Grateful Dead - Dicks Picks Vol. 20 Capital Centre, Landover, MD 9/25/76 Onondaga County War Memorial, Syracuse NY 9/28/76

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 Char- lie, 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.