Cleopatra

What is immediately apparent on this archival release from the seminal quartet’s 1968 Fillmore gig is the focused, buttoned quality of the music. The San Francisco band comes to play their songs with a pulsating desire to be heard. Forty-five years later, clearly out of reach of that hallowed decade (or, are we still there, man?), one can still hear a timeless urgency to these tracks that is quite profound ( “Dino’s Song” bursts from the speakers, while “Codine” ripples around the room with a confident swagger). With the lineup of Gary Duncan (guitar and vocals), John Cipollina (guitar), David Freiberg (bass and vocals) and Greg Elmore (drums), the Bay Area quartet knows how to groove without losing a moment of clarity ( “Light Your Windows” shimmers with color, while “Calvary” hits you in the chest). On the set’s second disc, the group shuffles the deck, mixing robust readings of Willie Dixon’s “Back Door Man” and Bo Diddley’s “Who Do You Love” with twin original jam gems, “Acapulco Gold & Silver” and “The Fool.” The Grateful Dead were the quintessential San Francisco band, but Quicksilver Messenger Service has their own weighty historical relevance, and this Fillmore set highlights the obvious and the subtle with equal head-tripping power.