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Phil's Collection

Grateful Dead   10/10/1970

Colden Auditorium - Queens College, Flushing, NY
Source Audience
Taper: Ken and Judy Lee

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/grateful-dead/1970/colden-auditorium-queens-college-queens-ny-6bdc82a2.html

Source: Sony F95’s >
Sony TC124s >
Master Cassette (Ampex 361) >
Cassette (Maxell XL2S) >
DAT(48k)

Media FLAC - HD   1 disc
Notes Audience
Recorded by Ken and Judy Lee

Ken posted a review of this show at archive.org

This is another of the Ken & Judy Lee recordings.

Ken likes to tell folks he rented the Grateful Dead for Judy’s 22nd Birthday, which is pretty much what happened.

We had known them since the summer of ’67 first as fans and then during our various roles in and around the music scene.

So when we got our hands on some student council dollars at good old Queens College.

One thing leads to another and there we were with another sold out show with a huge crowd outside.

The recording was made from the projection booth, which account for the somewhat distant sound.

Never one of my faves because of this.

It was a challenge in this one level theater.

At least there was little audience noise.

During the show there were pitched battles when people would pop an exit door
and a flood of people would surge into an already overpacked house.

Security had there hands full with that sitch.

So from stalling the backstage elevator mid floor with Jerry, Bob, Phil and some fans with some floral offerings.

After a while we returned to earth and the show began.

Like a Cheech & Chong movie.

Those were some great times.

Afterwards, back to our place for another all nighter.

We were living over a bar then and could crank it way up anytime we wanted.

Loaves of bread and pounds of mixin’s made sure no one was hungry for long.

It’s funny how this show was one I ignored in favor of the Capitol Theatre tapes with their clarity.

Now in retrospect, I can remember my old lady from so long ago, smiling and dancing, 21 years old.

Gotta give it some stars, just for the memories.

Usual setup - Sony TC124s with Sony F95 mikes placed in black foam blocks to isolate sound.

No extension cables, they stayed at the Cap for years.

Just laid the mics in about a 60 degree spread.

Used to spend a lot of time in those booths here and there around North America.

I used to always tour the theaters, from top to bottomm - interesting buildings.

And so it is that all our shows & all them pix can now shed just a little light into our outlandish youth, oh the places we’ve seen.

When Ken refers to distant sound you have to remember he was listening to a multigen copy being streamed from archive.org,
this on the other hand sounds right in your face.

During the banter after Truckin' Phil says “Everybody’s having fun, I mean that’s what it’s all about man”

Notes: – Azimuth and phase adjustments – John’s original transfer was made back in 1986
and by that time the tapes were already showing signs of Sticky Shed syndrome.

This accounts for a lot of small dropouts that I have now repaired
– I took out a little background noise and also removed some 60Hz hum.
– The missing section of Set II was caused by a tape flip.
Judy normally took care of the flips but on this night is was down to Ken and he was very late getting back to the tape deck.
– The last 11:48 of Set II have never circulated before.

Thanks to Ken and Judy for this recording.

Thanks to John-Jay for the transfer.

Thanks to Joe B. Jones for his advice on pitch correction.

edited and mastered SIRMick January 2019

By Tim O'Shea
On 10 October 2021

For as many shows in New York that the Grateful Dead have played,
it’s almost amazing that there are only three of them that took place in Queens.

Today marks the anniversary of the third and final one.

The Grateful Dead treated a ravenous crowd at Colden Auditorium on the campus of Queens College
to a show featuring songs from, perhaps, two of their most iconic albums of all time.

In just a few weeks, the band would release American Beauty, taking them to an entire new level of national popularity.

And with Workingman’s Dead still fresh from earlier in the year, this shows falls in a time period where the band
is simply rife with creativity as they continue to from their own unique version of country-folk blended with West Coast psychedelia.

It begins with some extended tuning, during which guitarist Bob Weir tells the crowd that “Marmaduke stayed home,”
a reference to their friend from New Riders Of The Purple Sage – a band that often tagged along with the Dead for New York City shows.

Weir chides that, “This is the economy package.”

Elements of Truckin' and Deep Elem Blues can be heard in the pre show fine-tuning and that’s exactly how the show begins.

Weir leads the band on vocals for the Dead’s brand new hit Truckin’, a song only months old at the time.

Then, after some lighting and monitor directions, Jerry Garcia takes over for a modern take on a traditional blues tune, Deep Elem Blues.

Weir throws in some well placed harmonies at song’s end before the Dead hand the proverbial baton off to Pigpen
for a typically rousing cover of Otis Redding’s Hard To Handle.

Pig’s bluesy vocal efforts bookend a winding, exploratory jam spearheaded by Garcia on guitar.

This opening sequence of Grateful Dead music has the Colden Auditorium crowd clamoring for more.

The band responds in kind with Sugar Magnolia, another eventual classic still very much in its early stages.

This is the ninth one ever performed.

Garcia has the wah-effect in full gear for this one as the band rips into another brief, explosive jam
after Weir deftly navigates the lyrics.

The Candyman that follows may slow the tempo down a bit, but still serves as a first set highlight anyway
with a sublime and harrowing Garcia guitar solo placed between more delicate vocal harmonies.

This clears the way for a dynamic closing sequence to the opening set, starting with Cryptical Envelopment,
which gets an instant vote of approval from the crowd.

At its conclusion, a Drums immediately emerges, shining the spotlight on drummers Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart
who take the rapt audience on a percussive ride, in the first set no less.

This immediately segues into the explosive opening of The Other One, with all of Colden Auditorium now clapping along in time earnestly.

It winds up producing perhaps the best jam of the evening, a searing, psychedelic journey that varies in intensity before rounding back into form.

The opening set then closes with another rousing cover, this time Buddy Holly’s Not Fade Away.

The jam briefly dips its toe into Goin’ Down The Road Feeling Bad but no lyrics are actually sung
before Not Fade Away resumes and caps off a whirlwind ending sequence that would later finds its place closing out second sets instead.

The Dead’s second set at Colden Auditorium, after a false start of sorts, resumes with Casey Jones,
along with more full-fledged audience participation via clapping.

They follow this with a familiar cover of Cold Rain And Snow that gets considerable support
from Pigpen on organ and Phil Lesh on bass.

Bob Weir then resumes vocal lead for the dark, country western-themed Me And My Uncle.

Unfortunately, there’s a significant gap in the recording due to a tape flip issue that cuts out the portion of the second set that follows.

And it’s likely another one of the more memorable parts of the show as it features Good Lovin’,
sung with natural flair from Pigpen as always, sandwiching yet another Drums sequence that surely went deeper than its first set predecessor.

The recording picks up at the tail end of the Cumberland Blues that follows all of this.

One last pre-song tuning session finally gives way to Uncle John’s Band, the last song of the evening.

It’s fitting selection to end with another cut from their iconic Workingman’s Dead album
as they, and the world, prepare themselves for the American Beauty era.



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Owned by Phil · Last Updated Dec 29, 2025