More and more I'm convinced that the earliest Samsons are the best. So confident, so full of strut and swagger. Any other era with such consist force?

Keith and Jerry are manic pinball flippers bouncing their solos off each other here. Fun set closer.

Smooth and satisfying, rouses the crowd right up too. What a sweet show this is.

Fun, raucous, and rowdy, but full of tight ensemble jamming and a nice Bobby/Jerry balance, allowing you to hear Cowboy Bob's great backup work.

Jerry's voice is at his most elegant, showing some smoke. Keith is supremely intuitive and beautiful, the band goes higher and higher. Great version.

Hey Marvin, I didn't know they toured in '77. Thanks for the heads up! [...] Really brother there's something about this era that I love just a wee bit deeper: Partially its the electric-voodoo influence from Miles Davis with a bit more danger and heaviness that to my ears got scrubbed clean with the (admittedly) more musically precise, "crisp and clean" aesthetic of 1977. (I also like the one-drummer era for the greater freedom Billy had and his almost melodic approach to collective improv). If you post a list of your favorite '77s, I'll go and listen to them all again and maybe I'll change my tune, but until then, I'm mostly an old fogey deadhead who goes apeshit for the pre-hiatus work. Cheers and thanks!

Video looks like it was filmed through a pair of black socks, but the camera work is professional and was probably an authorized video (on stage closeups, multiple cameras, good videography). Does anyone know the story behind it?

Cool if not grainy video of this at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mf1dNTexCL4. Be warned, it looks like it was filmed through a roll of electrical tape, but it's nice to see them up close again.

Sweet uptempo transition into Supplication. LL>Sup was such a sparkling tingly buzz of a jam, and with its angular off-kilter 7/4 "lop-sided wheel" propulsion, it's almost the perfect musical expression of the effects of certain bitter South American alkaloids. Just sayin'.

CRS show-openers were always my signal that they meant business: It has that bite and jump with a big shout chorus that demonstrated tight ensemble playing from the first note of the show. This one is no exception, except that it's got a mellower, more melodious smooth '76 vibe. It's a beauty for sure, and a perfect representation of where they were for the Summer tour after the hiatus.