You can hear the swagger in their mutterings before they play. And the performance bears that out. Sure, smooth, and effortless.

Letter perfect - the Godchauxs take this to a loftier level. Beautiful dynamic push-and-pull by the whole group.

Planting the Flag of Civilization on this tight scorcher. New from factory - Inspector #9. Under penalty of law, this tag may not be YEAH GARCIA!

Dreamy, motionless rendition on a sea of individual human reactions [audience tape]. A wonderful time for this gem.

At :30 Pig switches from tambourine to organ and we're off! These early '71 performances showcase Kreutzmann reveling in sweet space. Driving.

Super lively take - Garcia comes out guns a-blazin'. Doesn't really let up either - Mydland's stuff is very subtle. Cool.

This could be The One. But even if it's not, it's got all of your Uncle John's Band bases covered. And then some.

Really nothing not to like here. This show is close to perfect. For Brown-Eyed Women, they take it a smidge slower and really tease out all of the song's narrative depth. And it sounds fucking great.

Very strong! Some inspired, cool shit in this one. But blows 5-25-77 out of the water? I don't get that. This one, zesty as it is, is a bit of shaggy dog vs. 5-25-77's sick groove. My main issue is the Mydland tinkling - which doesn't always not work. Problem is mainly that sometimes it just strikes me rinky-dink. Also, though: the big solo peak post-bridge portion in the middle is just too long and they can barely find their way out of it back into the next verse. Just gets cluttered. Less is more and everything just sounds and feels better with Godchaux and Garcia rockin' the Bean. The outro is sweet, but nothing like the dark Garcia soliloquies of 1977 - the sound of out-of-body. Sonically, they're already making lots of sonic compromises by late 1979. I do like this version, though, I swear.

A band in complete control. A Hunter/Garcia masterpiece. Dynamics! The guitar break is cerebral and cool. Not much else you can ask a Grateful Dead song.