Grateful Dead

The vibe for this show was exceptional even before the band took the stage; the audience was filled with calm, sweet people who came to enjoy the music. The music was exceptional. No "hits" until the encore; the band seemed to be really enjoying the breadth of its repertiore. A wonderful, wonderful evening. Noyatin

Still being a rooky, it is great to be able to go back and revisit this show via tapes. I also agree with what Noyatin has to say. Everything I've learned is from The Grateful Dead and Buffy The Vampire Slayer.

This is my favorite GD show, on tape. I've listened to this show hundreds (if not, thousands) of times over the years and I can't find anything wrong with any of the music or songs. The selection, the energy, the accuracy of all the members are right on point. It has been one of the few recordings that I felt depicted EXACTLY the way the band sounded to me, that night at the show. The ending to UJB is (and was) bone chilling.... The Dude Abides!

This show had INCREDIBLE energy! Brown Eyed-Rain-Jack was killer.

i was 15.... it was 1977 and it was my second time w/ the purple barrel.... it was overwhelming i was hooked

a cool road trip show from ny area.. by this point we were pretty much on the bus.. a very cool vibe in the arena.. lots of hidden gems in this show..as is the case with most of spring 77 tour..as stated before lots of smiles all around. a glow for sure.. from terrapin on you can feel the magic indeed...

5/26/77Baltimore Civic Center Set 1 -Music: Donna makes her present felt right away; jam 3:30 – 7:15 (end of song), higher & higher, excellent -Sugaree: 1st solo 1:30 – 3:46, Jerry means serious business, awesome; 2d solo is Keith’s at the beginning, Jerry eventually joins in on lead, he plays faster and faster, furious fanning at the end, another great solo; 3d verse at 8:59; 3d solo 10:08 – 12:25, starts off appropriately slow & quiet, gets faster but remains quiet, emotional, good solo; 14:52 total, excellent version -Mama: cowboy time, VG solo 1:34 – 2:08; silly Bobby conversation afterwards about the “old barn” finally filling up and having to wait to start the show for people to arrive -Sunrise: Donna sounds great, band is tight, short solo 2:31 – 2:54, pretty song -Deal: solo 1:30-2:36, joyous, confident ’77 sound, 2d run picks up speed, makes you feel good, excellent; short (under 5 mins total) but very nice version -Passenger: Jerry tossing in some cool squishy guitar sounds; good Bobby solo 1:33 – 2:12; very short version, 3:05 total but very solid/tight, Donna’s really contributing tonight -BE Women: Bobby’s rhythm!, head-bobbing, solo 1:38 – 2:42, great 3 run solo, esp 3d run; Jerry returns to vocals with high energy; excellent version -LL Rain: bobby & Donna perfect together; great solo 2:45 – 3:37; subtle transition to quiet playing around 5 min mark, impression of a gentle rainy night, Bobby & Donna’s singing as delicate as a raindrop, at 6:45 band kicks in a little louder, Jerry’s guitar backing the singing; beautiful version of a song that isn’t one of my favorites -Jack-a-Roe: 1st solo 2:16 – 3:09, 3d run is beautiful; 2d solo 3:45 – 4:20, good 2 runs; very good version -Minglewood: solo 0:55 – 1:49, very nice; 2d solo 2:45 - , Keith in the lead, Jerry shuffling, Jerry takes lead in 3d & 4th runs, high energy, enjoyable, Jerry fans at the end but Bobby cuts in with next verse; pretty short, 5:18 overall, very nice though -Bertha: solo 2:53 – 4:40, wow, big smile at the end of the 1st run, excellent 2d run as well; a little slip up near the 6:00 mark; excellent version Highlights: Music, Sugaree, BE Women, LL Rain, Bertha Set 2 -Samson: solo 2:59 – 4:15, grungy, good; solo 4:57 – 6:10, same as before (is this Bobby? I think so) -High Time: nice intro; 1st vocals at 1:16; pretty, emotional version but no solo -Big River: nice solo 1:17 – 2:16; Keith gets the first runs in the second solo, Jerry the last; 3d solo is very nice; good version but really preliminary to the meat of the set -Terrapin: solo 2:45 – 3:20, very good 2 runs; nice bridge; outro from around 7:00 mark – 10:27, powerful, gets quiet around 9:15, softer, softer, very nice; very good Terrapin but no extra jamming -Estimated: excellent short solo 3:25 – 4:01; spacey mellow jam 5:37 – 8:36; very good version -Eyes: starts off pretty slow, but speeds up in the extended intro; 1st vocals at 2:15; good pace on this Eyes, not too fast; 1st solo 3:35 – 6:06, breezy Summer Sunday afternoon, very good; 2d solo 7:15 – 9:14, another very good one; outro 10:21 – 11:50; a little drums after; very good version -NFA: long intro; 1st vocals at 4:05; jam 6:06 -15:22 , Jerry experimenting with different tones, gets spacey and a little funky, Jerry playing the riff every way he knows how and then some, pretty cool jam, band’s ready to switch over, 16:47 overall, excellent version -GDTRFB: 1st vocals 1:06; solo 2:17 – 3:05, 2 nice runs, combination classic Dead/’77 sound; 2d solo 3:53 – 5:30, very high notes in 1st run, tone changes in 2 run, excellent solo; outro jam 7:30 – 8:21, no Goodnight Jam though; definitely a highlight -Around: 1st solo more of a shuffle; JBG jam 3:35 – 4:35 , Jerry is flying, excellent -E: UJB: 1st solo 2:05 – 2:45, very good; jam 4:18 - , deeper tone from Jerry, great build up to reprise, awesome Highlights: NFA > GDTRFB, UJB Overall: a hot show, with a close to exceptional first set and a very very good second, with the meat of the second set (Terrapin Est > Eyes) being just a tad below great. I think this is a bit better show than the night before. Overall, VG show, 9/10.

if i had to pick one show that i attended and say THIS was the Dead...this show may have been it. only saw them 2-3 times in 70s but have to say the 70s were the peak for me, and this was a great show in a great era. I have heard several shows from this spring tour (on CD) ...great tour. all shows are stellar.

and probably the best. Next up was Englishtown, then the fall tour, then on and on til Brent passed and life got crazy. Looking forward to Chicago, but this was an awesome show in a spring filled with awesome shows.

I was in the Navy stationed in D.C. and made it to Baltimore for this show. The Dead started about 5-10 minutes late and after their opening song Bobby Weir apologized for not starting on time because, "...we were waiting for this old barn to fill up..." The crowd roared and the Dead rocked all night with classics performed with inspiration.