To quote Dick Latvala’s review of the Saturday night show of this run (from Deadbase XI): "Perhaps the most exciting show on the West Coast since the late 60s." He goes on to say that the Other One is "arguably the most incredible version… since the 60s." And if that’s not enough, the show also includes "the finest, most inspiring version of Stella Blue ever done."
Each night of the fabled "From Egypt With Love" run has something special to offer. For their first shows on U.S. soil since the odyssey to Egypt, the band played five nights at Winterland in mid-October 1978, starting with a Tuesday/Wednesday sandwich and then a solid Friday/Saturday/Sunday. Each night they projected slides from their trip on a screen above the stage, and they invited special guests out to play with them, including Lee Oskar (from War) on harmonica, John Cipollina (from Quicksilver Messenger Service) on guitar, and Hamza El Din (from Egypt, of course!) on tar and oud.
The band had just finished recording the Shakedown Street album, so "I Need A Miracle" made four appearances throughout the five night run. Sadly, the beautiful and all-too-rare "If I Had the World to Give" was only played once in the run, and only two other times ever. In fact, the Tuesday night show is worth listening to if just for this one song. Things really begin to cook each night during Drums, when Mickey and Billy stoke the fires for some mighty thunder when the rest of the band takes the stage. Each night’s post-Drums just gets better and better. The "Mojo Jam" first surfaces on Wednesday with Lee Oskar introducing the theme on harmonica, then the band takes it into "Mind Left Body" territory before settling into Wharf Rat.
By the time the weekend rolls around the Dead are on a rampage. Friday’s second set is just a monster start to finish, with a double encore to boot. Dick has already clued you in to what Saturday’s all about, but don’t let that overshadow Sunday’s show. Bill Graham introduces Billy and Mickey who then introduce Hamza El Din. Hamza plays a hand drum called a tar and a lute-like stringed instrument called an oud. After some playing on his own, the band slowly filters onstage for the best "Ollin Arageed," a call-and-response jam with Jerry noodling over the theme. We may have missed the lunar eclipse over the Great Pyramids, but at least these tapes sound better than the out of tune Egypt shows. Once again, the jam from Drums on is outrageous, highlighted by a blistering "Not Fade Away" complete with "Caution," "Mind Left Body", and "Mojo" jams. Lee Oskar and John Cipollina help out, giving a taste of what’s to come the next (and last) time the Dead take the stage at Winterland.
