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