3/23/72: academy of music, new york, NY.

early 1972 was a relatively quiet time for the grateful dead. over the first few months they only played two gigs—winterland on january 2, and a short american indian benefit at winterland again on march 5. during this period, bob weir and john barlow wrote a bunch of new songs that were recorded over a few weeks in january/february for bobby’s first long player, ace. jerry’s solo record was also released at this time (along with merl saunder’s first LP), and he took the opportunity to play a number of local shows with saunders, as well as a short east coast tour with howard wales in support of the newly released garcia/wales LP, hooteroll.

big plans were brewing, though.

at the end of march, the band served up seven nights at the academy of music, a dilapidated 3,400 capacity double-balconied movie house in new york’s east village. the academy run—the last stopover before the historic european tour—provided a nice tune-up for the 24 dates the band would navigate in april and may. the academy shows have been widely traded and, beginning with dick’s picks 30, have seen a number of official releases from the dead’s vault. most recently, dave lemieux featured the march 26 show as his 14th pick. i’ve listened to all of the academy of music performances—both crappy audience recordings and master reel tapes—and my preference lies with the third night’s offering, based on the song selection, quality of playing, and the absolutely blistering second set. a few years back, rob eaton got his mitts on betty cantor-jackson’s master reel of the 3/23 show and cleaned the entire reel by hand, before making a digitized version available on the archive. the result is a performance that very much captures a band at the height of their artistic powers. 1972 dead is truly a special thing to behold, especially when listening in such close detail to such a spotless recording as this.

https://archive.org/details/gd1972-03-23.sbd.miller.100000.sbeok.flac16

3/18/71: fox theatre, st. lous, MO w/the new riders of the purple sage

nestled in between the renowned february port chester shows (that bade adieu to mickey hart) and the historic fillmore east run in late april, march of ’71 had everything going against it. barely any tapes of the march gigs circulate, with the exception of a fine sufi benefit show at winterland. recently, i stumbled onto a second set soundboard from 3/18 at the fox theatre in st. louis that redefined a lot of what i thought i knew about the year. on both the old and new songs, the band seemed to take mickey’s departure and the roster adjustment in complete stride and come out on the other side all the better for it. the recording sounds fantastic, and the energy beaming out of the band on this night leaps off the tape. jerry’s playing is crisp and stirring, and the tone of his custom-built alembic guitar is really special.

the set 2 opening sequence of truckin > drums > the other one > wharf rat is smoking, and must have sounded astounding piped through the mcIntosh tube amps of the ron wickersham-designed sound system. the rest of the set features some of the most enjoyable music of the year. for starters, the boys absolutely nail sugar magnolia; jerry’s wa-wa is switched on throughout, providing an ample amount of psychedelic charm to the weir-led number. they follow this with a greatest story > johnny b. goode one-two combo that, again, is awash with stellar wa-wa action from mr. garcia. the final 35 minutes of the show is classic good ol’ grateful dead. buddy holly’s not fade away kicks it off, and man are the lads fired up. they transition into the oft-paired goin’ down the road feeling bad, a tune they had been working out since the fall of the previous year. after this, it gets really interesting when, instead of returning to the holly opener, the band slides into an older cut from anthem of the sun: caution (do not stop on tracks). the tune is played with a bluesy swagger, and pig’s harp gets a damn good workout. the caution eventually is subverted into a sea of feedback, harkening back to the primal dead of ’68. in fact, this is the last time feedback shows up in a set list like this. after the loop of glorious noise concludes, the band tunes up and leaves the crowd with a superb uncle john’s band finale. culled from a bob mathews 7 inch half track reel master recording, this set is meant to be consumed liberally.

https://archive.org/details/gd1971-03-18.132491.sbd.mathews.wise.flac16/t12.flac

2/7/69: stanley theatre, pittsburgh, PA.

the dead headline an early and late friday night show on top of an interesting triple bill with the velvet underground and the fugs. the VU kicked off both gigs and, according to a report, blasted the crowd with high volume music that was “loud enough to reach the inner core of being without shattering the transcendence of community.” sounds appealing. the fugs, led by poet-activists ed sanders, tuli kupferberg, and ken weaver, brought their usual schtick—a perfect combination of irreverence, political satire, and psychedelic grooves—to the stanley crowd.

the dead’s 48-minute early set is solid with the classic '69 sequence of dark star > st. stephen > the eleven > turn on your lovelight. the late performance is where they really get things going. similar to the velvets, the dead were innovators in using feedback as a meaningful musical statement. the late set on this evening is a goddamned holy sonic tour de force. the opening cryptical suite is stunning. the death don’t have no mercy that follows is pure blues. and just when you thought they couldn’t dial it up any further, the boys get down to business with 40 more minutes of emboldened music—alligator > caution (do not stop on tracks) > feedback > and we bid you goodnight—adroitly filled with inspired jamming, ample intentional screech, and verve. an electric monster, unleashed. recorded by bear on a portable concord F-400 cassette deck, and lovingly restored/transferred by rob eaton, this show is one of the finest examples of 1969 dead you’ll ever get your ears on.

