12/23/70: winterland arena, san francisco, CA.

the dead team up with hot tuna and the new riders for a benefit for a local montessori school and the bear. while a good number of people must have recognized that bear was famed chemist and soundman owsley stanley, even the grateful dead must have had some trepidation about overtly publicizing a benefit performance for a recently rearrested LSD chemist (even if he was ostensibly retired from the pharmaceutical business). at the end of the performance, garcia says that hot tuna will be coming out to do a set, and thanks everyone for “helping us to bail out the bear.” it’s a miracle the tape survived since owsley was probably in jail at the time the whole thing was thrown together. the recording sounds terrific and stands as a superb example of how well the dead executed even the most basic material on a good night in late 1970.

and as it happened, it didn't work, and bear wasn't freed.

https://archive.org/details/gd1970-12-23.132343.sbd.miller.flac16

12/30/69: the tea party, boston, MA.

this soundboard recording is a real gem, with a near perfect mix of instruments and voices. historically this is a watershed period for the dead, and as the decade closes out the structure and style of the band is shifting. these are the final days of the 7-man ensemble, with the departure of keyboardist tom constanten on the near horizon. in addition to the personnel changes, the sound and songs that would emerge in 1970 as workingman’s dead have begun to come into their own. on this tuesday evening in boston’s south end, the lads treat us to the full range of their repertoire. there are extended and exploratory ragas—dark star and the other one—juxtaposed with short country-flavored tunes; there are songs on the wax, such as uncle john’s band and cumberland blues, together with alligator and the eleven, numbers that would shortly be vacating the playlist.

the opening set features the first new speedway boogie available on tape, appearing just a few weeks after the tragic altamont speedway free concert. another song introduced within the previous month is black peter, which comes off quite nicely. the highlight of the set, however, is the cryptical suite. lesh’s bass pulls and steers the band and sets the pace throughout. the raw, yet coordinated ensemble performance is downright tasty.

the second set opens with two more tunes that are less than a month old—uncle john’s band and mason’s children. they both feel rough around the edges, although it is nice to hear the early chord progressions of uncle john’s, prior to it’s eventual rearrangement (with the G-B-C-D chords at the introduction and between verses). following a solid performance of china cat > know you rider, the band regroups very briefly, and then launches into 50 minutes of exploratory and visceral music, including an absolutely stellar version of dark star. this star is typical of late ’69 renditions: mellow and sweet, with TC’s organ right up in front of the mix. of course, there’s plenty of sonic play—long stretches of feedback and space—and the familiar riffs that make this tune so special. and then, after a tight spirited jam that has us sensing a transition into another motif, the tape is cut and we drop midstream into alligator. both the alligator and the eleven that follow are intense and played with vigor. although neither of these songs would be played more than a handful of times moving forward, there is no hint of boredom or inattentiveness in this performance. it’s what makes live dead so goddamned good.

https://archive.org/details/gd69-12-30.sbd.miller.28469.sbeok.shnf

1/17/69: robertson gymnasium, santa barbara, CA.

early 1969 finds the dead playing in luminous improvisatory mode, served up with an overwhelming feeling of immediacy. a few weeks prior to the avalon ballroom performance that would provide part of the music for the live dead LP, this performance is a prime example of a band fully in the midst of some absolutely vital creation. the 80-minute set presents some of the most affecting music i’ve heard in quite a while. of note, the dark star > st. stephen > the eleven > death don’t have no mercy sequence is stunning, played with an intensity and spirit par excellence. of course, the mythic status afforded the material on live dead makes it almost impossible for long-time devotees to view it objectively, but rest assured, the music on this evening is of the same innovative and vociferous quality. much of the show is a dramatic flow of dynamic ideas between the band members, who repeatedly pass rhythms and phrases across the stage. the energy is high and the interplay and quick directional changes are quite extraordinary—clearly an unassailable peak in the history of the grateful dead. listen up. https://archive.org/details/gd69-01-17.sbd.miller.89798.sbeok.flac16

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3/1/70: family dog at the great highway, san francisco, CA.

