November 27, 1970: Syndrome, Chicago

GRATEFUL DEAD, NEW RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE SYNDROME, CHICAGO

It was a religious experience of the Third World Church with Pigpen presiding as high priest. The Grateful Dead offered a post-Thanksgiving mass here Nov. 27, with the help of the New Riders of the Purple Sage, a country music offshoot of the Dead. The Dead's show was more of a religious happening than a concert. The group's fans started dancing and shouting from the first chords of "Casey Jones," and didn't slow down until the final shouts from vocalist Pigpen on "Turn On Your Lovelight," which one person aptly described as the "closest possible thing to Nirvana." The Dead's "congregation," nearly 6,000 strong for the show, freaked and frolicked for four hours to music by the Warner Bros.' sextet, easily the most underrated rock band in the world. The New Riders, featuring Jerry Garcia and Micky Hart from the Dead, opened the show with some nice country sounds. Much of the material is original, but the group still borrows from the established country artists like Merle Haggard. The highlight of the New Riders' set was a country version of "Honky Tonk Woman," which left the crowd screaming for more.

(by George Knemeyer, Cincinnati Billboard, December 12 1970)