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1st Set

2nd Set

I couldn't remember this one being worth a second listen, but came back because I found my note that this mostly-rough show supposedly has one of the greatest Scarlet>Fires (a Latvala claim, whose tastes can befuddle). So, does it measure up to, say, these vicious ten?5/5/77, 5/21/77, 12/30/79, 11/30/80, 9/4/83, 10/14/83, 9/5/85, 9/15/85, 7/18/89, 12/17/92Because this is the show before the Egypt run, it seems to prompt extra curiosity. But what you actually want is the runEgypt, which is on(not that Egypt were 4 or 5-star shows anyway). Not only is the performance weird, the set list is weird too, e.g near the end of the second set instead of the middle (the set is still average length though; and it's nota Space). This was an early experiment in playing stadiums - booked to generate travel cabbage for Egypt, and the 1st ever at Giants - so sound isn't dialed like 10 years later. Clearly this is a part of the problem. A very long hot day; the band had to be at the venue due to NRPS; Billy in a cast. Maybe their collective mind was on Egypt instead of New Jersey? Maybe a better source will come along and illuminate from a different angle?First Set. Still, rarely does an off show not have a couple great ones hidden inside. The first set plunks along with the sound of a band coming to grips with a football stadium; fairly plodding for an NYC late-70s show - definitely below average for the era. There are long gaps and a sense of frustration (). In a bizarrely inconsistent turnis a top version. It's as if filler from a great '77 was just inserted at the end of Tape 1 Side 1. It's just evidence #564b for how weird the band could be sometimes., however, is just a wreck - up to this point it was Bobby having the good show but now it's just Donna. With the hot LLR you'd be excused for thinking Bobby's era-companionwould be the same. It's not.Second Set. The mix improves for the second set. The band still sounds more '94 than '78, though Bobby and Donna's bizarre and misguided attempt at Pig Pen ad-lib inis very height-of-disco-and-flares '78.takes a while to settle into something worthwhile but when it does they take advantage of the bright spot, extending it out for 28 minutes. But particularly of note are Bobby's counterpoints. This version is all about what it becomes - where it goes, how it becomes this intricate jam; and it does this twice. Not the best of '78 (length did sometimes work against the band) but interesting for those heads that delve into what the band did in situations like that. The SBD has some wow & flutter duringthat would send you to the AUD if it didn't careen seriously off the rails anyway. Partway throughthe sound becomes more like a normal '78 SBD. Coincident to improved sound, the band plays better, and this one is consistent with the the top Eyes of '78 (for the best, start with 2/3). Weird. Next time you hear two heads arguing over whether or not Jer or Bobby are out of tune, play thisfor them. It has the worst tuning I think they ever proceeded with. WTF? Why didn't a tech just hand Bobby his standby? The tuning is so bad Bobby can't find one key to sing in. It would be hard to find a '94/'95 Miracle and Sugar Mag as off-mark as these.: D+: C-Overall: 1½ stars (1 star show plus ½ star for Eyes)Highlights:Eyes of the World - Scarlet>Fire is good, but this is the peak and it's one of 78's bestSOURCES: Unfortunately there are no great sources for this show; all are weird. Most of the SBDs run at the wrong speed. The best source by a wide margin is the Miller106818 (with its seamless AUD crossfades and pitch correction, albeit with weird TV-band interference). The matrix doesn't add anything over the AUDS (which are nearly as quality as the SBDs and don't suffer from the poor mix in several places).