John A

What's the Grateful Dead's relationship to Season of the Witch? Is it legal for DSO to play that, and if not how are fines levied?

Man, this Vegas character has got some serious street cred!

Believe It Or Not fans should head straight to Rochester, 6-30-88. Do not pass go. Mesmerizing. Indeed, what did Jerry have against this song such that it didn't stick?

Interesting. The original Tiger was played publicly for the first time since 7-9-95 Box of Rain in 2016 by Warren Haynes. In none other than Red Rocks.

That Bird Song looks like it came out of nowhere in the second set. And set 2, for that matter, seems fat even without it.

For my money 6-18-74 contained the greatest encore the Dead ever played. Not only was it Morning Dew, but it was an all-time version at that.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it's a rare filler that encompasses stuff that should have been in the original show. That New Speedway belonged before drums, and the proper Playin' Reprise belonged after space. So, creative filler! Ragging on the somewhat truncated 2nd set aside, that Reuben is perhaps the best of the 3 Dead versions.

Honky Tonk Woman! The good ol' NRPS. Bust out?

Eaton wasn't making lists for the Dead in '78.

Correct. There were many other times they started and finished it later in the set/show, but just 5 times when they split it with just one song in the middle.

Today in Grateful Dead trivia: the Dead split Sugar Mags/SSDD only 5 times, 3 of which were summer '76.

That's almost true for 6+ years with the Dead. Didn't go to So Cal Jerry shows because there was so much to see at Orphuem, Warfield, etc. I did skip an LA Dead show summer '91. It was a single night at the LA Coliseum. That feels forgivable, even in hindsight. But the real ballers, they hit entire years and/or had streaks of 100+ consecutive shows. Now that's Deadication.

Well, the nasty underbelly of the Bay Area, after housing prices, is traffic. Otherwise Petaluma is 20 min. I did see many an Oakland Coliseum show with a 15 min commute. Best commute though was JGB Halloween at the Kaiser '88. I was briefly living in neighboring Piedmont, and I walked home! And I lived about 1 1/2 miles as the crow flies from Barton Hall for all 3 Dead shows there - that I didn't see. Good excuse in '77 because I was 11. But at 15 in '81 the excuses get pretty flimsy.

All this Oregon talk as "west coast" but where's the love for the Bay Area? That's where The Dead are from for goodness sake. DSO needs to recreate the Muir Beach Acid Test. On Muir Beach. Given it's a 15 minute drive, I'm in.

There are a couple vicious rumors going around.... (a) this is a really awesome spot for music and camping, and (b) the Dark Star dug particularly deep into the re-imagined consciousness realm.

And to make matters worse, your drive probably doesn't have the Schoeps recording as the audience source, which only came into circulation fairly recently. It's quite nice as well.

That is one special Mr. Fantasy at the original show.

Wow there are bust outs and then there is the likes of Rosemary. Maybe someone in the band was listening to the new Aoxomoxoa 50th Anniversary release?!?

While those late 70s 10/2s leave 10-2-88 Shoreline in the dust, it's a fun show nonetheless. Lay Me Down for instance.

I think it's safe to say that the delta between the "best" and "worst" versions of Samba is relatively small. Robert Hunter did write the lyrics to Samba, so there's that. But then you realize he also wrote the lyrics to Wave to the Wind, so there's that too. What needs to be done for Skip to promise to never tackle that one?

Let's turn this thing on its head. I'll pop a bottle of Ruchottes-Chambertin if you promise NOT to play Samba. 🍷

Scary thing is I want to say that actually happened. Maybe more than once?

That's funny I was looking at that list, having seen the show, and thinking, especially as relates to the 1st set, "wow, that's a cool setlist. I don't remember all that." I submit that as a touring Head in Feb '90 that setlist would not have bored you.

I love how that 1st set delightfully messes with the space and time continuum of a Dead show, all while throwing in Take A Melody. Was Hey Jude the full song or the coda?

I think this show gets a bit lost in the insane greatness that was May '77, but as folks have noted it's all that. Right up there with the best shows of the month.