Grateful Dead

I was a junior at Tufts, and had tickets for the Saturday show in Rochester. On Friday, a friend came up to me on campus and said she had four extra tickets to that night's show at Colgate in Hamilton if I could give her a ride. There was no hesitation.I rounded up to buddies quickly, and on our way out of town at about 1 p.m., we stopped by a third guy's house and called for him from the car. He leaned out his window and we explained we were heading to Hamilton and had a ticket. He disappeared from the window and I swear, he was in the car three seconds later. We found out on our return he left his stereo and lights in his room turned on. This was a great show, very high energy with a non-stop second set (meaning no breaks between songs). It also was the only time I saw them really banter with the crowd, at one point introducing themselves as the Jones gang (Jerry Jones, Bobby Jones, Donna Jean Jones, etc. etc.) It was hilarious. More than that, this show foreshadowed the greatest weekend of music that I ever experienced, with the Rochester show on Saturday and Binghamton show on Sunday.

I was at Syracuse University. We had tickets for all 3 shows, this one, Rochester and the phenominal Binghampton. We drove to Colgate in a blinding snow storm. What a treat to see the Dead, in their prime, clearly in a great mood, with a snow storm raging outside, in a room no larger than a High School gym! There is a Dick's Pick of the second show of the weekend in Rochester.I wish this show would be released and then there was Binghampton, which I believe was the best of the three. All three shows rate in the top ten of shows I've attended. This show was very high energy from start to end. Rippin guitar solos. It was not an off night or off weekend. I remember it was one of the fastest paced Eyes of the World ever. One side of the gym had tall, wide windows. The lights were turned on outside illuminating the raging snow as the stage was lit in deep blue, a white spot on Jerry playing needless to say a very inspired Cold Rain and Snow. A brilliant Playin in the Band bookmarked a spectacular second set. What a night and what a weekend.

I was the "stage manager" for this show at Colgate. Basically in charge of helping the road crew load and off load. As soon as they got there the head roadie asked me if I could get them any drugs. "Like what ? " I asked. Anything; we just came across the border (from Canada) so we have nothing. I rounded up some pot, uppers and ludes from some dealers I knew who were pleased to be providing the Dead with some recreational diversions. Sat backstage for the whole show but don't remember much so it's great to revisit the set list and peoples comments about the show.

Freshman year - had never really listened to the Dead. Was already a big fan of Beatles, Dylan, Led Zep, Hendrix, Santana, CSNY, Yes, Springstein, Stones, etc. - but not an avid Dead Head by any stretch. Freshman Dorm RA, J. Ciraldo was BIG HUGE Dead fan, lived right over my head and had taken me in as a little brother. Also a number of my team-mates on the Colgate U. soccer teams were big fans. Tickets for the Colgate show and sugar cubes from a Brit soccer player / frat brother at Hartwick College just appeared. I was in the standing room, on the floor about 10 rows back from the stage, Jesus standing next to me, and another guy to my left, with bended knees bobbing, both hands up in the air making symetrical spirals, groovin'. Joy, Patti, Jeff W., Dave H., Patti's best friend Debbi T. holding my hand. It was my first show, first time droppin' A. Don't remember all of the show - have more visual memories - of the show, of dreams and visions, of the events before and after. Very fine show - kick-a** sugar/drop. Baptism - by fire. Dropped out of college shortly thereafter - still playin' guitar and singing today, sippin' the river Steinway Still learning about healing, love, and all forms of good medicine, meditation, Buddha, Wakan Tanka, etc. I learned later in my life, that some of the effects of the acid I experienced were probably due to post-concussive syndrome, as I had recently gone head to head for a 50/50 ball, left the opposing player unconscious, and me walking around in circles on the pitch, muttering Yes lyrics under my breath. I have to thank, a thousand times thank you on my bended knees, to the 6 women who let me sleep with them in their dorm room after the concert, while I was still trippin' my brains out, through waves and waves of visions, and echoes of the infinite, body shakin' and trembling. Sweet mercy and kindness of soul sisters who soothed my aching head and shared their kindness and compassion, simple, sweet, wonderful energy of the Universe. Sometimes the light's all shinin' on me, other times I can barely see.

Didn't go to the show. This was one the first tapes I owned that was of high quality. I love listening to this show . I wish I went. The playing>eyes is a Grateful Dead masterpiece. Six individuals playing as one. This was the show that sent me to the Grateful Dead Galaxy which I visited many, many times.

One of my first tapes, so I had high expectations going into reviewing it. The first half of set 1 and second half of set 2 are excellent, and the rest is mostly very good. Bertha, BE Women, 2d solo of Eyes, and Stella are the highlights for me. VG show, 8.5/10

I was a sophomore at the 'Gate for this one, and it's great to have a Dave's Picks release of such a legendary show. School paper reviews and articles can be found here: http://exlibris.colgate.edu/digital/studentnewspapers.html Of particular note: The Nov. 4, 1977 issue of The Colgate News (lots of Deadheads on that staff; the Maroon was a more conservative take on campus life) with the front-page article, "The Grateful Dead Play Live Tonight," and the Nov. 11 issue of the News with a review and a letter from an angry student about why the show was "irresponsible and unjustified."

This was my Senior year at Colgate, and as a longtime Deadhead I thought I was dreaming when I saw flyers stapled to the trees announcing this show! I mean, Colgate was a SMALL school, and Cotterell Gym was our basketball court that held HUNDREDS! As a result it was a most intimate show, like a club date for the Dead, and they trotted out rare selections like "Dupree's" as well as adventurous renditions of the standards. Tripping balls at an event like this never hurts, nor did having a hot young lady to cuddle, but the tapes prove it was as stellar as I recall. I don't know if there was some substance at least some of the band ingested with speedy properties, but there are some blazing hot tempos performed in this set.