11345 One of their best shows ever, I don't care if some people think its "overrated". Morning Dew will give you chills, as will much of the rest of the show. out of this world soybomb 2004-04-09 16:57:46 2004-04-09 16:57:46 5 11366 may 77 was THE tour IMHO. Now the archive lets us compare each show, lossless, which really is so much better than the overplayed, multi gen tapes. Grateful Dead students, get to class! yep doses 2004-04-10 07:32:35 2004-04-10 07:32:35 5 11421 cornell is probably the best dead concert recording ever, imho. first, the sound quality of the sbd is absolutely impeccable, better than most if not all official dead live releases. second, the setlist is great. finally, while there are better versions of each individual song out there, every song in the second set is at least a top 10 version, if not better. very few other shows can make that claim. bottom line, a lot of people know about and love this show, so i think it has almost become "cool" to say that it is overrated. that is a mistake. just my $.02. best ever? rak5877 2004-04-11 06:54:30 2004-04-11 06:53:15 5 11474 While I prefer the setlist from the previous night, I agree that this is the best sounding soundboard recording of the Dead that you'll probably ever hear. fantastic sound snap,pro 2004-04-12 09:47:10 2004-04-12 09:47:10 5 11689 Thank Jah it is the "Eaton". Way to go uloader! Eaton = Really Nice! darkstar67 2004-04-14 23:18:22 2004-04-14 23:18:22 5 11715 There's little else that needs be said about this show (I think we all know it well), but I wanted to say thanks for posting this lovingly rendered version of a long-time favorite! Thanks! Crowbar1969 2004-04-15 14:18:27 2004-04-15 14:18:27 5 11750 This was one of the earliest-released great sound boards, so it has a huge following. Sound is vgood but so are many others these days. First set is nothing special, except the closer which is terrific. Well worth having, but in retrospect overshadowed by things like 5-7, 6-9 and 9-3-77. So if you love this one, check out those others too. Overrated, w/great moments TomP 2004-04-16 12:22:49 2004-04-16 12:22:49 4 12204 I know Dick Latava would have it that this show is so incredibly overrated... butt bollocks to that - he says the same about 27/08/72. The second set with its long high energy jams has the bees knees performances of all the songs they played (at least as far as the late 70s era is concerned). Phil's bass is one of the best things about it... Phil-bombs are crashing everwhere. I _LOVE_ the Lazy Lighting - Supplication here. when Bobby sings "you really get me high" the feeling of it comes into you through the music somehow. Row Jimmy is also a highlight. Just like 27/08/72... so many people claim it's overrated and offer "better" shows, but then I listen to it with an objective mind and i'm blown away yet again. Extremely good show xonix 2004-04-25 23:56:33 2004-04-25 23:56:33 5 12771 First off...big ups for the remaster, it sounds better then ever. Second, the reason this show gets so much hype is because there are a number of "best versions" of certain songs. Scarlet/Fire, Morning Dew, Dancin. These three for sure are the tops as far as all-time versions. I'm sure there people out there who might disagree and god knows the dead played for so many years that one can come up with an argument for just about anything. All I have to say is just for those tunes alone one has to give it 5 stars and enjoy it as one of the best shows ever played. Not overated Cortez 2004-05-06 19:55:55 2004-05-06 19:55:55 5 14065 There is no known sound board for this show, they forgot to tape it. There are how ever some very nice Aud tapes out there that sound as good as a soundboard. No SBD hippie_pat 2004-05-31 11:19:27 2004-05-31 11:19:27 5 14103 Perhaps the most overrated show of all time. Great NFA, Row Jimmy, Dew, and Scarlet>Fire. A little too much goofy pseudo disco in the Dancin and Lazy lightning. The wimpy version of St Stephen is little more than filler. The rest is typical 77 quality stuff but nothing special. Worth having for the Scarlet>Fire alone. Over hyped but still a beauty sdawg 2004-06-01 03:45:43 2004-06-01 03:45:43 3 15617 This has the best sound quality of any Dead show I have so far downloaded. Rob did a tremendous job on the remaster. Great Sound GEff 2004-06-30 01:54:57 2004-06-30 01:54:57 5 15675 This show brought me into the world of the dead. the intro to scarlet/fire is so powerful it had me hooked immediately. and how can anyone deny the glory of the morning dew? best of the best ripplemaster 2004-06-30 20:00:41 2004-06-30 20:00:41 5 15888 How anyone can say this show is overrated is beyond me. I guess everyone