10/25/69: winterland ballroom, san francisco, CA. w/the jefferson airplane, stills & nash, and sons of champlin.

after a year of extensive touring with shows in mostly smaller clubs and auditoriums, the dead play three nights at the winterland ballroom. with a capacity of 5400, the renowned sutter street venue was over twice the size of the fillmore west, so this was a substantial show, hence the co-billing with the jefferson airplane. the poster advertised two nights, and the third night-sunday, october 26-was added when ticket sales justified another performance. this is probably how bill graham had it planned all along, a strategy that he would employ many times in subsequent decades. portions of the dead shows were recorded in mono and broadcast later on KPFA-FM, berkeley.

the dead followed sons of champlin, a short acoustic outing by stephen stills & graham nash, and the airplane, closing out a monumental show. while their set contains only four songs, it is absolutely brilliant from a performance aspect. every tune is played with precision and swagger, much like the transcendent fillmore west recordings that made their way onto live dead.

the action begins right away with a beautifully executed dark star, that features all the variations and nuances we've come to expect from this era. the synergy is palpable as the band reaches further and further toward deep space; garcia, lesh, and TC propel things along, exploring contemplative themes and jazzy, opulently melodic improvisation. we get both verses and, as was the custom, a high voltage st. stephen rises out of the ashes of the dark star. the eleven that follows is just as explosive and the degree of collaborative expression is astounding. garcia creates new phrasing and infectious riffs at every turn, while lesh carrys us madly along, ruthlessly plucking out diverse combinations of meter within the eleven-beat time signature.


as the jam extends and morphs, phil steers the group into turn on your lovelight. pig takes over vocal duties, and the lads roll out an absolutely rousing take on the bobby bland r&b number that, no doubt, had everyone in the winterland crowd up and dancing. about six minutes in, the band locks in on a groove; mckernan raps intuitively, punctuating the mix with his standard rodomontade. among the background vocals by weir, garcia and lesh, we can make out the voice of stephen stills in the chorus, "let it shine, let it shine." in due time, stills begins to integrate his gretsch white falcon into the fray. garcia's strat and owsley hot-wired rig thunders with equal sonic vigor, although his tone is cleaner and sweeter than stills' biting timbre. for the remaining fifteen minutes, jerry and stephen trade riffs and vamp along, adding great piquancy to an already great rendition. the band pushes the envelope further and the playing reaches a feverish intensity before the musicians usher the song to a searing climax.

following a minute or two of standing ovation, bill graham takes the stage and sums it up perfectly by saying, "we may be a little prejudiced but let's get one thing said… on any given night, the very greatest rock and roll band in the world, the grateful dead."

https://archive.org/details/gd69-10-25.sbd.jagla.81.sbefail.shnf

10/12/68: avalon ballroom, san franciso, CA.

this show has circulated for years mislabeled 10/13/68, but it's really october 12, 1968. the gig didn't have a live FM broadcast, although there was a mid-1970's KSAN broadcast (up through the jam after new potato) and that is the origin of the 10/13/68 tapes. dick latvala found the master reel in the vault of the complete second set, which was not in circulation until recently. this performance was a favorite of dick's and always landed on his topnotch, must-hear, tape list. one listen and it's easy to see why. it should be noted that pig is absent for this show, maybe temporarily fired, maybe not.

before we get the goods, jerry shares some thoughts: "hold onto your bodies and relax, everybody. everybody relax for crissakes, everybody just cool it. everything's gonna be alright. we're gonna play here until, until uh, until we drop." weir, the consummate mc follows garcia, "we’re going to do an elementary dance number-it’s a foxtrot and also a ladies' choice." we've heard that one before, but it still seems appropriate for the occasion.

they dig right in and, without pig, the band's sound really opens up. the three previous nights of hartbeats experimentation at the matrix are immediately obvious in the 38-minute first set consisting of dark star > st. stephen > the eleven > death don't have no mercy. the dark star is bold with soaring instrumental work by garcia and lesh. the remainder of the set is completely off the rails good, highlighted by a plaintive, massive death don’t have no mercy, with jerry reaching in deep and fervidly belting out every last lyrical phrase. some would argue it's possibly the greatest grateful dead tape side out there. having listened to the opening sequence from this night countless times, i'd have to say i'm open to such a claim.

set two is another 42-minutes of pure pleasure. the cryptical suite is well-developed and loaded with brilliant musicianship; it escalates to beastly heights, with garcia peeling off notes at a dizzying rate. the reprise flows easily into new potato caboose with concise drum breaks and major key bliss, including a happy thirteen's jam awash in warmly psychedelic experimentation. in due time, the jamming shifts gears and a caution theme threatens to develop before decending into a haunting 7 full minutes of glockenspiel-laced feedback to close out the night.

seeded by david gans with a solid digital transfer from chris frisco, this show is a must for any fans of late '68 grateful dead. the band is playing with a special intensity—fearless, messy, and monstrously weird. plug in, it's très contagious.

https://archive.org/details/gd68-10-12.sbd.eD.10909.sbeok.shnf/gd68-10-12t11.shn