This recording is way better than the rest posted here in sound quality especially in the bass.

13 Minutes and 25 seconds of Stella and the last two minutes of which are as good as it gets in Deadhead land.
How do you know you have a peach of a show just read the reviews and see that almost everyone has found something else to marvel at about this show.
Suffice it to say a 'bertha' remaster coupled with a band that is picking up the intensity level each show they play makes this one to savor and enjoy.

Here are 3 reasons this is a big show in GD History:
(all of which occur in Set Two)

1) Stephen>N.F.A
(setting the Acapulco Gold standard for 1977)

2) Wheel>Sugar Magnolia--
(Dig Weir just about yelling for the Wheel.)
First time the Wheel is used
in PRIME TIME of Set Two.
and the transition into Sugar Magnolia
is just the first of so many amazing journeys
that the band would use The Wheel to drive home.

3) Sugar Mag>Scarlet>SSD--
Unlike the somewhat clunky Boston
Sugar Mag>U.S. Blues>SSD
a Sugar Magnolia>Scarlet Begonias
would be a rare but completely reliable sign
that the Dead meant business.

(Yes, I have given 5 stars to just about every stop on this tour and i am not about to stop now.)

This re-presentation is very fine. Fine as silver tried seven times in the hearth of the earth.

Some tape glitches and abrupt cuts but such malady is ultimately well resolved. Save for some glaring errors, this is a spirited performance, a hot recording and a sterling recapture.

This still lurked as one of the few Bertha Remasters I had not streamed on this site. These remasters are masterpieces. An average listener can discern that Jay Ashley must have spent many hours remastering these things for it is astounding the way he hears and then delivers the band in his mix. Perhaps he hears it like you do sampling for/of the overall sound -- not necessarily the best performance of favorite songs or the coolest setlist.

But none the less extant here are many "best performances" of "favorite songs" in the coolest of setlists anyway. So much for lofty theories.

Jerry using his white/blond Travis Bean. This guitar wasn't decked out with all the new toys like his 77 Wolf and subsequently his 79 (and later) Tiger(s), but it delivered a real malty Joe Pass meets Django Reinhardt boss surfer tone. A most pleasant tone -- as sweet as the heather in the morning. Once you hear it in Garcia's final solo on Stella you realize why people idolized the man.

Yet, due to being unrehearsed, the band falters a number of times -- mostly missing cues -- and then comes rollicking back with savage dispatch. There are audible flubs on Dancin' and Sugar Magnolia but the sound survives and overrides glaring error. This band was a labor of love clearly in definition and so is this remastering.

The JBG encore is plausible evidence that the band had a fun time that night at work.

Thank you to all who contributed to this.

As of right now this Stella Blue is my absolute favorite...so smooth and patient

Sugar magnolia->Scarlet Begonias->Sunshine Daydream...2nd set.phenomenal!!!

The Music never stops!!!
Get down,this is the Dead man.Its all above 5 stars.look at the big picture kids,and get down.Man did I love Donna.
Big fat bones,any seat in the house.
Spark em' up Ray...
love two any day.
we never fade away.
just a bit gray.
i say.GUD

Truly a beautiful and HOT show. Highlights include:

> Music Never Stopped -- I'd like to play this version at my funeral (hopefully a LONG time from now), really hums with some nice crescendos. Get off your seat or risk being left behind.
> LLR -- Dare I say Donna kills it (not a phrase you use everyday, or ever) with some nice harmonizing with Weir. They keep the chordal yelps down to a minimum while keeping the emotion out in front, where it should be toward the end of this one.
> Let it Grow -- LOVE the uptempo, grooved-out intro and then the whole song falls into place; Garcia is en fuego throughout. They start in third gear and then shift into fifth, leaving the car behind completely at some point to trade up for some type of space craft. All aboard.
> Stella -- Just when you think Keith is asleep, someone nudges him and he manages to sprinkle in some beautiful and delicate fill on the keys.
> Dancin' -- Short, funky and extremely well played. The time is (just) right. Toward the middle, after the first vocal go-around, the hose starts spraying everywhere and it's pure love before circling back to the central theme, winding into ...
> The Wheel -- It's already been said here, no need to repeat.

Great show top to bottom.

this is the best wheel that i've ever heard in my life. i had it on tape back in the day, and then on disc, and have since grown apart from my dead collection...NO MORE! i've begun listening to archive.org shows, and i'm right back on the deadwagon!

again, the best wheel i've ever heard...the climax after they sing 'bound to cover a little more ground!' awesome!

to the previous reviewer:

check out this pairing, it IS OUTTA SiGHT bro....a very tight 19 minutes.......

i haven't listened to the second set but, this coupling kills it

I've only listened to the 2nd set, and sound quality and tape cuts aside, this isn't the tightest show throughout. Stella Blue, while beautifully Sung, is a bit painful to hear. Jerry misses cues and notes, and it felt like pulling teeth. Really too bad. Seems one of the drummers is throwing him off with the doubletime highhat. The Wheel is the same way-just never hits a comfy groove, Dancin' is short, and Scarlet has next to no jam at the end. Bobby, however, is right on. Can't say I would listen to this repeatedly when there are tighter shows with similar songs in this period. With that said, its up to the individual.

Like I said this is another good 76. Every song is well executed. The sound quality to me can be better, in particular the bass. Phil sounds kind of distorted almost. Any way besides that this is an awesome show that is very worthy of a download. Peace.

First set is very hot sugaree++ candyman music, LL rain really good, tenn jed but the let it grow is the pick of the litter...

Set II has an off the charts st stephan>nfa I mean really really hot, then the whole back end of the show just crushed it home for me.

Maybe I have to listen to the scarlet again but did not think this was as great as was indicated. Try Birmingham '77 or the overlooked Winterland 10/22/78, Landover later in '76 is really hot too for instance.

Lazy lightning>supp gets a nod too.

This is the easiest show to review ever. Because, it is a killer 5 star SBD and includes the tightest version of Scarlet I have ever heard. Cornell 5.8.77 and alpine 8.8.82 being very tight runner ups....need I even mention UVM '4.13.83...so in my book; check all those 3 shows as well, which have nice sbds in the archive and compare to this. I am not saying "scarlet>fires"..only suggesting this is the tightest version of scarlet, period.

St. Stephen aside with its NFA sandwich is justa whole other story and reason to download this show.

This just very well may be the top sounding show I will have in my collection from the 70's.
Bravo! Bravo, boys! Bravo!...

The sound quality speaks for itself.
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