HAS to be different even if they themselves don't believe it for a second. Simply put, this is the single best live performance I have ever heard from any group at anytime, at any venue. It is absolutely perfect. Even non-Dead fans or one-time Dead haters that I know have been converted thanks to this show. The one comment I get most from those I play it for is that they can't believe it is live. That's how perfect this show is. Get it for yourself and listen, you just won't believe it. THE BEST! Simply Phenomenal! BillDP 2004-07-04 08:11:20 2004-07-04 08:10:47 5 16388 Its a good show, its very good, but its not my fav. Just because others think that its just obviously the best dead show ever doesnt mean it has to be your fav either. How can an opinion be debated? Yeah, its good jverona 2004-07-10 14:22:02 2004-07-10 14:22:02 4 16394 I might agree. If you first get hooked on the early rocking versions, it's tough to get excited about the '77s, which got slowed down like Friend of the Devil did. If you want a St. Stephen with some real cojones, try 5/6/70. dcain 2004-07-10 16:59:42 2004-07-10 16:59:42 4 bleblanc 16697 I think it was a contingent of Cornell Alumni, Alumnus if you will, who got together & decided to vote this the best Dead show ever. I read a comment that it was "the best live performance by any band in the history of live music" - i love the Dead, but that's a pretty bold statement. This is a very good show, the Estimated is the best I have ever heard. I think the best Dead show ever is everyone's first show...unless that is, they are a Cornell Alum. Worth the hype to DL...I did : ) Cornell Alums stickman 2004-07-14 20:17:29 2004-07-14 20:17:29 4 16992 So far this is the best sound quality show I've found on here. I've downloaded about 8 shows, (most of which have been "top ten shows" from other reviewers) and I usually find that I have to blast the volume to be able to hear the music, and something is never quite loud enough (vocals, bass, drums, etc.). With this show the vocals could be a little louder, but along with the quality of songs, I haven't found one that matches it. Everything sounds good, with the exception of the vocals being to quite compared to everything else. I'll save my 5 star rating for shows that sound professionally remastered, and I hope I find one. Oh, and download this one, not the other copy of 5/8/77. Good Show dairyman 2004-07-18 08:10:16 2004-07-18 08:10:16 4 18083 The Saturday before, May 1st, Pure Prairie League - amongst others - played at Ithaca College and got portions of a live album "Takin the Stage" out of it. The weather that week was well into the 80's, got a sun tan. That's unheard of in Upstate NY the first week in May. True to the Dead, they came and KICKED ASS. I crashed at "someone else's" and Sunday morning May 9th we woke up to 2 inches of snow. I'm pretty sure it's because the Dead sucked all the heat out of the Finger Lakes region - and put it into Barton Hall Something in the air rayboy 2004-08-03 18:31:57 2004-08-03 18:31:57 5 19685 I'm most likely in the minority here, but I definitely prefer Steve's audience pull to this source. I love to hear audience interaction/reaction, and Steve's seems pretty darn crispy for a 1977 audience recording... :) Give it a shot! -Brad Source preference bleblanc 2004-08-27 15:36:39 2004-08-27 15:36:39 3 19913 I have to say, this is my all time favorite show, if for no other reason, it is the one that got me into the Dead. My buddy had been a long time fan, and gave me this show to listen to. I listened to the show on headphones on a flight from Cleveland to Tokyo, and I was forever hooked. Best ever? Who knows. Damn fine though. If this is your first... solarjelly 2004-08-30 19:22:24 2004-08-30 19:22:24 5 20042 But still an incredible show. It doesn't need to be the best ever to warrant 5 stars, which it does. The Scarlet>Fire is very, very good, the Dancing is my Favorite from the late 70s, the Stephen>NFA>Stephen features otherworldly jamming from Garcia, and the Dew is the superstar of a superstar show. Total mind melt. Taken as a whole, this '77 spring tour may be the best sustained run ever played. Granted, in the early days, touring was much different, but taken along with the two shows surrounding this one, you can see what the GD was like in one of their best periods ever. Overrated? Yes. socal 2004-09-01 10:13:59 2004-09-01 10:13:59 5 20043 But still an incredible show. It doesn't need to be the best ever to warrant 5 stars, which it does. The Scarlet>Fire is very, very good, the Dancing is my Favorite from the late 70s, the Stephen>NFA>Stephen features otherworldly jamming from Garcia, and the Dew is the