Grateful Dead - Fillmore West, San Francisco 3/2/69

Grateful Dead — Fillmore West, San Francisco 3/2/69

5LP box set with etched J side and included booklet

The Grateful Dead's performance at Fillmore West in San Francisco on March 2, 1969 was part of a four-night run that produced many of the songs on their 1969 live album Live/Dead. The March 2 show is considered to be one of the best in the band's history.

The March 2, 1969 show was something of the end of an era for Grateful Dead. By the end of the year, they were starting to leave behind so much of their psychedelic past, or at least incorporating more of the folky/bluesy elements that would show up on their 1970 masterpieces Workingman's Dead and American Beauty.

Rhino released this final performance from the band's four-day stand at the Fillmore West, pressed onto five vinyl records, nine sides and an etched 10th. Listening to Grateful Dead concerts on vinyl is always something of a challenging experience, at least in this era of the band, just because the songs tend to be so long, and the vinyl format necessitates getting up and sitting back down so many times. But it really is the preferred format for such terrific musicianship.

And this set is no different. The band's set on this night was similar to the previous three nights, but this time they start with "Dark Star." Some playful banter with emcee Bill Graham is evident. The jams are winding and trippy as all late-‘60s Dead concert jams were. Staples of the period, "St. Steven" into "The Eleven," the "That's It For The Other One" suite, and the closing "Caution (Do Not Stop On Tracks)" into "Feedback" to "And We Bid You Goodnight" are all present and highlights of the set.

 

Side A

1. Dark Star

Side B

1. St. Stephen

2. The Eleven

Side C

1. Turn On Your Lovelight

Side D

1. Bill graham Intro

2. Doin' That Rag

Side E

1. That's It For The Other One

Side F

1. Death Don't Have No Mercy

2. Morning Dew

Side G

1. Alligator

2. Drums

3. Jam

Side H

1. Jam

Side I

1. Caution (Do Not Stop On Tracks)

2. Feedback

3. And We Bid You Goodnight

Side J

Etching

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