Notes:
sound check: "China Cat"> "I Know You Rider" - last "China Cat> I Know You Rider": 10-20-74 [103]
Set List:
Jack StrawThey Love Each Other
Mama Tried
Loser
Looks Like Rain
Tennessee Jed
New Minglewood Blues
Sugaree
Promised Land
Bertha
Good Lovin'
It Must Have Been the Roses
Sunrise
Playin' in the Band
China Cat Sunflower
I Know You Rider
China Doll
Playin' in the Band
drums
Not Fade Away
Playin' in the Band
Terrapin Station
Johnny B. Goode
Comments
Simply put, the show of my
Simply put, the show of my life. It all changed on this night, my first night in Winterland. 16, dosed, three thousand miles from home and lovin' every minute of it! Not to mention the return of China Cat (and a mighty one indeed!) and the most tranquil China Doll ever.
Unforgettable
There is no other show for which I feel a kindred connection to others who were also in attendance...whenever I meet another 12/29/77-er, we always seem to acknowledge how powerful that night was.
And it lives on tape!
Hands down
My favorite GD show of all time. Never went to a show, but from years of listening back to every year, every tour, and many, many great shows, this one still stands out as the best in my honest opinion. There's something about it - some call it the "X Factor" or "Mojo" or "Without A Net" - I call it pure, majestic, beautiful music from the soul. This show is quintessential 1977: powerful yet gentle, raucous yet refined, terrifying yet tranquil, ragged but right. All night long, the band tooks chances with their music, and more often than not, they stuck it with perfection. I'll never get tired of listening to 12/29/77!
Rainbow over Winterland 12-29-77
Had not seen the Dead since 10-20-74.Was sitting in the park across the street on the south side of Winterland a few hours before the show and a rainbow formed in the mix of fog and sun to arc perfectly over,above and beyond the building.I thought it was a good sign.First set I sat front row in the balconey on the south side of the auditorium.As the break began I looked down on the floor and under the mirror ball I saw my dear old friend Jay K.(you know who you are) So I gave up my seat and made my way down as I had not seen him since Montana Rainbow July 76.I was to meet Omo Bob and Jays girlfriend Amy.Omo Bob was dressed as he was ready to float the Colorado River.(surplus canteen on his belt)I myself had been kicking around the southwest the previous few weeks and was in a rarified state of mind,body,spirit.Many amazing passages of music descending,rising,weaving into the next and next.Little did I know but I was already solid on the red road.Many high-lights that night but to hear Terrapin live for my first time brought the beauty of the Mother Earth and the stars into focus in a powerful way.Thank you Hunter for that amazing work-song-poem.What a time to be 23 and the feeling of being part of something far bigger than the sum of it's parts.One of the more fantastic Dead shows of my life.After the show I met up with a friend to catch a ride down to Pacifica (Linda Mar).I had on a wild looking red pendelton blanket "capote".As I walked up to him on the multi level parking lot he (Tom B.) see's me and cracks up laughing and say's "you look lit up like a lightbulb".Was it red wool I was wearing, was it the lights of the garage or was it my enhanced aura.And without a doubt it was the power of Grateful Dead.It was all of the above and more.So on down to the beach.Walked with another buddy (Kit) down to the rocks above the surf on the north end of linda mar and watched the stars and ocean and talked about Kerouac, American Indians,and the Dead as the Texas Medicine continued to cleanse my soul.