superstar of a superstar show. Total mind melt. Taken as a whole, this '77 spring tour may be the best sustained run ever played. Granted, in the early days, touring was much different, but taken along with the two shows surrounding this one, you can see what the GD was like in one of their best periods ever. Overrated? Yes. socal 2004-09-01 10:14:50 2004-09-01 10:14:50 5 19452 I've been hearing about this legendary show forever....and after finally downloading and repeated listenings, I gotta say--WAY too much hype. It's a GREAT show, no doubt. But "best ever"? Not even close. In fact, for my money, the next night in Buffalo has tons more spark. Like any May '77, great to have--fantastic show. But don't believe the hype. After all the hype..... REA04 2004-09-02 12:45:54 2004-08-24 09:38:24 5 20486 The sound quality of this show is unbelievable. Everyhing is perfectly balanced (drums, bass, guitar, keys) and the vocals are right up front and simply amazing. For me the highlights are TLEO, Jack Straw, St. Stephen and Scarlet/Fire. I can't stop listening to this show!! Awesome Recording and Performance Chester Burnett 2004-09-08 08:36:13 2004-09-08 08:36:13 5 20773 This is a great show. Enjoy the scarlet>fire many many times. Five star show for sound and playing. Download worthy jci35 2004-09-12 14:25:18 2004-09-12 14:25:18 5 19748 After 30 shows or so that I have dl'ed off this site, this has got to be the best sounding board mix so far. Betty Board Reels are incredible. Betty had/has great ears and its sad that she wasn't around for later GD shows. I'm glad to see Betty still producing and mixing bands. I personally think her best work was live on the road as proven by her tapes. Thanks to Rob Eaton for tweeking this gem from a clean dat taken from the original 7" Betty tapes. I have never been to Barton Hall but I'm sure this must be a great sounding room to get such a good board recording. I should know I've mixed sound in a lot of crappy sounding rooms and got crappy sounding board recordings. The kick Drum is a bit heavy in this mix for my liking. I re-tweaked the show to my liking by notching the bottom end at 60hz and 170hz and adding a very wide dispersion surround sound field. I also added a tight reverb overall to smoth out the mix. All this brought the vocals forward and balanced out the bass and kick drum. This tweaking left me with a show that placed me melting sterophonically into the band front stage. I wish I had more time because I would love to play with this mix and map it to dolby 5.1 and play it on the home theatre system. As I was too young to be at this show I have no bias to the show itself. I like the set lists and the song arrangements blend seamlessly and logically into each other. St. Stephen -> Not Fade Away -> St Stephen left me speechless. Wonderful tight transitions and nice panning of Jerry's guitar work. Sweet backup vocals and great Phil riffs. Estimated Prophet is one of my favorite tunes and this is the tightest live version I have ever heard. I just love a good classic wah sound. My second favorite is the toe tapper Brown Eyed Women, and again this is the tightest version I have heard live. They Love Each Other is beautifully arranged and is good for some background love making music. Fade away is good for this as well. Bring me home baby - You know "My love is bigger than a Cadillac"! :) The audience splice because of tape flip at 3:15 into Lazy Lightning sounds like crap. It slaps you in the face thinking that the person mixing hit some patch button by mistake. It would have been better just to edit out the dead air and splice together on a synchronized beat - or just leave in the dead air. I know I'm being picky here, but it is quite abrassive. Dancing rocks and is definately Disco Dead. Quite funny with the disco high hat/snare backbeat. Blow the dust off your platform shoes and press your bellbottoms and get ready to dance :) To conclude: this is one of the tightest live shows I have ever heard. The dead in 77 were tight and well rehearsed. Jerry remembered most of the lyrics and was right on the money with his leads as compared to the sloppy 80's GD and the overprocessed 90's GD. IMHO. It is obvious the band played to each other on this show. There is little chit chat and minimal tuning breaks - just good music. A Tight Show! ouija 2004-09-14 11:02:02 2004-08-28 17:24:39 5 20932 Oh my lord! This show's second set is a monster. Phil's on fire, Jerry's ripping the Mu-Tron, and the band was having a lot of fun. Respect the dead dance machine. This was the show that turned me on and it hasn't left my rotation in years. I can't say enough good things about it! Sound-4, Show-5 Get at