The SetList Program allows you to search through the Grateful Dead's setlists for shows between 1965 and 1995. It also allows users to comment-on and share their experiences for each show. Find a show you've attended, and leave some comments for other users!

< Back · Home

1 Show Found

04/23/77
Springfield Civic Center - Springfield, MA

Set 1:
Sugaree
Cassidy
Loser
New Minglewood Blues
Row Jimmy
Me And My Uncle
Ramble On Rose
It's All Over Now
Scarlet Begonias
Fire On The Mountain

Set 2:
Estimated Prophet
Bertha
The Music Never Stopped
Help On The Way
Slipknot!
Franklin's Tower
Around And Around
Goin' Down The Road Feeling Bad
Not Fade Away

Encore:
One More Saturday Night

Download/Listen to this Show at Archive.org

Comments:

Great Show!!!!! The boys were on this night. Quality headphones recomended.
-


I second that.....
....IMO.. a scarlet>fire..light years ahead of Cornell....
-Anonymous


this show is one of the best of '77 imho. it is mellow and yet intense at the same time...does that make sense? well if you listen to it i think it will. i particularly love the long slow Row Jimmy...donna sings beautifully on it...the entire second set is a work of art...it builds and builds...amazing!!
-


this show is pure '77 heat. only minor flaw is that the boys take a long time to tune their instraments, but that's what the foreward button is for. STELLAR PERFORMANCE from start to finish!
-TN Jed


personally i think it is one of the best shows ever. the only show ever to have a scarlet/fire and a help/slipknot/franklins tower. also one of the best versions of bertha, all in all very "chill"

-


hi mr. charlie...i agree with you that this is one incredible show...but your statement about it being the "only" show ever with a scarlet>fire and help>slip>franklins is not true.

there were actually 9 shows that included both of those famous jams....here they are...4/23/77, 6/15/90, 10/31/90, 10/31/91, 5/31/92, 4/2/93, 10/1/94, 2/24/95 and 5/26/95.

i was able to look that information by utilizing this very setlist program site.

my guess is that 4/23/77 is probably a much superior show to any of the other shows listed...but...it wasn't the only show that had a scarlet>fire and help>slip>franklins.
-


Best Scarlet>Fire of the year, best GDTRFB from '77 as well.....talk about tension, release, tension, release.

Help>Slip>Frank is a monster as well. Definately a must have!
-Donna Jean


"Well there ain't nothing wrong with the way she moved!!" ( With Authority )Nice Scarlet - Fire
-Anonymous


I never really minded the "what seemed like forever" tuning of the instruments TN Jed, it helped build the anticipation. What, are in a hurry or something?

Just my take.
-stp


Best GDTRFB of '77 hands down; best Ramble as well; and, for good measure, one of the all-time great Scarlets.

I was beating off during the show, I cut a hole in my pocket and kept spitting in my hand.
-Art Glass


Cassidy and Loser set the tone for the mellow yet tightness as described above. The solo in Loser is noteworthy. I detected "Rainy Day woman" tease with Keith's tuning.

-Perrinswolf (05/02/2007)


I was at the 5/26/95 show in Seattle with BOTH Scarlet>Fire and the Help>Slip>Franklin's= TOTALLY KILLER!

- (06/29/2008)


My favorite show hands down.jerry kills it during sugaree/franklins tower/and the music never stopped.everybody was on fire for scarlet begonias especially keith. I thought everything was perfect except help on the way which started fairly crappy. If youve never heard this show or havent heard it in a while do yourself a big favor find some time to hear it again. If you only have a few minutes put on scarlet begonias really loud and listen to something slightly north of pefection.
- (07/18/2008)


this is 77..when werent they on
-steve (01/28/2009)


Currently on Sirius/XM 10/5/09
-Anonymous (11/06/2009)


One all time favorite shows. Everyone raves about Cornell but this show is a real gem
- (02/21/2010)


first post-hiatus "me and my uncle," the dead's most commonly played song reintroduced back into the standard repertoire.
-dr. doug e. fresh (07/29/2010)


Second only to Cornell '77, this show was the best of 1977 (and may arguably be BETTER than Cornell... apples and oranges).
Not only was the band tight and coordinated, not only was there NO mistakes, not only is the sound quality supreme, not only is the TUNING in tune, not only is the setlist BADASS!!, not only is the energy extreme- BUT
BUT also, the drummers are in a fury and each song is a rhythmic delight.
Ladies and Gentlemen... this is the Grateful Dead, the finest band in the land, and this show is the epitome of their essence.
Also... this show contains the greatest scarlet>fire they ever played

- (11/11/2011)


This was my very first show. I knew very little about the band and was pretty much dragged and cajoled to Springfield. I was hearing almost all of these songs for the first time and the band didn't even bother to stop playing between songs. I watched a group of five cops dancing like crazy throughout the show - never saw or heard such things before.

