Grateful Dead - Boston Music Hall 12/1/73
Grateful Dead - Boston Music Hall 5/7/77
One show during one of their best years and another during one of their best years and months, the summary is a 1973 Dead show that gets the job done without excelling and a 1977 show that’s really right in the middle of a peak.
December 1st, 1973 seems largely a standard gig based on it being a date right in the middle of two other shows in the run chosen for Dick’s Picks 14, one of the better entries in the series. A chunk of the first set appears to be missing for the soundboard although it’s actually not until later that there are some pieces of interest, such as the Uncle John’s Band sandwiched between Playing in the Band and the tentative but still extremely beautiful Row Jimmy. You really can see why they skipped it for release, while wondering how many discs DP 14 might have been during the post-Latvala era.
The May 7, 1977, show is extraordinary. Many Grateful Dead soundboards are wonderful, but this one still has to be at the top end in terms of a beautiful recording, it’s actually hard to imagine a legitimate master would improve much. The show is one of the many highlights of this tour, and it’s already hot in the first set with an extremely jammy Half Step with some strange synth/organ accompaniment, segueing beautifully into Big River and then a Music Never Stopped with Garcia killing on the solo, definitely a set closer for the ages. Set 2 coasts on this wave, Keith Godchaux really opening up on Friend of the Devil and the long suite moving through a sublime 14 minute Whart Rat. It’s hard to fault this on any level, while arguably the next two nights were even better.