Reading Live Lost Dead blog and came across the following:

"November 18-19, 1972 Hofheinz Pavilion, Houston, TX: Grateful Dead (Sat-Sun)

The Grateful Dead returned to Houston in 1972 for the fourth year in a row. This time, rather surprisingly, the band headlined not one, but rather two nights in Houston's newest arena, the Hofheinz Pavilion, at 3875 Holman Street. The Pavilion, which had opened in December 1969, was the new home of the Houston Rockets-who featured the great Elvin Hayes, "The Big E"--and had a capacity of about 8.400. Hofheinz would be the primary home of the Rockets until The Summit opened late 1975.

The reason for this booking was a planned tour with The Allman Brothers.

In the post-60s rock universe, the Allman Brothers were the heirs to the Dead's jamming ethos, riding high behind Live At Fillmore East (recorded live on March 11-13, 1971) and Eat A Peach (including live music from March and June '71 plus various studio recordings). The tragic death of Duane Allman had accelerated the band into the national consciousness, and a tour was planned that would bring together the best and most famous of the original "jam bands" (not that the term was used at the time). at a jam-fest for the ages.

Somewhere I had a list of the planned Dead/Allmans '72 tour dates (please put it in the Comments if you've got it), but in any case, the two Houston dates were to be the first of a cross-country Dead-Allmans double billing in some of the largest indoor arenas of the time, culminating at Winterland.

The tragic death of Allmans bassist Berry Oakley (in a motorcycle accident on November 11, 1972) abruptly put an end to the tour. Nonetheless, although the Dead could not really headline two nights in Houston by themselves, they played the gigs anyway. I do not know how well attended the shows were, but I suspect the Pavilion was not sold out either night, which probably made for pretty relaxed events. Some pretty spacey shows seemed to have ensued."

I also learned my first Dead show, 11/11/71, Atlanta Municipal Auditorium, was Buddy Cage's first gig as pedal steel player for the NRPS.

Link to blog:

http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com

[Edited on 4/10/2017 by aiq]