Grateful Seconds

Saturday, July 11, 2020

Blow Away: Brent's Last 20 Shows, Summer Tour 1990

This is my pandemic shelter-at-home project for July 11, 2020 after watching the Shakedown Stream presentation of the Raleigh, North Carolina show last night. Unfortunately, I was in my West LA, Heaven Help a Fool, See the Trim on my Mercedes Asshole Corporate Years and Missed the Whole Tour (from 1988 to 1993, what an idiot)

This writing is dedicated to Brent Mydland and his family. We love you more than words can tell.

While virtually all of Spring 1990 has been released by Dead.net, there has only been a few of these shows, fortunately on video

from Matt over at deaddisc.com/GDFD_Dead_By_Date.htm#1990

a truly remarkable site

These are my mp3s of the summer tour

Six Music Highlight per Deadbase '90 Voting

Cassidy July 12

Foolish Heart>Dark Star July 12

Last Time July 14

We Bid You Goodnight July 14

Mississipi Half Step July 16

Truckin July 16

Gratefulseconds.blogspot.com · Summer 1990 Some Highlights

So the 20 gigs from the Summer Tour ran from June 8 to July 23, 1990, a six-pac in California and an even dozen on tour across the USA from Oregon to the World.

Garcia is Doing Great and Doing Scuba

The 8 California Shows

Stanford and UC Berkeley nic the Dead, April 12

April 29 Sacramento Bee announces Cal Expo dates

The May 20 SF Chronicle announces Shoreline dates.

The May 27 SF Examiner is advertising Oregon shows for the Dead after quick sell-out (obv).

Dupree's Diamond News reviews the Rex Foundation Benefits at Cal Expo, June 8-10

Setlists at Shoreline June 15-17 from UK's Dead Fanzine Spiral Light

Blair Jackson's Golden Road speaks of Shoreline:

On to Autzen, June 23-24. I'll let the Golden Road give their view:

12 Shows in July

First I Give You a Hodge-Podge of Papers Across the Country

Now back to the shows

Deadbase '90 brings you the setlists for the July shows

Here's my calculation of the 20 show economics

And Deadbase '90 and Billboard shows some money money

The Last Dozen

Unbroken Chain

July 10 (see video at the top)

Now Spiral Light from the UK joins the tour at RFK

Back to Blair at RFK too

and one Dupree Nod to the Sadness at the End of the Tour

Friday, July 10, 2020

My Sixth and Last Summer at the Greek, June 20 and 22, 1986

These were my least favorite Greek shows, as they occured, in retrospect, shortly before Jerry's coma.

Despite the juicy 6-20 and 6-22 setlists, not too great

I've included a few May-June California reports on Jerry.

From the great gdsets.com site:

My First Warfield Show, February 16, 1982

This was the first full Grateful Dead concert I ever saw in San Francisco, less than six years after I started seeing the band. It was also my first $25 ticket to benefit SEVA.

You could still see the Grateful Dead in San Francisco with only about 3,000 friends, but by now, you had to pay up.

There was a pretty nifty setlist, a mighty Shakedown ending in Might As Well set one.

And a fluid continuous set two with a big Playin in the Band sandwich.

Shakedown Street-> Greatest Story Ever Told, Friend Of The Devil-> Little Red Rooster, Peggy-O-> Me & My Uncle-> Big River, Althea, Looks Like Rain, Might As Well

China Cat Sunflower-> I Know You Rider-> Playin' In The Band-> Terrapin Station-> Drums-> Truckin'-> Nobody's Fault But Mine-> Black Peter-> Playin' In The Band-> Around & Around-> Good Lovin', E: Don't Ease Me In

pg 500, volume 2, Taping Compendium, Adam MacConnell

The shows were announced three weeks after the monster New Year's show on January 23

and within a week were being offered for $100

Thursday, July 9, 2020

April 25, 1981 Berkeley Acoustic Benefit: I Can't Write This Better than Corry

I forgot they advertised this show on April 5 on page 19 of the Pink Section

I met Wavy around this time, he came into Rasputin's Records where I was working looking for some obscure folk or country record and I recognized him right away and we talked for awhile, but not about the Dead I think. What a great guy. Great memory.

Until I add something substantial , just link to Corry's great memory of this show

http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2014/01/april-25-1981-berkeley-community.html

I am fortunate to know folks like Corry who are real professionals and historians.

I am just a old guy who was a fan.

My thoughts:

Last show I saw December 31, 1980 was the last of the 1980's Grateful Dead Acoustic sets. Great Dead thinker and writer Howard Weiner says it was the best one, but it was the only one I saw.

Corry writes about the Spring/Summer 1981 "trades" where I saw John Kahn play the acoustic benefits here and in May at the Warfield, while I saw Phil played in the Jerry Garcia Band August 22 up in Fairfax. Also Brent did not play here.

Songs played here that I did not hear on New Year's Eve are Deep Elem, Dark Hollow, Friend of the Devil, El Paso, Ain't No Lie and Oh Boy. The last time the Grateful Dead played Oh Boy was April 6, 1971 at the Manhattan Center.

First time I saw a show at Berkeley High School. Nice to walk a few blocks from 2816 Fulton down the street.

A Corry Highlight:

FYI, I count this as a Dead show. 40 minutes :)

Here are his handwritten notes from the show:

Sunday, June 28, 2020

May 13, 1983 at the Greek: My 7th Straight Greek Show

I was not able to break my Oakland Auditorium record at the Greek as my streak stopped at seven with this show. I saw Garcia in the blazing 1975-1982 corridor, and by 1983 I began to ship shows (sacrilege I Know you Rider). This one has a hot middle of the show Bird Song, Let It Grow, China>Rider, Estimated>Eyes so you can't go wrong on the Friday night show

Of note,these were the first Greek shows where the heat came by and busted [some] for smiling on a cloudy day/