John A

Melvin and JK rocked the Sweetwater in Mill Valley last night. Definitely some fat jams! Harder They Come He Ain’t Give You None Breadbox -> sweet jam -> Breadbox Lonely Avenue Tore Up Over You Stop That Train That’s Alright Mama Don’t Let Go -> Space -> GDTRFB Hey Pockey Way Sisters & Brothers Reuben & Cherise (No encore)

Set list is confusing me.... Help Slip Shakedown was it's own set? Or was that one monster of a pre-drums? One lament I have with the Dead is that the they totally abandoned that tribal beat of a slowly evolving NFA coming out of space. Great slot for it!

Agreed, but more impressively this post suggest you read that whole rant. Impressive forum Deadication. On another subject, check out the He's Gone jam from 5-12-80 Boston. Jerry, Phil, and Brent are all getting after it. At one point they seem to be hinting at Caution. Then just before the jam fades into drums things get nice and weird. Good stuff.

JFK should have been razed long before the Dylan/Dead show I saw in '87. What a pit.

Now that's gold! Well played. 😄

I'm not on Facebook, but a friend forwards me some of this stuff. Cat's name is Scott, and apparently he's written a couple books on The Dead. Today's post: 10, 2 Decent enough stuff overall, but my eyes popped when I got to the "Brent became a presence onstage as large and important as Jerry" part. I'm all for a bit of hyperbole to make a point, and I'm a huge Brent fan, but come on, man! What band were you watching?!? 🙄 Might be time to give his keyboard a time out. 😆

Both Helen Reddy and Neil Sedaka have now entered the thread! As it happens, in 5th grade those may have been my 2 favorite artists. Love it!

Greg, I think you've stumbled onto a great point about Cumberland... that tune, given the evolution of the Dead's material at the time, feels like it's a cover. But ultimately it's arguably a greater version of the songs they were getting into. Genius shit! Back to the "greatest song ever written"... As a card carrying over the top Dead freak, that song has to be one with lyrics by Robert Hunter, music by Jerry Garcia, right? Once that's been established, pick your poison. 😆 🤣

I'm going to posit what will perhaps be an unpopular concept; that Jerry shelved Viola Lee because he thought it was at least to some degree a vehicle to play fast for fastness' sake. And thereby once The Dead showed what they could do with it he was done, as there was nothing left to prove. Which reminds me of the awesome story when Jerry worked in Dana Morgan's music store way back in the Palo Alto days. Some cocky kid comes in, takes a guitar off the shelf, and dives right into some intense shredding frenzy. When he takes the guitar off his shoulder, Jerry quips, "what's the matter, man, you run out of talent?"

Sirius XM played this show yesterday, and I caught the Estimated >Dark Star on the way to picking up my brother in law at the airport. Jerry totally gives up on the DS before it makes any headway whatsoever toward getting off the ground. And after David Murray had contributed to that scorching Estimated, it was that much more of a head scratcher. If you look up "off a cliff" in the dictionary, you'll find reference to the Nassau 3-29 Branford Star in relation to this one.

Check out 6-10-90 Cal Expo for an especially fine Bertha Jack Straw opener.

85 really was a wacky year for GD setlists. Hell, Gimme Some Lovin' did some openin'!

This is true, and I'm glad you recognized boldness for boldness's sake. 😆 Nonetheless, the statement holds its own due to the obviously uneven nature of the Dead by that vintage. To wit, while the Estimated with David Murray later in that MSG run was sensational, the Dark Star that followed it was downright lame.

Interesting opener tidbit, if we may expand the definition of "opener" somewhat. The 1st of 6 MSG fall '93 shows opened with the sequence of Rain; Shakedown Street -> Wang Dang Doodle; Cold Rain & Snow and it's arguable that the tour never reached the level of that 4 pack again!

The problem with anything trumping 5-9-77 is that we have one of the greatest versions of Help Slip Frank and it actually occurs right out the gate - insane to comprehend. It's like the Louisville '74 encore. You have a just shy of greatest ever level Morning Dew. In the freaking encore slot! How do you top that?!? A super cool opener is 6-8-80 Boulder - Uncle John's -> Playin' -> Uncle John's in celebration of the 15th anniversary. And you gotta love Halloween '85 in Columbia, SC.... Space -> Werewolves after Billy supposedly announced backstage that he wouldn't come out and play if Garcia didn't open with Werewolves. Jerry was game, although he hadn't done it since '78 and didn't remember the words. I really groove on that story and hope that it's true!

Let's change the discussion from best theoretical opener to best actual opener and ask what is the greatest opener ever.... My vote is Buffalo 5-9-77 Help>Slip>Franklin's. With honorable mention to the 1st Terrapin San Bernardino '77.

Well I'll be dipped in shit! I rolled my eyes at your Lay Me Down proclamation but have just cranked the Ultra Matrix. We disagree about that hair (MSG is better) but damn that 12/14 version has got the goods. Listened to the Knockin' as well, which I already knew was great. While still my reference '90 Knockin' is 9/8 Pittsburgh, I agree the intensity of the solo in 12/14 is degree apart.

That's too easy. A better question would be is there ANYTHING else I'd prefer as a 2nd set opener than Scarlet Fire. Maybe not. 💥

Check out the Rider and the Black Peter from the original show. About as hard as the 1989 GD could rage. A candidate for my favorite Shoreline show.

Wow does he look young. Without the hair loss he could pass for a college kid. I love this quote about how he saw them in England (where he'd been living) in March '81 after not having seem them for some time.... (I paraphrase)

Most brutal tease ever was more than a tease - The Grateful Dead actually began to play Cosmic Charlie at the Oakland Coliseum 2-27-94 in the ballad slot. Then it ground to a halt and Wharf Rat emerged.

I did a deep dive on Baby Blues a few years back, and I can confirm the 4-6-82 Blue was just a half notch below best ever.

Yep, it's finally official.

To me, Morning Dew gets elevated for a few reasons. It became a symbol of something special in later years, as in if you got "The Dew" the show was necessarily something exceptional. That ties into the rarity in post hiatus years; once in '76, only a few times in '77, once in '78, and once in '79. Plus it was there from the very beginning (literally as it was on the first album) so it had the most room for evolution. And did it ever evolve, culminating with Jerry's vocal delivery in the post coma years. All that and it's inherent pathos and power. On the other hand, the likes of Stella Blue, Terrapin, and I'd add Comes A Time, were Garcia/Hunter compositions, so that should clearly carry lots of weight. Good springboard for discussion, Milehighjoel.

The latest...Guessing the initial restaurant lease was for 10 years, unless they signed a 5 year and the second 5 is now expiring. https://www.marinij.com/2021/10/21/fans-of-terrapin-crossroads-are-hoping-for-a-miracle/