https://archive.org/details/gd1969-02-07.137392.sbd.wise.sirmick.sbeok.flac16

7/16/70: euphoria ballroom, san rafael, CA.

this impromptu show-two nights after the scheduled performance with nrps-is significant for two reasons: it was the final time the dead would share a stage with janis joplin, and it served as bear's pre-prison farewell following a bust the day before with housemates bob matthews & betty cantor. the partial set comes to us from ken babbs' son, simon, who uploaded it from jerry's personal stash of tapes. the version of attics of my life is astounding.
https://archive.org/details/gd1970-07-16.set-2.sbd.ed.32575.sbeok.shnf/gd70-07-16d2t01.shn

and the remainder of the show-including janis's unrestrained reading of turn on your lovelight-courtesy of charlie miller and sir mick.
https://archive.org/details/gd1970-07-16.140310.sbd-partial.miller.sirmick.flac1644

9-11-73: william & mary college hall, williamsburg, VA.

the ’73 fall tour was highlighted by a ten night spin up the east coast. eight of the performances featured tenor saxophonist/flautist martin fierro and trumpeter joe ellis, both members of doug sahm's touring band, who also opened for the dead each night. of the fall run, this night is the one that really speaks to me. it’s a bit more rough around the edges than the cleaner, jazzier, playing that characterized much of 1973. garcia’s solos gnaw at the bone, lesh’s bass work is fierce and exploratory, and keith plays the saloon style piano reminiscent of his first tour in the fall of ’71. after the band finishes their warm-up tunes, they get down to business with a fiery china > rider. at this juncture, they’re playing with unbridled abandon like it’s the end of the show. even the el paso is a stunning success, as jerry solos from beginning to end with the utmost exuberance. the set-ending playing in the band is a rousing version, performed with just the right amount of furious jamming and unpredictability.

the second set is loaded with new tunes from wake of the flood, including a weather report suite that features some spicy horn-blowing from fierro and ellis who, despite the fact that this is their first gig of their brief tenure with the dead, seem numinously locked into the structure and nuance of the song. after the horns depart, garcia sings a bittersweet version of row jimmy with just the right plaintive guitar and vocal touches. this is followed by a trio of rockers: big river, deal, and beat it on down the line, each thoroughly peppered with virtuosic stick-work from billy kreutzmann.

the set-closing dark star > morning dew is surely a highpoint of the evening. early on, lesh steers the ship, taking pleasure in undercutting everyone else’s ideas. in time, a more jazzier feel emerges, led by keith on electric piano. jerry eventually guides the band into the first verse, but as the vocal track fades out, phil begins assaulting the crowd with bruising chords. this turns into one of the loudest, nastiest solos lesh has ever played. pure exposure. lesh continues shoveling sounds loose from his bass making this one of the strangest sounding beginnings to morning dew ever. garcia sings it sweetly as if nothing unusual is going on. the closing jam is outstanding with jerome joining phil for some lunar riffs of his own. all in all, this is an exceptional show and definitely should be considered for an official vault release.

https://archive.org/details/gd73-09-11.sbd.lanum.184.sbeok.shnf/gd9-11-73d1track08.wav.shn

11-25-73: feyline field, tempe, AZ. here’s an overlooked show from the fall ’73 tour. note for note, this performance is almost flawless; the playing goes from average to downright brilliant, with strong and deliberate vocals all around. some first set highlights include a fine take on sugaree, a very hot china cat > know you rider with a nice bluesy jam, and a highly exploratory playing in the band, loaded with thick jazzy textures.

set 2 finds the band ready to jump back into where they left off. after a rollicking around and around dusts off the cobwebs of the intermission, they haul out a few chartbusters from the recently released wake of the flood LP. the 30-minute sequence—eyes of the world > stronger than dirt > weather report suite—is revelatory, including an absolute scorcher of a pre-coda jam from jerome on let it grow. listening to this portion of the show, it’s not hard to imagine how satisfying it must’ve been to have made the trip to tempe that day. the charlie miller transfer from kidd candelario’s master reel recording is a huge upgrade from the cassette transfer previously available on the archive. https://archive.org/details/gd1973-11-25.sbd.miller.113007.flac16/gd73-11-25d1t11.flac

4/14/71: bucknell university, lewisburg, PA.

the dead and the new riders play a swell gig at the on-campus davis gymnasium. tour manager sam cutler introduces the band’s “penultimate pennsylvania performance.”

the show is a real scorcher and well worth repeated listenings. highlights include a nice truckin' opener, a sweet 9-minute bird song (the first since the port chester debut(s) in february) and a brilliant cryptical envelopment > drums > other one > wharf rat sequence. the tape also features some very early ’70s stage banter, and the dick latvala transfer from the bob mathew’s 7 inch ¼ track reel master is a damn nice recording for this period.

https://archive.org/details/gd1971-04-14.132733.sbd.matthews.wise-droncit.flac1648