By the spring of 1978, the Grateful Dead were operating with a lineup and a confidence that many fans consider one of the band's most fertile periods. Keith and Donna Godchaux had been in the fold since late 1971, and while their tenure would come to a close the following year, 1978 still found Keith's piano work weaving fluidly through the band's arrangements — sometimes delicate and impressionistic, sometimes hammering hard into the groove. Jerry Garcia was in solid form through much of this stretch, and the band had recently returned from their legendary Egypt run, which would take place later that September. The spring touring cycle had the Dead in good spirits and moving with real purpose through the arenas and coliseums of America. Veterans' Memorial Coliseum in Jacksonville, Florida, was a workmanlike arena stop of the sort the Dead were navigating with increasing regularity as the band grew into a genuine arena act through the late seventies. Jacksonville wasn't a city with the same storied Dead history as San Francisco or New York, but the Florida shows of this era often crackled with a particular energy — far-flung outposts of the Dead's expanding universe, where crowds brought an intensity born partly from the relative rarity of having the band in town. Coliseum shows of this era could swing between tightly focused sets and sprawling exploratory jams depending on the night, and the band was certainly capable of both.
The only song currently catalogued from this show in our database is Drums — the percussion showcase anchored by Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart, who had returned to the band in 1974 after a brief absence. By 1978, Drums had grown into a fully ritualistic center-of-the-show event, a moment where the two drummers locked into hypnotic polyrhythmic interplay before handing the stage back to the full band for the Space segment that typically followed. What you're listening for in a strong Drums is the way Hart and Kreutzmann push and pull against each other — call and response, texture against texture — until the whole thing dissolves into something genuinely otherworldly. The recording details for this date aren't fully confirmed, so approach it with appropriate expectations — but even a well-circulated audience tape from this period can carry remarkable atmosphere and feel. The spring of '78 is worth your time. Dial it up and let these two drummers take you somewhere.