Fun with Deadbase

[DesertDead]

NEW GAME!

Set length.  First sets, specifically.

 

In 1990 there were 13 first sets of 10 songs or more.  The last, 11-song first sets were played in 1990 (5/5/90 at CalState Dominguez Hills, which is an odd way to say “Los Angeles”, and 10/31/90 in London).

 

So the question is:

 

How many 10-song first sets were played in

1991?
1993?
1994?
 

I will spare us the mystery around 1992 and 1995, both shortened for the wrong reasons and had zero 10-song first sets.

 

But 1991, 1993, and 1994 had some.  How many in each year?

 

Bonus points if you can specify any of the shows.

[John A]

No long 1st sets jump out at me in any of those years, but I do recall a 12 song 2nd set at Frost '89.  Now that could be a post coma record!

 

I also recall a 12 song 1st set in Rochester '87, perhaps another post coma record.

[DesertDead]

11 minutes ago, John A said:

No long 1st sets jump out at me in any of those years, but I do recall a 12 song 2nd set at Frost '89.  Now that could be a post coma record!

 

I also recall a 12 song 1st set in Rochester '87, perhaps another post coma record.

if you can’t recall any shows/setlists that you’ve seen, then maybe you could hazard a guess at just the number of first sets >10 songs in 91, 93, 94?
 

I agree that a 12 song first set would likely be a post-coma record.

 

Second sets are obviously a different story, beginning with, do you count Drums and/or Space?  And if not, then how about other Jams (distinct music with no lyrics)?  Maybe we can look more closely at those after we discover more about first sets.  🤓

 

[BillK522]

I seem to recall a 10 song first at the

second show at the Dean Dome in 

Chapel Hill on Spring 93 tour.  A couple 

of my better latter day shows.

 

To answer the question though

Total guess.

 

1991:  7

1993:  4

1994:  2

 

Praise DSO.

[Rude]

8 minutes ago, BillK522 said:

I seem to recall a 10 song first at the

second show at the Dean Dome in 

Chapel Hill on Spring 93 tour.  A couple 

of my better latter day shows.

 

To answer the question though

Total guess.

 

1991:  7

1993:  4

1994:  2

 

Praise DSO.

pandemic has u up all night listening to Dead with periodic browsing too? 😂. 
 

pretty sure the dead did a 23 song set 1 in 1994.....😂. 
 

Remember when the dead was only doing 5 song set 2’s like 5/1/77 palladium. Aren’t we lucky they started doing more songs 😂. 

[Zuck]

I remember the opening night in Los Angeles, 12/8/93, being a long 1st set.  The show opened with Rain into Let the Good Times Roll followed by a breakout of an oldie but goodie King Bee.

[Tea]

No clue - but I'll guess.  I do remember nite 1 of Richfield (9/4/91) having 10.  I was at that Chapel Hill '93 run like BillK and I'm pretty sure they did 10 songs on the second nite.

 

1991:   5

1993:   3

1994:   1

[DesertDead]

You guys are good.

There were two in 1993, and you nailed them both.

 

3/25/93 - Dean Dome, Chapel Hill, NC

Touch

GSET

So Many Roads

Minglewood Blues

Lazy River Road

Mexicali->
Big River 

FOTD

Eternity

Liberty

 

 

12/8/93 - Los Angeles Sports Arena

Rain->
LTGTR

King Bee

Stagger Lee

MAMU->
Mexicali

Lazy River Road

Masterpiece

Row Jimmy

Picasso Moon

 

And you got half of the two that were played in 1991:

9/4/91 - Richfield Coliseum, Fall Tour Opener

LTGTR

Jack Straw

Jack A Roe

Walkin Blues

FOTD

Black-Throated Wind

TJed

Masterpiece

Cold Rain and Snow

Promised Land

 

So you now know that there is one more in 1991 (and we’re not counting the one, long set that was played with a Neil Young at the Bill Graham Memorial, because that was not a Dead show).

 

To move this along I’ll tell you that Tea is correct - there was only one in 1994.

 

So 

1991 had two (we need one more)

1992 had zero

1993 had two (we got them both)

1994 had one (still need)

1995 had zero

[BillK522]

2 hours ago, Tea said:

No clue - but I'll guess.  I do remember nite 1 of Richfield (9/4/91) having 10.  I was at that Chapel Hill '93 run like BillK and I'm pretty sure they did 10 songs on the second nite.