Listening to this again, no wonder my life path took a sharp turn that night!
- (04/24/2012)


Cornell, Buffalo, Boston.....who cares which one of the Spring 77 shows was best. This one is certainly great just like so many in that 45 day span so listen to it over and over again. The show has a different feel to it than the early/mid May spectacle. It's so smooth. I agree the set list is something because Jerry dominated the night much more than usual. Scarlet/Fire, better than Cornell....I don't know about that but it's a real piece of work. The recoding is really something. It's was a great concert.
- (05/31/2012)


the setlist posted is out of order for the 1st set
Sugaree
Cassidy
Loser
New Minglewood Blues
Ramble On Rose
Me And My Uncle
Row Jimmy
It's All Over Now
Scarlet Begonias ->
Fire On The Mountain
-Anonymous (11/15/2012)


All The Music Never Stopped in 77 are amazing. The jams at the end of the song show Jerry had the chops to hang with any guitarist of that time. And you had some serious rock n' roll guitarists back then. Don't get me wrong, I loved Jerry for being Jerry and the way he played, but his talent was so strong he could play anything with anybody and be totally on. New musicians, either sitting in or joining the band (like when Brent came), always took him to a new level.
-Steve (02/12/2014)


5/10 minute ride from my town. 3rd Fire ever, nailed it. no worries back then, bringing back great memories. Dead forever, forever Dead
-Brian Damage (09/05/2014)


"Blackbird" tease just before a killer Scarlet > Fire... great audience tape. They're a band beyond description.
-Just Exactly Perfect Band (05/15/2017)


This is THE hidden gem of 1977. This THIS is THE SHOW in which the GRATEFUL DEAD switched gears and focused on instrumental perfection and sound quality. I cannot believe that anyone raves about all these other shows of the Grateful Dead and yet 4-23-77 has not only a superior setlist, and a tangible energy and fun of the crowd and band- but a transcendent, god-like miracle happening of great beauty and wisdom in that the skills and talent of each of the seven members were coalescing and combining to create something that will never, shall never and cannot ever be repeated. THIS IS THE FINEST BAND IN THE LAND... LADIES AND GENTLEMEN... THE GRATEFUL DEAD!!!!

- (12/05/2017)


oh, and how rare is it that they play scarlet>fire AAAAAND Help>slipknot!>Franklin's?????

All Deadheads UNITE and lets give 4-23-77 the proper place up there with the other "peak year '77" gem status: 5-8, 9-3, 5-22, etc...
>
Maybe this show was so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so DAMN good, so damn GRATE! that people cannot wrap their small MONKEY-BRAINS around it!
JESUS!
Even the scarlet>fire transition is more clever than headyversions top whatever contestants!!

Anyway:
5-08
9-03
5-22
4-23

Top 4 shows of the year...
In my humble, nerdy opinion...
(and I intensely study the year 1977 (and 1978) like a Madman!)

It is about musical perfection and the details and beauty and sound quality and skill and wisdom and transcendence unto spiritual, heavenly heights.
Jerry was of the same mind
- (12/05/2017)


The DRUMMERS are in a rhythmic, devilish, delight!!
So are all the musicians!
I challenge anyone to find a mistake in this recording.
This is
THE HIDDEN GEM
OF
THE
PEAK
OF
THE
DEAD
WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH THE INTERNET!??

THIS is the X-Factor
You have the energy of the crowd, the energy of the band, the genius and skill of each musician (and Donna) added to their sublime focus and
HEY!
I don't understand
I've heard every
EVERY
SHOW
of 1977
and I've studied every Grateful Dead show and I believe that something magical and heavenly happened this night.
Jerry was in the early stages of heroine and he was already of Spanish blood and naturally an excellent guitarist, but he'd worked hard at perfection- at the dawn of the drugs! He was in the nexus and vortex of the beginnings of LSD and human consciousness-expansion-movement!
The Grateful Dead was NOT a By-Product of the counter-culture movement... they were THE driving force BEHIND the movement...
Even so, Jerry was obsessed with the supernatural and also art and perfection and was of Spanish blood which scientist believe holds the origin of alien blood from the RH blood type. Whatever... point is... PIGPEN agreed and it was Garcia and Pigpen that MADE the GRATEFUL DEAD!!
HOWEVER
By 1977
there was a perfection, focus, skill, beauty and CREATION that is unparalleled in all of time or history!
Therefore, I think that the Scarlet>Fire on this day is superior to Cornell, and also, I believe on this day that each of the members/musicians realized that they had the entire UNIVERSE at their disposal- that they were the PORTAL of the GRATEST music ever to be created...
a band beyond description, JEHOVAH's favorite choir,
the music plays the band...

