The show opens with the first Dire Wolf ever, a fast-paced piece of work with precious vocals from Jerry and lovely acoustic guitar. A song later, we get one of the last Mountains of the Moon the Dead ever performed, and it is so subtle and amazing. Then, after a short silence, Dark Star begins, sharing that same subdued nature, though building steam the entire time until about four minutes in when the boys have fully arrived at the theme and are starting to drive just a little bit more. By the second half, the band is in an otherworldly space, probing the very limits of the universe and sending out coded messages of pure awesomeness. From there, the boys transition into Stephen, which builds quickly into a raging, rollicking primal beast, pausing only for the “lady finger” verse before busting loose again and then reaching the William Tell bridge to finish off Stephen and send it into The Eleven. Whatever energy the boys were saving early in the show, they unleash in a frenetic wave during The Eleven, blistering through this fabulous tune. Sitting on Top of the World comes next, and though it is short, the band packs one of the most fiery little jams you can imagine. The next couple songs are just as splendid as what comes before, with perhaps one of the best Doin’ That Rags ever. But even with these incredible first ten songs – and the Mountains of the Moon through The Eleven is so, so special – the highlight of the night is the closing Lovelight where Janis Joplin joins Pig for an amazing, words-don’t-do-justice, blow-you-away masterpiece. Obviously the two playing off one another on the vocals is the once-in-a-lifetime moment (well, twice, as she played another Lovelight with the Dead in 1970), but the rest of the band jams out the version in such spectacular fashion that it would make the song a highlight even if Janis wasn’t there.

MacBruce on Archive provides some insight into what it was like to witness the Lovelight. He says, “I was at this concert about four rows back, and I remember it vividly. I was 17 at the time, and a big Dead fan. There was no advanced notice that Janis Joplin was going to perform that night, so when she stepped out from between the curtains behind the drums, that place went absolutely berserk! The few people who were still sitting on the floor were now on their feet. She stood to the left of Garcia, both enthusiastically charged for the occassion to do "Love Light" together. Sweating profusely two minutes into her performance, and wearing a pinkish outfit (CLEARLY sans bra), she was so animated that the Dead almost faded into the background.”