Today in Grateful Dead History: December 12, 1972 – Winterland Arena, San Francisco, CA

Today’s show is from 1972, so it’s a good one (haven’t heard a bad one yet).  But the meat of the performance is definitely in the 2nd set, so if you don’t have a ton of time, you can skip the beginning and jump right to Playin’ in the Band, which clocks in at a smooth 17 minutes of psychedelic fun. There’s nothing here that a fan of 1972 hasn’t heard before, but that’s why you’re listening to this show, right?  So dig in.

Right after Playin’ in the Band we get the extended jam of the night, a He’s Gone>Truckin’>The Other One that seems to go on forever in the best possible way.  There are not a lot of wasted notes here and Phil and Billy play off each other for several minutes in the transition into The Other One.  This is high quality 1972 Dead and it flows into a pitch perfect, beautiful version of Sing Me Back Home, with Jerry playing a heartfelt, gorgeous solo that will sweep you away.  The rest of the night is spent rocking, and let me tell you, something must have gotten into Bob Weir, because he brings everything up to 11.5, hollering away at another level.

If you have time for the first set, Box of Rain sounds really good today, as does Bobby McGee.  But, honestly, everything is clicking tonight – you’re going to like this one.

Listen here:  https://archive.org/details/gd72-12-12.sbd.miller.32041.sbeok.flacf

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