[.ca] Live at Fillmore East 2-11-69

Not Bad At All (Minus Hey Jude):
I had trouble deciding if this was worthy of a five star rating or not. Going over it in my head, I really had nothing to complain about. Sure, the hey jude is bad, but the Dead didn't do that one much and I believe it was the first time they ever did it. Henceforth, I usually just skip over it. Other than that, the first set is great. Because of the time constraints, the boys hurried everything up a notch and gave every ounce of energy they had in each one hour set. What resulted was great rock and roll with a very raw feel to it. While the songs weren't able to be explored the way both the fans and the band want them to be able to, they got the job done. The Other One is great here and the Doin' That Rag is wonderful as well. Lovelight is rather brief for a Lovelight, but Pigpen managers to get a little rapping done. The second set followed suit with what the dead were doing at that time. They began with Dupree's, then flowed well all the way through MOTM>Dark Star>St. Stephen>Eleven>Drums>Caution>Feedback>We Bid You Goodnight. Highlights from the late show are a solid St. Stephen with a nice William Tell Bridge and the best St. Stephen/Elevel jam I've ever heard. Then the band brings you back down the way they did so often in the time, and they were gone. Its two hours of really good grateful dead, and I think it's worth more than 4 hours of so/so dead. Pick it up if you can.

I hope you can like this as much as I do, you'd be blessed:
What are the Dead best known for? If you answer anything other than instrumental prowess/improvisation/extended jams, etc. you don't know the Dead, period. I'd had this disc for four years, and had pretty much forgotten it. Then I listened to the late show disc, and listened to it exclusively for about a week. This was the Dead in their purest form...no segue of genres, per se (the country/traditional period was a year away) and what you have here is the psychedelic Dead, just like pure lysergic, this is heavy stuff. That aside, listen to Bill Graham's intro of the band, after being announced as having become a member of the band a month earlier, I mean, no non-musician has ever been given such an honor! Of course this is in jest because Bill Graham had been dosed and played cowbell and was being presented with said percussive device. But I digress. Graham merely mentions them as "one of the insane groups today". Not much hype there, considering they were the opening act that night, but quite an understatement. This was way before Graham proclaimed them now legendary "not only best at what they do, but only ones that do what they do" or that they were his favorite band. The Dead hadn't even officially been the Dead 3 years 8 months, and they sound like they'd been playing together since childhood! As far as the music (pardon all the trivia references) Dupree's is just a nice light hearted number with an engaging story, but Mountains of the Moon is stellar and the segue into Dark Star makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Dark STar into Stephen into the Eleven....do you think anyone in the house that night had any idea what they were being treated to? As far as whether or not you should drop whatever you're doing to go buy this, I can't say. My real point in writing this is to say thank God for the Grateful Dead and that I've had the pleasure of experiencing them. My musical tastes are eclectic...you name it, just about any genre over the last 40 years, sans some 80's crap, it's in my collection. But the Dead are/were the GREATEST, and the late show disc here proves it in spades.