Anyway, none of that means anything without the music and the details!!
Here you have the PRE-peak.
You see...
Many listen to the Grateful Dead
But they do not understand the ALTERED STATES of the crowd and individuals and they do not understand the inter-feeding-relay of the Band and the PUSHING of JERRY unto perfection unto some greater, GRATER, GRATER THIIING!!!
The Grateful Dead loves America, and people and their loves... and their is beauty and joy...
BUT-
WHAT IS BEST ABOUT THE GRATEFUL DEAD??
>
It is this>
They are a Dancing Band...
therefore...
on
4-23-77
DANCE DANCE DANCE
>
Because they are a portal of higher intelligence (of which Jerry deeply believed, in aliens and the spiritual world)
And why can't the WORLD hear, fuckin' HEAR that this music is LIVE, yet, TRANSCENDENTALLY PEEEEEERFECT???
HOLY SHIT!!!
This is not about just the band.
It is about the INTERPLAY of the BAND and, aaaaand, aaaaaand, the friiigin', CROWD- the AUDIENCE!!!
>
NOW!
I love 5-05-77, That is the other gem that marks the portal of Heaven to Earth in which the BAND reached a NEW level.
>
Now, what can you do but listen to this and try to FIND a FAULT or MISTAKE in this CONCERT???
>
And while you feel like a monkey-brain do you not realize that you are not considering the experience of the crowd that received these gods?
Jehovah's favorite choir.
The music played the band.
This is the
THE
THE
THE
CONCERT
THE
THE
THE
MOMENT
that
laid way to...
that made possible
the LEGENDARY run of the spring tour of The Grateful Dead in 1977. If it had not been for April, 23rd 1977 then the rest of the tour, even up until summer of 1978... would not have happened... and did they NOT go to the origin of the OCCULT?? EGYPT and the GREAT PYRAMIDS OF GIZA '78??
Now-
I adore New Haven, 5-05 as my personal secret favorite.
This was their
PORTAL of PORTALS
5-05
5-05-77 is the secret concert that also has JERRY GARCIA'S best most intense and most heavenly guitar work in all of history on the...
Peggy-O song.
I do believe that PIGPEN would've agreed.
It was PIGPEN that gave Jerry the spirit of perfection and drive unto that perfection... it was Pigpen and Jerry that started this fire, this obsession with the HEAVENLY PERFECTION!
- (12/05/2017)


Only show ever with a Sugaree, Scarlet > Fire, and Help > Slip > Franklin's. Good stuff.
-Anonymous (05/31/2018)


Some synth on Slipknot. Sounds great and typical spring 77 quality performance all around.
-Robert Jack (03/28/2021)


... Sirius ... thanks for sharing this old classic today on TIGDH >>>

04/23/77
Springfield Civic Center - Springfield, MA
Set 1:
New Minglewood Blues
Row Jimmy
Me And My Uncle
Ramble On Rose
It's All Over Now
Scarlet Begonias
Fire On The Mountain

IKO IKO ....
- (04/23/2022)


I saw DSO recreate this show in Denver at The Mission Ballroom on 2.12.2022.

I was in CO skiing with my cousin (also a head). After 2 days of skiing, we drove back east towards Denver to catch the DSO show...I knew it was a 77 recreated show from the Sugaree->Cassidy opener.

What ensued was some of the best live Dead music I have ever-mind you, I was born 2 years after Jerry died so I never got to see the "real deal," but this night w/DSO transported me back to 1977...the sound, the crowd, the energy...It wasnt the listless crowd that I witnessed at Folsom Field this past June for Dead and Co..the faithful young and old packed into the Mission Ballroom and danced something fierce.

The peak jam during Music Never Stopped was a clear high point, the crowd was jamming and dancing perfectly in rhythm...it was pandemonium-but in a good way... Super stoked I was able to see them recreate this show...

Long live the Dead!
-Anonymous (09/28/2022)


I love it when they close a show with heater after heater after heater. You think "ok, they'll close with A&A", and then "oh, ok, Goin' Down the Road closer, got it" but they just keep going into NFA, which, typical for the era, is a bouncy delight. Just a brilliant second set. The highlight of the night is the Scarlet>Fire, as you would expect from this era. I had a goosebumps moment after the bridge when Jerry growled "Well there ain't nothing wrong with the way she moves" (as alluded to above). Even on the fantastic soundbound you can hear the crowd going absolutely ballistic. Fucking awesome. Let the good times roll.
-Ricky (05/18/2024)


Comment on this Show!

 

Band Configuration
(10/20/74 - 02/17/79)

Lead Guitar: Jerry Garcia
Rhythm Guitar: Bob Weir
Bass: Phil Lesh
Keyboards: Keith Godchaux
Drums: Bill Kreutzmann
Drums: Mickey Hart
Backup Vocals: Donna Godchaux

Note: Band configuration is across specified time period. Configuration for particular show may have differed.

The SetList Program is Copyright © 1996-2024 Madhu Lundquist. Band configurations compliments of .
Direct all questions/comments to
Send all corrections to