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Poster: Rings&Bells Date: Dec 4, 2008 5:29pm
Forum: GratefulDead Subject: Anybody have any info on 11/23/68?

I know this is a long shot because not even a setlist is listed on setlists.net or on DeadBase searchable setlists but I just found out that the boys played their first show with TC right down the street from my house. I have seen various events at Memorial Auditorium, which still exists and just thought I'd see if anybody knew anything about it. Thanks!

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Poster: veblen Date: Dec 4, 2008 7:40pm
Forum: GratefulDead Subject: Re: Anybody have any info on 11/23/68?

yes, november of 68 is one of those months with gaps...I have the 22nd but am always on the look-out for others (e.g., 23rd, 24th and 27th). Of course the 23rd has the significance of tc's first show...

from what I have seen there aren't soundboards or auds of these shows...but who knows what is out there...the 22nd is an aud

22nd: Columbus

http://www.archive.org/details/gd68-11-22.aud.cotsman.10088.sbeok.shnf

(the last 68 show sans tc...guess it is time to put it on)

23rd:
Memorial Auditorium - Ohio University---Athens, OH
Free concert. DeadBase XI and the official Book of the Deadheads note this is tom Constanten's first show as an official member of the Dead. At the Garcia vs. Garcia trial a couple of years ago Phil had to testify and he spoke about this very show! He was asked to date a letter that Jerry had written to Mountain Girl where he mentions a concert in Athens, Ohio. Phil was absolutely positive the letter was from 1968 because they only played in Athens once - on 11/23/68. That was because so many students from Ohio University in Athens came to the show in Columbus on 11/22/68 (a long drive - about 1 1/2 hours or so) that the band decided to go to Athens and put on a free show for them!

24th:
Hyde Park Teen Center---Cincinnati, OH
Comments: DeadBase XI lists: Dark Star, Saint Stephen, turn on Your Lovelight. Nathaniel Walmsley posted a message to DeadNet Central, which said in reference to this show: "My dad played the opener for that show, his band was called the LemonPipers"

27th:
Kinetic Playground---Location Chicago, IL
One Cryptical Envelopment > The Other One > Cryptical Envelopment ; Alligator
Comments: The Kinetic Playground is the same venue as the Electric theater where they played in April of 1969. It was trashed by a fire sometime in 1970. It is not the same place as the Syndrome, where they played on 11/27/70. The setlist information was provided by Ron Ramsey, an eyewitness: "I was at the 11/27-28/68 shows at Chicago's Kinetic Playground aka Electric theater. My memories of the setlists are quite sporadic, although, these being my first Live Dead shows, as I heard each tune for the first time, it was if another Veil of Illusion was being removed... like stumbling upon a Burning Bush and seeing the Face of God, or walking on a beach and finding the Seashell of Buddha. Those memories are indelibly etched forever. There might have been an initial opening band...but for certain Procul Harum preceded the Dead. While watching Procul from the edge of the dance floor, I noticed a guy in front of me with a long ponytail stuck down the back of his shirt. My God, it was Bob Weir! a lot of us tucked our hair away back then... this was, after all, 1968 Chicago--Mayor Daley's Cop Fiefdom - things did get a little hairy out there from time to time. I had the strongest impression that Weir was watching Procul Harum and thinking: "Shit, we're better than these guys." Anyway, Weir opened the show on the 27th with a jolly: "Happy turkey Day!" it was thanksgiving. I know for sure they did: 'That's it For...The Other one' that first night, as I remember my jaw dropping when I heard the opening notes. Also on the 27th: Alligator. As for the rest of the songs, they did pretty much the standard repertoire for late 1968: Doin' that Rag, Dupree's, Dark Star > Saint Stephen > the Eleven > Lovelight, Feedback, etc. But other than the two mentioned, I cannot say which nights they did what. Sorry. (They did not, to my eternal regret, play New Potato Caboose either night... I never did get to hear that tune live.) Other factoids: Both nights were two set shows, with the Dead as the closing act. The Dead's amps all had tie-dye front covers. On the back of the amps was stenciled a white lightning bolt on red/blue background surrounded by the words: Spirit of Creation. I guess this was before the skull/bolt motif. A guess: about 200 people attended. Ah, the Old Days... I probably recall what they wore more clearly than the specific song order. T.C. had on one orange sock, and one green. Weir had on a belt with "Bobby" stitched in beads across the back. (At a later show, my friend showed Weir a photo he had taken of this, and Weir responded: "Oh my God...the Bobby Belt.") Jerry Garcia was wearing a woolen poncho. After the first night-first set, I stumbled upon Garcia off by himself near the refreshment stand. Compelled to say something to him, I ended up asking for clarification of lyrics I couldn't understand from Anthem. Jerry was very gracious. Anyway, I got to shake the hand that shook the Hand. One other anecdote: on the 2nd night, my same photographer friend, tripping, somehow found his way upstairs to the dressing rooms. He sat next to Weir, who was reading the Seed (our underground 60's Weekly). At some point he asked Lesh how he could get into the Road Crew. Lesh responded "You just want a way to get to California." Then Lesh pointed to a huge heavy wooden table and said: "If you can levitate that, you're in." Alas, my friend missed his Golden Opportunity.

