Some classic primal Dead was unleashed on Chicago on this night in 1969. A heady Morning Dew opens up the show, repeatedly blasting off to stratospheric heights and then getting enchantingly slow and somber only to blast off once again. From Dew, they take it into an exploratory Dark Star. As in the Dew, there are stretches of thick air and achingly drawn out subtleties as the Dead steal your face almost as much with what they aren’t playing as by what they are. And one of those pregnant pauses is what sets up at the end of the Dark Star before Stephen just spills forth in a rush. The Stephen itself is raging and raw, the boys slamming through it before they come together for a haunting rendering of the coda. And then they launch into The Eleven, taking off in a frenzy of earth-shattering riffs that never let up throughout this bestial version. While the tempo changes, the dark forces linger into It’s All Over Now Baby Blue, as Jerry turns the already somber song into a heartbreakingly gorgeous elegy. A blistering and rambunctious China Cat follows all by its lonesome, still nearly three months before the Dead first paired it with Rider. After stellar versions of High Time and Mama Tried, Pig finally takes center stage on Hard To Handle, getting warmed up to steal the show. A funky Casey Jones rolls out next, sadly clipped while the band was still getting after it. The Lovelight that follows starts somewhere in the middle, making us wonder just how much of the night this recording misses. But what we do have of the Lovelight – all thirty-five minutes of it – is a full-on reign of terror with Pig at the helm. The rest of the band backs him up with some unbelievable improvisational jamming, but Pig and his rapping steals the stage. Unfortunately, the recording of the Lovelight could be clearer. The whole tape has issues, including serious hiss during the quieter moments, especially Baby Blue, as well as the dastardly aforementioned cuts. But it is still great to be able to hear the Dead tear up Chicago in their raw and primal prime.