4/13/69: student union ballroom, university of colorado, boulder.
not much was going down musically in boulder in the sixties. the one band that did originate in boulder—the excellent zephyr, featuring tommy bolin and candy givens—often claimed that they were the only band in town. denver, on the other hand, had a more interesting live music history. early in the sixties there had been a modest jazz scene in the five points neighborhood, which hosted international acts such as louis armstrong and duke ellington. a number of smaller clubs like the exodus, caatacombs, and the cave featured up-and-coming bands playing psychedelic folk and rock on the weekends. in september of '67, chet helms opened a branch of the family dog on 1601 west evans avenue in an effort to compete effectively with bill graham. it was a very clever idea, providing touring bands with a paying show partway to san francisco. locals were greeted to a number of national acts including jimi hendrix, blue cheer, cream, buffalo springfield, and big brother & the holding company. unfortunately, the denver sheriff, with the support of the political establishment, harassed helms incessantly and the family dog closed its doors in july of 1968.
the grateful dead, always the pioneers, did venture to boulder in the spring of '69. the unique event seems to have been a throw-in following shows at the university of arizona and utah, before motoring to omaha and then on to a purdue university performance the following week. playing the no-doubt tiny student union was probably just gigging for food and gas money. lord knows the dead were used to this practice—a necessity of the road, and something they had done time and again since their early acid tests days.
a 25-minute (& incomplete) turn on your lovelight gets things going. the band takes its sweet time warming up, building to some solid pigpen crowd work to get the vibe on for the evening. after an abreviated doin' that rag courtesy of a tape cut, weir asks "hey, do you want it now or later?" the now is another dose of mckernan, and a palatial good morning little schoolgirl with some fat harp work by the pigger. the final 54 minutes of set one is very compelling. dark star kicks it off. the playing is stunning, and the small post verse tape gap—as the ensemble is accelerating toward oblivion—is barely noticeable. the segue into st. stephen is efficient and is met with animated applause. tonight’s version is spot on, with just the right amount of fuzzy weir guitar and TC amusement park flavor on his trusty vox super continental. the eleven that emerges has a relaxed, almost laidback feel. it picks up a bit at the climax and lands sweetly onto death don’t have no mercy; the group dynamic is textbook, with delightful, subdued guitar tones.
after almost two hours, the band takes a set break. when they return to the stage we get 14 minutes of alligator with a short garcia/drummers jam, some chanting, more jamming, & a we bid you goodnight theme before the tape cuts off.
recorded by bear and digitally transfered by c. miller, this boulder outing is aces from top to bottom. see for yourself.
https://archive.org/details/gd1969-04-13.sbd.miller.87378.sbeok.flac16/gd69-04-13d2t04.flac
