What we have here for our Dead of the Day is one of those superlative shows where nearly every note seems to be in the perfect place. It is not necessarily that this is the best show ever – though you could easily argue that – but instead that every song is gorgeously satisfying and all harmoniously fit together into an arc of seamless loveliness. Of course, there is the matter of the monster Dark Star in the second set, coming in at three-quarters of an hour and sparking controversy on Dead message boards everywhere. Is it the greatest Dark Star of them all or just a self-indulgent fount of mindless noodling? Well, we think it is closer to the former, but it is up to you to decide for yourselves. So, we are not going to say anything…

Brent, Jerry, and Bobby are firing away from the very beginning with a stunning Alabama Getaway. Then the boys go into a Promised Land in which Bobby’s voice is a little off, but the playing itself is bright and focused. After that, they switch gears into a sweet Friend Of The Devil, made all the more so by Jerry’s vocals and muted explosiveness on the guitar. From there, it is back to a Bobby tune with his voice sounding just dandy now. The band plays CC Rider at regular speed until going all Elvis and zipping off in mesmerizing fashion about halfway through. The rest of the first set continues to deliver, leading up to an incredible Passenger, which quakes with Phil’s bombs. Then, to top off the set, the boys lay into an amazing…

Our recording opens up with some fun banter between Bobby and Jerry. Then someone gets on the mike, introduces the band, and invites the audience to what would become the infamous Altamont Free Concert. The band then gets things rolling with a solid Casey Jones. After that, a stretch of tuning and mindless playing starts to coalesce into a stunning first version of Black Peter. Some further announcements and additional tuning follow on Black Peter’s heels before fairly routine versions of Big Boss Man, Me And My Uncle, and Cumberland Blues comes out. Then a clipped Dire Wolf leads us to a positively beatific Dark Star, which is mesmerizing from start to finish. We could listen to this thing on repeat…