the 17th looks interesting as well:
Eagles Auditorium---Seattle, WA
Comments THE DEAD AND tHE INDIANS Re-tribalization will be the keyword Sunday afternoon from 3 to 9 when the Grateful Dead rock group moves into the Eagles Auditorium (7th and Union) for a benefit concert to help Indian fisherman in their battle to retain traditional netting rights on the Nisqually and other Washington rivers. Admission is a flat $2 per head. Children under 12 will be admitted free. Al Bridges, an Indian leader who has led numerous fish-in protests at Frank's Landing near Olympia, will introduce the Dead. Suzette Bridges, a vivacious and articulate young lady, will present the tribes' side of the fishing feud. Backing the Dead will be the Bryon Pope Ensemble from Los Angeles, Easy Chair, Light, and Papa Bear. The Retina Circus light artists will provide illuminations. Part of the funds from the benefit will be used to establish a bail fund for Indians and others arrested for allegedly illegal fishing. This year alone there have been 27 gillnetting arrests. Bail - formerly set at $250 - has been raised to $1000. The Indians also must replace nets confiscated by the state. They cost between $60 and $100 apiece. Some 40 persons, Indians and non-Indians, have established a communal colony at Frank's Landing on the Nisqually. Some live in teepees; others in tents and crude hogans. They contend that the Medicine Creek treaty of 1854 gave the Indians the right to fish in "their usual and accustomed places" for "as long as the sun shall rise, the streams shall flow and the grass shall grow." the state, on the other hand, claims the treaty is invalid and that the Indians must adhere to seasonal regulations. The colony at Frank's Landing is seeking to re-tribalize, to return to the bounty of Nature. But it hasn't been easy. They've been tear-gassed, terrorized and hassled by citizenry and officialdom alike. Now they've dug in for the winter. It promises to be a long, wet one. Their choice of the Dead for Sunday afternoon's gig is an apposite one. The Dead more or less started the whole concept of group tribalization on a musical level. Beginning with Ken Kesey and his early Acid test prankstering, the Dead (originally called the Warlocks) have solidified under their chief, Gerry Garcia, as a sub-tribe with something to say - and the sound and talent to give their message a voice. The Dead and the Indians. Far out! - Bob Houston Seattle Post-Intelligencer Friday, November 15, 1968 the November 1968 issue of the Helix (a counterculture newspaper) ran a full page ad for the 11/17/68 shows. It features an Indian holding a peace pie. Concert was a "Benefit for Indian Rights." There were two shows: 3:00 PM and 9:00 PM.


note: I didn't work today and I guess my mind still needs to cut-and-paste...

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Poster: tigerbolt Date: Dec 4, 2008 5:39pm
Forum: GratefulDead Subject: Re: Anybody have any info on 11/23/68?

if owsley wasn't in prison at the time it could be in his sonic journals.though i recall he had to do some time around then.you can email him and ask.it's 50/50 on a reply back.
http://www.thebear.org/

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Poster: Rings&Bells Date: Dec 4, 2008 6:10pm
Forum: GratefulDead Subject: Re: Anybody have any info on 11/23/68?

Thank you very much for providing that link. I really hope Owsley himself has some new light to shed on this matter.

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Poster: William Tell Date: Dec 4, 2008 6:43pm
Forum: GratefulDead Subject: Re: Anybody have any info on 11/23/68?

Nov 68 is my BIG glaring gap...Along with June...and May...crap.

Why can't I get the number of shows you God Damn 77 lovers get?

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Poster: user unknown Date: Dec 4, 2008 7:05pm
Forum: GratefulDead Subject: Re: Anybody have any info on 11/23/68?

Sir William I'm not sure demand has a lot to do with it, but I'd be willing supply comes into play. After all. here at LMA there are 75 1968 shows and 189 1977 shows.

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Poster: William Tell Date: Dec 4, 2008 7:50pm
Forum: GratefulDead Subject: Re: Anybody have any info on 11/23/68?

Yep; just not enough surplus for my era...oh well...I cherish the ones I have! As we early era types say, one good night in 68 is worth ten shows from...from...well, you get the idea.

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Poster: Miss Divine Date: Dec 4, 2008 11:11pm
Forum: GratefulDead Subject: Re: Anybody have any info on 11/23/68?

Yet again, Mr tell speaks the truth.

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Poster: daliguana Date: Dec 5, 2008 6:17am
Forum: GratefulDead Subject: Re: Anybody have any info on 11/23/68?

Looking for artwork for this era, and came across this site - with the interest in Neil expressed lately, I thought you might appreciate this link, which in itself has a link to Neil Young site:
http://www.themusicarchive.com/mainindex.htm

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Poster: Rings&Bells Date: Dec 5, 2008 11:44am
Forum: GratefulDead Subject: Re: Anybody have any info on 11/23/68?

Thanks daliguana!