1968 was a year of evolution for the dead, with many of the recordings highlighting a virtuoso rock-jazz improvisation layered in glorious feedback and rich sonic undertones. they taped a large number of shows for anthem of the sun from january through march ’68, so we have a good picture of those months. april through july ‘68 is more or less a gaping hole in the tape record, though a few fragments survive. when the old carousel ballroom closed in june of that year, owsley (who’d been taping shows there) rejoined the dead as their soundman and started taping them again on a regular basis. in may of 1968, the dead played two nights-with iron butterfly as their opening act-at the national guard armory in st. louis, MO. although this is only a snippet of the 5/24 performance, it’s a real gem. recorded by dan healy (who left the band to work for quicksilver messenger service after bear’s return), this thing really purrs. https://archive.org/details/1968-05-24St.LouisMo-NationalGuardArmory

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

in september of 1973, the dead undertook a brief 10-date east coast tour. sometimes referred to as the horn tour, the unique feature of this run was that eight of the dates featured a horn section for much of the second set. horn players had sat in with the grateful dead on a number of dates in the 1960s. for instance, charles lloyd had played flute and tenor sax with them a few times, at the human be-in and at the rock garden in 1967, and sanpaku’s gary larkey sat in on a few occasions in 1969, including a gig at the aqua theatre in seattle. joining the dead’s fall ’73 tour were tenor saxophonist/flautist martin fierro and trumpeter joe ellis, both members of doug sahm's touring band, who also opened all eight shows. here’s the last performance from 9/26 in buffalo, NY. check out the eyes > weather report suite with fierro and ellis augmenting the band, and infusing their own solos into the mix.

https://archive.org/details/gd1973-09-26.sbd-repatched.miller.80198.sbeok.flac16

1/23/70: honolulu civic auditorium.

the dead play the first of two shows on the hawaiian island of oahu. this was the band’s inaugural trip to hawaii and they don't disappoint. of note, the dead were so into playing on the island state that they did so for a mere $6000 bucks per night. i’ve read a few places that they even paid for their own airline tickets, which is impressive because they had so little money at the time.

of the two shows, it is the first night that completely reeled me in. from the opening jammed out china > rider, you can feel the boys are completely on their game. the sound quality is superb, with bear dialing the system into just the right amount of shrieking feedback and beyond. other first set highlights include one of the best played black peters of the era and a tasty good lovin’ infused with great harmonies. things really start to heat up in the second frame, and the band has the gall to lay down both an incendiary cryptical suite and an absolutely unhinged dark star > st. stephen combo. and if that isn’t enough, they tack on a 36 ½ minute lovelight just for kicks. all this for 3 buckeroos in advance, $4 at the door. aloha.

https://archive.org/details/gd70-01-23.sbd.fixed.connor.18153.sbeok.shnf

3/23/75: SNACK benefit, kezar stadium, san francisco, CA.

the dead had officially retired from performing after their five-night stand at winterland in october, 1974, so it was quite a surprise when they appeared in concert (and on the radio) at kezar stadium in the spring of 1975. the band played entirely unheard new material, joined by guest keyboardists merl saunders and ned lagin. the day's performance was billed as jerry garcia & friends, but it was generally perceived as a dead show. in terms of the set, i love the fact that they broke out a bunch of instrumental tunes from blues for allah before the official release of the record. this is so good ‘ol grateful dead-playing parts of an unfinished album live on the KIOI fm airwaves. the performance documents the fertile period of exploration the band was engaged in during their “retirement.” in a larger sense, the dead’s choice of material they played for the SNACK gig announced to their fans that they were not only recording, they were still busily carving a unique path that no one expected. the grateful dead were still in the game, even if the rules of the game were not yet known.

https://archive.org/details/gd1975-03-23.sbd.miller.110126.flac16

4/6/69: avalon ballroom, san francisco.

the dead headline one of the earliest live remote FM broadcasts, sharing the bill with the flying burrito brothers and wayne ceballos's power trio, AUM. thanks to the KPFA broadcast and the owsley-recorded gram parsons with the flying burrito brothers live at the avalon ballroom 1969 release (amoeba records 2007), we have a very good idea what the burritos sounded like when they opened for the dead. jerry was a huge fan of the first burritos album, the gilded palace of sin; what garcia got from listening to the burrito’s steel player sneaky pete kleinow was a sound, and he heard the possibilities of the sound through kleinow's fuzzboxes and Leslie speakers. jerry could have stuck with the electric guitar in the new riders format which would have sounded great, but the idea of an amplified pedal steel through bear's speaker set-up was too tempting, necessitating the purchase of his zand beck double 10 a few weeks later in lakewood, CO.

anyway, the dead did play a very fine set on this evening and their electric performance is one of the owsley recordings from 1969 that i return to again and again. highlights include a downright nasty cryptical suite, stellar takes on it’s all over now baby blue & death don’t have no mercy, and a solid turn on your lovelight with all the customary mckernan trimmings. after a bit of tuning, viola lee blues closes things out. the version is smoking hot, even with a power outage that forces the boys to sing the last few bars a cappella.

https://archive.org/details/gd69-04-06.sbd.fm.cotsman.9492.sbeok.shnf

And here's a new 2021 upload of the whole tamale via the KPFA broadcast. Right on.

https://archive.org/details/avalon-1967-grateful-dead-flying-burritos-aum-kpfa

2-11-70: fillmore east, new york, NY.

the dead, the allman brothers, and love play a 3-night hitch at the fabled fillmore east. and what a run it was, with many fine collaborative moments captured on bear’s reels. the first night is quite famous in grateful dead lore. in the middle of the second set, duane allman joined the band, brilliantly complementing garcia’s guitar work on dark star. the spanish jam that followed includes gregg allman’s keys in the mix, and the culminating lovelight is completely off the charts. strap on your headphones and try this one out. https://archive.org/details/gd1970-02-11.126251.sbd.wolfe-lee-smith.flac16

4/18/71: lusk field house, SUNY, cortland, new york. this is a really fun show from the '71 spring tour. the band is very loose and the commentary between songs is a hoot. highlights include a swell cold rain & snow opener, and a fine china cat> know you rider > casey jones combo. pigpen's rap is also worth the price of admission. give it a whirl. https://archive.org/details/gd71-04-18.sbd.fink.7112.sbeok.shnf

here's something to warm your ears on a snowy sunday morning. the third show of the europe '72 tour, found the dead played an outstanding gig in the industrial town of newcastle, england. in the liner notes of the complete europe box set, rosie mcgee writes that the music had a transformative quality that evening and "…the concrete walls somehow turned into green pastures." thanks to the archive, we have this rex jackson 3/4 reel tape recording to savor. graze a while, you won't regret it: https://archive.org/details/gd1972-04-11.sbd.jackson.smith.94377.sbeok.flac16

4/5/71: show number two of a three night stand—billed as the grateful dead dance marathon—was held at the manhattan center, a small, multi-purpose venue located on west thirty-fourth street in new york city. the manhattan center ballroom had aquamarine walls covered with murals on various social themes. under one of the largest of these murals read, ‘for the furtherance of industry, religion, and the enjoyment of leisure.’ the dance marathon fell, presumably, under the heading of leisure, although there certainly might have been a religious angle to be found somewhere. five bucks a pop.

https://archive.org/details/gd1971-04-05.sbd.miller.110127.flac16