The second half takes off from there, coming into an awesome Estimated, with Jerry wailing away and Bobby killing the vocals. The Scarlet> Fire up next ratchets up the intensity even more, nailing the transition and going off into Fire on the Mountain with purpose, taking us along on the wild outing. A Good Lovin’ then leads us to an absolutely epic Stephen, haunting and pregnant with possibility in the first half and then blistering in the second. Whatever energy the boys have left, they spill forth with wild abandon on the final two songs of the night, seeing the set out with Sugar Mags and then the night itself with a rocking, fun Johnny B. Goode.

While the tail end of the five-night Palladium run that opened May of ’77 for the Dead were strong shows, the band shifts into a more powerful gear on this night. They would take the next night off, then burst forth at the Garden, Barton Hall, and the War Memorial Auditorium in Buffalo, three legendary shows for the boys. In some respects, this night is the equal of those, making it ever more clear that May of 1977 – and the entire spring ’77 tour – was a very special time for the band. We are looking forward to going through the rest of the month while we also see out the Europe ’72 tour and so much other good spring Grateful Dead in the coming weeks.