Could this be the (New York) Central Park Bandshell show?

If I get a time machine I know where I'm going. Whole band is on fire. Sound quality is top. Pig letting her rip on the org and Jerry kicking that Gibson like it was meant to be. Aint nothing better than a good ol' composition from 68.

I saw the Dead at the Shrine exposition hall in May of 1968 and that show doesn't seem to appear on the archive. Could this be it? The set list doesn't match what I seem to recall but it could be the second set. I know they opened their first set with Morning Dew. I also saw them at this venue in August which ended up being released as Two front the Vault. Does it sound to sophisticated ears as this could be the same place?

Perhaps no one can say for sure, but this sounds like a studio recording, I would agree with those that say it is a session for Anthem. Perhaps even engineered by Hassinger, as it has all the hallmarks of late 1960's pop muisc industry ears: slightly fuzzed reverby guitar, strong circusy farfisa organ, clear, compressed vocals, little drums and not much bass. Neither Owsley, nor any of the Dead's soundboard people EVER mixed this way. Sounds horrible! The playing itself is totally flat. I can see why the Dead would have passed on this mediocre stuff. They NEED the audience feedback to compete their internal circuits.

This very good sounding recording could be from the May 7, 8 & 9, 1968 stand at the Electric Circus , NYC. The 3 night, 2 shows per night set up, would have resulted in a good opportunity to get a really good mix, including the clear sound of Pig's organ. The songs would have been unknown to the NY audience, hence the lack of cheering. The Electric Circus and it's patrons could have yielded this almost studio quality recording.

Fuzzy, loud & crazy.

1st the organist sounds like Pigpen. The organ 'phases' etc Its annoyed me for 35 years why pig 'fell' out of the mix in 1970 when TC left and he resumed playing.. He's occasionallly heard on tunes like Dancin', that little fill he did in Mornin Dew.Lets not forget the play on The Other One. Even in 71 when the taping quality returned he was deliberately not in the mix although he was playing.One reason I love the europe 72 recordings. He adds texture to sugaree, Chugging to Big RR. good sound to Beat it on Down, Casey Jones more RR 'chugging.' Mr charlie 'phases' , he's gone ditto. Very GOOD playing on Me & my uncle not just phases and fills.Lets not forget Truckin, particularly on the open but also throughout and of course The other one. The few songs he did not play organ on was Playin in da Band where he played that 'scraping percussion' that People are familiar with from late 69 -70 Dark stars. Watch the Beat club video from 4/72. He also did not play on Chinacat which is weird as thats a GOoD vehicle for the organ. He occasionally played a little on Rider(rarely) Dont know the dates off the top of my head. A year earlier at the chateau show in France in 6/71 you can see Pig playing on Chinacat in the film(video) but he is NOT in the mix at all. again fairly typical for 71. The release of some of the multitracks from Fillmore E in 4/71 and their easy availability on archive etc are some of the few 71 recordings where PIg is included relatively liberally. Note the multitracks from Portchester, 2/71 also allows for inclusion of his playing as opposed to the 2 tracks from most of 71 where he is playing but very low in the mix.

Based on the overlay of the audio with this known date video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFtQr_W3opM

This afternoon I was on YouTube watching a video entitled Anthem to Beauty classic albums a very fine documentary about the run of albums from Anthem to American Beauty. About 41 min. into the video Dennis McNally comes on talking about the 1st time he saw the Dead in May of 68 at Columbia University, the video cuts to black and white footage of students on strike the National Guard looking mean with their guns out and the dead playing new potato caboose. While the footage runs McNally talks about how the dead were smuggled onto campus in a bread truck so I decided to look the show up on the archive only 2 shows from May of 68 listed this one and the one at the County Fairgrounds on the 18th. Brought up a new tab and played the black and white footage against the archived version I definitely think that they are the same show no date was ever mentioned but I would say that this is from Columbia University.

Where or whenever this was, it's a perfect little slice of mid-'68 Dead. Pigpen's organ really stands out here given the sound an added dimension not always heard. Stunning New Potato and an adrenaline-rush of a Caution.

Lemieux explained that this music came off a vault reel marked “early-1968 Carousel” and it certainly is not a studio session. Seeing as the first St. Stephen was performed sometime in May '68, it makes sense that this could be from the May 30 - June 1 stand.

Still, it sounds fantastic and you have to dig Pig's ska organ. (97 pts)

I don't believe this is a show; it sounds very much like a studio session for Anthem of the Sun. These sessions were from 9/67-3/68. It also sounds very much in the style and structure of Anthem, as well as tempos, riffs, etc--not what they were playing later in the year. I also believe you can recognize bits of this Alligator on Anthem (such as some of the perfectly mic'd percussion).

We get the end of St. Stephen, which is a brand new song here. The first performance was in late May.

This is great material (as is Anthem). Not as wild or electric as the live shows used on the album (1/20, 2/3, 2/14, among others), but tight and musical and in the groove. I love Pigpen in Caution, which, unfortunately is abruptly cut off. We are lucky to have this. A must-listen for Anthem fans.

Wow, where has this show been all my life?!?!?

Killer quality with the keys turned up perfectly. Too many tapes have Pig buried in the back where his contributions amount to some sort of swirling backdrop. Here you can truly appreciate the beautiful sound of his organ in a well-mixed recording.

Assuming this date is correct, is this the first recorded example of the little merry-go-round Phil solo immediately after the lyrical portion of New Potato Caboose (the bit that eventually reaches its historical climax at the 10-14-68 Avalon show)?

Seeing as how May '68 was my birth month (5/21 to be exact), any May '68 show is exciting. A tumultuous time for our country, Spring '68 turned out to be a fertile time for the boys, including this little snippet....good stuff. As far as I know, they never played a show on the exact date I am wishing for, but close is good...

Long live the good ole' Grateful Dead

possibly 5-24-68

Fresh and unusual performance, truly original.
Very good recording. Thanks to J Currier3

Notes:
1. This is a SBD, very clear, low gen, no hiss. 4.6 Stars for performance and 4.4 Stars for recording.
2. The first part of St. Stephen is cut out. It is a short version with interesting jamming back and forth between Pigpen on keys and Jerry. The transition to Cryptical is very interesting, and so is the Cryptical, esp. Pigpen's leads playing such a big role.
3. New Potato: a perfect version. Keyboards turned up in the mix, compared to most versions.
4. You've probably never heard an Alligator like this, where Jerry goes off into a solo in the middle, as sweetly done as this. It's definitely not typical.
5. There is a bad dropout as Alligator transitions into Caution, but otherwise, this is brilliant material. Caution transitions into another song, but it is not possible to tell which one. I searched but could not match the setlist with a show.