 

1991:   5

1993:   3

1994:   1

 

Pretty funny, Tea

I was at Richfield 91 also.

 

Praise DSO.

[DesertDead]

Ok, let’s wrap this one up.

 

The other 1991 first set that got to 10 songs was 12/31/91.  🥳

 

The only show in 1994 that did so was 10/1.  

 

 

Stamina clearly dropped off after 1990.  (That’s what she said.)

 

How about the one time (post coma) that the first set was only FIVE songs?

 

March 27, 1995.  Omni.

 

Picasso Balloon

Sugaree

All Over Now

SMR

Let it Grow

 

”We’ll be back in an hour and a half...” 

 

—————————————————————

Bonus Trivia:

 

November 6, 1979.  Spectrum.  4 songs for your second set.  😱

 

Set 2

1. Terrapin Station > 
2. Playing In The Band > 
3. Drums > 
4. Space > 
5. Black Peter > 
6. Good Lovin'

 

[Greg from Chestertown]

Short set lists early on read like something you want to listen to. Short set lists into the nineties is a completely different story. If I remember correctly, the set lists towards the end were predictable too. Jerry must have been so tired and missing Brent. 

[BillK522]

4 hours ago, DesertDead said:

Ok, let’s wrap this one up.

 

The other 1991 first set that got to 10 songs was 12/31/91.  🥳

 

The only show in 1994 that did so was 10/1.  

 

 

 

The 94/10/01 spin from the Boston Garden

represents 94 in the Thirty Trips box.

Liberty (56) > Deep Elem (45).

 

Praise DSO.

[Rude]

Don’t crack on liberty!!! I played that song more than ever in my life the last few months. It never really had that much meaning to me until recently. I really wouldn’t have ever killed for my girl until the last few years. And never contemplated a forced closure. Was no biggie for 4 weeks. I think everyone was ok at 1st. 5 months in it’s like put some super glue on faucet leak because who knows when we can make money again. 
 

on that note the newest official dead release with the mid 90s songs is pretty much garbage besides that Liberty. It’s solid and if you disagree we can go toe to toe in the middle of the room. Fuckin with me because I’m a teenager with a pager. (That lyric is off but I’m not ocd and need to google the correct one. I may have ocd tendencies on some things though)

[BillK522]

Rude,

 

Super glue is so 2003.  You need the Flex Seal 

family of products to get through these trying

times.

 

Praise DSO.

[John A]

Random Deadbase interaction… The Grateful Dead played Rosemary one known time live - on December 7, 1968 in Louisville. I hadn't realized that, so off I went to Deadbase to investigate. I looked at the "Every Time Played" section,  zeroed in on the R's, but lo and behold there's no listing for Rosemary.  Next I went to the list for 12-7-68, assuming there wouldn't be a set list.  But no, there is a full 2-set list for the show that night. Set 2 opens with "Unknown”, with an asterisk to denote that Garcia was on vocals.  Clearly no tape had circulated as of circa 1996 when Deadbase was last compiled.  The front section of updates in the latest publication does notate that one should change "unknown song" to Rosemary, so the info was established by 2015 when Deadbase 50 was published.

[Greg from Chestertown]

I have a vague memory of people talking on forum about DSO playing that one a couple, few years ago. Reality? Just a dream? anyone?

[gr8fulpair]

16 hours ago, Greg from Chestertown said:

I have a vague memory of people talking on forum about DSO playing that one a couple, few years ago. Reality? Just a dream? anyone?

Seems I remember them playing it cause I think I saw it. There’s an equal chance I dreamed about it and didn’t see it at all. I love that song. 

[count2]

OK everyone, I have a challenge for you to start off 2021. Recently a "first time played" notation on a song caught my attention in that it happened outside of the US. This got me to wondering how often that might have happened. I don't have a copy of Deadbase, so I've researched this through other sources, but I feel fairly confident that I have this right. But if someone with Deadbase wants to double check my work after the fact, don't hesitate to call me out on any inaccuracies.

 

So the question is, what songs had their Live Debut outside of the US? My research turned up 2 Grateful Dead originals and 8 covers.

