Ok, ok. So Half-Step is not perfect (which I love as an opener) with Jerry trying to find his way vocally (god, that January laryngitis ruined him throughout '79) and Eyes is a little too fast; and ol' Jer is still having his troubles singing his way through Black Peter but... DAMN - the show's line-up is killer on paper. I can't say this is an "X" Factor show, with The Boyz being workman-like more than inspired, which makes it hard to give this a solid, unquestionable five. But there isn't a bad song in the bunch, played reasonably well - especially in the second set. And Barry's recording is beautiful. I mean "sweet spot" beautiful: high off the crowd and warm & fuzzy. You can't ask for much more.

IMHO, this is one of the best examples of the band's professionalism - simply going through the motions of putting on a great show. Many times I read "going through the motions" as being taken negatively. In this case, "going through the motions" is hearing just how good these guys were on a night when that etherial spark of magic and one-ness with the crowd and the universe wasn't there. Practice really does make perfect. Because in this case, not being just exactly perfect, they overcame a moment in time that is not otherworldly, "X" Factor fabulous.

But that doesn't mean the whole package is worthy of only a better-than-average four stars (yeah, I noticed some folks are calling this a 4.5 show (with good reason)). Song selection certainly helped this reviewer's opinion. And with how well it's been recorded by Mr. Glassberg, and the Garcia Cringe-O-Meter not bouncing around too much tonight, I'm reasonably comfortable sneaking in a five.

Great second set, real strong playing. I'm giving this a 4 star as I feel it is a pretty darn good AUD, with a little equalizer I think you can make it sound pretty fine. Love the second set
Scarlet Begonias > Fire on the Mountain
Estimated Prophet > Eyes of the World > Drums > Space > Black Peter
I Need a Miracle > Bertha > Good Lovin'
Encore: U.S. Blues

As a kid from NJ going to college in Atlanta from '76 to '80 it was always good to catch a show with a NYC area crowd, even if it meant a larger arena. Friends and I spent the day wandering the Village with a head full of sugar cubes then rebooted with a hit of pyramid blotter about an hour before the show. Enjoyed the 1/2 Step>Franklin's opener. Always love Loser. And bust a gut laughing at the end of Scarlet when 19,000 heads asked, "where's Donna?" Guess some of them hadn't heard a Brett era Scarlett and were expecting him to do the "chick vocals". All in all, a standard late-70's song selection. Everything played at our above average. Brett really starting to "fit in." Felt as if they went through the motions on Miracle>Berth>Good Lovin' and US Blues.... but that might have just been the result of hour 14 on the magic bus. In any event, glad I found a decent copy to add to the collection.