I too am enjoying the Amazon series on the GD.First got into the GD in the summer of '69 and saw them for the first time at Woodstock. But their music was a bit too intricate unless you were up close in the daytime summer heat. My next time seeing the GD was Dec. 30, 1969 at the Boston Tea Party, a state-of-the-art music club, right across from Fenway Park. This was the GD 1st trip outside of CA for New Years Eve.Their concert was a transcendent musical experience. We were about 6-7 yards away from the Garcia, keyboard and PigPen side of the stage sitting on cushions. The stage could barely hold all of the "Owsley" sound equipment and instruments so there was an intimacy with the audience that this period so emphasizes in "Long Strange Trip". The first set were numbers from mostly "Live Dead" stuff that I was quite familiar with. But once they got into these songs like Sugar Magnolia they branched out to their instrumental improvisations. The GD had 2 drummers then and their presence and power when the band came back to the song they started out with has never been adequately recorded. Time and time again their were these wonderful musical climaxes to their numbers in the 1st set. PigPen sang a song that moved the audience needle. I think Mustang Sally. The second set consisted of a medley of their psychedelic stuff from "Anthem to the Sun" like "Alligator" and "The Other One" with great climactical endings. Pigpen tossed a cherry bomb that really did my girlfriend in as she had her eyes closed digging the music. Later on in the set they started their feedback stuff just like the end of "Live Dead".
The next time I saw the GD was in NY at the Fillmore East 2-3 days later. This was the only time I saw the GD sitting in a seat. The music was great but much more controlled and although the sound was good for a large theater, it could never match the small club with the same band equipment as my experience a couple of days before.
In early '71 I saw the GD at Winterland for just $3. With some good fortune I got to sit on cushions 10-15 yds from the stage in the center. About a year later I saw them play in Georgetown at McDonough Gym. The GD were late and it got so warm that several girls sitting on the gymfloor took their tops off.
Besides these personal experiences, the GD years from Anthem thru the European Tour, 72, and maybe the Sunshine Daydream concert in Oregon and the Bob Weir now cd Ace" is excellent. IMO, the early Dead was clearly their best work