This is a near-perfect show. I abridged it slightly to fit on two bootleg CDs. I cut out the execrable "Dancing in the Streets" and the mostly forgettable encore "One More Saturday Night." The show sounds perfect ending with that "Morning Dew." After fairly exhaustive listening to live Dead, I have come to what seems to be the consensus conclusion: The shows on Get Shown the Light are the best I have ever heard by far. That official release, though, sounds terrible, which may be why Christgau gave Cornell an honorable mention. It's vocals are so upfront, I don't even enjoy listening to it. I also feel like, with the Dead, you need the bootlegs. So I found a great matrix of this show and burned it to disc.
The show in Buffalo on the next night, May 9, 1977, I also burned to disc, minus "Ship of Fools" and "Good Lovin'" (and "Drums" of course) so it would fit on two CDs. I give that show 4.5 stars. Buffalo has 17 out of 21 unique songs from the other four, that's 15 with the two I cut out. That makes this one an essential complement to Cornell.
The May 5, 1977 show in New Haven, CT, I'm going to skip shelving. It's a great show (probably also 4.5 stars), but it only has the following three songs which aren't on Cornell/Buffalo: "Promised Land," "Sugaree," and "Looks Like Rain."
The May 7, 1977 show in Boston, MA only has 8 songs that are aren't on Cornell/Buffalo, and the show is overall much more spotty than the other three (3.5 stars) and plagued with equipment problems (which would necessitate heavy, time-consuming editing on Audible if I were even able to find a good matrix bootleg, see below):
"Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo" >
"Terrapin Station"
"Samson and Delilah"
"Friend of the Devil"
"Eyes of the World"
"The Wheel" >
"Wharf Rat" >
"Around and Around"
Given that, and that I could not find a matrix bootleg of this one, I will not shelve this either, and just stick with Buffalo/Cornell. I do have a digital copy of the set from the box set.
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