Dick's Picks Vol. 18: 2/3/78 (Dane County Coliseum, Madison, WI) & 2/5/78 (UNI-Dome, University of Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA)

I know that folks give Donna a hard time but I think she sounds beautiful in this show. Looks Like Rain is among the best I've heard. The band is definitely on their A game here. Totally dig it!

I own all of the DPs and Download Series, plus of course the obligatory Cornell and Sunshine Daydream. I basically have about 50 live Dead shows on my phone! I was originally drawn to DP #14 and a few others, too many to name, but recently discovered how completely excellent this concert is. 1978. Who knew? This concert flows, they are infinitely creative and loose. I’d say it feels pre-Coke, meaning real joyous soul grooves; not rushed but exuberant. Great Scarlet/Fire, great Eyes. All together this is definitely in my top 5 now.... Jerry at his best. So much generosity.... You won’t be disappointed. I’d even say that this is a good place to start

Decent recordings. Jerry's playing is super smokin', especially the leads. The drum sound on some of the songs is disappointing, such as the opener, Bertha. Overall, an excellent addition to your collection.

The intro to eyes and the eyes in general is the best version I have ever heard. If you are going to get one DP this is the one

Really good show…..if you are looking fore a good buy this is it. Tight show!

I just love the sound of Jerry's guitar on this pick; it's got a bit more 'edge' than usual and is up in the mix - which works out well because he's in fine feddle. Bobby's vocals are unusually solid throughout and the 'Music Never Stopped' on here is, I think, the definitive version. The jam just keeps building and building and they all break out of it in unison and dive back into the groove flawlessly. Donna is uncharacteristically on pitch and the tune is just FUNKY. Brown Eyed Women is one of my faves and the extended jamming on all the second set type material is top notch. Solid playing throughout. One of the most underrated DPs and certainly one of my personal faves.

There is only one word which describes this show: epic. The set-1 songs are all well played, with the highlights being a passionate Bertha, a furious TMNS, and a punchy Passenger. Disc 2: A decent Estimated leads into a nice, big, loping Eyes. This leads into a massive Playin>Wheel>Playin. Some find it out-there and lost-in-spacey, but as the dude below implied, some of us get a big kick out of that :) Disc 3: HOLY S**T. A 10-minute Samson full of fury, endless jams and raucous drumming leads into a MONSTER 30-minute Scarlet Fire that WILL take your brain and make it SOAR to every corner of the galaxy, swooping through every emotion in the human condition all at once. A beautiful and epic piece. This is followed up by a nice, aggressive Truckin' which leads into the most ANGRY, RELENTLESS TOO every played by the band. Seriously, at the peak it sounds like a heavy metal song. Nice, spacey transition out leads into a decent Wharf Rat, followed up by an extra-long, raunchy Round&Round. Somewhere on the internet you can download the US Blues encore which is pretty awesome as well, with Jerry yelling and screaming. Awesome show. Get it now. P.S. The main caveat to this positive review is that the sound quality can seem kind of flat unless you crank it up to max volume. But don't let that make you rush for the AUD, the AUD is still more or less flat and has worse sound quality. Instead I recommend getting this, then re-recording it through a Reverb process.

wasn't really a huge fan of the dead after '77 til i heard this pick. there is some real awesome stuff on this one, especially the last two discs. minus the playin>wheel>playin, which is a just a bit too spacy and meandering for me (this coming from someone who loves dark star), estimated thru the other one is just about as good as anything ive heard from the boys. this scarlet>fire is pretty legendary too; might even beat 5/8/77 as best ever - and that saying a lot! be sure to pick this one up!

Pretty much amazing. Entire first set, every song is top notch. Then the first set closer with TMNS. easily best version i've ever heard, worth the price alone. Never played the second disc as much as the 1st and 3rd. Everything on the 3rd disc (samson>around and around) is equally as good as the 1st. Definitely one of my all time favorite other ones and scarlet>fires. Just buy it!