Grateful Dead at Stockton, 1967 - Grim Reaper

Extremely rare primitive but brilliant silkscreen done for a small show in Stockton California. This poster is as near to “one-of-a-kind” as any.

The Grateful Dead performance at the Stockton Ballroom, 80 miles east of SF, was an event sponsored by the Pacific Student Association, the student organization of Stockton's University of The Pacific. The dance was part of an annual week of events celebrating Mardi Gras (rather belatedly). The theme of the week was "A Thousand Clowns." Friday night began at 5:30 pm with a barbeque on campus, then at 7:30 the "Mardi Gras Queen" and "Ugly Man" contestants were introduced at the school auditorium. Prizes would also be awarded for a special beard growing contest. The Grateful Dead performance was later that evening. Interestingly, at this time Jerry Garcia himself was beardless but sporting some serious mutton chops.

The Stockton Ballroom was some miles from campus. While it appears that regular people could gain admission to the show, the event was sponsored and produced by the Student Association, so that explains why there was almost no publicity and no review of the concert, as it was more of a dance. While no tapes survived, the performance was referred to by Ralph J Gleason in the SF Chronicle, May 14, 1967

“We played for 5,000 people in Santa Barbara,” says Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead. “It’s happening all over. In Stockton you wouldn’t believe it. We had a big crowd there too.”