the dead team up with commander cody and his lost planet airmen for 3 nights at one of chet helms’ rotating dancehall revues. the soundboard recording begins with a rare big boy pete (only four known versions from this period), recreating that rhythm & blues sound of the early 1960s. from here, the band rolls out a truly splendid take on morning dew; the jam smokes, and jerry’s singing is sweet and transformative. after noteworthy performances of hard to handle and me & my uncle, we arrive at the big jam sequence of the show. the cryptical suite is remarkable and is much more energized than the night before. they charge into it, although dogged by feedback, and the jam peaks, ebbs, and climbs again, before segueing into a thunderous Cryptical reprise which, in time, quiets down and transitions—with chiming harmonics—into a delicious black peter.

the remainder of the night is standard, top-notch 1970’s dead, and includes early arrangements of tunes from their soon-to-be-released workingman’s dead LP, tracked at pacific high recording studios just a few weeks prior. culled from bear’s 7” master reel recording, this set is really worth your full aural attention.

https://archive.org/details/gd1970-03-01.132769.sbd.master-reel.kaplan.flac16

9/16/72: two days after the first partial mix of the lagin/lesh/garcia studio recording “seastones” was submitted to clive davis at A&R records, the dead rolled into massachusetts for two nights at the boston music hall. during the saturday night performance, ned lagin sat in with the band on the dark star > brokedown palace sequence, playing a wurlitzer electric piano and crybaby wah-wah. this was the first and only time prior to 1974 that he sat in with keith godchaux playing acoustic piano. a few years back, a pristine second set soundboard recording of the show surfaced on the archive. the dark star on this evening is one of the dead’s great masterpieces, and the entire band is completely in synch from the beginning. give it a spin.

https://archive.org/details/gd72-09-16.psbd.unknown.6683.sbeok.shnf

5/29/71: winterland arena, san francisco, CA.

one month to the day after their final historic show at the fillmore east, the dead play a benefit gig with nrps, rj fox, and james & the good bros. the performance will forever be known as the acid punch show for the two 35-gallon garbage cans full of lysergic spiked cider that made their way through the backstage doorway and into the venue. the liquid refreshment coupled with the $2 admission fee, sounds like a recipe for a darn nice evening. a few years back a beautiful sounding partial soundboard surfaced on the archive, which happily replaced the muffled audience recording i acquired back in my tape trading days. sit back, relax, pour yourself a glass of punch, and queue this beauty up.

https://archive.org/details/gd1971-05-29.sbd.miller.110324.flac16

6/14/69: monterey peninsula college, CA.

this is a very unusual and electric performance, and a must-have recording for any collection. everything the boys touch this evening is good, which tends to happen at a higher than average ratio when it comes to 1969 grateful dead. june 14th, 1969, exemplifies this in spades. the show both opens and closes with lovelight (the linked performance flip flops the sets, serving up the dark star first), the only time they would ever try this, and it really works. the second helping of the bobby bland r & b classic emerges from the depths of a primal dark star suite and, from the sound of the audience, the triumphant return of pig’s falsetto is very much welcomed. the dark star is a barn burner, beginning innocently, and then bursting into a manic pace. alongside constanten’s frantic keyboard runs and some absolutely lovely playing and screeching feedback from garcia and weir, lesh’s bass drives and pushes the arrangement and cadence of the tune into new territory. a few other highlights from the evening are a well-jammed st. stephen > the 11, a stellar me and my uncle that sneaks in after the lovelight intro with a crackling whirlwind of psychedelic power, a tasty version of doin’ that rag, and the short-lived ’69 staple, he was a friend of mine, which presents jerry in as fine vocal form as he’s been on guitar the entire night. recorded and produced by owsley stanley, this performance is well-worth a listen or three.

https://archive.org/details/gd69-06-14.sbd.skinner.5182.sbeok.shnf

9/20/70: fillmore east, new york city, NY.

this show echoes the famous and much loved february 14th gig from earlier in the year, that would be enshrined in dick latvala’s pick #4. it’s that good and, in a way, is a bit of a farewell to their ’69-style psychedelic performances. what makes this show even more special is the quality of the sound; it is, hands down, one of the best field recordings i’ve ever heard. marty weinberg recorded many of the dead’s performances in the early days of the fillmore, armed with a Uher 4000L mono reel-to-reel and an AKG D190E microphone. weinberg worked hard on improving his tapes, eventually taping at 7 ½ speed in 1970, on 5-inch reels. the sound of his recordings were often marginal compared to the versions created by the fillmore east stage crew who patched reel-to-reel machines into the PA feed under the stage. this one is definitely an exception.

