Five New Songs and the Beautiful Jam at the Capitol

The Grateful Dead arrived at the Capitol Theatre on February 18, 1971 with a remarkable amount of new material. “Bertha,” “Greatest Story Ever Told,” “Loser,” “Playing in the Band” and “Wharf Rat” all received their first known performances that night.

The first “Wharf Rat” appeared inside “Dark Star.” As the band moved out of the new song, it found an instrumental passage that listeners later named the “Beautiful Jam.” The sequence turned a set of debuts into one of the most discussed improvisations in the Dead’s live archive.

At The Capitol Theatre, a single Port Chester show became a launch point for songs that remained in the band’s repertoire for years. The room holds both their first steps and a passage that could happen only in the moment.

Sources: Dead.net show archive and Grateful Dead Hour 361