So according to votes at the NYT, we've got the following:

1. May 8, 1977, Barton Hall
2. February 13/14, 1970, Fillmore East
3. August 27, 1972, Old Renaissance Faire Grounds
4. May 2nd, 1970, Harpur College

I need to go through our notes on the subject, but I think we definitely weighed in as fans of no. 2 and 4 (which are Dick's Picks 4 and 8, respectively) but I know there are others in here that we all loved. One of the recent Road Trips from November 15, 1971 in Austin is really, really fantastic. I myself really enjoy the '68 period highlighted most recently in Two from the Vault taken from August 24, 1968 show at the Shrine. I know Bloor is a big fan of '77 so he might have some thoughts on what's best.

Let's stay the course on official releases right now, then maybe we can do some qualitative analysis and do a poll of favorites.

Have we listened to that Barton Hall before? I'm drawing a complete fucking blank.

I remember Dozin being heinously bad when it came out - that 89/90 Tour does not benefit from clarity of sound.

I'll give er a whirl and see if my perception has changed

The second date of the Grateful Dead's spring 1990 East Coast tour was Phil Lesh's 50th birthday, a milestone marked by one of the bassist's rare performances as lead vocalist on Bob Dylan's "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues." The show also featured the first performances in years for keyboardist Brent Mydland's "Easy to Love You" and the Beatles' "Revolution," as well as a particularly inspired jam (here dubbed "Mock Turtle Jam") following "Terrapin Station." Though not as highly rated by Deadheads as the March 24, 1990, show, some of which is heard on Dozin' at the Knick, this show featured some spirited performances. Revenues from the triple-disc, two-and-three-quarter-hour release (a version of which is available in a specially designed CD package) are earmarked for the Dead's museum/performance space, also called Terrapin Station. Note that the version of "Althea" is the same one that appears on Without a Net.

Disc one
"Jack Straw" (Hunter, Weir) – 6:19
"Sugaree" (Hunter, Garcia) – 11:14
"Easy to Love You" (Barlow, Mydland) – 6:32
"Walkin' Blues" (Johnson) – 6:12
"Althea" (Hunter, Garcia) – 8:32
"Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" (Dylan) – 6:57
"Tennessee Jed" (Hunter, Garcia) – 9:17
"Cassidy" (Barlow, Weir) – 6:12
"Don't Ease Me In" (traditional) – 6:02

Disc two
"China Cat Sunflower" (Hunter, Garcia) – 6:27
"I Know You Rider" (traditional) – 6:50
"Samson and Delilah" (traditional) – 7:07
"Lady with a Fan / Terrapin Station" (Hunter, Garcia) – 14:23
"Mock Turtle Jam" (Grateful Dead) – 8:23
"Drums" (Hart, Kreutzmann) – 6:16

Disc three
"And" (Bob Bralove, Hart, Kreutzmann) – 3:43
"Space" (Garcia, Lesh, Mydland, Weir) – 10:06
"I Will Take You Home" (Mydland) – 4:20
"Wharf Rat" (Hunter, Garcia) – 10:59
"Throwing Stones" (Barlow, Weir) – 8:59
"Not Fade Away" (Holly, Petty) – 9:21
"Revolution" (Lennon, McCartney) – 5:07

I'll give it to this tour - that version of Althea is Shit Hot.

Performing two hour-long sets as the opening act to Janis Joplin's New York debut as a solo star, the Grateful Dead turned in a characteristic performance for this period in their career. In between the release of their second and third albums, they devoted much time to the songs that would turn up several months later on Aoxomoxoa, including acoustic renditions of "Dupree's Diamond Blues" and "Mountains of the Moon." Pigpen dominated the first set, singing the blues standards "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl," "I'm a King Bee," and "Turn on Your Lovelight." But a large part of both sets was given over to the group's extended medleys, in the first set "Cryptical Envelopment/The Other One," in the second "Dark Star/St. Stephen/The Eleven." These involved, largely instrumental pieces set the tone for the Dead at the end of the '60s and produced their breakthrough with Live/Dead, which was recorded within weeks of this show. There is also a game version of "Hey Jude," the biggest hit of the previous year, to end the first set, and an unlisted, interrupted performance of "Cosmic Charlie" as a second-set encore.

Disc: 1
1. Good Morning Little Schoolgirl
2. Cryptical Envelopment
3. Other One
4. Cryptical Envelopment
5. Doin' That Rag
6. I'm a King Bee
7. Turn on Your Love Light
8. Hey Jude

Disc: 2
1. Introduction
2. Dupree's Diamond Blues
3. Mountains of the Moon
4. Dark Star
5. St. Stephen
6. Eleven
7. Drums
8. Caution (Do Not Stop on Tracks)
9. Feedback
10. We Bid You Goodnight

nice mountains of the moon -> dark star

why come people write le before sigh? i never understand that.

Fortunately, there have been many releases put forth that more than adequately demonstrate the Grateful Dead at its best, of which Ladies and Gentlemen...THE GRATEFUL DEAD merely is the latest installment. This four-disc set reduces the Dead's performances in April 1971 at New York City's legendary Fillmore East to their barest essence. This five-night stand, which celebrated the venue's closing, has long been heralded by Grateful Dead fans as one of the band's finest hours. In fact, the entire first half of 1971 was a tremendous time in the group's history. Pigpen was still at the top of his game — though 4 months later he would take a sabbatical for health-related reasons — and the group benefited from its newfound interest in Americana roots-rock, which provided a tidy balance to its long, psychedelic journeys. These events all collided at the Fillmore, and the Dead's mammoth concerts blurred the lines between each of the individual events, making this entire run fold into a single body of work that bodes well for this box set release.