set 1: this acoustic set is arguably one of the best the dead played in 1970. for starters, dave grisman adds a beautiful touch to the first two numbers on mandolin. next, bobby weir introduces david nelson with “…another mandolin,” for an unusually slow big railroad blues, and spirited versions of dark hollow and ripple. following this, is an achingly beautiful to lay me down, featuring some outstanding piano work from garcia. also, of note in the first set, is a rare acoustic version of an embryonic truckin, a swell rosalie mcfall, and a damn nice new speedway boogie.

set 2: the electric portion of the night is just as good. after a few nice intro tunes (including an uptempo sitting on top of the world), the band rolls out the rarely-played big boy pete, followed by a rousing and lengthy easy wind, the best sugar magnolia of the run, and a poignant attics of my life. the final jam-not fade away > caution (do not stop on the tracks)> feedback-is quite special. after about 7 minutes of inspired aural feedback-looping weirdness, the boys drop into a full length we bid you goodnight to close the book on the evening. this performance is some very good, good ol’ grateful dead. give it a listen.

https://archive.org/details/gd70-09-20.aud.remaster.sirmick.27583.sbeok.shnf

9/1/69: new orleans pop festival, baton rouge international speedway.

more than just the summer of love, 1969 was the summer of outdoor rock festivals and the dead played a number of them, including woodstock, oregon, british columbia, and finally louisiana. the two-day event was held at a tiny racetrack, with a broad range of heavy acts playing to a crowd of 50,000, which apparently included over 100 undercover cops combing the grounds for drugs.

the dead open their set with casey jones, playing it for just the tenth time. the song rips from the beginning, but it takes the boys a few moments to find the theme, rolling along on a parallel track of sorts for a bit. following a tasty, up-tempo morning dew, a tentative mama tried, and a sweet take on the workingman’s dead cut, high time, the audience is gifted with hands down, one of the best versions of easy wind ever recorded. after the loose, pig-led gem (and another dispensable weir’s telling of the yellow dog story), the band navigates through 60 minutes of extended improvisations beginning with a fine dark star suite. the dark star segues into a raging st. stephen that is followed, without hesitation, by an eleven that’s full of tortuous twists and turns, including a damn fine william tell bridge. the jamming gets cranked up to such a level that it can only be resolved in a hot lovelight, which of course is exactly what’s delivered to close out the set. bookmark this one for future listening, it’s a dandy.

https://archive.org/details/gd69-09-01.sbd.vernon.19963.sbeok.shnf

2/22/69: dream bowl, vallejo, CA.

the dream bowl would be an entirely forgotten venue except for the fact that a few grateful dead tapes from february 21 and 22, 1969 remain in the vaults. the small, crossroads club boasted a rich history, which included performances of greats like duke ellington and bill monroe during its heyday in the 1940’s and 50's. the joint continued to attract a local crowd for saturday night dances through the 1960’s. a san francisco examiner columnist described the dream bowl as “…an oversized quonset hut roadhouse-dancehall-brawl arena,” which seems like a perfect resting place for the kind of raw psychedelia the dead was generating at this time.

there are few bad 1969 grateful dead shows, and this vallejo gig could certainly be shelved at the top of the glorious heap. every tune on this evening has something really special going on. beginning with the gorgeously sweet mountains of the moon that, unbeknownst, suddenly arrives at a 50 minute assemblage of dark star > that’s it for the other one > death don’t have no mercy that'll shake your cerebral cortex into happy submission. the second set continues the trend, opening with a barrelhouse doin’ that rag—a perfect combination of garcia’s sparse, but punchy licks swirling around tom constanten’s amusement park organ. after this, the boys launch into a masterful st. stephen > the eleven that very much rivals the version on live dead that they would play a few weeks later at the fillmore west. the night ends with a downright epic lovelight that, I’m sure sent the crowd home more than satisfied with the $3 admission they had shelled out. recorded by bear, digitized by david gans, and meticulously transferred by charlie miller, this show is an absolute corker.

https://archive.org/details/gd1969-02-22.sbd.miller.112691.flac16

4-23-69: the ark, boston, MA.

