1992

Today is March 1, 2019 and today’s Grateful Dead concert is from March 1, 1992, live at the Omni in Atlanta, Georgia. This would serve be the first show in a 3 concert run the Dead had at the Omni from March 1-3, 1992. This show, while means well, is probably the most lackluster of the three shows the Dead put on in this run. Normally I’m not one to rag on a Grateful Dead concert, as they all have their own special characteristics, but this one just doesn’t hold up for me. The version I’ve been listening to is an audience taped one, and not too bad of one at that.

Lets take a look at the set list for this one:

Set 1: Jack Straw, Althea, Wang Dang Doodle, Row Jimmy, Memphis Blues, So Many Roads, Picasso Moon, Don’t Ease Me In

Set 2: Saint Of Circumstance, Way To Go Home, Scarlet Begonias > Fire On The Mountain > Drums > Space > The Last Time > Black Peter > Sugar Magnolia, E: The Weight

The first set opens up a somewhat coherent Jack Straw, however in some parts the vocals are really lacking, everything else sounds fine enough, but the sloppy vocals through much of the track really bring it down. The Dead seem to make up for lost effort on Althea however, doing good by it as they always do. In the first set the only other notable track is the Picasso Moon, Jerry and Vince sound great, Bob does a decent job with the vocals, drums are tight as well too. The rest and in between performances are fairly run of the mill, nothing crazy as far as Dead performances go, and in this case pretty forgettable.

I will give credit where credit is due and say the second set is definitely a slight step better than the first. Some of the highlights from this set would have to be Way To Go Home, I particularly enjoyed Vince’s singing on this one. In addition to this is one of the only other redeeming qualities about this show would have to be a classic Scarlet Begonias > Fire On The Mountain transition that takes us from Drums through Sugar Magnolia sequence bringing the show to an end with a The Weight cover.

This show definitely has some hidden highlights if you’re willing to dig a bit and be patient with it. It by no means is an exceptional Grateful Dead concert, however this one isn’t necessarily or wholly bad either. There’s high points and low points, and who knows maybe there’s just something I don’t get about this one!

You can listen to the whole show should you choose: http://www.lma.io/shows/gd1992-03-01.nak300.rickers.davis.105618.flac16

Grateful Dead Live at Uptown Theater on 02/28/1981

Today’s date is February 28, 2019 and marks 38 years since the Grateful Dead played at the Uptown Theater in Chicago, Illinois. This show would be the last one in a three night run the Dead had at the Uptown Theater in Chicago and would prove to be, in my opinion of course, the best of the three. The whole band sounds excellent with everyone on the same page crushing it and it shows! Not to mention this recording of the show is also exceptionally good as well, so that’s always a bonus.

Here is the set list for the show:

Set 1: Jack Straw, They Love Each Other, Mama Tried-> Mexicali Blues, Candyman, Little Red Rooster > Big Railroad Blues, Althea, Let It Grow, Deal

Set 2: Cold Rain & Snow > Greatest Story Ever Told, Ship of Fools, Lost Sailor > Saint Of Circumstance > Terrapin Station > Drums > The Other One > Stella Blue > Around & Around > Good Lovin’, E: One More Saturday Night

For the first set we see a fairly standard selection of tunes characteristic of classic Dead in addition a nice taste of songs from the 1980’s with songs such as Little Red Rooster and Althea. These two songs are where the band really shines in the first set in my opinion. Granted, I’ve never been a big fan of Little Red Rooster but boy do they sure pull this one off with style. This Little Red Rooster is so energetic, fun, and just sounds stunning! Brent is especially on fire for this one with the organ solo too. We can’t forget Althea either, of course this song needs no introduction, the Grateful Dead always make this song a solid choice and incorporate excellent jams, this version is no exception. Overall this is a well done first set with a decent Let It Grow and Deal combination to close.

The second set is no different from the first and is just as fun, if not better. Stand out songs from this set is obviously the Lost Sailor to Good Lovin’ sequence that takes us all the way to the One More Saturday Night encore. The Terrapin Station suite and Stella Blue are both exceptionally well done, with plenty of emotion too, making this sequence quite strong among all the other songs. Not to mention One More Saturday Night is always a fun song to close a Dead show! All in all this show is a decent Grateful Dead show that really gives hints of what to expect from the Dead in the 80’s.

