Favorite Dead Performances
- Thread starter AustinTXCat
- Start date
Too many great shows to list
If there’s a 30 minute Dark Star or Other One on the setlist I’m down for it.
I used to try to get people into them but I gave up. They can never seem to get past the wooks.
went on a road trip not too long ago w family and my aunt had xm so she put on the Dead channel. I got the ole “this is not what I was expecting” and “how come I’ve never heard their songs before”
she seemed to like it as we listened for about 3 hours
If there’s a 30 minute Dark Star or Other One on the setlist I’m down for it.
I used to try to get people into them but I gave up. They can never seem to get past the wooks.
went on a road trip not too long ago w family and my aunt had xm so she put on the Dead channel. I got the ole “this is not what I was expecting” and “how come I’ve never heard their songs before”
she seemed to like it as we listened for about 3 hours
Very similar to my father's preconceived image of them. He had never heard them and of course thought of them as the drug/hippie culture. We were on about a 4 hour drive and I had on the Sirius channel and in a very short time he said, " who is this, these guys can play". The look on his face was just amazement when I told him the GD.
I think so many people have such a preconceived perception based off a couple bad events out of 50 yrs.
I think so many people have such a preconceived perception based off a couple bad events out of 50 yrs.
I didn't get a chance to fire up the show yet. Perhaps at work tonight. Point me to what I'm supposed to listen for again?
That Freedom Hall show is considered the best of 1974 (a fantastic year) and possibly top 10 all time.
Jerry drops an Easter Egg in one of his solos in BIODTL. Here is a hint, listen closely at the 1:40 mark, right after Bobby says “rock it on out”
I had never caught that either. Just went back and listened, pretty cool.
And that’s we enjoy bands like The Dead, EVERY show is different and you never know what you are going to get.
And that’s we enjoy bands like The Dead, EVERY show is different and you never know what you are going to get.
One of the perks from working from home the past couple weeks is I'm able to listen to 2-3 complete shows per day instead of just bits and pieces like usual, or the Dick's Picks I've got loaded onto the iPod in my car and nearly gotten burned out on from so many listens. About 15 years ago when I got hardcore into the Dead and started seeing the post-Garcia bands religiously, I downloaded about every 5-star show from Archive.org I could get my hands on before things changed and they only allowed you to stream, and not download, the soundboards.
There was a particular reviewer who was very thorough and knowledgeable who went by the name "Dr. Flashback," and I made sure to nab every show I could that he gave a 5-star review to. I was still getting my feet wet in the vast Grateful Dead pool at the time. Come to find out, the guy is from Lexington and is a big UK fan. But he knew his shit and that info was valuable to me and a lot of others.
Anyway, several years ago, I asked him for his top 10 shows from 1969-74 and this is what he gave me. Might be beneficial for someone who's new to the band and wanting to delve further. These were an interesting 5 years for the Dead. The acid-fueled shows were largely coming to an end by 1969 and the Crosby, Stills and Nash influence kicked in, as evidenced by Workingman's Dead and American Beauty. Robert Hunter was churning out classic after classic by 1970 and Weir's old pal, John Barlow joined forces not long after to help form another epic songwriting partnership.
Europe 72 might be the best tour the band ever did. Pretty much every show reached legendary status. Keith Godchaux had joined the band in 1971 and Pigpen was slowly getting phased out. The newer material was getting too complicated for him. The transition into 73-74 saw a lot of jazz influence starting to appear in live shows. So, in just 3-4 years the band had done a complete 180.
Anyway, here's the list. A lot of these are probably complete shows on Youtube as well.
1969
1/26/69
2/22/69
2/28/69
3/1/69
4/5/69
4/21/69
4/22/69
5/24/69
11/8/69
12/30/69
1970 - speculative, so much is unknown.
1/2/70
1/23/70
2/11/70
2/13/70
5/2/70
5/15/70
9/19/70
9/20/70
10/31/70
11/8/70
1971
2/19/71
4/5/71
4/28/71
4/21/71
7/2/71
11/7/71
12/6/71
12/10/71
12/14/71
12/31/71
1972
4/8/72
4/14/72
5/11/72
5/26/72
7/26/72
8/24/72
8/27/72
9/17/72
9/21/72
12/31/72
1973
2/15/73
3/28/73
5/26/73
6/10/73
10/30/73
11/11/73
11/17/73
11/21/73
12/2/73
12/6/73
1974
2/24/74
5/17/74
5/21/74
6/16/74
6/18/74
6/26/74
7/31/74
8/6/74
9/18/74
10/17/74
There was a particular reviewer who was very thorough and knowledgeable who went by the name "Dr. Flashback," and I made sure to nab every show I could that he gave a 5-star review to. I was still getting my feet wet in the vast Grateful Dead pool at the time. Come to find out, the guy is from Lexington and is a big UK fan. But he knew his shit and that info was valuable to me and a lot of others.
Anyway, several years ago, I asked him for his top 10 shows from 1969-74 and this is what he gave me. Might be beneficial for someone who's new to the band and wanting to delve further. These were an interesting 5 years for the Dead. The acid-fueled shows were largely coming to an end by 1969 and the Crosby, Stills and Nash influence kicked in, as evidenced by Workingman's Dead and American Beauty. Robert Hunter was churning out classic after classic by 1970 and Weir's old pal, John Barlow joined forces not long after to help form another epic songwriting partnership.
Europe 72 might be the best tour the band ever did. Pretty much every show reached legendary status. Keith Godchaux had joined the band in 1971 and Pigpen was slowly getting phased out. The newer material was getting too complicated for him. The transition into 73-74 saw a lot of jazz influence starting to appear in live shows. So, in just 3-4 years the band had done a complete 180.
