The most "Spanish-flavored" of LIG's, evokes old southwest almost Mariachi vibe. Brilliant Garcia changes-Rise&Fall!

Recent Road Trips release is a perfecto: Outstanding vocals from Jerry and a jam after the lyrics that grooves and rocks super-hard. 5-star version!

Jerry's voice just exactly bluesy perfect...groovy & slow acoustic cadence & the boys harmonizing sweetly on the chrouses. Outstanding early version

A+ for the crowd alone. Are there better ones? Of course. But I was there & the ecstacy after 14 years of no Box makes this version legendary.

Astonishingly strong Jerry vocals, especially given the year, and some of the prettiest Hornsby-led fills make this one a real great sleeper pick.

^^^^Brilliant! And what a crispy SBD to boot. I'm going to further comment on this one under its appropriate listing a bit later. Suffice it to say here that this one has a sweet bop-a-long bounce that's hard to resist. Great rec, Cuca! !

Just for clarity, when I was talking about the muddy available sources for an otherwise fine Althea I was referring to DarkStar's recommendation of 3-23-87, not this excellent sounding 3-14-81.

^^^^ I am not, but will check it out right now! edit: Irony! I was actually at this show, and yes, this is a fine Althea, but I also realize why I wasn't immediately familiar with it, & that's b/c I/m a SBD snob and none of the available AUDs are very good, which is not to say anyone should ignore this version, especially if you're more tolerant of AUD sound than I am. The version DarkStar listed here is probably the best one and once you get used to the sound, it's worth settling in to listen, b/c Jerry really grooves on this, and Bobby especially is great in driving the rhythm and punctuating with hard edges when needed. Drummers are locked in, too. Just wish there was a better source, dammit. (Nice Iko from this show too, btw), but Althea is definitely the highlight. End jam is a no holds barred shred fest...no "build up" to the finish, just charge out of the gate ripping stuff, and Billy and Mickey go to town.

This version is from whatbjust may be the best AUD recording of all time (the Glassberg,just to be clear). The version itself is very very good, but I'll play devils advocate and grumble a bit about its placement at the top. I think there are other versions from this same year that are better, especially the end jam 5/1/81 comes to mind) and I also think there are deeper jammed out versions from 1980 and more overall colorful ones from shows in the late 80s, early 90s, so I do wonder if this one gets a lot of extra love due to the recording itself. All that negativity said, this does deserve top 5 status and there is a moment in the end jam where Garcia runs a tiny lick that shifts the drummers and everyone else into another gear and it's brilliant. So a little nitpicking here, but only for the top dog designation. I do get overall tho why it's so highly regarded.

Vital part of the incredible 2nd set.