Never one to cross a picket line, Jerry seemed to have gotten wind of what was going down and agreed to play out in Berkeley with the New Riders that evening. When him and Mickey finally made it over to the Dog at 12:30am, a half hour after the rest of the band had taken the stage, he found Rock Scully trying to serve as mediator between Helms and the protesters.

Despite the picket, the scene outside the Dog was more festive than confrontational. Staffers, many of whom were probably members of the Family Dog commune that was affiliated with the venue, passed out flowers to the protesters. And power for the light show that the striking artists were putting on was supplied, at least in part, from an extension cord that Helms provided from inside the venue. But, still, everyone was suffering, a point that Jerry made as he joined in the negotiations:

“I’m speaking first and last as a contracted union musician. Also we’ve got a big family and we’re broke. Next, Chet is a good friend who is also broke, and I know the artists in the Guild are also broke. What I’m thinking about, just for tonight, is that there are a bunch of people inside whom I feel responsible for too.”

And with that, Jerry invited representatives of both sides into the Dead’s equipment truck, where he quickly started passing around some dank weed to get everyone on the same page.

With Jerry in the thick of the action outside, the rest of the Dead played on inside. Unfortunately, we do not have a tape or even a setlist, but reports from those in attendance suggest that a guest drummer along with two flute players from the audience joined the other members on stage. Oh, to have a tape of the only Dead show that Jerry didn’t play at!

Long after the Dead’s set and the entire evening’s show was over, the deliberations continued inside the Dead’s equipment truck. And the Dead’s roadies – unlike Jerry, never ones to respect union demands – were getting restless and set off a cherry bomb underneath the vehicle cum negotiation room, yelling that Rex wanted his truck back.

Whether it was the cherry bomb or the late hour, everyone agreed to call it a night and resume the talks the next day. And after a few hours on the 2nd of August, a truce between Helms and the Guild was hammered out, paving the way for the entire band to take the stage at the Family Dog that night.

The Family Dog was always meant as a community affair, not a money-making operation (which is a good thing since it hemorrhaged cash from the beginning), so the negotiations were never that tense. However, everything went down differently when the Guild sat down with Bill Graham a few days later.

At that later meeting, it was a full-on battle between profits and capitalism, as personified by Bill Graham, and the sense of community spirit and mutual respect that the Guild was trying to further. And, as things got nasty, Graham announced in an aggressive, profanity-laced tirade that he was leaving San Francisco when his lease at the Fillmore ran out. Of course, this never quite came to pass, but the entire affair served as another death knell for the fellowship and communal interests that had reigned earlier in the Sixties across the Bay Area. For their part, the Dead cancelled their Fillmore run later in the week, seemingly boycotting Graham’s operation until November, choosing to help Helms and play the Family Dog exclusively when they took the stage in San Francisco.