Scarlet Begonias -> Fire On The Mountain
May 17, 1977
Memorial Coliseum
My all-time favourite version from my favourite post-hiatus show. Unlike some other great versions, all three components (Scarlet, transition, Fire) are off the charts on this one. Energetic Scarlet free from lyrical flubs with an awesome solo, silky transition until the "duck quacks," which I LOVE, and an epic Fire. And as ronbee mentions, the transition from Fire back into the Scarlet outro at the end is perfect as well. Jerry isn't losing any steam at all, he just decides abruptly he's had enough and steers the band through the smoothest u-turn of all time into a tight Scarlet outro riff to close it out.
