Blazing version, but I nominated it primarily for its placement within the context of the tasty Playin'->Half-Step->Big River->Playin' sandwich.

Jerry's pipes never sounded sweeter, and Keith's barrel-house piano chops complements perfectly!

Deserves mention.

The previous night's version was tasty, but this one is delicious. The nomination for this one is long overdue. The whole show is quintessential '76

Whoa! This one somehow slipped through the cracks - A hidden gem for sure!

High octane version (whole second set smokes).

Yes, best source available. Phil's "Big Brown" sounds warm, rich, thunderous. Feb '73 = Pure bliss.

^Nice to hear, darkstar67. Yeah, if there is a silver lining to the present shelter-in-place situation many of us are in, it's that it affords many of us more time to listen, love, analyze and discuss the music of the good ol' Grateful Dead! Might as well, might as well...

A few years ago, I remember there was a discussion board that featured a heated debate between two heavy-weight champions of the same era. In one corner was the mighty 9/21 Dark Star, and in the other was the defending champion, 8/27 Dark Star. The prizefight ensued as dead heads in droves were chiming in with impassioned persuasions, imbittered arguments, and desperate pleas as to which should be declared the winner. After much blood, sweat & tears (all in good spirit, of course) I think 8/27 won the fight by a nose, and I happened to be among the camp of 8/27 supporters. That said, I think the last six-odd minutes of this one – 9/21- might be the most satisfying segment from either of them. So while I gave the nod to 8/27 as the better Star as a whole, I still think the last six minutes of 9/21 is the most inspirational. It’s truly a unique piece of music, something of an electric-psychedelic-bluegrass-(new)grass jam that’s something to behold and marvel at.

^Grate news. Cheers for the heads up.