all costs coreo36 2004-09-15 15:44:57 2004-09-15 15:44:57 5 21732 My wife, Z-Caver, and I went to the final Dead shows at Mcnichols Arena before Jerry died. I used to have a space called "The Magic Parking Space", because it was no further to walk then paid event parking, it was free, and nobody ever figured this out over the fifteen years that I parked here. Only problem, just across the street from "The Magic Parking Space" was low income housing. We went to the first night, and bought lots of stuff in the parking lot. Apparently some gang members saw us hauling our booty back from that nights show. Next night, we parked magically, consumed some awful Wal-Mart atomic chesse puffs, (who knows what kind of cancer the orange die is going to give us?) and went to the show. I remember having orange fingers all night, because I could not wash off the die from this truly terrible snack food. We came back to the car after the show. From about 50 yards I could see the shards of glass glinting under the street light. Apparently, the gang members had figured out that we were back for another haul of Grateful Dead parking lot booty, and had busted into my car to see what they could get. What they got was a bag of atomic cheese puffs, and my tapes, one of which was Barton Hall. 3 days later, I found the tapes in a park about five hundred yards away; all wet, and soggy, and tangled, boo-hoo-hoo. I only hope that the gangies enjoyed the orange puffs: I didn't! Thanx again Internet Archives. You have given me back something that I thought was lost forever. And stay away from the Walmart Atomic Cheese puffs. Give me back my atomic cheese-puffs Spelunki 2004-09-27 14:08:34 2004-09-27 14:08:34 5 21949 Wow nice work by Rob, Does anyone notice some saturation ? I was lucky enough to have a PCM-f1 back in 1987 when the beyys first came on the scene and i have a clean copy from the originalk transfer without any processing, I want to compare the two recordings. i noticed that some of the bettys on archive have the channels reversed, like 2/26/77 has bob left and keith in the right channel. Archive and Bit torrent sites have really changed the face of live music collecting. In the old days, it seemed like Good quality GD tapes were all about power, you needed to know the right people to get the good tapes. Does anyone remember the tapers with the "Don't ask" shirts ? meaning don't ask to patch in. Now everyone can share in the music without having to have credentials to listen. I just love the ease at which the shows down load. Great sound but slightly over saturated ?? celluloidheros 2004-09-30 17:26:47 2004-09-30 17:11:52 4 22241 The second set is what every deadhead dreams of. It's phenomenal. And still with Dick's Picks and the Vault series being around for so long, I can't see how they've overlooked this show. Barton Hall '77 crawford33 2004-10-05 10:56:13 2004-10-05 10:56:13 5 22657 Considering the vast history of this most remarkable band, it is no wonder there is much debate over this(5-8-77)being the best dead show ever. However, I personally believe that if we all put aside our own subjective views on what makes a great dead show, we would undoubtedly have to declare this show the winner of the greatest dead show ever, and possibly the greatest live performance ever. Believe the hype. Hail to the Archive. OBJECTIVELY SPEAKING wishiwasborninthesixties 2004-10-12 01:56:15 2004-10-12 01:56:15 5 22865 When you listen to this show hearing the rave reviews that it is the BEST DEAD SHOW EVER, you are going to be disappointed. However, if you go into it with an open mind and think of it as a great Dead show, that's certainly what it is. That's the problem with the Grateful Dead; there are many shows that are better than others, but it's impossible to pick a "Best Show Ever." Although I am a big fan of the Pigpen-era Dead through '74, there is no doubt that this is one of the best of '77 (maybe all of the late '70s), which I never really got into that much, at least until I heard this show. It's technically far more accomplished and tight than the "primal-era" Dead, and nearly as adventurous and improvisational. The Scarlet>Fire is indeed fantastic, so good in fact that I found myself listening to it over and over for two days in a row. How many other bands can do that? Anyway, I strongly recommend this SBD copy over the AUD; it is not only head and shoulders above it but one of the best Dead SBDs ever, even for the priceless Betty. Turn this up on huge speakers and a subwoofer, grab a something to drink and eat, roll up a joint and it's almost like being there. Accept this for what it is. phleshy 2004-10-15 12:56:01 2004-10-15 12:56:01 