Yes, the sound is rough. However, I can hear reverberations and so I'm just gonna go with it and dig. I'm really enjoying it As for rating the show, I can't. Grateful Dead shows were always a 5. It's the subtle nuances that 1-5 can't express. I'm enjoying it

Ned Lagins sits in for other one and dark star

1970 was THE YEAR I got on da Bus. Earlier than this was all kinda trippy and I couldn't appreciate the music unless I was stoned. When Workingmans Dead came out I got into the band BIG-TIME and started going to concerts (at 14 yrs old)

After the first verse we get some really THICK AIR, you can feel the room tripping, the energy focusing into the band and the band responding with spontaneous movements that pick up the energy and wrap it into little sonic ribbons.

Very pregnant pauses, the tape is amazing in that the hiss actually comforts you by giving a little distance between you and the RAW TERROR of that crowd, which can be felt through the recording. ;)

This is actually the very first GD concert to feature Ned Lagin. He plays on "The Other One>Dark Star>St. Stephen" (http://nedbase.blogspot.ca/). Unfortunately he can hardly be heard. But I'd guess the intensity of this performance, and the unusual pairing of TOO and DS at this point in time, is because of his presence. He also plays on Nov. 8th.

6/24, 11/5 and 11/8 are essential.

all should STOP BELLY ACHIN about sound , dark stars quite portions sound WAY better than most of my old boards from 1986 ! tenny bit of hiss @ top end, so what- thay are playin amazinggggggg!!!!!!!
this is WAY better than most healy boards from 1980s
WAY better playin, tops, all of it. raw demi god stuff,
beyond all other peaks(there are many !) check the crowd responce @ 5min to 5 30 of st stephen, they "peak" along with music !
u r a bunch of sissy hissy whinny babies, buy an 10band EQ, and some good headphones and enjoy.
i love all from 66-91, learnin to love 92-96!

I was 10th row center for this one, and I recall it being a powerhouse performance. Too bad we don't have tapes that give the listener the full spectrum of their tone at the time. It was HUGE!

Very underrated show!

I can't listen to this because of the sound, so I can't tell if it's actually any good or not. The bass end is horribly distorted. And this is the best recording available, better than the more recent one.

No matter what the quality of any Port Chester Show, they all smoke. These shows make me proud to be an Aud Head. Rock on Motha Fucka!!




(note: not really a review)

Bweyiahh!!!

This Dark Star is easily in my top 5, even with the crappy sound. I find it sounds better on iPod. The pace is unusually fast for 1970 and Phil has some funky thing going on all the way thru. After 14:00, Garcia is just killing it with some Coltrane-like riffs that hit high point after high point. Check out how hard they are rocking when they go back into the main theme at about 19:00. Bobby stops them on a dime by chopping his rhythm figure out of mid-air. Would like to give this show a higher rating but the sounds sucks.

This is a situation where we wished the Vault had SBDS of this run of shows in November, the 8th is well circualted and commented on for obvious reasons, the 7th if in better shape would be mentioned more too.........this show is abobve average for being an AUD in 70' and the delivery of tunes, Pig gets us started with hard to Handle after a delay to replace a string we get a crowd pleaser SOTOTW, Phil's intro into The Other One and the tastey Dark Star that follows is the meat of the show, I can imagine those freaks being fried over the humming of that Star, you can hardly hear a pin drop, P

I had audience tapes years ago marked 11/7/70 Portchester... from several sources.

They contained an incredibly cosmic jam that seemed to come out of nowhere and eventually wound up in Not Fade Away.

Years later, the mystery seems to have been solved. What I had was the Not Fade jam from 11/5 bleeding into the Alligator/NFA from 11/6 at the point where the 11/5 NFA jam cuts.

The source I had was lower gen than what has seeded these downloads (I think), and the full power of the performance was more evident.
On these downloads you can't get a clue as to what Phil is doing in the 11/5 NFA ... it's incredible (there's a hint of the rolling blues bottom runs in the 11-16 NFA). Jerry is also in *top* form. This is ferocious, demi-God Dead.

The Alligator->NFA jam from 11/6 is also other-worldly. It culiminates into a musical orgasm that erupts into NFA.

If only boards were available of these shows ... this stuff is as good as the "Live Dead" playing from Jan/Feb. 69 ...

5 stars for the performance. Zero stars for the SQ.

The sound quality is *horrendous*. The music cannot be appreciated by these downloads, unfortunately.

I never made it to Portchester though I saw them in Nov at 46th St. Theatre (and FE 9-18). There's something about Portchester... the June '70 has the same magic (though I don't see the early set which features an incendiary OtherOne->Attics->Other One->Cosmic Charlie here...).
And of course the Feb. 71 shows contain so many memorable performances of the great material that was introduced then: Bird Song, Bertha, etc, as well as canonical performances of China->Rider, Morning Dew, Bobby McGee, Other One, etc.

Is NOT awful. A 3 might be generous, but it's a good 2.5. Phil's bass is pretty rumbly, but besides that, it sounds pretty good for a 1970 aud. Turn down the bass a little if it's not against your religion, and enjoy.

...the sound is awful. I agree with the other reviewers on the 5 stars for performance. They were obviously on this night. However, the sound gets a generous 1. Setlist 3.5. Overall 3.167.

A great show. I'm in total agreement about the Dark Star - a classic transitional version to the epic "Third Stage"
of 72-74, incredible Stockhausen/Sun Ra middle section, and one of the last to have the 2nd verse.

I'm seriously surprised that nobody has reviewed this show! Sure, it's not the Pigpen extravaganza of the following night and it lacks the rarities that characterize 11/8. Nevertheless, if you want a good picture of an ASTOUNDING 1970 Dead night without any frills, this is the show I would suggest. If this were a soundboard, it definitely would be held in the same regard as 2/13/ and 9/19 as one of the best of the year. With both an Other One and Dark Star in the show, something must have been in the Kool-Aid. Though the Other One is a typical pre-1971 one, lots of energy, the Dark Star really makes this show special. As Deadlists says, "This is the deep space Dark Star of the year", and it certainly may be--the only Dark Star I can think of from '70 on the top of my head that gets this spacey is the one from 1/03, maybe 10/11 if you could actually hear what was going on. Anyway, back to the space jam... add a little Keith piano and maybe some wah-wah Tiger to it, and it would be an unmistakable fully formed '72 space jam; makes you wonder why they briefly shut off the space jam facet after Mickey Hart left. Other highlights include the Not Fade Away->Goin' Down The Road->Not Fade Away sequence, which is slightly cut in the middle, but hey, you still get to hear the Pig blow on his harp, a rare occurance by this point. Lovelight is nowhere nearly as energized as the version from the following night but features some incredible bluesy guitar playing from Garcia and the usual call and response with the audience. Overall, this is a five star show, and I never like to give five stars--its just that good. Download this sucker now!