The set continues in splendid fashion with the boys displaying all the power and verve they put on display in Europe. The China> Rider and Playin’, as you would expect, are both standouts of that first half, but the first-ever Stella Blue is simply amazing with Pigpen providing some haunting organ. Pig and his organ come out to play again, dominating the Truckin’ that opens the second set. It is a romping, rock and roll clinic with some serious blues riffs thrown in for good measure. At the end of the Truckin’, a tumbling Billy drum solo – excellent in its own right, especially with the audience reaction – segues into The Other One that starts out driving and purposeful, then enters into some seriously jazzy space that has the sound of a different Dead era, making the tune all the more stunning. The rest of the show is very good as well with an electric Sugar Mags and a stormy Not Fade Away> Going Down the Road Feeling Bad. There was no traditional encore, but One More Saturday Night closed the show.

As we said, the Stella Blue is the first ever, and Pig makes such a splendid addition to the tune, his organ’s funereal sound particularly haunting in retrospect. Though Hunter had written the tune all the way back in 1970, its debut on Pigpen’s last night with the boys is one of those eerie coincidences that turn up so often in the Dead’s history. After all, the lyrics suggest a dying bluesman looking back on the broken dreams of a hard life on the road. Ron Pigpen McKernan, rest in peace.