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