There's an interesting comment at Etree about this show "So, I'm listening to 10/20/68 and, after the opening "Schoolgirl," Jerry says something about being hassled at the airport, and finally being able to make it into Fresno. Someone else mentions that they thought they were in Turlock. :-)
WHAT? 10/20/68 was at the Greek Theater! Even as a joke, that seems like a weird thing to say, since I'm sure the Dead had no hassle whatsoever getting to the Greek. Why would Jerry even bother saying something like that? So, I looked into when the Dead ever played Fresno in 1968, and came up with one answer: 2/17/68, for which no tape circulates. Over on Deadlists, the promoter of the show is quoted: "The Dead played with Country Joe and the Fish. They opened the show and played "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl" and then an extremely long version of "Turn on Your Lovelight" and that was the show!!!" And what, exactly, are the first two tracks on what circulates as 10/20/68? That's right, "Schoolgirl" and "Lovelight." Uh oh! Could the beginning of our "10/20/68" tape actually be the complete performance of 2/17/68? That might explain a lot....if they had a whole bunch of hassles at the airport, then the band arrived late and, having arrived late, only played for 30 minutes before yielding the stage to Country Joe. Obviously the rest of "10/20/68" isn't from Fresno (the presence of "St. Stephen" would eliminate that possibility), but I'm really starting to wonder about the first two tracks. I don't have my copy with me (I'm at work, so I'm listening on the Archive), but what I hear is that, at the end of "Lovelight," they're busy tuning up, and then all of a sudden "Dark Star" fades in, already in progress. That points to a clear break in the tape. Also, think about Schoolgirl followed by Lovelight. How many times did they play THAT particular combination? So, what do you think...could this actually be a hybrid of 2/17 and 10/20?"
