fantastic set list and recording. A good audience tape captures the Dead like nothing else. This would be a fine thing to put on at a party after your friends are tuned up.

This was a particularly interesting show. Last time I tell this story..ha ha,..it was a warm day and the heads were tossing frisbees in T's in the lot...then a cold wind blew in it got very cold and windy that evening, and there were a LOT of tour Heads without a ticket and the UMA kept telling them they would sell more tickets "later". Then It started snowing. Well, 'later' never came and when they started letting folks in, the Heads got REAL pissed, smashed in the glass doors and everybody ran in. Cops came streaming out of the station across the street and I went for my seat. the place was double packed with all the freebies. Da Boyz opened the second set with "cold rain and snow and the crowed ROARED. The show is packed with incredible versions of many songs....Shakedown,They Love Each Other, El Paso Jack-A-Roe, High Time, Cassidy -> Althea. The Music Never Stopped....The Music Never Stopped may be one of the best of the 80's..Eyes and Wharf Rat are spectacular.

I went to Oneonta State from 1982-86 and my first GD concert was 4-12-83 in Bingamton, which was awesome. It seems to me that the Grateful Dead experience was much better in smaller arenas. I wish I had been turned on to the GD earlier, so I could have seen more concerts in small places, like this one here. Upstate NY seemed to be special IMHO. This is another fine example.

This was one of my favorites. It seemed like the entire show from the Garden caravanned to Utica and spent all day in throwing frisbee in the parking lot. The Big Poe-Leace seemed to be dope-slapped by the sudden appearance of so many wild-eyed people.

The doors opened at just the right time: it was getting cold and March-sh. So we were happy to be indoors with beer and friends and a Dead show... all was right with the world.

The crowd cheer at the start of this Shakedown always gives me the chills. Yes, the boys were great. The Utica Memorial sounded great — it's like a big tin drum; the band nailed the acoustics.

As others have said, the show's energy is outstanding. The High Time/Cassidy/Althea/Music Never Stopped stretch is as good as it gets for the boys in the 80s. A quick plug for the Wharf Rat: it was the jewel of the second set.

Don't Ease Me In says how the show ended...the band was on to Hartford and I said goodbye to my touring buddies as headed back to school at Syracuse. Winter had returned outside. The police smoldered all day at the idea of ten-thousand law-breakers and were downright vengeful by the time the show ended. So we beat it on down the line.

I was at this show! A bunch of us drove up from Oneonta State. It was a killer show. To this day I still remember "The Music Never Stopped" as being drop dead awesome! There was also beer being poured from kegs right in the hallway. People were two, three fisted. Everybody was groovin' and having a great time. When we left, snowflakes were flyin' in the air...

that this show and recording rock the house from dawn to dusk and beyond. What a little gem of a show in nowhere NY! I'm making my way through the spring '81 highlight shows and after the triple thrill ride of two Stanley Theatre shows followed immediately by Cole Fieldhouse - all smokers that left me chair dancing for hours - I didn't think there would be more left for the east coast portion of the ride. Absolutely great energy, set list, crowd and recording. Five stars for all - set lists, performance, recording. Hats off to the good people who make these shows available and keep on truckin'. Peace

This show absolutely smokes from start to finish...I challenge someone to find a better Music Never Stopped than this one...This one is incredible...My old boss went to this and had some cool pictures...Steal your face sign over the stage in the rear and them playing on what looked like a flat bed trailer truck....I love the Eyes....jerry could really sing then....this is tops on the early spring tour. My first show was 5/11/81...wish I could have witnessed this one. enjoy!

This is a sparkling gem on a great run (winter-spring '81) for the Dead. Shakedown is one of the best I've heard (on par with 6/30/85) and the intensity builds and burns throughout till the killer Music to close the 1st set. Second set, while somewhat more mellow, is awesome as well (esp. Roses, Eyes and Sugar Mags).

Long drawn, by the end your gone.

Utica NY is a god forsaken place on a plain and is the door mat to the Adirondacks. Utica is a blue collar town of little distinction that has managed to put forth some great minds and some even better hard nosed ice hockey players. Utica in March is cold, snowy steely grey. Just looking at the venue and time of year,I had an inkling that the stars may be aligned for a pretty good evening. And looking at the set list' venue and date I knew that it has to be snowing really hard.....as was confirmed by a review. This show absolutely bristles. The playing is rock solid. The band is very very on. Brent stands out in my ear, not so much for his solos, but rather the subtleties which display his enormous range in some of the first set ballads; Minglewood in particular. This show is a barn burner and well well worth a listen. peace.

It's set up like it's ready to DL, but none of the tracks are listed...

This is screwy, and it's a good show, too...

Jac in Tucson

This is an Audience recording, not a SBD.

Where are the SHN/FLAC files for downloading?

Cuz says it well, this was a fine show, maybe the best of this east-coast pass. Checkout the shakedown, Cassidy, Wharf Rat.

this is one of the better aud recordings i've come across, and it's fortunately for a really sweet show. High energy with none of the audience's response lost. A little added bass and you're right there in it. The band is definitely lit up in that crazy upstate March weather.

What a great find! I listed to this on a hunch as a friend raved about this show that went to Hartwick - this is about as good as you are going to get in '81 onwards. The fact that so few folks felt compelled to listen to this just reinforces what a gem this is. Listen up this is great stuff!!

My first Dead show, I had friends who came up from Rockport to share it with me and what a night to say the least ! The Shakedown opener is still one of my favorite versions as is the set closing Music Never Stopped. I've had the first set on tape for almost twenty years, however today was the first time I had the chance to experience the second set since that night ..... the Cold Rain ..... the Estimated-Eyes...... a pile driving drums that slid into space via a very nice Mickey piece on the Tar ..... sorry , but I've been looking for this one forever.
No one has mentioned just how weird of a day it actually was .... unseasonally warm for march in upstate NY , low 60's , we were tossing the friz in a parking lot in Rome that day , and came out of the show in short sleeves in a blizzard , talk about cold rain and snow . There's a cop-shop across the street from the Aud , and after the show there was a serious show of force from the local constablatory .This was due to the fact that some cold deadhead on the outside wanted to be inside, and tossed a trash can thru a glass wall/window to get inside. As hot as they were that night I can't blame him !
We came out of the show to be greeted by Utica's finest dressed in full riot gear , and a full blown blizzard ! Yes, I was hallucinating , but that was real , as was this incredible show !

It was shows like this that made me glad I went to school in upstate NY in the early '80's. The first set is simply on fire and the band gets hotter and hotter as the set goes along. The second set too is a keeper, but does not reach the intensity of set 1. For an early 80's aud tape, the sound quality is very, very good. This show is well worth the bandwith to download.