This is the second set of the first night of a particularly interesting four-night run at the Fillmore West. Although no special guests are featured like the other three nights, this performance is an excellent example of the band toward the end of the classic Live/Dead album era.
The second set is one long sequence of music and begins in fine form with "China Cat Sunflower." The improvisation out of "China Cat" is quite interesting, as this is still several months before it would be paired with "I Know You Rider" for the rest of the Dead’s career. Instead, …entire summary
"Pigpen" McKernan - vocals, harmonica
Jerry Garcia - guitar, vocals
Bob Weir - guitar, vocals
Phil Lesh - bass, vocals
Tom Constanten - keyboards
Bill Kreutzmann - drums
Mickey Hart - drums
This is the second set of the first night of a particularly interesting four-night run at the Fillmore West. Although no special guests are featured like the other three nights, this performance is an excellent example of the band toward the end of the classic Live/Dead album era.
The second set is one long sequence of music and begins in fine form with "China Cat Sunflower." The improvisation out of "China Cat" is quite interesting, as this is still several months before it would be paired with "I Know You Rider" for the rest of the Dead’s career. Instead, Phil Lesh leads the band into an up-tempo romp through "Sittin’ on Top of the World."
The remainder of the show consists of the classic Live/Dead LP sequence of "Dark Star" into "St. Stephen" into "The Eleven" into "Lovelight". While not at the level of intensity that this sequence could often command, everything is well played and thoroughly enjoyable.
This is a fine opening night to a memorable run of shows.
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