8/21/69: green lake theatre, seattle, WA.

NO SHOW: UNGRATEFUL CLAMOR DIDN'T RAISE THE DEAD

the performance was originally scheduled for the previous night. the seattle times reported that “…from 6 to 7 p.m. the musicians assembled their amplification equipment on stage, sawed wood to place under the many huge speakers, fooled with the p.a. system, and tore down a sagging, ripped sheet that apparently had been intended as a backdrop. someone was blowing bubbles. another played a harmonica. at 7 p.m. someone yelled, "are ya gonna play, or not?" the cry was taken up by the audience. some cherry bombs exploded in the water. finally some rain fell—a few drops proved the highlight of the evening.” in true grateful dead fashion, the band took the night of august 20 on the road for a surprise appearance at a place called el roach on ballard ave. unfortunately, no tapes of the impromptu event can be found.

and so, on the evening of august 21, 1969, the dead, nrps, and sanpaku played in front of a moat in what proved to be the last gig at the aqua theatre. this is the first co-billing with the new riders, featuring garcia on pedal steel for anyone interested in that little snippet of dead lore. also of note is that the guest flautist who joins the band on a few numbers is none other than sanpaku's gary larkey, and not the esteemed charles lloyd as was erroneously reported in other accounts. the boys serve up casey jones as the opener. it’s slow, swampy and just messy enough to get your attention. the first taped version of easy wind is next on the docket; mckernan’s bravado is turned way up, and the band alternates between rolling blues grooves. a few more highlights from the early portion of the set include a flawless execution of bonnie dobson's morning dew, a fantastic high time that both showcases garcia's confident singing and the full-band harmonies that are really starting to come together, and an unusual new minglewood blues > china cat sunflower > doin’ that rag combination that features a fabulous transition jam peppered with larkey’s flute/scatting embellishments.

after another pigpen-sung number and a fine run through sittin’ on top of the world, we arrive at the finale of the extended green lake set. the last thirty minutes of the performance-an ultra-compact that’s it for the other one > dark star > cosmic charlie-are really something. the dark star is the shortest of the era, clocking in at less than 7 minutes with both verses. despite its brief, fleeting nature, it still packs a voltaic punch. the real news though is that the slow take on cosmic charlie is finally working, complete with assured vocals and tight playing.

taped by owsley with a fine digital transfer from j. cotsman, this set is a vital 1969 recording that shouldn’t be missed.

https://archive.org/details/gd69-08-21.sbd.cotsman.13850.sbeok.shnf