While these concerts aren't nearly as monumental as most Deadheads tend to think, each had its high points — that's for certain — though each had some rather rough edges as well. This is another reason why a box set that extracts the best selections from these performances makes perfect sense, and combined with the material that appears on the band's 1971 self-titled live album, there really isn't much left that is worth seeking.

So what can fans expect? First, there is a healthy dose of Pigpen that pervades this collection, and those who thoroughly enjoy what he brought to the Grateful Dead will not be disappointed in the least by this set. Here, he elevates the intensity of songs like Good Lovin' and Turn on Your Lovelight with his aggressive vocal style, croons his way through a tortured Hurts Me Too, and straddles the line between Otis Redding and James Brown on a sprightly Hard to Handle.

However, the true transcendent moments of Ladies and Gentlemen — and the ones that really make this set worthwhile — occur on the final two discs. Merle Haggard's Sing Me Back Home sparkles with tender beauty as do glorious renditions of Wharf Rat and Morning Dew. Likewise, the jam that winds its way out of Alligator is utterly delightful. It's easy to hear in which direction the music was heading. Yet, the group allowed the song to unfold in a deliberate fashion, briefly revisiting St. Stephen from the night before and then settling into the uplifting strains of Goin' Down the Road Feeling Bad.

In addition, keyboardist Tom Constanten joined the band to reprise his role from the late '60s for a 35-minute medley of material, which forms the crown jewel of Ladies & Gentlemen. Dark Star fluttered with its typically aqueous feats of boundless splendor, and St. Stephen surged with the seething power of a supernova, which in turn gave birth to the volcanic rumble of Not Fade Away.

That said, there's no question that less avid fans would better serve themselves by opting for some of the other releases on the market — namely So Many Roads, American Beauty, Workingman's Dead, Hundred Year Hall, and Dick's Picks Volume 18. For the more serious collectors, however, Ladies and Gentlemen shouldn't be missed

Disc one
"Truckin'" (Robert Hunter, Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh, Bob Weir) – 10:13
"Bertha" (Hunter, Garcia) – 6:27
"Next Time You See Me" (Frank Forest, William G. Harvey) – 4:23
"Beat It on Down The Line" (Jesse Fuller) – 3:35
"Bird Song" (Hunter, Garcia) – 9:18
"Dark Hollow" (Bill Browning) – 3:31
"I Second That Emotion" (Al Cleveland, William Robinson) – 5:22
"Me and My Uncle" (John Phillips) – 3:39
"Cumberland Blues" (Hunter, Garcia, Lesh) – 5:19
"Good Lovin'/Drums/Good Lovin'" (Rudy Clark, Arthur Resnick/Bill Kreutzmann) – 23:08

Disc two
"Sugar Magnolia (Hunter, Weir) – 5:48
"Loser" (Hunter, Garcia) – 6:58
"Ain't It Crazy (The Rub)" (Lightnin' Hopkins) – 5:36
"El Paso" (Marty Robbins) – 5:34
"I'm a King Bee" (Slim Harpo) – 8:27
"Ripple" (Hunter, Garcia) – 5:15
"Me and Bobby McGee" (Fred Foster, Kris Kristofferson) – 6:16
"Uncle John's Band" > (Hunter, Garcia) – 6:06
"Turn On Your Love Light" (Deadric Malone, Joseph Scott) – 22:18

Disc three
"China Cat Sunflower" > (Hunter, Garcia) – 4:52
"I Know You Rider" (trad., arr. Grateful Dead) – 6:07
"It Hurts Me Too" (Elmore James) – 6:46
"Sing Me Back Home" (Merle Haggard) – 10:03
"Hard to Handle" (Alvertis Isbell, Allen Jones, Otis Redding) – 9:24
"Dark Star" > (Hunter, Garcia, Mickey Hart, Kreutzman, Lesh, Ron McKernan, Weir) – 13:55
"St. Stephen" > (Hunter, Garcia, Lesh) – 6:06
"Not Fade Away" > (Buddy Holly, Norman Petty) – 3:31
"Goin' down the Road Feeling Bad" > (trad., arr. Grateful Dead) – 6:27
"Not Fade Away" > (Holly, Petty) – 3:30

Disc four
"Morning Dew" (Bonnie Dobson, Tim Rose) – 10:29
"New Minglewood Blues" (trad., arr. Weir) – 4:23
"Wharf Rat" (Hunter, Garcia) – 9:19
"Alligator" > (Hunter, McKernan, Lesh) – 4:04
"Drums" > (Kreutzman) – 4:11
"Jam" > (Grateful Dead) – 9:32
"Goin' down the Road Feeling Bad" > (trad., arr. Grateful Dead) – 4:55
"Cold Rain & Snow" (trad., arr. Grateful Dead) – 5:47
"Casey Jones" (Hunter, Garcia) – 6:25
"In the Midnight Hour" > (Steve Cropper, Wilson Pickett) – 9:49
"We Bid You Goodnight" (trad., arr. Grateful Dead) – 3:55

I'm going to eat a few sugar cubes and queue this up for my trip to Birmingham today.

Also, I sometimes sing "And we bid you goodnight" to the boy when I'm putting him down.

Also, I sometimes sing "And we bid you goodnight" to the boy when I'm putting him down.