great quality. Playful, good-spirited, day-time acoustic set.

Like the 60s, a band member (Weir) heard about a benefit/strike/event on campus and played that afternoon in a study room at Loyola University Chicago (in this case for Hunger Week). The college circuit had built the band on their way from clubs to theaters to arenas and this was last era in which they could just show up. BTW, this was billed as Bob Weir Band, not the Grateful Dead. Jer does sit in (had he planned to, and they billed it as Weir to prevent a stampede?) and occasional additions are heard from Hart and Lesh. The show that night was the middle of the 3-day run at the giant and unrealistically ornate Uptown Theater on N. Broadway, with the outstanding Shakedown.

This is an off-the-cuff acoustic performance for completists and those that have a ticklist for the "historical" shows. It's worth hearing once for its uniqueness but be warned that it's unpracticed. That shows in Bobby's This Time Forever, which is new to the rest. The resurrected Deep Elem is a fun goof but not as hot as it would be in fall '80. However Knockin' on Heaven's Door and Jack-a-Roe come off well. Dylan stuff is easy to play - if you can remember the lyrics, and the latter had been in rotation the previous year. After this they played it again, three days later. Quaint, whimsical, probably not what you'll reach for when you put on a '78, but cool enough. [2½ stars]

SOURCES: The doddaudiohead22 is de-glitched and re-attenuated. The other sources are hissy, clipped or unbalanced. Tom Dooley and Deep Elem are on the Reckoning bonus disc.

Just beautiful. The "Knockin'" is one for the ages, acoustic or electric. This is precisely why I love the "shows on this day in history" link, as I would not have stumbled upon this without it. I'm grinning from ear to ear as I stream this, as it brightens my Sunday morning while I wait for the American football games to begin. Drop whatever you're doing RIGHT NOW and stream this. You will not be disappointed. Peace and love, folks.

-q

I prefer this to any of the acoustic sets they did in '80.

quality and great performance; nice slide work, interesting 4 man sound with no keys and only Mickey on percussion. Thanks for the link to the pics CB- funny to see them on such a small stage/ college setting.

This obsure gem is ragged, raw, intimate, off the cuff and seems to epitomize the Dead while playing very little of their standard fare. Even for their acoustic sets, the song selections are unusual.
This is a must hear!

very nice...like having the Dead on the couch in the living room....nice audio...unusual song list (in my limited listening experience)

http://s274.photobucket.com/albums/jj266/icepetal/Dead/Dead%201978-11-17/

go here for pics of this awesome show

this is also the best version of this show on the archive

This show is detailed nicely in the Deadhead's Taping Compendium, volume 2, by a guy who went to the show. He said there were only about 75 people in attendance (in a small university room) and it was an incredible experience for everyone there. I'm enjoying listening to this one after reading his firsthand account.

It's interesting to hear what I assume is Phil playing finger style with a sound similar to Working Man's Dead. The song selection is great with several I hadn't heard them do.

Anone have more background on this?