Grateful Dead—Student Center, Modesto Junior College, Modesto, CA, March 28, 1969

This often-overlooked show from the spring of ‘69 is an absolute barn burner. Taped during the period when the Dead were holed up in Pacific Recording for the Aoxomoxoa sessions, the performance is everything I love about this era—weird, loud, messy, and packed with dynamic ensemble jams.

The set opens with a bad-ass Good Morning Little Schoolgirl; the band is already playing when the tape starts rolling, but that doesn't kill the vibe at all. Following some turn up the monitors requests for old Bear, the septet launches into Dark Star. One month removed from the first full-blown version at the Fillmore West (that would be mixed for Live/Dead), this evening’s take does not disappoint. The opening sequence is on the quiet side, delicately played and void of any percussion. As was the convention, the song begins with the guitars, guiro, and the organ off in the back. Garcia’s lead-in to the first verse is a joy, a graceful, sensitive intro jam. After the first stanza, things fall apart and dissolve; form is completely abandoned and, as was the case for many Dark Star jams of this era, the music comes to serve as a psychedelic litmus test for the audience—at once holy, disturbing, and utterly mesmeric.

And then, with the greatest of ease, the lads depart the transitive nightfall of diamonds and drop into a delightfully raunchy St. Stephen > The Eleven combination that keeps the whole freak show moving along at a searing pace. The Eleven transitions elegantly into a haunting, perfectly rendered version of Death Don’t Have No Mercy. The band’s take on the reverend Jesse Davis tune is sublime, including two fiery instrumental breaks. In due course, Pig asserts control again to lead the boys through a balling Lovelight.

After 22 uncut minutes of McKernan magic,  Jerry chimes out “We’re gonna knock off for a little while and drink some Coke and stuff like that and then we’ll be back to play a while, shortly…” A minute later he retorts “As long as everybody’s up you might as well stay up…there’s only 15 minutes more so we’re gonna play instead of taking a break.” And then, as the Dead so often do, fifteen minutes turns into a half hour of music in the form of a titanic Cryptical Suite. It’s a powerhouse version that doesn’t break new ground but, who cares, it’s good old ‘69 goddamn Grateful Dead.

Owsley tape