5 24939 one of the best shows ever. stop reading this and download it now!!! damn good KidKoala 2004-11-14 12:19:51 2004-11-14 12:19:51 5 25333 This show is a great show and it has good sound. If I could give it a 4&1/2 I would, but I can't so... Download it. get it thefuzz 2004-11-19 12:23:59 2004-11-19 12:23:59 5 25338 This was my first "bootleg"- little did i know at the time that it was the classic... Stunning show, beautiful sound- no Scarlet-Fire compares to it, flawless and jaw-dropping, visceral, but always agile rather than heavy-handed... Question: the first two copies i heard of this contained a smokin Samson and Delilah in the middle, i think between Estimated and Stephen- it was marked by a drum eff-up at the end, an extra 4 tom hits (guess Billy wanted more)... any ideas where this is from? (the tapes were obtained in VA and KY, in case any family from out that way had the same copies)... thank God(dess) for etree! the favorite for a reason oceantree 2004-11-19 13:01:44 2004-11-19 13:01:44 5 25520 this show is the greatest classic dead show. all i have to say is three reasons: scarlet fire estimated Best show EVER!!! stealyourface585 2004-11-21 20:14:15 2004-11-21 20:14:15 5 25847 heheheeh this brings back soooooo many incredible memories :) yeah scarlet-fire-estimated is nuts ... but mornin' dew is probably the greatest ever rendition. try listening to it at around first light while on a hike or trip somewhere. ;-) and enjoy the ride... morning dew makes the show :) thedailydose 2004-11-28 04:36:22 2004-11-28 04:36:22 5 26283 how can one write about cornell intelligently? it has been hyped since (at least) my mid-80s college years. what will one find here? perfection. what will they not find? flawed passion. yes, flawed passion. as one who got into the dead in the 80s, i was always attracted to the poorly recorded, messy but antagonistic recordings of the sixties. what we find here in cornell is the rise of professionalism meeting passion. yes, it is an amazingly well-played, passionate show. however, it is professionalism. ironically, later shows began to disintegrate back into garage rock – flaws, mishaps, ripping feedback – and 80s heads mythologize cornell rather than 9-19-90, a show (imho) far more exploratory, innovative, quizzical and loose then 5-8-77 will ever be. it's amazing to me. after witnessing one of the longest dead shows in history (6-20?-94) in autzen stadium, all people could do was bitch. what makes cornell unique is that it was part of a run when the dead played short, concentrated shows. the second set is little over an hour! but that short set meant business. is it the best morning dew ever? hardly. there are other greats, commendable for attributes that did not exist during the spring of '77. don't get me wrong, i'm a fan. but check out binghampton '77; check out the egypt return in '78 at the winterland; 7-7/8-78; the morning dew from saratoga in '83; everything leading to the morning dew from augusta in '84. cornell is known for perfection. i'll grant it that. in it's brevity, it misses the nuance of more messed up, space/angst-ridden shows in the '80s, like the '84 greeks or new years '81. all i'm saying is that this is good, but there ain't no holy grail. shucks, it ain't the dew but that scarlet->fire transition that smokes. what about binghampton? normal? san fran? with these e-tree benefactors and the archive portal, we are a lucky audience. dig cornell, but don't forget, that ain't it. 10-14-83 (how about that scarlet->fire? damn). msg '83? forget about it. out fantastic show mid-maine 2004-12-03 19:34:07 2004-12-03 13:44:52 5 26477 I stumbled on this site a few weeks ago and relished in the music it provided me. I would use it as background music and stream a show in the morning and a show in the afternoon. Soon, I decided it was time to get busy and start downloading for posterity. After the usual suspects, (the shows I've been to, favorite years,etc.) I quickly became overwhelmed...what to download now? I wanted it all! But where to start? Runs? Tours? After much ado, I figured to listen to the Heads- what do they consider the best shows, and if this site where to disappear tomorrow, what are the essentials? I came upon this show, and read the forty reviews before me. I have quickly learned that you believe about fifty percent of what is written (I have found many poorly reviewed shows to be quite good, and vice versa)and I didn't realize there was a "greatest of all time." We all know (or should know) that the performance is really a snapshot, of that show, or that run, or that tour. It is a picture to be taken in its entirety: how many times have we gone to a