Take a listen to the whole show here: https://archive.org/details/gd81-02-28.sbd.lutch.4668.sbeok.shnf/gd81-02-28d1t01.shn

Grateful Dead Live at Fillmore West on 02/27/1969

Today is February 27, 2019 and marks the 50th anniversary of a very important show! On this date 50 years ago the Grateful Dead played a show at the Fillmore West in San Francisco, California. Two songs from this show, Dark Star and St. Stephen, would become part of the first ever live Grateful Dead album to be released: Live/Dead. In my Opinion this is the best Dark Star the Dead ever played, it’s memorizing and truly captures the psychedelic feel of the Grateful Dead in the late 60’s.

Dark Star was written by Grateful Dead lead guitarist Jerry Garcia and frequent lyricist of the band Robert Hunter, however credit for the song’s composition is often given to the whole band. The studio version of Dark Star was originally released in 1968 as a single and was only 2 minutes and 44 seconds long! Dark Star’s B-side when released as a single would be Born Cross-Eyed from their 1968 album Anthem of the Sun. Dark Star would soon become a staple in Grateful Dead set lists throughout their career where the Dead would jam and improvise over for some time, for example the Dark Star from the Fillmore West 02/27/1969 was over 20 minutes long, clocking in at 22 minutes and 56 seconds on the archive I’ve been listening to for this show.

Of course Dark Star and St. Stephen aren’t the only two songs worth noting from this show, it undeniably is all good! Highlights I’d like to point out include a very nice Dupree’s Diamond Blues (a biased pick perhaps as this song is a personal favorite of mine, still nonetheless great), a classic Dark Star > St. Stephen > The Eleven > Turn On Your Lovelight sequence, and a spacey yet electric Cosmic Charlie encore.

I’d highly recommend giving this show a listen as it serves to be a quite important one in Grateful Dead history!

Give this show a listen here: https://archive.org/details/gd1969-02-27.132573.sbd.16track.healy-latvala-wise.flac16/t10.flac

Grateful Dead Live at Swing Auditorium on 02/26/1977

On February 26, 1977, 42 years ago as of today, the Grateful Dead played the first show of their 1977 touring year at the Swing Auditorium in San Bernardino, California, and what a show it was! This show has some gems and holds quite the significance for the history of the Grateful Dead. Recently this show has also been commercially released in the Dave’s Picks series as the 29th volume in the series, released on February 1, 2019. I’ve personally played the hell out of this one ever since getting it and consider it one of my favorite Dead shows.

The set list of the show is as follows:

Set 1: Terrapin Station, New Minglewood Blues, They Love Each Other, Estimated Prophet, Sugaree, Mama Tried, Deal, Playing In The Band > The Wheel > Playing In The Band

Set 2: Samson & Delilah, Tennessee Jed, The Music Never Stopped, Help On The Way > Slipknot! > Franklin’s Tower, Promised Land, Eyes Of The World > Dancin’ In The Streets > Around & Around, E: U.S. Blues

Not only is this show significant in the fact that it was the first show of 1977, one of the best years of live Grateful Dead shows, but it is also the first live performances of Terrapin Station and Estimated Prophet. Terrapin Station and Estimated Prophet are two songs off of the Grateful Dead’s studio album Terrapin Station that would be released on July 27, 1977. This debut of the two songs comes 6 months before being officially released and the song Terrapin Station serves as a magnificent show opener! In addition to the live debut of these wonderful songs this show is special in the fact that it blends aspects of Grateful Dead shows of the previous year and it’s where we begin to see aspects that would come to be indicative of 1977 Grateful Dead.

Along with the excellent execution of Terrapin Station and Estimated Prophet there are as always more songs from the show that deserve some attention. From the first set the stand out sequence is of course the Playing in the Band > The Wheel > Playing in the Band that brings the heat to close the first set. Overall this is a very tight first set of the likes which includes superb performances of Sugaree, New Minglewood Blues, and Mama Tried.

The second set is no different when it comes to bringing the groove and continues where the band left off. Here we see a fantastic Help On The Way > Slipknot! > Franklin’s Tower, how can you not love this sequence? So laid back and just overall great! This set also has a killer Eyes Of The World > Dancin’ In The Streets > Around & Around, with a tasty bass solo from Phil for the transition from Eyes to Dancin’ I might add.

Overall this concert is marvelous, great jams, great tunes, and the Dead seem to all consistently be together. This show is undoubtedly terrific and warrants many listens!

Check out and listen to the show here: https://archive.org/details/gd77-02-26.sbd.alphadog.9752.sbeok.shnf