10-03-1976
Cobo Arena
Detroit, Michigan
The most comprehensive of the recordings start off a bit into Sugaree. And, although these recordings are a little rough, there is no missing the righteousness of the band’s playing on the tune. After nearly four minutes of tuning and a Minglewood, a solid Ramble On Rose arrives. Then there is another lengthy bout of tuning before a charming and elegant LL Rain. But the highlight of the early going is still the stand-alone Scarlet that comes out two songs later. And that is followed up by a cool Music Never Stopped set-closer that includes the Mind Left Body bridge.
For the second set, we recommend switching over to another, crisper recording, preferably the Charlie Miller soundboard. And the boys open the action there with a tight Samson before a good little Must Have Been the Roses, which we still associate with Jerry Band, even though the boys played it over 150 times. And then the Dead roll out a monster Playin’. It quickly descends into some heady space that mesmerizes all the way through to the point at which the drummers take over. A lovely Wheel builds out of the tail end of that short percussive interlude. And there is an unusual and so sweet extended jam in The Wheel, drawing it out for eleven minutes before a turn into Good Lovin’. The Good Lovin’ is a top-notch Bobby version with some incredible licks by Jerry. And then Jerry takes center stage with a magical Comes A Time. An interesting noodling jam at the end of Comes A Time takes it into a blockbuster Dancing in the Street> NFA> Dancing> Around and Around for a forty minute non-stop bender to cap the show.
While Charlie Miller does a great job with the second set, for the best quality, get ahold of the official release of this show from Thirty Trips Around the Sun. While the complete boxed set is difficult to come by, the Scarlet also made it on to The Definitive Live Story release.

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