August 1 was the night the Light Artists' Guild, led by Jerry Abrams, struck the Family Dog. Garcia would not cross the picket line and had scheduled a proto-New Riders gig at UC Berkeley, presumably to avoid the hassles. He didn't quite escape them. Eyewitness reports say Bob Weir and Bill Kreutzmann, at least, broke the picket line and played, along with two flautists and a conguero. I am not sure about Phil Lesh, Tom Constanten, or Ron McKernan. It is possible that this could be considered as a Grateful Dead show without Jerry Garcia, as far as I know a singular occurrence in the 30-year history of that band. Attendance from Benksy. "Out on the Edge" had it at 300, but that could have been earlier in the night.
deadsources: August 1, 1969: Family Dog, Playland — unknown (San Francisco Examiner, 31 July 1969); Verne & Bill (San Francisco Good Times, 31 July 1969); John Hurst (San Francisco Examiner, 1 August 1969); Tari (Berkeley Tribe, 1 August 1969); unknown (San Francisco Examiner, 2 August 1969); Lawrence Bensky (Dock of the Bay, 5 August 1969); Art Johnson (Berkeley Tribe, 8 August 1969); unknown (San Francisco Examiner, 4 August 1969); Ben Fong-Torres (Rolling Stone, 6 September 1969); unknown ("Walking the Dog," Berkeley Barb 7/25/69, p.9)
