If possible, a very contemplative TJ. Everyone's in apex '73 form, esp. Godchaux who's mixed fairly high to good effect.

Of the heavenly 1970 Capitol Theater St. Stephens. Just a beautiful union between audience and group. Killer Stephen! CRUNCH!

Show opener - the perseverence is what really sells me on this one. A struggle, but a worthy one b/c the spoils are lush. Sneaky great.

Crazy overlooked: A noble, splendiferous C>R in full Europe 72-ness. Patient, exploratory, charming. Driving a distance? Pack this.

An intimate very early Bird Song - Quartet-styled, which serves this song really well. Also: you can hear the thinking, especially between guitars.

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.