1/2/70: fillmore east, new york, NY.

the dead welcomed the 1970s with two nights at bill graham’s east village club, playing early and late shows on both friday and saturday night, which was the standard arrangement there.

the first night's performance is really something. the opening set contains some fine early takes on black peter and cumberland blues, with a smoking cryptical suite thrown in for good measure. the late set begins with four workingman’s numbers, including a lovely uncle john’s band > high time pairing. the harmonies are outstanding and the playing is intelligent and restrained. a few songs, a broken string, and a bit of tuning later, the lads launch into dark star; this evening's version is revelatory, transformative and, in my estimation, on par with any run through the hunter-garcia tune from this era (even with the ugly cut at the 30:10 mark). similar to the dark star they’ll perform a month later in the same venue, the musicianship and deep ensemble improvisatory processes are stunning. it's one of those sequences that makes listening to the grateful dead so goddamn satisfying. following this intergalactic masterpiece the band unwinds with 40 more minutes of music, including an outstanding lovelight with all the mckernan trimmings.

sourced from bear’s 7 ½ “ reel master and digitized by jim wise, this performance is a treasure from top to bottom. https://archive.org/details/gd1970-01-02.137375.sbd.wise.sirmick.sbeok.flac16/gd1970-01-02lt12.flac