Can't beat this one. Played w/out a hitch, Jerry nails all the lyrics, and when it's over Phil says: "And that's a true story, folks!"

Unlike nearly every other '80's version, this one isn't all speeded out and rushed; instead it's groovy, jazzy, intricate, very pretty for its time

Yep...too rocking a tune to be ignored. Hard to beat this one, especially as kick-off of trio: Promised>Bertha>GSET

Extremely rare stand-alone "Fire"...2nd song, first set, and a real barn-burner!

Garcia's solos roll like lightning & rock like thunder. Sings it w/gusto, too. Not to be missed.

"This bein' Sunday we thought we'd do a spiritual number." -Bob Typically hot, Brent-heavy '81 magic here.

^^^^ That's the best description I've heard of this and explains even more than the MIDI why I don't care much for it. You're right, this version never pauses for air, everything's packed in like sausage meat and it while it has plenty of propulsion it definitely lacks in flow, subtlety and nuance. To each his own, of course. I understand the high ratings to a certain extent, but it's all too technical-sounding to me.

Revisiting this old classic recently brought a new level of appreciation. Quick side detour that back in the day I had this show on a 3-LP bootleg album that I THINK (memory not being my strong suit) was called "For Dead Heads Only" and I wore it out. (If anyone else had this LP and can corroborate this as the title please let me know). There were no liner notes or any explanation as to why Jerry's voice was so raspy and damn near full blown laryngitis on "fire", but I realized a few things hearing this again: 1) The band nails this stand-alone (coming out of Olin Arageed); 2) the relaxed tempo was letter perfect, and 3) Jerry commits heartily to this version in spite of his voice, which could have had him dropping out entirely. Instead you can hear him trying valiantly to push through his weakened vocal chord issues and his effort makes it a more poignant, heartfelt version than many others. This is also around the time they had just added the middle verse to the tune ("almost ablaze still you don't feel the heat"), none of the '77 versions having that extra lyric to contend with, and Jer nails it, again, pushing aside as best he can a serious bronchial condition that would eventually cancel at least one later date on the tour. This "Fire" will always have a soft spot in my heart as a result, but it deserves more than just pity points...it's actually quite worthy even with Jerry's vocal disadvantages.

OK, but I am calling 9-18-74 better than this one. Although this one is very very good.

This is almost a grunge-funk version. Slinky. Slow, but funkified. Nasty. Brent just lets loose on this, too. Check out what he does on intro. '79 has some the coolest NFA's ever...and maybe the last truly great year for the tune before it became a throw-away clap-clap-Bop-Bop-fest in the 80's. This is a short version, btw, but that shouldn't be held against it. They pack a ton of fun into that short space.