Perhaps the greatest concert in ABB history; easily the most legendary. Night before closing of the Fillmore East. Was anybody on this board ACTUALLY there? Hard to believe it’s been fifty years. Long live the ABB!!
Butch was unequivocal in the 1976 biography by Tom Nolan, recalling it & concluding with, “That, to me, is the best gig we have ever played”
Also from the Nolan book:
“With grace they moved repeatedly from subdued, engrossing, intricate levels to brilliant and fiery cascades of notes, and back again to quieter yet equally exciting areas. Guitar solos of perfect logic blend seamlessly into arranged sections; the music rushes forward, pauses, maneuvers around a bend and continues onward with the force of a natural stream - liquid, pure, flowing, offering constant diversion to the attentive senses”
So the previous paragraph, a tremendous description of the live music of the original band, informs Bill Graham’s recollections of 6/26-27:
”The Brothers went onstage around 1:30 or 2 - the set ended around five
”It was a brilliant, brilliant set….they went back onstage. It must’ve been around 5:30. They began an improvisational piece, with the interplay of the guitars & organ. They did pattern structures, playing off against each other.
“We turned the stage lighting down. Turned it down a little more. Then for about a half-hour we turned off all the stage lighting & just put the mirrorball on
”It was heavenly music. It wasn’t hard rock, they just played all these melodic blues riffs….I’m not a critic, I can’t speak in musical terms. Then the drums came back in. They picked it up, got into the rumbling theme & stormed it on home.”
