The second half has much of the same splendor as the earlier set, at least until the band rolls out Here Come Sunshine, which vaults them to a different level altogether. They roll through that tune, building intensity in the shared vocals of each chorus while Phil and the drummers driving everyone on. The song devolves into a crazy, spacey jam that eventually morphs into a perfectly rendered Me and Bobby McGee. After a half second of hesitation, the boys launch into the prelude to Weather Report Suite, only to think better of it and smoothly transition into an epic Eyes> China Doll that does not look back.

This night’s show was the Dead’s first trip to the legendary Boston Garden. They would end up playing twenty-four shows at the venue over the years. And the band already had a six-show run scheduled for September 1995 that would have been the last concert the Garden hosted. There was a ten-year period through the eighties where the Dead did not play the venue, reportedly because the Garden’s manager caught them grilling lobsters on a fire escape before the show. After he tossed all their lobsters in the trash, the boys vowed never to return. But somehow they made their way back in 1991 for a lengthy six-show stop.

At this 1973 show, the floor must have been open for general admission. After the Row Jimmy, in an attempt to get people to move back from the stage, Bobby gets on the mike and, in his deadpan style, tells everyone that they “just let loose a bushel of spiders, big fat tarantulas” up front.