A cozy little delight - hand percussion, contemplation, great stereo drums, and some rip roaring riffage. Comes in under the radar, but worth a visit.

As much as I love May 77 Sugarees, Spring 76 is where it's at for me. Subtlety, separation, and Garcia's whispery, silver-dipped guitar breaks.

1978: Prime weather for Candyman. This performance, like many from then, highlights the bleak world of the narrator. Garcia's break: spidery.

Bubbly, bratty storyboard version. Character & twang for miles. I'd pay to see this band. Two for a tenner? Four please.

This is a very sweet Terrapin. Everyone's fired up to play it. All you need to do is watch the vid to see the pure joy this brings Garcia. Memorable.

A very crisp, high-energy Estimated that can stand with some of the redwoods from Spring '77. Garcia's coda Mu-Tron monologue is especially fluid - no need to call it a "guitar solo" because its really just a beautiful piece of improvisation, period. It's almost another lead voice taking over for Weir - a new character in the song. And this character has some darkness.

Very springy, early TJ - Godchaux is a major difference maker. His piano adds body and warmth to an otherwise wiry performance. And I say "wiry" as a positive.

Agree w/Carrion: get past the sorta dodgy recording - (1) there are far worse; (2) this Dark Star is wide-screen. Yet another deep, dark, space age 1970 Dark Star. Super worth your time unless you just can't deal with less than crystal clear recordings (which I understand). To me, the audience lends some sense of what it was like to be there. That's irreplaceable. Wouldn't mean much if it weren't a major Dark Star. It is.

A huge fan of '71 Other Ones - and this one is a really good example. To me, it's definitely '71 in spirit, although maybe this performance carries a little bit of the '70 wildness into the proceedings. With just Kreutzmann at the helm, the group is steered into a cleaner, spacier, more jazzbo feel. I've read that they were way more into playing Other One at this point than Dark Star b/c O1 propelled them into different territory - territory they were excited about exploring. Here, Garcia, in particular, seems very happy to ride the wave and let it push/pull him into all sorts of grey, intimate places. And I love the chimey stuff @ 7:30 - Weir playing behind the nut? Almost TC/Lagin-esque. Very large version. Thanks for the rec!

From the start, you can definitely hear the loving attention to storytelling in Garcia's vocal. Also: this version has a lovely bounce in its step. Playful - like the 1/22/78 version (also a fave).