Winterland was the “big room” for Bill Graham Presents for twelve years, but it was a crumbling wreck; the previous New Year’s Eve, tiles had fallen from the ceiling after the audience had left.

Repairing it would cost too much, and the owners decided to tear it down and build condominiums. Graham decided to give it a big send off, and of course the final night had to be with the Dead. In his initial pitch to [the Dead’s booking agent Richard] Loren he had noted, “The bulk of the space in my musical memory tank is taken up by my memories of my involvement with the GD. I should very much like to add another gem to my collection.” The Dead would headline, coming on at midnight. Breakfast would be served after the show. The band said yes, and the circus began.

Ticket demand was mind-boggling. At a press conference, Graham estimated that, “there is 100 times the demand than there are tickets…I would venture it could have been a half a million. You may think I’ve gone off my rocker, but you haven’t seen the letters from Tokyo, Boston, New York, Miami.”

• In an effort to ease the ferocious demand, Graham induced KSAN to broadcast the show live, with KQED-TV broadcasting. All over the Bay Area, Dead Heads set up their TVs and stereos.

The show itself was problematic in many ways. It simply meant too much to Graham, and his security created quite a hostile atmosphere. He blamed the Dead, who “invited too many bikers. When that happens, an element of fear comes in and I couldn’t just let it all hang out. I had some problems backstage.” Some of the problems included Dead family members like Mountain Girl not being able to get to the stage from backstage. The backstage atmosphere affected only the few, but it poisoned the experience for the band.

For the audience, the Dead chose to do something special, playing a third set that included “Dark Star” and “St. Stephen.” Unfortunately, the band was in terrible shape and the material was under-rehearsed; the audience went out of its mind listening, but the performances, though exciting because of the song choice, were less than inspiring.