Anyway, here's the list. A lot of these are probably complete shows on Youtube as well.
1969
1/26/69
2/22/69
2/28/69
3/1/69
4/5/69
4/21/69
4/22/69
5/24/69
11/8/69
12/30/69
1970 - speculative, so much is unknown.
1/2/70
1/23/70
2/11/70
2/13/70
5/2/70
5/15/70
9/19/70
9/20/70
10/31/70
11/8/70
1971
2/19/71
4/5/71
4/28/71
4/21/71
7/2/71
11/7/71
12/6/71
12/10/71
12/14/71
12/31/71
1972
4/8/72
4/14/72
5/11/72
5/26/72
7/26/72
8/24/72
8/27/72
9/17/72
9/21/72
12/31/72
1973
2/15/73
3/28/73
5/26/73
6/10/73
10/30/73
11/11/73
11/17/73
11/21/73
12/2/73
12/6/73
1974
2/24/74
5/17/74
5/21/74
6/16/74
6/18/74
6/26/74
7/31/74
8/6/74
9/18/74
10/17/74
A smoking The Other One to start off your weekend.
My first wife was from the Bay Area and so I had to listen to a LOT of them. And by a LOT, I mean almost f***ing constantly.
Never got it. To each his own, and more power to you. I freely admit I'm in the minority here, but it just came across to me as lethargic bluegrass on methaqualone...
Never got it. To each his own, and more power to you. I freely admit I'm in the minority here, but it just came across to me as lethargic bluegrass on methaqualone...
Great keyboard player obviously...but what a touching voice man. Just soulful, sweet and unique. Besides Pig my favorite keyboardist for the Dead. When Jerry could find his voice he and Brent had some beautiful harmonies. Man, I miss the dude.
Didn’t he sing some sad ass song about life in his final show? Too lazy to look it up but pretty sure it was a Brent solo that was pretty haunting.
I'm partial to the Keith years myself, but that late 80s run when Brent emerged as the 3rd lead man, was extremely strong. Even Bobby and Billy have stated 89-90 was their best touring years, and it was because of Brent. He brought it every night. When he died, the band died a slow death. It was never the same.
Summer of 86 was leading into Jerry's coma. He looked like shit around 85 and into 86. His comeback was slow, but he came back with a vengeance. I've been on an 87-88 kick lately and there's so many great shows I'd never heard before.
His last verse was from the Weight: "I've gotta go but my friend can stick around."
He was having emotional issues towards the end and it bled into his performances. Started dropping F and gd-bombs in Blow Away, etc. Pretty sure there's video out there of him shooting up onstage but I've never seen it. I think he had court-mandated rehab coming up and might've OD'd by accident wanting one last bender. It's a shame. Didn't take long for Jerry to dive head-first back into heroin after Brent was gone. Just wonder how things would've turned out if he hadn't died.
Actually enjoyed this show much better than the other time I saw them in '76.
The problem with the Keith years for me is that means Donna is there. I just loathe her screeching voice trying to sing in keys she was not gifted enough to sing.
How cool would it have been to have had Richard Manuel on keys for awhile? His voice would have been absolutely killer on certain songs.
How cool would it have been to have had Richard Manuel on keys for awhile? His voice would have been absolutely killer on certain songs.
My favorite one is that one riff that went on for an hour...just like the rest of them. Never mind...I despise them all. At least you can still follow Phish. You guys can have them, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Asleep at the Wheel....useless music. Music should tell a (good) story. There are so many good bands...Dead ain’t one
Damn, you saw them in 76? That's sorta a forgotten year for whatever reason. They had the hiatus and played a small number of shows in 75 when Blues for Allah was released. 1977 was an epic year though.
Yeah I bought the Blues for Allah tee at the show. One of the few memories I recall of that night. Loved that awesome shirt! Wore it all the time in HS.
Never was a "deadhead" however I did see a couple of their shows in the '70's..don't remember much about them other than both of them were louder than hell and and after one of the shows we drifted around the parking lot for what seemed like days looking for our car and each other. We had all done some mind altering drug prior to the show and smoked our lungs out during the show. There were 4 of us and we all got turned around in the parking lot as we looked for each other and the car. We laughed our asses off once we located each other and the car. A few days later not one us could remember anything about the concert. Good times!!![[smoke]](http://l.yimg.com/j/assets/img/emoticons/classic/smokin.r191677.gif "Cool [smoke]")
Valium in the 70's. The 10mg was a blue pill as I recall.Never was a "deadhead" however I did see a couple of their shows in the '70's..don't remember much about them other than both of them were louder than hell and and after one of the shows we drifted around the parking lot for what seemed like days looking for our car and each other. We had all done some mind altering drug prior to the show and smoked our lungs out during the show. There were 4 of us and we all got turned around in the parking lot as we looked for each other and the car. We laughed our asses off once we located each other and the car. A few days later not one us could remember anything about the concert. Good times!!
When you looked like this, you were wearing your blue suit. lmfao
In honor of the Cornell show being 44 years old today, here's the Saint Stephen > NFA > Saint Stephen > Dew ending.
Not sure if I'd rank this show No. 1 all-time like many, but certainly the best Dew the boys ever played. And Scarlet > Fire too, probably. Bonus points for the Supplication. I remember Ratdog playing it in Cleveland about 15 years ago. Pretty rare one to catch with any of the post-Jerry bands.
Not sure if I'd rank this show No. 1 all-time like many, but certainly the best Dew the boys ever played. And Scarlet > Fire too, probably. Bonus points for the Supplication. I remember Ratdog playing it in Cleveland about 15 years ago. Pretty rare one to catch with any of the post-Jerry bands.
I think JGB and then Jerry w/David Grisman was the most pure form of music expression. I can do without the weirdos and lunatics.
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