To really enjoy the music, we have Hunter Seamons’s matrix cued up here on the page. And this recording makes the show come alive right from the start, transporting you into the middle of a fiery crowd itching to shake their bones. As the band takes the stage, you can practically see the boys passing glances at the roadies and each other while the sound of them fiddling with the tuning surrounds you.

Hell in a Bucket opens the action, and the energy the band brings to it suggests good things are coming. And right on cue afterwards, a tasty Althea laced with misty runs by Jerry demonstrates just how rich and luminous both his playing and vocals could be at times in the last years. Same Thing, a tune later, is as deep and bluesy as the Dead could get without Pig in the lineup. Vince and Bruce’s keys, Jerry’s spare picking, and Bobby’s delivery is so sweet. From there, the band charges forward into a Brown-Eyed Women and a Maggie’s Farm out of Mexicali. Bruce torches the Maggie’s Farm and even comes in to take a verse from Bobby. The Bird Song that emerges next is another one of those magical moments where Bruce seems to elevate Jerry, continually adding some emotive, colorful jams that goad Jerry on to transcendent guitar work. But all good things must end, and this set goes out with a ripping Promised Land.

After the break, the band follows up that dynamic first half by shifting it up a notch further still with a lengthy, funky Shakedown. The crowd, deep in full-on boogie mode, only gets a moment’s rest before Jerry and the drummers pound the way into Man Smart, Woman Smarter. Here, the boys take the Harry Belafonte classic into some lusty territory with a series of vigorous, steamy jams. Mickey and Billy lay down a heart-pounding beat that could rival anything on the streets of Carnival, and Jerry, Brent, and Bruce put in a calypso-Dixieland combination that is non-stop frolicking fun. From there it is full-stop into the first tocsin notes of Dark Star, eventually drawing a massive roar from the Heads when the first vocals cascade out. While Jerry’s voice sounds so rough at this point, the boys deliver a mesmerizing Dark Star, that massages the soul before moving out of dreamy space and into a Bruce-fueled romp through the Shenandoah. But then the rhythm devils take over, getting into percussive adventures all their own before eventually landing in a monochromatic deep space ether from which the rest of the ensemble, slowly coming back on stage, poke forth from, meandering into The Other One. On the back end of that charger, marred only by Healy turning Bobby into Alvin and the Chipmunks a few times, Jerry takes center stage for a majestic Standing on the Moon. From there, the set closes with Lovelight before the boys come back out for a good ol’ US Blues north of the border. With that, the first show of this last Canadian run for the Grateful Dead was in the books. The following night, Jerry would be practically asleep at the wheel, and, the band, despite Bruce’s efforts, couldn’t get anywhere near the heights they did this evening. The show here is one of the last of the truly great performances for the Grateful Dead.

For the Heads coming in for the Friday-Saturday run, Hamilton opened city parks to camping and provided warm showers to all the dirty hippies. But the fondest memories of the attendees, outside of the show itself, seem to be reserved for the cops. Officers wore happy face buttons above their badges, traded thoughts on openers outside the gate, gave people the money to buy food in the lot, and had nothing but good vibes for everyone. They could do nothing about the weather, though, which was frigid, turning into a blizzard on Saturday night for the trek across to Detroit and the final stand of the tour.