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Coincidentally, I caught my first Cassidy 30 years ago yesterday. It was my second show. 

Grateful Dead 3/24/88

The Omni - Atlanta, GA

Set 1
Touch Of Grey
Walkin' Blues  
Candyman  
Queen Jane Approximately  
Loser  
It's All Over Now  
Far From Me  
Cassidy ->
Don't Ease Me In  

Set 2
Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodleloo  
Looks Like Rain  
Terrapin Station ->
Drums ->
Space ->
Truckin' ->
I Need A Miracle ->
Wharf Rat ->
Turn On Your Lovelight  

Encore
Black Muddy River
 
 
I wouldn't get my first bootleg tapes until the summer of '89. After my first show in Pittsburgh on 7/6/87, I started buying GD albums and that's how I learned their music. I knew Cassidy from the Reckoning album. I didn't know about Bob Weir's "solo" album Ace yet so that was my first time ever hearing Looks Like Rain. I was an immediate fan. That was also my first time hearing Bobby scream. I've always gotten a kick out of that.
 
It was my second Far From Me and second Don't Ease first set closer. It was the only one of my first four shows that didn't include Stranger > Franklin's. I also had never heard the covers of Walkin' Blues, Queen Jane, and It's All Over Now, but the rest of the songs I knew. It wasn't until the fall of '89 that I started keeping my own setlist at shows. 
 
Back then you could pretty much do whatever you wanted as long as you were in the parking lot. We were smoking pot in plain view of the cops patrolling the perimeter.
 
We camped at Stone Mountain which was packed with Deadheads. I learned a valuable lesson about camping that day. I learned how to read the terrain. There was a reason why no one had set up their tents on what appeared to be a prime piece of land. There was an indentation in the ground, a sort of groove. I didn't know that the forecast called for rain, and when it rained that groove is where the water ran directly under and through our tent, soaking everything. Fortunately my girlfriend had her dad's credit card "for emergency use only" and she sprung for a hotel room. Tough lesson learned but I never made that mistake again. 
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Traffic opened for the Dead at my second show.  My friend and I were already flying by the time Jerry came out for this.  Pretty sure this is from 7/24/94 @ soldier field.  The fireworks choreographed to Jimi’s SSB after the encore were mind blowing to my 18 year old self.

 

 

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How are y'all feeling about Dead & Co. these days?   I've been a couple of times and it was great, but John Mayer has started to wear on me.  Both his voice and his playing, which is too clichéd IMO.  I sincerely appreciate and respect what he's done and I'm glad they're doing it, but I think I'm kind of done.  Or maybe not, seeing Bob is still pretty magical. 

Edited by Mojo Hand
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I went to the Dec 2 show in Austin and it was awesome.  Mayer isn't Jerry, Otel isn't Phil, and Jeff isn't Brent.  As long as you adjust your expectations accordingly, you will have a great time.  Is it as good?  No, but I enjoyed the hell out the show I saw.  Where else can you possibly fill that void from the high that you get from a Dead show?  And here is a great Help>Slipknow>Franklin's.

 

 

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On 3/27/2018 at 10:27 AM, Mojo Hand said:

How are y'all feeling about Dead & Co. these days?   I've been a couple of times and it was great, but John Mayer has started to wear on me.  Both his voice and his playing, which is too clichéd IMO.  I sincerely appreciate and respect what he's done and I'm glad they're doing it, but I think I'm kind of done.  Or maybe not, seeing Bob is still pretty magical. 

I went to my first Dead @ C0 show in Boulder incredibly skeptical of the whole thing, most especially Mayer.   I never could stand the dude.  I have now been to 4 more shows and each one has been amazing most notably New Orleans. Its been a blast to meet up with friend and family in different city, and hang with other deadheads.  I will probably do Boulder and a few CA shows this year.

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I was only around 13 or 14 when Jerry died but I saw "The Dead" incarnation three times.

Spicewood, TX / Willie's Picnic / July 4, 2003 - The second set opened with Jack Straw and after some rain, it began clearing up and a rainbow appeared behind the audience, which Bob Weir pointed out. Then, everyone went "whoa" when they sang , in Texas, on July 4th: "Leaving Texas / fourth day of July-y..." Willie came out and played on El Paso. I thought Joan Osbourne was great. 

