There is a good argument to be made that August 21^st has the best group of Dead shows of any single day. Not only are there outstanding shows in ’72, ’83, and even ’93, the Dead also jammed out at Mickey’s barn back in ’71. But our Dead of the Day from 1968 seems to top all of those. It all begins with a mind blowing Other One suite. The Other One itself assaults you with its pure, driving awesomeness. And, the second Cryptical is serious, blending blues, jazz, and rock n’ roll together into an ultimate form. The Schoolgirl is amazing as Jerry smokes through the jam in the middle half while the whole band backs him so well and Pig adds some heady vocals. Alligator then comes walking out of the swamp, as the boys deliver another standout performance. After the drums and Jerry intervention, the jamming gets intense, moving through several different sequences of brilliant lightness. The Feedback jam provides a sort of interlude between the relentless first half and the insane second. A short, but fantastic Dark Star kicks it back off with alternatively spacey and driving ranginess. Dark Star segues into a blistering Stephen, anchored by Phil’s bass. The Eleven that comes out the back of it is even more miraculously splendid. This is probably the first Dark Star> Stephen> Eleven, and they certainly play it like they mean it. Death Don’t Have No Mercy finally slows the pace a bit, but maintains the tastiness until a clipped Lovelight comes out with Jerry leading some great jams and Pig doing his usual. All told, it is a great night, and, we think, the best of the August 21^st material.