Dead of the Day: 01-03-1970
Fillmore East
New York, New York
On a cold and blustery day in early January, the Dead opened the final night of their two-day run by easing into Morning Dew. It starts off a little rough, but finishes in magnificent form, suggesting – rightly as it turns out – that the band was warming up to something special. The boys continue to feint and bluster through the next few tunes, flashing signs of brilliance – Pig on Hard To Handle, for instance – without weaving a seamless whole that amounted to much more than the sum of its parts. All that begins to change with the ineluctable splendor of the unfolding Alligator. By the time Billy and Mickey take over, with the raspy cabasa evoking the beast itself slinking through the swamp, the boys are conjuring some serious matter. The lengthy jam that follows peripatetically hints at one tune then roars into another theme, suddenly unleashing a stunning Alligator reprise before heading into a haunting, Hitchcock-esque Feedback Jam. They then come out to finish off the early show with a touching Uncle John’s encore.
The second show opens with a fine Casey Jones, but things really start to cook with the China Cat Sunflower> I Know You Rider. Like the sun breaking over a mist covered landscape, the boys shine their light on all that they survey, sending off refracted sparks of joy and warming souls all around. One of the few Mason’s Children follows sounding lovely in mind-meld form as TC’s organ and the drummers provide a sensational backdrop for the guitars and harmonized vocals. And then The Other One Suite breaks out with a tremendous opening Cryptical, sucking all the air out of the Fillmore East, holding it in through the frenetic Drums, and then sending it back out in a full-on rush as they drive into The Other One itself with Jerry’s guitar searing the tune throughout. More good stuff follows on The Other One’s heels, sweeping towards the Good Lovin’ and Dancin’ that close out the set in truly exuberant form. But the boys are far from done, throwing out a Stephen for the first encore and then coming back with an unparalleled Midnight Hour.
On Archive, one karptheharp relates what it was like in the growing dawn after the show as,
People huddled in little groups outside the Fillmore as it grew light and began to snow. No one wanted to leave. All you could hear was whispering, ‘best show I ever saw, best show ever.’ I congratulated Jerry and the entire band as they left through the front lobby to go across 2nd Avenue. They were so tired but so happy. It was pure bliss.
Like a torero or a soldier in a Hemingway story, the band had fought the good fight and came away having known they touched perfection, and those who witnessed it were enlightened, awed, and, no doubt, changed forever.
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