Hey Gary, yes the UMass Amherst show was May 12, 1979. Alumni Stadium was pretty full and it was a gray overcast day. Roy Ayers and Patti Smith opened for them. My friends and I were all on the field, about mid-field, with a giant American flag.
Yah, living on the east coast made spring, summer, and fall shows super accessible. I didn’t travel far to many shows. Compton Terrace with my ex; it was a good excuse for a 4-day vacation in Arizona. And shows at the Warfield and a Chinese New Years show at Oakland Coliseum when I was out there for a big trial but could take those evenings off.
Mid-80’s until Jerry’s death I mostly lived in Northern Virginia. Capital Center/US Air Arena shows fall and spring, and RFK and Merriweather Shows in the summer. And a few small road trips to Richmond and Charlottesville.
Hey Bart, since the 5/9/79 show was around my birthday I had other plans and things to do and did not accompany a few of my friends who went on to see the UMass Amherst show and then went on to Maine. I think I remember them saying (and this is going way back since I would have last talked with my friends about this time) that at one of those shows, either Amherst or Maine, a whole section of fencing outside came down and people just all poured in.
I lived in the Boston area for few years in the mid - late '80’s so I saw shows in Providence, RI, Worcester, etc.
Good catch ToddHarris… I like the “anniversary” celebrations. And thanks for bringing it to our attention as I haven’t listed to that “Dave’s Picks” in ages.
Also, and this is a bit embarrassing to admit, I never really looked that closely at that cover and made the whole Kansas - Wizard of Oz connection. Gees, what was I thinking.
That may well have happened Gary. We were parked mid-field all day and would not have noticed.
A Hells Angels guy did ride a big Harley right down the middle of the field at one point. But overall it was a very chill day and the crowd was very well-behaved, perhaps due to the cool weather. It started to rain just a little as the show ended and people left. We went right back to our dorms but non-students camped all weekend.
With so many shows on CD, I often use the anniversary date as a way to choose a show for my next listening session. I can’t always be exact…a November show is close enough. The logic may sound strange, but it works for me!
Fillmore ’69 and Richmond ’85 from the D^*k’s Picks series are up next!!!
I get what you mean and like that as an idea of how to prioritize listening to what is by now a large amount of live GD music on cd. I may have to engage in this practice myself for a bit.
Of course, at the beginning of this month I was “with the plan” as I shared near the beginning of this thread since Nov. 6th was the 44th anniversary of my first show at Brooke County Arena and I got to spend the weekend earlier this month listening to the “Dave’s Picks” of the show.
As for your upcoming anniversary listens I remember seeing a couple hot shows in Rochester, NY on that Nov. 1985 tour.
I just received an email from the Grateful Dead (dead.net) merchandising titled “A Little Holiday Help On The Way.” They mentioned that there were some things on their site at 40% off and some things at 15% off. I checked through all of it - you never know when they will put something on sale I want to pick up…
Anyway, I mentioned that I recently purchased this 5 LP set from 2/28/69 from The Fillmore West (and I have been really enjoying listening to it…) well if you did want to pick it up it is currently $15 cheaper than when I just picked it up a couple of weeks ago (Doh!). I paid $99.98 and now you can buy it off dead.net for $84.98. Just thought I would put it out there in case anyone wanted to get it and save a bit of cash.
I saw an announcement on Rhino records insta that Scorsese is making a Grateful Dead biopic with Jonah Hill as Jerry! Anyone else see that? Thoughts? I am not familiar with Hill so cannot really comment on that choice…
Yes, that April 1970 gig was one of the first times Miles had played in a rock venue.
Wikipedia says that Miles became friendly with Jerry, who was a fan of Davis’ music.
And it quotes Miles as saying:
“The place was packed with these real spacey, high, white people, and where we first started playing, people were walking around and talking. But after a while they all got quiet and really into the music. I played a little something like Sketches of Spain and then went into the Bitches Brew sh1t, and that really blew them out. After that concert, every time I would play out there in San Francisco, a lot of young white people showed up at the gigs.”
The quote is from This Is All a Dream We Dreamed: An Oral History of the Grateful Dead by Jackson, Blair & Gans, David (2015).
Getting to the end of all these great contributions and I’m about ready for ‘Mastermind’.
A listener to all their ‘phases’ I especially find them great to work to if at home. I find at moderate volume my concentration to the task at hand is increased.
It has been nice reading this thread. My journey started with “American Beauty” in high school. I didn’t see the band live until '87, but managed several shows afterwards, including a three day stint in Las Vegas.
Listening to the 3CD set of Fox Theatre, St Louis, MO (Dec 10, 1971) at the moment.
Yes Sten, I saw this too. I have linked to an article about it but haven’t read it yet. I’ll admit that when I first saw it mentioned I thought… “Yeah, playing Garcia, now that’s an easy task… not!”
I will, of course, check it out when it comes out but it will be a tough go I think to really nail Garcia, we will see.
Hey Ivan an, glad you dropped by. And what an obscure reference that you made and that I truly love. While I haven’t listened to that box set in a long time, and for all the great music that is on there, I have always deeply loved that “Whiskey In The Jar” take. There is something so special about how they interact on that track and Garcia sharing the song with the rest of the band.
Thanks for bringing it up as I will listen to it this afternoon.
