Grateful Dead - Dick's Picks Vol. 33 10/9 & 10/10/76, Oakland Coliseum Stadium (4CD)

Fresh from a year-and-a-half touring hiatus, and back to full, two-drummer strength, the Dead opened for The Who as part of Bill Graham's historic Day on the Green concerts in 1976. This 4-disc set--which is among the cleanest soundboard recordings in the entire series--captures both dates in their entirety, and features one of the most monumental medleys (and that's sayin' something!) in band history with a 60-minute, 10-song journey through "St. Stephen"/"Not Fade Away"/"St. Stephen"/"Help on the Way"/"Slipknot!"/"Drums"/"Samson and Delilah"/"Slipknot!"/"Franklin's Tower"/"One More Saturday Night" on the first day. Day two offers excellent takes on two solo Garcia favorites, "Might as Well" and "The Wheel," that were new to the concert repertoire and a particularly fine "Ramble on Rose." Bill Graham had honored the Dead by selecting them to close the year's stellar series of Day on the Green concerts, and that--perhaps coupled with the presence of formidable co-headliners The Who--sparked some of the band's finest performances of the period.