Music reviews. CD reviews. Critically hip!

Welcome to yet another three hour show in the long, strange trip of the Grateful Dead.  Live at the Cow Palace, New Year’s Eve 1976, captures the original jam band in peak form. As a special treat, The sound quality easily surpasses that on most live recordings from this era.  

In their marathon set the Dead include a little bit of everything. Hits such as “Mama Tried,” “Sugar Magnolia,” “Scarlet Begonias,” and “Uncle John’s Band” pacify the casual fans while  “Wharf Rat,” “Samson & Delilah,” and “Morning Dew” please the harder-core Dead-Heads. The Grateful Dead, known for throwing unexpected cover songs into the mix, do not disappoint here with their cover of Buddy Holly’s “Not Fade Away.” 

Of course, throughout the course of a three hour show, a jam band must exercise its freedom to jam. The Dead dabble in improvisation to the point of boredom at times. “Playing in the Band,” is about ten minutes too long, though I do understand that the tendency to jam for extended preiods is directly related to the identity of The Dead. Of course it probably seemed like a thirty second solo to most of the audience who by that point were most likely incapable of telling time. 

Overall, there was nothing revelatory or overly special about this performance at the Cow Palace, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. This one fits well with the rest of their live releases and once again proves that the Grateful Dead were one of the most consistent live bands of all time.