Dead of the Day: August 4, 1976

With great shows from across the 70s and 80s and a tremendous snippet from ’67, it was a tough choice today, but we ended up going back to Roosevelt Stadium in 1976 for our Dead of the Day. The show opens with a killer Sugaree. This song evolved a great deal in the first five years after its 1971 debut, maturing into the gem that we all know and appreciate. Here in this 1976 show, the tune may have already reached perfection with Jerry’s demonstrative guitar along with his pleading vocals continuing through a lengthy, but well-paced version in which the rest of the band supports him mightily. After a solid Minglewood, the boys torch another in Row Jimmy, led again by Jerry’s incredible guitar. They follow up the Row Jimmy with a bright Big River that rolls right on down to the Gulf in luscious style with Bobby and Jerry combining on some excellent picking and Keith adding tasty fills. The band then comes out with a Loser and Looks Likes Rain. The latter of the two has Bobby and Donna combining on vocals and Jerry arcing through on guitar in the latter half for some achingly beautiful music. Needless to say, the rest of the set smokes too, especially the extended Scarlet Begonias that sees out the first half. After the break, the band comes out with an unbelievable Help> Slip> Franklin’s. Phil is turned up in the mix, putting his bombs at the center of the experience along with Bobby’s guitar while Jerry is nearly buried, though that does not mean the suite suffers at all. And, really nothing could keep the bearded one out of the sound completely as he provides some incredible jams, especially in Franklin’s. A fifteen-minute, totally disco-fied Dancin’ In The Streets follows with Phil’s bass once again dominating things to excellent effect. At the end of Dancin’, a lovely segue takes us into a subdued Wheel. A powerful Samson & Delilah and a mesmerizing It Must Have Been The Roses roll out next, leading up to a mid-set Not Fade Away that jams off into Drums. A short solo by Mickey and Billy sets up The Other One, which is deep into the Phil zone from the very first notes, but also includes some serious jamming by Bobby and Jerry with some deep space exploration in the middle portion. Ship Of Fools comes out next before the set is capped off by a rocking Sugar Mags. But the Johnny B. Goode encore gives the Sugar Mags a run for its money in terms of pure energy.

And, during setbreak, there was this (talk about trippy on some blotter):