Greatest Show on Earth

Many of you may have noticed that, last week, there was a release of a previously un-purchasable Grateful Dead show, 40 years after it was performed.  And then again, maybe you missed it.  But, in jam band circles, this long awaited show, which has been touted as the "best Dead show ever" was finally released to critical acclaim...by "Dead Heads" and musicians alike.  Don't believe me?  Here's some of the reviews released in support of the recording (mostly on music-related sites):

Rolling Stone
Spin Magazine
Pitchfork
and, of course, Jambase

Why?

While the band played 2,318 shows between 1965 and 1995 (when Jerry died), the show performed in Barton Hall, at Cornell University on May 8, 1977 has consistently been hailed as the best show ever recorded.  Was it the performance?  I'm sure there were shows as stellar as this one.  How about the setlist?  While this show has many Dead staples such as Loser, Jack Straw and Lazy Lightning, as well covers like Dancing in the Street (Marvin Gaye), Mama Tried (Merle Haggard) and El Paso (Marty Robbins), there are many songs that I love which are missing...mostly because the show was a typical 2-set show, and they just couldn't play their entire catalog in one sitting.

No, what made this show spectacular was the fact that a recording, direct from the soundboard, was leaked in the 80s and widely circulated.  The website Nugs.Net hosted a digital copy for years taken from a taped copy.  (Nugs.net morphed into LivePhish.com and a new standard in live recordings was born, more about this another time, ed.).  To quote Stephen Thomas Erlewine on AllMusic.com, "Sourced from the original soundboard recordings by [sound engineer] Betty Cantor-Jackson, the sound is colorful and vivid, an excellent complement to a prime Dead performance. What makes this such an exceptional performance isn't that it's the Grateful Dead at their most experimental... but at their warmest.... If this isn't the best Grateful Dead show ever – a hard thing to quantify – it's nevertheless at the sweet spot of providing hardcore Deadheads with plenty to savor while offering a good introduction for neophytes, which is more than enough to make it essential. "

Translation: it's an easily digestible first show to listen to...maybe after you've consumed some of their more popular studio recordings (American Beauty) and live releases (Europe '72), because the show flows.  It's not without human error.  Bobby and Donna both flub entrances to songs.  Jerry's noodling drifts in and out of key at one point (typical), and there's the pre-second set reminder to not squish everyone in the front for wanting to be closer to the musicians: "Take a step back, and then another step."  Also, and my father-in-law will love this feature/omission, this is a show that doesn't contain often disjointed and experimental "Space" and "Drums," the latter which was played in both shows immediately preceding and following this one.  Suffice it to say, this is an easy listen even without 1970's tabs of acid. 

(Check out this 10-minute mini-doc on the release!)

Do I like it?  I love it.  Again, it's because the source is so crystal clear.  Listening to this recording compared to several other commercially released Dead Shows (read: Dick's Picks) is like apples and oranges.  There's no comparison.  The bass is rich and heavy.  Jerry's licks are crisp, and, at times, the two drummers are split, right and left speaker.  Piano/keyboard is also easily discernable.  It's a classic show, but with modern production, and it's awesome.  I can't stop listening and it's easily become one of the top three shows in my rotation.

Listen, if you're curious about the Grateful Dead live experience, or you want to fill out your collection with a representative show from a very strong iteration of the Dead, then you need to get/own/listen to this show.  It's definitely worth your $20 (Amazon) and your 2 and a half hours.