 

I'm going to offer a couple of comments (not sure if they are hints) regarding 3 of the covers.

• For one of them, this non-US performance was the only time it was played.
• One of them had been performed once previously with the original artist. The first time the Dead played it on their own puts it on this list.
• Another one technically probably doesn't belong on this list. I found notes that it might have been played in 65 (possibly as the Warlocks) and once in 68, but there are no recordings to back that up. The music was also incorporated into a couple of jams before the full song was played at the non-US performance in question. I decided to leave it on my list since the first performance, with lyrics, that we can listen to today qualifies.

 

This one seems like it will be tricky, but we do have some pretty knowledgeable people around here. I'll be ready with some hints to help it along, if needed. Following DesertDead's rules, let's try to keep it to one guess per post, and if you just finished reading Deadbase cover to cover, try not to give it all away...

[John A]

Off the top of my head there's Hully Gully at Melk Weg 10/16/81 (which is also Bobby's birthday).  That's the only one I'd declare with certainly inclusive of the exact date.

 

Europe '72 has got to hold the keys to a few of them. Two Souls in Communion and Rockin' Pneumonia could be candidates unless they were played at Felt Forum just prior to the Europe '72 tour. And how about Who Do You Love, the little snippet that Pigpen did once pr twice near the start of the Europe '72 your?  He's Gone debuted on that Europe tour, so that's one of the originals, but I can't tell you the date.

 

Brent's stab at Hey Jude (he didn't know the words) in Hamilton, ONT Spring '90 would seem to qualify, but Pigpen did that a few times in the late 60s, most famously at the epic Fillmore shows where LiveDead was recorded.

 

It's also possible that one or 2 of the original songs Hornsby did were debuted in Fall '90 in Europe, so either/or of Stander on the Mountain and Valley Road could possibly qualify.

 

2 originals and 8 covers, eh?  So I have 1 original and 1 cover and guesses on a few others. Good game count2!

[count2]

I figured John A might be on the ball with this one.

 

He's Gone is one of the originals, 1972-04-17 in Denmark. This is the one that sent me down this road.

 

Hully Gully is the one-time-only one I mentioned. 1981-10-16 in the Netherlands.

 

Rockin' Pneumonia 1972-05-23 in the UK.

 

The Valley Road 1990-10-22 in Germany.

 

Stander on the Mountain 1990-10-28 in France.

 

Half way there already!

[BillK522]

How about Might As Well on the Canadian train tour?

 

Praise DSO.

[count2]

9 minutes ago, BillK522 said:

How about Might As Well on the Canadian train tour?

 

Might As Well, from what I can find, was first played in Portland OR on 1976-06-03.

1 hour ago, John A said:

 

Two Souls in Communion and Rockin' Pneumonia could be candidates unless they were played at Felt Forum just prior to the Europe '72 tour. And how about Who Do You Love, the little snippet that Pigpen did once pr twice near the start of the Europe '72 your?  e.

 

Brent's stab at Hey Jude (he didn't know the words) in Hamilton, ONT Spring '90 would seem to qualify, but Pigpen did that a few times in the late 60s, most famously at the epic Fillmore shows where LiveDead was recorded.

 

 

Two Souls 1972-03-21 in New York NY.

Who Do You Love - the first show I can find with this was 1970-11-11 in Brooklyn NY.

Hey Jude - 1969-02-11 in New York NY is the first one I can find.

[John A]

BillK - Might As Well was written ABOUT that train tour, not played on it. Give Hunter a little time for gosh sake.  😆

 

And when I said Felt Forum I meant Academy of Music.

[Greg from Chestertown]

Just to clarify, I have no idea. I have been listening lately to Vancouver ‘66. A lot of Pigpen tunes, I just don’t know if any are a first time played. Might be a clue for someone with more wisdom than me, or a copy of Deadbase. 

[BillK522]

55 minutes ago, John A said:

BillK - Might As Well was written ABOUT that train tour, not played on it. Give Hunter a little time for gosh sake.  😆

 

 

You mean they were not riding the train writing songs?

 

OK, how about Money Money?  They played it like 3 times

on the Northwest 73/74 box set.  Vancouver?

It killed at BDP3.

 

Praise DSO.