less than stellar show only to be redeemed the following night, or to a run of three or four days that seemed like one seemless long concert? I listen to this show from start to finish as the snapshot that it is, not considering that this song or that jam is the best ever, but as a whole, how does it work? This show works magnifecently! There are a few songs in the first set that are not among my favorites, but instead of hitting the FF, I pause to consider the grandiosity of the playing, the intricacies in how one song melds to another effortlessly and with no clumsiness whatsoever. The boys take each song to new depths and deeper levels; each chord has a surprise, and quickly you realise you just need to let it all go, forget about all the translations, and just marvel at the mastery of each second. Like a Dylan song, each note, each sound is placed perfectly where it belongs, nothing out of place, and nothing wasted or taken for granted. I could probably name better set lists, or better song performances, but I don't know that I could pull out a better show. If I had been at this show, I know that at about the third song I would have realized this is something special, and as I listen to it now I know that is something special. A snapshot zarah'sdad 2004-12-06 16:21:13 2004-12-06 16:21:13 5 26478 I stumbled on this site a few weeks ago and relished in the music it provided me. I would use it as background music and stream a show in the morning and a show in the afternoon. Soon, I decided it was time to get busy and start downloading for posterity. After the usual suspects, (the shows I've been to, favorite years,etc.) I quickly became overwhelmed...what to download now? I wanted it all! But where to start? Runs? Tours? After much ado, I figured to listen to the Heads- what do they consider the best shows, and if this site where to disappear tomorrow, what are the essentials? I came upon this show, and read the forty reviews before me. I have quickly learned that you believe about fifty percent of what is written (I have found many poorly reviewed shows to be quite good, and vice versa)and I didn't realize there was a "greatest of all time." We all know (or should know) that the performance is really a snapshot, of that show, or that run, or that tour. It is a picture to be taken in its entirety: how many times have we gone to a less than stellar show only to be redeemed the following night, or to a run of three or four days that seemed like one seemless long concert? I listen to this show from start to finish as the snapshot that it is, not considering that this song or that jam is the best ever, but as a whole, how does it work? This show works magnifecently! There are a few songs in the first set that are not among my favorites, but instead of hitting the FF, I pause to consider the grandiosity of the playing, the intricacies in how one song melds to another effortlessly and with no clumsiness whatsoever. The boys take each song to new depths and deeper levels; each chord has a surprise, and quickly you realise you just need to let it all go, forget about all the translations, and just marvel at the mastery of each second. Like a Dylan song, each note, each sound is placed perfectly where it belongs, nothing out of place, and nothing wasted or taken for granted. I could probably name better set lists, or better song performances, but I don't know that I could pull out a better show. If I had been at this show, I know that at about the third song I would have realized this is something special, and as I listen to it now I know that is something special. A snapshot zarah'sdad 2004-12-06 16:23:07 2004-12-06 16:23:07 5 27255 This matrix recording captures a deservedly legendary show. Jerry's epic-length solo over a single chord on "Dancin'" is worth the trip. (In fact, it IS a trip.) Legendary for good reason octothorp 2004-12-17 17:58:01 2004-12-17 17:58:01 5 28393 I have always enjoyed this show...I think the sound quality is great...the song selections are great...what's not to like...Jerry is on fire...the bummers for me...Donna...her voice sounds like fingernails on a chalkboard to me...I love a lot of 70's shows except for Donna...she kills it for me...and the wife complains whenever she starts shriekin'...totally uncool. Also...Jack Straw from the late 70's sounds like Bobby doin' Vegas...the spark isn't there. Overall a great show but I'm givin' her a 4 'cause of those cat moans. Overrated...how would I know? JShields 2005-01-06 20:56:42 2005-01-06 20:56:42 4 28479 Amazing in both playing quality and sound quality. Just a heads up...there is no link for a lossless download of the bundled shn files as is usually