With much excitement building for this week and next week's Fare Thee Well shows, I decided to feature a show from the windy city on this week (and next week's) Deadpod.. this one comes from the Auditorium Theater back on June 29th, 1976. The first thing you'll notice, as with any shows from this period, is the slower tempo. Some people love the more deliberate pacing, some hate it, but I enjoy hearing these shows from time to time and think its easy to appreciate how the band is reinventing themselves after their long layoff in '75. The 'Tennessee Jed' that serves as the opener here is certainly out of place to our ears, but I enjoy the way Jerry phrases his notes here.

Cassidy follows, then, another much slower tempo Peggy-O.. Mama Tried follows then, a treat, the very last time the Grateful Dead played 'Mission in the Rain'.. while this was to be a standard in the Garcia Band, I'm pleased to be able to hear it  here. Other highlights in this first set include a sparkling Brown-Eyed Women and to me, the languid, almost dream-like 'Row Jimmy'..