GRATEFUL DEAD: Dick’s Picks Vol. 20—Capital Centre, Landover, MD 9/25/76 Onondaga County War Memorial, Syracuse, NY 9/28/76 (4-CD Set) At a mere two songs short of two complete shows—and those two songs, “Bertha” and “It’s All Over Now,” were played at both shows, so they appear on the set at least once—Dick’s Picks Vol. 20 is one of the more jam-packed (or is that packed with jams?) entries in the series. But this volume has a lot more going for it than just five hours-plus of music—1976 marked the return of the band to the road after a 20-month hiatus with Mickey Hart back in tow for the first time in five years, and it is a newly rejuvenated outfit we hear playing a mix of the new (“Lazy Lightnin’,” “Supplication”) and old (“St. Stephen” and the rare “Cosmic Charlie,” which appears on the Landover show’s set list for the last time ever). Perhaps the most sublime moment is the transition from “Comes a Time” to “Eyes of the World” (and then to the out-of-nowhere “Orange Tango Jam”) during the second set of the Syracuse show, but both shows are full of sparkling performances propelled by the newly reunited Rhythm Devils. Another keeper from the vaults. SONGS Capital Centre Landover, MD 9/25/76 Disc One Set One Bertha New Minglewood Blues Ramble On Rose Cassidy Brown-Eyed Woman Mama Tried Peggy-O Loser Let It Grow Sugaree Lazy Lightnin’ Supplication Disc Two Set Two Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo Dancing in the Streets Cosmic Charlie Scarlet Begonias St. Stephen Not Fade Away Drums Jam St. Stephen Sugar Magnolia Onondaga County War Memorial, Syracuse, NY 9/28/76 Disc Three Set One Cold Rain and Snow Big River Cassidy Tennessee Jed New Minglewood Blues Candyman It’s All Over Now Friend of the Devil Let It Grow Goin’ Down the Road Feeling Bad Disc Four Set Two Playing in the Band The Wheel Samson and Delilah Jam Comes a Time Drums Eyes of the World Orange Tango Jam Dancing in the Streets Playing in the Band Johnny B. Goode