the case. You must download each shorten track individually to avoid the dreaded compression of mp3. Thumbs Up!!! rockitman 2005-01-07 20:16:26 2005-01-07 20:16:26 5 28597 This is the second show I downloaded from the website (I currently have 17 on my iPod), but it's still one of my favorite - highly recommended. I'm a new Deadhead, as I haven't heard that much of their live stuff - only a couple Dick's Picks volumes and the shows that I've downloaded from here. However, the version of Scarlet Begonias > Fire on the Mountain is amazing - I haven't stopped listening to it since I downloaded it. Does anyone know of any better versions of this song - e-mail my please, along with any other good shows. Amazing drew8 2005-01-09 09:10:12 2005-01-09 09:10:12 5 28831 OK yeah this one is for the ages…no question...but if there is any question why Keith was sacked just listen to the Scarlet into Fire jam. Manomanachevits does he suck! His incessant "premature fire overlay" is such a fucking drag when Jerry, Bob and Phil are galloping through the cosmos where the only foot hold available is planet to planet! If you can get Keith drool out of your ears then this is a remarkable show. Anyway, just me being a spoiled brat again! Sorry Keith sucks! Mr. Charlie - Lambertville 2005-01-11 16:35:04 2005-01-11 16:35:04 5 29247 Absolutely a great show - was there back stage at both Barton hall shows. Even talked to the band. Why the Kieth complaints - perfect add to stay off drugs...Any given day it was a coin toss as to whether he was there. Barton is a huge gym and ROTC center. 8500 close friends filling the place with energy which the band played to and played off. In a lot of ways - these were "the salad days". Been there done that jackofhearts 2005-01-16 17:05:44 2005-01-16 17:05:44 5 29388 I still do not understand to this day why this show is considered the Best Dead show of all time. Granted it was a tight show, but I still believe a few shows in 1990 and about 10 others from 1977 were better. Just something about New Yorkers..they think the whole world revolves around them.. OVERRATED... JimJody 2005-01-18 10:33:47 2005-01-18 10:33:47 5 29998 If you think that the Dead should have retired after 77 and you think that they never matched their early years, then you obviously did too many drugs in your early years and lost the ability to connect to the music. I saw shows in 95 that got 60,000 people on their feet in a way that I've never seen at any other time in my life. Like everything in life, the Dead's sound changed over the years-maybe you need to open your mind to what the band was doing instead of being so upset that the early years were over. It's perfectly understandable that you liked their early sound and missed Pigpen and the intimacy of those shows and the scene, but open your mind for God's sake. The Dead lasted because they knew that art has to change and evolve with the times and when it was all said and done they had an enormous audience and a helluva a lot of people in that audience whose lives were changed and minds were opened. If they'd retired in '77, there would have been a lot of good times lost. You're Wrong Jerryness Is Good 2005-01-25 14:33:54 2005-01-25 14:33:54 5 30712 had this once. lost it. found it again. will die happy. nuthin left to do but smile, smile, smile. Best dead show ever. StoneFloat 2005-02-02 03:04:57 2005-02-02 03:04:57 5 29566 I knew my words (see below) would upset people and make them get defensive (see also my review of 12/31/77), but maybe I am trying to “open minds” myself. (Also see my review of 11/14/71.) I don’t think you can equate the fact that because the group had devoted fans, that this meant that the music was [objectively] as good as pre-1978. The fans were part of a scene, which was mostly a good/kind/peace-loving scene. (I am thankful that I was a part of this scene.) But many (including myself and my friends) were clinging to a bye-gone sound. The argument that the music evolved as the artists aged is valid to an extent. But, in the case of the Dead, the evolution was into a slower, less-inspired style. Most groups that play together over the years reach a peak, then lose a creative edge; it’s really hard to keep intensity much past 10 years, unless you are using a lot of studio trickery. Individual artists can improve with time (perhaps Phil is the best example from the Dead), but others, such as Jerry, lost too much energy to poor health and drug abuse. The bottom line is that while people may enjoy the music post 1978, they should acknowledge that it was a very, very different sound than earlier eras. Yes, some think it might be better (I obviously donÃÃÂÂÂÂÂÂÃÃ