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Favorite Grateful Dead Show Opener ...


comesatime

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I always felt that the first song set the pace of the show , or maybe it set my pace , or both for that matter ... but many , if not all pre-show conversations included " what are they going to open with " ... the later conversations unfortunately included " I hope Jerry's doing ok today " ... but still , we were always excited about the first song and it became sort of a game to guess song one ... of course you would have to get creative during those big MSG runs , but I always looked for a Bertha or Iko opener ...

Subject is not limited to the GD show openers and should include DSO and Furthur show openers !!!

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I always felt that the first song set the pace of the show , or maybe it set my pace , or both for that matter ... but many , if not all pre-show conversations included " what are they going to open with " ... the later conversations unfortunately included " I hope Jerry's doing ok today " ... but still , we were always excited about the first song and it became sort of a game to guess song one ... of course you would have to get creative during those big MSG runs , but I always looked for a Bertha or Iko opener ...

Love a Half Step opener, also love Stranger openers on Bobby night.

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I'll wait for someone to throw tomatoes at me, but I really enjoyed the Furthur show in Reading with "Celebration." When I hear the the P&F recordings from the early 00's, that one stands out to me. Nice Barraco vocals, typically.

I love a good Half Step opener, but there is one problem I have with it: if the Half Step cooks just right - I'm talking one of those mega-powerful Half Step's with the truly epic "across the Rio Grande - oh," and the guitar is just perfect, and the energy...then I don't think it can be topped. Something makes me think that the show can somehow only go downhill from a perfect Half Step, because that's a PERFECT opener.

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My favorite Openers in this order:

Jack Straw

1/2 Step

MIght As Well

Honorable Mention:

Cold Rain and Snow

Very Close to mine:

1/2 Step

Jack Straw

Bertha

1st Alt: Shakedown

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I haven't been on the forum in over a year. It's nice to be back.

I agree with a lot of what has been stated here. 1/2 Step is just such an awesome tune in every conceivable way (one of the songs that most aptly epitomizes the GD sound, in my opinion), so I always loved it as an opener. However, sfagan09's point is a good one: When a great 1/2 Step opener is followed by something like Me & My Uncle>Mexicali, you can't help but experience a bit of a let-down (of course, this is the case with any really strong opener). When it's Bobby's turn, I love Stranger because it can really open up and get interesting, and a raucous Jack Straw is always fun, too.

Question: How come nobody mentioned Shakedown? Is that an oversight, or are people legitimately no that into it as an opener (seems hard to believe)?

Mark

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Bertha, Playin' usually indict a lively night.

Deal, Sugaree usually meant Jerry is blowing the roof off tonight.

The Dead almost never opened with Playin' - maybe 5 - 6 times ever, including the big 9/82 flirtation with doing so. Interesting to think where they could have gone with shows had they done it more often.

Based on shows I attended, my favorite openers were: Jack Straw, Shakedown Street and The Music Never Stopped.

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Here Comes Sunshine

Stranger

Hell in a Bucket

Alabama Getaway

REALLY feel this list. (especially love DSO shows that open with these)

but gotta say I'd have to go with promised land or jack straw as far as GD shows.... these songs really speak to me, especially the specific opening lines "left my home in norfolk, va" being from VA, and "we can share the women, we can share the wine" for too many reasons to really get into on here. then there is the whole very uh, churchy, for lack of a better term, feel to both of the songs for me... like breaking bread and preparing for a journey and whatnot.... really gets me going.

as far as Furthur openers.... any song they are letting John sing at the moment. hehe, cause then the show is usually a REALLY good one lol. (Jon just threw in that Golden Road is a particularly fun one with them, and I agree)

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