Oakland, CA / The Arena / December 31, 2003 - We got up right near the stage for this New Year's Eve show. They played Sugar Magnolia at midnight and Bill Walton assisted on drums. Dark Star sounded great. There were some loooong jams, e.g., Playing in the Band -> The Wheel -> Playing in the Band jam. I had "too much too fast" toward the end of the first set and passed out. A friend took me to the bathroom to splash some water on my face and a guy in the "500 Club" hung out with me in the concourse area while my head cleared. Only missed one song, thankfully. 

Morrison, CO / Red Rocks / June 19, 2004 - Warren Haynes had replaced Jimmy Herring at the beginning of this 2004 tour. Huge fucking upgrade. Hey Pocky Way was lights out. Broken Arrow cover was wonderful. The setlist had Lady with a Fan/Terrapin and Weather Report Suite/Let it Grow. I found out the next morning my grandfather had passed away the night before, probably around the time they were closing with Touch of Grey. He had been in the Civilian Conservation Corps when he was younger, the same New Deal program that constructed Red Rocks amphitheater. 

Edited by Grandioso
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One of the strangest shows we went to was at the Akron Rubber Bowl, July 2, 1986. Bob Dylan and Tom Petty opened up for them. Dylan played with The Heartbreakers and then Tom Petty did. I remember a shit ton of bikers at that show. We drank a decent amount over the day, but not to falling down drunk level. I always liked being sober for the shows, I know, go figure. 

http://www.guitars101.com/forums/f145/bob-dylan-tom-petty-grateful-dead-1986-07-02-akron-ohio-flac-aud-vinyl-rip-186208.html

The guy here at the link has more information about it and a set list for all three of them. 

I remember falling asleep while driving home on the Turnpike while driving a 1976 Buick Century that used to be my grandfather's. My buddies had to keep asking me if I was awake to make sure we didn't crash.

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Jesus...this Blow Away is just fucking fantastic.  Brent is singing the goddamn gospel here.  Every once in a while you get shown the light....and if you watch Jerry's reaction to Brent around the 10 minute mark you know that Jerry was seeing it.  Just magical!

 

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Jerry Garcia's earliest known recordings have surfaced.   From a birthday party he played with Robert Hunter when he was 18, on May 26, 1961.   End of the second song  -- "Me, play rock and roll?   No.  Never happen."

 

 

 

Edited by Mojo Hand
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I just came to the realization today that no matter the venue or the era, it always sounds like the same 5 or 10 characters shouting out names of songs during quiet interludes. 


And they always shout “Dark Star!”
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8 hours ago, Mojo Hand said:

I came to the realization that I don't completely hate Donna, and even miss her on later versions of certain songs, like The Music Never Stopped. 

Donna has a beautiful voice. It sucked that she couldn't always hear herself in the monitors and that led to some off key shrieking in some songs, Playin' being a prime example. But her contribution to songs like Looks Like Rain were excellent. Her duets with Bobby at the end of that song were beautiful. She's sounded great every time she's sat in with post-Dead bands now that they've got the in-ear monitors. 

She killed in the studio:

 

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After I posted this it dawned on me that my wife had bought me a 3 dvd set and one of those was this show. The other was an Oakland New Years show from 86 (I think) and Pittsburg 90 show.

 

And I’ve come to the realization that Brent Mydland played the organ better than anyone else ever has or ever will in that 88-90 timeframe.

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All right fellow Deadheads, what is your perfect set list and which "era" plays it?  You get 19 songs to choose for your perfect show.  

The "Brent Era" Dead (particularly 88-90) would play this set list at my show:

 

First Set

Bertha

Mississippi Half Step

Looks Like Rain

Women Are Smarter

Walking Blues

Eyes of the World (Branford Marsalis sits in on this)

He's Gone

Help on the Way>Slipknot>Franklin's Tower

Cold Rain and Snow

 

Second Set

Estimated Prophet

Loser

Row Jimmy

Ramble on Rose

Bird Song

Althea

Wharf Rat

China Cat>I Know You RIder

Knocking on Heaven's Door

Encore

Shakedown Street

 

 

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