spring, 1969. the dead roll into the northeast like a house on fire. after an exceptional gig at clark university with roland kirk, they head to boston for a 3-night run at the city's newest rock venue, the ark. the band had not graced beantown since december 1967, and all three shows at the new lansdowne street club are superb. the third night of the stand is the highlight performance; the energy is high, and you can tell that the band is really onto something and knows it. for starters, the opening cut-he was a friend of mine-is achingly beautiful, played and sung with a grace and styling that made listening to ’69 circa jerry garcia such a god damn pleasure. from here, the boys launch into 60 minutes of music that features a gorgeous dark star suite, a first rate cryptical > other one, an extremely super charged sittin’ on top of the world, and a hot set ending lovelight, with a vintage pigpen rap.

the second set, beginning with morning dew, is really mind blowing. just listen to jerry's guitar licks on hard to handle, or the way the entire sequence starting with the mckernan-led alligator flows so effortlessly, as if it couldn't be played any other way. the boston globe’s bud collins, later an award-winning sportswriter, wrote in his review that the band “was loud enough to melt the ears.” another funny tidbit i came across when researching this run, aside from how good the shows themselves were, involves the guy who introduced the band each night (included here, on the linked charlie miller transfer). apparently, the first night he had no idea: "these are some guys from the west coast..." by the last night, they were "the best fucking rock and roll band in the whole world." listening to this bear recorded gem, i couldn’t agree more.

https://archive.org/details/gd1969-04-23.sbd.miller.88501.sbeok.flac16

and the scott clugston transfer of the second night is also very much worth your attention. the mountains of the moon > dark star pairing is very much worth checking out.

https://archive.org/details/gd69-04-22.sbd.clugston.68.sbeok.shnf

5/18/72: kongressaal-deutsches museum, munich, west germany.

a little over a month removed from the band’s relatively brief beat-club TV performance, comes this monster of a show from the rhineland. the previous site of rallies hosted by der Fuhrer, the munich venue was a high-ceilinged, acoustically challenging space with reflective wood walls and narrow, vertical windows; it was a room built for performances of beethoven’s ninth, not for rock concerts fueled by 15,000 watts of audio power delivered through ron wickersham designed alembic sound systems. the dead had no concerns with these limitations on this night, executing a masterful, three-hour performance that found them playing the crap out of every song in their path.

the first set—in typical 1972 fashion—is a fifteen tune affair with just the right mix of moods and tempos, with garcia, weir, and pigpen alternating on lead vocals. the second set opens with the tour’s first performance of sitting on top of the world, and it doesn’t disappoint. it's great to hear jerry circa 1972 belt this one out with authority, driving the walter vinson penned tune forward at a breathless rockabilly clip. the relatively short (by europe ’72 standards) second set really heats up with the dark star, one of the most adventurous of the year. the boys take the tune’s theme and bend it into an ever-building cacophony of rhythms and harmonic feedback, with billy battering his toms and cymbals like a man possessed. eventually, the jam winds down and musingly drifts into a delicate and melodious version of morning dew. after a very short, transitory drum solo and a first-rate sugar magnolia, the patrons are treated to one of just two double encores of the european tour, with a bittersweet sing me back home, followed by a rockin’ one more saturday night. danke schön.

https://archive.org/details/gd1972-05-18.sbd.miller.79057.sbeok.flac16

4/20/69: atwood hall, clark university, worcester, MA.

the dead and roland kirk share the bill and play for a tiny crowd at clark’s on-campus theatre (capacity 658). the dead flew in from indiana (where they played a fine gig at purdue university), but their equipment came by truck. this explains why the stephen prung poster lists the clark performance as 4/19. anyway, 1969 wasn’t the first time the dead graced atwood hall. they performed there in the fall of ’67 and, the word is, they blew the power twice. afterwards, they simply excused themselves and promised to come back.

on april 20, 1969 they did just that, and the tape survives where jerry admits right before the morning dew opener: “last time we were here, it was a colossal disaster.” the circuits did hold up this time, and the band delivered 90 minutes of music, including a really sweet dark star and a damn nice dupree’s diamond blues > mountains of the moon encore. mr. kirk, on the other hand, seemed unhappy with the billing and waved a gun around at the dead prior to the show.

https://archive.org/details/gd69-04-20.sbd.lutch.4992.sbeok.shnf

5/23/69: seminole indian village, hollywood, FL

here’s a few sets of music from 1969 that are really worth checking out. for two nights, the dead joined muddy waters, johnny winter, nrbq, and a handful of other bands at the big rock pow-wow music festival in west hollywood, florida. the first evening kicks off with the boys stumbling through a pig-pen led hard to handle that takes a few bars for them to find their groove. after that, though, the band fully delivers the goods, including a dark star suite that rivals many from this era.

