Jerry Garcia
- electric guitar (lead), vocals
Bob Weir
- electric guitar (rhythm), vocals
Phil Lesh
- electric bass, vocals
Ron McKernan
- organ, vocals
Bill Kreutzmann
- drums, perc
Mickey Hart
- drums, perc
Tom Constanten
- keyboards
deadlists entry for 11/23/68 states "So many students from Ohio University in Athens came to the show in Columbus on 11/22/68 (a long drive - about 1 1/2 hours or so) that the band decided to go to Athens and put on a free show for them!" (located via LIA comment to JGMF)
Attendee ace1 (via dead.net comment ): "Mem Aud.... 1929 theater style auditorium with balcony, max occupancy 2500, that night a room full of kinetic heads, the local freak scene, maybe a couple hundred folks max, lights up, people milling about, equipment set up on oriental rug on stage, folks walking up and down the steps to the stage where a number of people stood talking to each other, chatter, laughter, excitement, patchouli, and then amid it all an undersound of music emerging from the seeming randomness and the show was on! ... I know Pig was wailing out front and learned since that it was Tom's first night on keys, which freed Pig for vocal theatrics. Oh did the boys play...long into the evening!" Another witness confirms the small crowd: "Sort of catch-as-catch-can atmosphere, big venue, but small audience (heck Thanksgiving was here!), as in Columbus the night before. Small turnout for two nights in a row made me wonder if this band had a future! Again, general weirdness and jamming prevailed."
Attendee kshapero (via comment to JGMF): "I was at the Athens, Ohio show 11/23/68. Small crowd, a couple hundred, all freaks. At one point a member of the SDS came on stage, giving a big anti-war speech. No one seemed to care, since everyone there was grooving on the Dead. At points, very informal, many folks on stage, some part of the Dead family, others just hanging and dancing. As Athens was a very rural area, a bunch of us retreated to a Hippie farmhouse after the show (maybe 2 AM) and continued to groove on with the Dead. A good time had by all. Special time because no one was famous yet."