Pigpen's Last Show, 1972

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Pigpen’s Last Show.

Here is a rare Grateful Dead poster for the only Southern California appearance following their Europe ’72 tour. The central image of this poster was printed using a technique that varied the colors. Some of these first edition posters have the color starting out as red on the top and turning to orange at the bottom and some are vice versa. Either way, it’s a stunning look against the purple background. The show was promoted by Pacific Presentations, an early '70s southern California rock concert promotion company that held shows in large capacity venues and ushered in the arena rock era.

This poster also is historically significant as keyboardist Ron McKernan (“Pigpen”) was forced to take an extended leave of absence after this show. Supposedly, Pigpen was not able to sing and there was a noticeable lack of Pigpen staples in the setlist. This concert at turned out to be his last; he died the following March from liver disease. Pigpen was a major force in the Band in it's early years and the Dead's sound evolved after his departure.