the second date is even better. it opens with a unique and noteworthy version of lovelight (the closer from the previous gig), showcasing mckernan's bravado and blues vocals. this is followed by a continuous 35-minute thread of tunes that only the dead could pull off. the newish doin’ that rag flows into an absolutely gorgeous version of he was a friend of mine, before the boys push the bedlam button with a china cat > the eleven > death don’t have no mercy combo that must have shellacked more than a few psychedelic rangers in the audience. the final 25 minutes of the night—alligator et al.—puts the finishing touches on a truly superb good ‘ol grateful dead show. recorded by bear, these performances are sonic operas that may change the way you listen to the band from this day forward. or maybe not.

https://archive.org/details/gd69-05-23.sbd.kaplan.12223.sbeok.shnf https://archive.org/details/gd69-05-24.sbd.kpfa.16177.sbeok.shnf

11/15/71: austin municipal auditorium.

if I had to pick a show to highlight from the fall ’71 tour, this one is surely more than a worthy candidate. the fall of 1971 showed the thrilling impact of keith godchaux’s arrival on the dead’s ever-morphing sound. just his 16th gig with the band, this performance is certainly one of the strongest of that era. there are two wonderful pieces of improvisation that demonstrate the utter confidence with which the band was playing at this time, one for each set. the first, a stellar dark star suite, confidently prances forward from its unusual first-set location. about 12 minutes into it, with the band deeply ensconced in deep space, cowboy bob slips el paso into the foray. jerry doesn’t miss a beat, and subtly shifts directions away from the rich vein he was previously mining. after departing the wild west, a straight-ahead jam ensues until they launch into a chug-a-lugging casey jones to end a hot 35-minutes of music.

the second set jam comes in a somewhat strange spot—wedged in between not fade away and goin’ down the road, a transition that generally lasts 4 minutes or so. but this one stretches out for an exciting 15 minutes worth. the band goes in and out of several beautiful places, re-mining the aborted mood from dark star, and play without any concern for having to rush into anything. recorded by bob mathews and remastered by david gans, this set of music is what makes listening to the grateful dead such a unique pleasure. https://archive.org/details/gd1971-11-15.sbd.set2.jupille.7735.shnf

4/10/71: mayser center, franklin & marshall college, lancaster, PA. w/the new riders of the purple sage.

a few days after the 3-day dance marathon at the manhattan center in nyc, the dead and the nrps played a fine gig in pennsylvania dutch country. the show took place on the night before easter and a student, dressed as the easter bunny, hopped around onstage delivering candy to the band as a ploy to get a good seat-typical grateful dead show shenanigans. the riders and the dead played for about 4 hours, making the $4.50 student admission price a damn good bargain. of note, the good lovin’ is very hot. recorded by bob mathews, the sound-like the band this evening-is very crisp.

https://archive.org/details/gd71-04-10.sbd.willy.8674.sbeok.shnf

12/5/71: felt forum, new york, NY, w/NRPS

on march 8, 1971, new york city’s felt forum was home to what some folks claim to be the greatest fight of the century when muhammad ali lost a 15-round decision to smokin’ joe frazier. in the week leading up to the event, the dead and the new riders of the purple sage delivered a combination punch of their own, to the fans who were lucky enough to find their butts in one of the 3500 seats in madison square garden. of the four december dates, it is the second performance that really takes the cake. 12/5/71 finds the boys playing with a power and tenacity of a heavyweight bout; they come out swinging from the get-go with a rollicking bertha, and the intensity is well represented by the fact that the band is out of tune half way through the song. "i'll let you guys keep this," bobby announces afterward to no evident meaning but plenty of guitars being tuned. the rest of the first set is tight, including an outstanding version of elvis presley’s i washed my hands in muddy water, and a stirring early take on comes a time.

i’d be remiss if i failed to talk about the second set though, namely the dark star suite that’s completely void of any verses. the band gets so involved in the jamming they don't even bother with singing a word of either stanza. whenever you think one's coming, they head for a country song instead. the pre-FM soundboard-stemmed from merry prankster tree #6-is raw, echoey, muffled, and shaky...it is, in short, a goddamned mess. but it’s a beautiful mess, none the less. strap on your headphones and let yourself be won over by this one.