Great set, but too brief and time constricted.:
Overall, this is a great set.On February 11, 1969, the Grateful Dead were in a transitional phase (one of many)from post-psychedelia to country-like rock. This transition is well presented during "Dupree's Diamond Blues" and "Mountains of the Moon" (both are played acoustic). The early show opens with Bill Graham opening up the show,which proceeded to a Pigpen (a blues powerhouse of a singer)classic "Good Morning Little School Girl." As always, Pigpen sang the vocals rough but full of soul- and "I'm a King Bee" is great evidence of my opinion. However, I agree with the other reviewers that "Hey Jude" is not a highlight by any means. Now, Garcia (a true legend;lead guitar,vocals), did his part:sharp lead guitar licks, dry and somber voice. The songs: "Dark Star," and "Caution" well illustrate Garcia's guitar talent. As for Bob Weir (rhythm guitar, vocals) and Phil Lesh (bass), this CD shows off their talent- but to a small degree. As always, Weir sang the lyrics in "The Other One" as confident and fiery as always. The composition of "St Stephen" and "The Eleven" is due to the talent of Phil lesh- not to mention his lead vocals in "The Eleven." In "The Eleven" the band used ther famous skill of playing improvisorily -jammingat the spur of the moment. Sadly, "The Eleven" is the only song which was played with that touch of improvision. The drummers, Bill Kreutzman and Mickey Hart played/collaborated good as always. This is all of the good points that I have to say about this set. The two sets were each performed in an hour or less. For the Dead, this is a very compact time limit- even for them. The song "Turn on Your Lovelight" was timed at a little over 17 minutes. That was a total dissapointment for me. "Lovelight" is usually played out for over 30 minuted long- with guitar jamming and Pigpen singing. Besides, long improvization and jamming is what the Dead are predominately famous for. "Dark Star" was no exception. At a little over 12 minutes-GIVE ME A BREAK!! "Dark Star is popularly known for it's long and beautiful instrumental qualities (intense jamming, sharp leads).Besides, that is what makes "Dark Star" so beautiful- long intrumental classic and relaxing to listen to. Unfortunately, this CD set is not a good example of the band's fine work. "Caution" was no exception either. That is a shame. The musicians played as if they were in a hurry to leave or had better things to do at the time. This set has it's good and bad qualities. Great intrumental work, but TOO TIME CONSTRICTED. Therefore, to listen to how the Grateful Dead showed their original astounding musical talent, I would reccomend trying another CD. Yet, if you want to get a glimpse of the band being played in early 1969- when the songs "Dupree's Diamond Blues", "Mountains of the Moon","Doin'That Rag" being played live before being put on the album AOXOMOXOA, then this CD would be DEFINATELY WORTH BUYING.

A last dose of psychedelia before a change of pace:
The year 1969 was a pivotal one for the Dead. They entered the year still playing the psychedelia that made them famous. But spurred on by friends like David Crosby (Crosby, Stills and Nash)and a growing shift towards folk-country-rock, Jerry and Hunter had a creative spurt that resulted in two of the band's most-loved albums, American Beauty and Workingman's Dead. The folk-influenced harmonies would make their appearance in the spring of '69 and by the time '69 was over the boys were playing an even blend of psychedelia and the "new stuff" upon which the Dead's legacy would be built. This two CD set captures the Dead performing two short one-hour shows as openers for Janis Joplin. Of the two, the second CD (the late show) is better in that it flows from from Mountains of the Moon into Dark Star>St. Stephen> The Eleven> Drums> Caution> Feedback > We Bid You Goodnight. Classic psychedelia. Pigpen fans will love the first (early show) CD more, as Pig rants and raves on great versions of Schoolgirl, King Bee and Lovelight. The boys tinker around at the end of the early show and do a less than harmonious encore of the Beatles' Hey Jude. Still, taken overall, this is great stuff. A four-night stand in late February in San Francisco would yield similar material and is treasured among traders. For an interesting contrast, check out Dick's Picks 16 from 11/8/69, in which the old psychedelia and the new material flow back and forth. This 2/11/69 two-CD set is a great historical document of the Dead as they began to leave psychedlia behind and seek new musical frontiers. With the exception of that off-key Hey Jude, this is a really, really nice couple of short shows to own.

A Bit Disappointing..:
Not as great as "Live Dead", so pick that up instead. The Dark Star> St Stephen is much better.

• Good Morning Little Schoolgirl
• Cryptical Envelopment
• Other One
• Cryptical Envelopment
• Doin' That Rag
• I'm a King Bee
• Turn on Your Love Light
• Hey Jude
• Introduction
• Dupree's Diamond Blues
• Mountains of the Moon
• Dark Star
• St. Stephen
• Eleven
• Drums
• Caution (Do Not Stop on Tracks)
• Feedback
• We Bid You Goodnight