The closing Sunday of a three-night Winterland equinox weekend was technically the first show of spring 1977, a hometown sendoff before arguably the band’s most legendary touring season. The band had spent the first of the year recording Terrapin Station with producer Keith Olsen in Los Angeles, the drummers tightening their rhythmic connection for the studio and setting the stage for numerous classic shows. The new sparkle is on display all weekend.
The first set features a strident “Brown Eyed Women” with a crisp, lyrical Garcia solo over a locked-in double-drummer backbeat.