Bobby's warmup after a CRS opener helps kick off one of the best 1st sets of 1976. Part of the brief era when they mic'd and mixed Donna beautifully

Gets right weird as part of a deep PITB sammy. How many first set spacemelts are there in '76? Something in the water for this hometown show???

How these guys (and gal) could turn such a cheese-ball song into massive lift-off spaceship jam event horizon is a modern miracle of music.

Smooth running, out of a very cool, thematically coherent Drums. Beautiful harmonies. Every Wheel is an elegant treat from '76, and this is a beaut.

On of the post-haitus ones that stretch and groove and go every-which-way. What a treat.

Cruel cut. This could otherwise have been the top version.

Uh, did you not know that they took their country music pretty seriously, and that they'd been doing so as the Dead for the past three years at this point? Or maybe had you ever thought that genre bending wasn't just some happy accident of their repertoire (hellooooo, Dark Star>El Paso), but in fact deleriously fundamental to the musical-aesthetic and cultural projects that these artists gave their lives to, not to mention a transcendal gift you can experience in the infinite facets of the nightfall of diamonds that is their œuvre? And finally, would you please consider that referring to Donna in this way is, if not only vulgar and crass, then basically just disrespectful not only to her and the band and their musical choices, but also to everyone else who loves the band and about 50% of the human species?

Freakin' amazing document covering extensive rehearsals of VLB giving us a deep glimpse into their process right there at the beginning. It's so cool to sneak a peak at them while they're working, and the sound is remarkably balanced and clear for an old rehearsal tape - thanks to Bear, who you can also hear during some of the banter.

Always loved the expansive emotional range and wide-open cartographic mystery of this suite, which never seems to get the respect it deserves. This is one of the Weir-Barlow classics: human, cerebral, transitive, emotional. I loved being part of it live. I love it now.

Hey Glyn, Where'd you find the full 20 minutes? The only AUD on the Archive drops us into the jam, which is smokin' hot like the best of Fall '72 Playin's. Is there another source out there? Send links, brother....