https://archive.org/details/gd71-12-05.prefm.miller.3391.sbeok.shnf

10/24/72: milwaukee performing arts center, milwaukee, WI.

just the second set for this gig, and there’s a sound drop-off before casey jones, but it doesn’t matter. this one’s about the beauty of the fall of 1972, and a band that is playing above and beyond everyone's expectations. in fact, they were so impeccably spot-on that you can blindly grab any of the autumn recordings and always come out with some of the best grateful dead moments ever. trust me, i’ve listened to almost everything from this tour. of note, the sequence of truckin > the other one is immense; the other one split with he's gone is guaranteed to grab you squarely by the cerebellum. recorded by bear and transferred by c. miller (from the david gans reel master source), this performance is very much a keeper.

https://archive.org/details/gd1972-10-24.sbd.miller.106018.flac16

6/24/70: capitol theatre, port chester, NY.

this exquisite audience recording by ken and judy lee documents one of the most brilliant nights in the club’s history. both the dead and the new riders are very much on their game, but it’s the electric dead that really takes the cake. of note, the dark star suite is something far above and beyond your standard wonderful dark stars of the early 1970’s.

the recording allows you to hear every pin drop, every air burst over the heads of fans (courtesy of boots pyrotechnic services) and, seemingly, every ripple of psychedelic energy fill the theatre to the rafters. after jerry finishes singing the first verse and the sound space starts to expand, a guy in the audience quietly mutters “oh, my god.” it’s one of those great moments that can only be captured on a field recording; a convergence of the transfixing magic of the music, and the fact that it’s being captured on tape and preserved for us to hear years later.

listening to this dark star it’s easy to see why people traveled the country, following the band for so many years. i’ve queued this beauty up countless times and it never fails to blow my mind. do yourself a favor and at least listen to the 50-minute sequence from mickey’s gong > i know you rider. you won’t regret taking the time to do so. june 24, 1970 is a god damn sound satori. no doubt, you may build a mental shrine for this recording after it’s over.

https://archive.org/details/gd_nrps70-06-24.aud.pcrp5.23062.sbeok.flacf

4/24/71: wallace wade stadium, duke university.

the dead play a relatively short gig-by their standards-sandwiched in between mountain, nrps (w/jerry on steel) and the beach boys. just three days later, on 4/27, the beach boys joined the dead onstage at the fillmore east during the dead's 5-day run there, and they played 6 songs together (including good vibrations, and i get around), making this joe college weekend at duke a rather historic event in that it’s the first (and only time) that brian wilson & co shared the same bill with the dead.

as for this performance, it’s a classic grateful dead show. the truckin' opener is a trainwreck ... bobby changes keys midway through, and jerry and phil are really straining to hit the harmony notes. cumberland blues false starts, with weir explaining that "all this fuckin' around has put our instruments out of tune." this doesn’t seem to phase the band or the crowd and, when they do settle into a groove, boy do they ever. check out the hard to handle, the downright nasty good lovin’, and the lovely garcia sung merl haggard tune, sing me back home. the mike lai source sounds absolutely fantastic, even better than my beloved, crusty old maxell urII high-bias cassette tape from back in the day.

https://archive.org/details/gd71-04-24.sbd.lai.2579.sbefail.shnf

9-18-74: parc des expositions, dijon, france.

in the fall of 1974 the dead made a brief european jaunt before their winterland “retirement” run, playing 10 shows in england, germany, and france. the standout performance for me is the dijon gig, featuring what has to be considered among the best first sets ever performed by the band. sourced from the pre-FM soundboard reels and remastered by mr. charlie miller, this one is very much a keeper. https://archive.org/details/gd74-09-18.sbd.miller.20732.sbeok.shnf

and if one ned and phil outing wasn't enough, here's the seastones soundcheck from earlier that day. it's very out there, just the way i like my lagin jams.

http://spiritcats.com/gd_091874_nlagin_cro2_n90-nr_dn1_soundcheck.mp3

11/30/73: boston music hall. this gig finds the dead playing through a proto version of the wall of sound. cobbled together with JBL speakers and ElectroVoice tweeters—all in Alembic cabs, driven by McIntosh amps—the PA was almost too big for the stage. as for the actual performance, the show is transcendental. ask me why i’m crazy for the band, and i would probably reach for this recording. it’s that good. see for yourself. https://archive.org/details/gd73-11-30.sbd.vernon.8099.sbeok.shnf