Never Had Such A Good Time/The Grateful Dead Thread

[whatwouldcooleydo?]

We gonna make the band play one more song, get in the groove if it takes all night long

[whatwouldcooleydo?]

Happy birthday Bobby! Here's a legendary show from the Melk Weg- it was a last-minute deal so they are playing on rented (borrowed?) gear. I've been to the Melk Weg but alas on that day there was no Grateful Dead





Here's what Blair Jackson had to say about how these shows came to be:

Ironically, the best-sounding tapes of the entire tour are from the famous “Oops!” shows in Amsterdam, Oct. 15 and 16. Following the 10/13 show in Russelsheim, the band had originally been scheduled to play a pair of shows in the south of France, but they were rained out, so instead they flew to Amsterdam and played two nights at the Melkweg club (capacity around 500) using rented instruments! The second of the two shows fell on Bob's 34th birthday and is an absolute must-hear.

It starts with an eight-song acoustic set very much like the ones they played in the fall of '80 at the Warfield Theatre in SF and Radio City Music Hall in NYC. The second set became legendary instantly when the opening “Playing in the Band” eventually meandered into the '60s garage-rock classic “Hully Gully,” and later offered up surprisingly confident versions of “Gloria” (possibly the first since the mid-'60s) and “Lovelight,” which they had not played since Pigpen died. The rented guitars give the music a slightly different sound in places, but it's still Grateful Dead through and through. The set also contains fine versions of “The Wheel,” “Black Peter,” “Goin' Down the Road” and a couple of others. The two sets would fit neatly on two discs (nudge, nudge).



Club Melk Weg, Amsterdam (10/16/81) Bob Weir's Birthday

On the Road Again
Dire Wolf
Monkey and the Engineer
Bird Song
Cassidy
Oh Babe it Ain't No Lie
The Race is On
Ripple

Playin' in the Band
Hully Gully
The Wheel
Samson and Delilah
Gloria
Turn on Your Love Light
Goin' Down the Road Feelin' Bad
Playin' in the Band
Black Peter
Sugar Magnolia

[211poundsofpork]

Hey, thanks for that write-up! I don't recall ever hearing about these shows.

[whatwouldcooleydo?]

Hey, thanks for that write-up! I don't recall ever hearing about these shows.

My pleasure! After all, my job is to shed light.....

[whatwouldcooleydo?]

Day late on this one on the 30th anniversary of the earthquake, but I couldn't post this from phone. This is the first of the only two live performances of this Rodney Crowell gem (I caught the second and last 3 days later in Charlotte, which at the time was reeling from Hurricane Hugo, which had come way inland and wreaked all kinds of havoc). Being the first-time played, and being the Grateful Dead, it comes as no surprise that the start is a little ragged (but right) but by the time they hit the chorus it'll give you chills



There was a California earthquake in the year of '83
It shook the living daylights out of the Owens County Seat
There weren't a building still left standing when the dust had cleared away
Just a rumble in the distance all the way to San Andrea

Sherman Buck was driving his old mule into town
When a big one came and shook so hard that it knocked him to the ground
Lord there opened up a hole so big he thought his time was up
Lord it swallowed up that poor old mule and it just missed Sherman Buck

California earthquake you just don't know what you've done
We may fall off in the ocean Lord you'll never make us run
You're a partner of the devil Lord we ain't afraid of him
We'll build ourselves another town so you can tear it down again

Then came the quake of '99 that levelled Mission Creek
The earth was like an ocean churning with waves of twenty feet
Lord it sounded like a thousand trains were screaming underground
Clean across to San Joachim they heard that mournful sound

California earthquake you just don't know what you've done
We may fall off in the ocean Lord you'll never make us run
You're a partner of the devil Lord we ain't afraid of him
We'll build ourselves another town so you can tear it down again

Then came one day the holocaust Lord on rocks of Franciso Bay
Miles of walls came down like old Jericho that day
Might near everything the earthquake missed a holy fire consumed
Just left 'em smoke and the ashes of the dreams that can't be ruined

California earthquake you just don't know what you've done
We may fall off in the ocean Lord you'll never make us run
You're a partner of the devil Lord we ain't afraid of him
We'll build ourselves another town so you can tear it down again
Lord we'll build ourselves another town you can tear it down again

[whatwouldcooleydo?]

this week's All the Year Live release, and it's a classic. Love the little kids boogeyin' on stage

[whatwouldcooleydo?]

the Magnificent Seven plus Branford

CAUTION: MUSICIANS AT WORK!!!

[whatwouldcooleydo?]

this week's All the Year Live release, and it's pretty rare, they only played this at the 1980 Warfield and RCMH shows. Exquisite

[whatwouldcooleydo?]

Hands down the most sinister they ever got, they were channeling the abyss this night in Miami..... 30 years ago today.

Buckle up, kids, you're in for a dark, dark ride

[whatwouldcooleydo?]

It's like a mighty melody that rings down from the sky

[whatwouldcooleydo?]

Here's an old school gem, with Phil channeling his inner Bjorn Borg!

[whatwouldcooleydo?]

Fox Theater, Atlanta, 34 years ago today, they dropped the Blues for Allah (cover) tapestry behind the band as they played. Only time they did it this tour and the only time I ever saw it. No idea why they did it that night, since the summer tour they had the 20 Years So Far minuteman banner behind them but for whatever reason that night they went with the fiddlin' skeleton. Pretty certain this was the last time they ever played one of the old ornate classic art deco palaces- they played at the Berkeley Community Theater after this several times but that place isn't that kind of theater



can't find a photo with the banner but this is from 85 Fox



trouble ahead, Jerry in red!

here's the link to the soundboard: https://archive.org/details/gd85-10-29. ... sbeok.shnf

Fox Theater, Atlanta, GA 10/29/85

Feel Like a Stranger
Friend of the Devil
New Minglewood Blues
Bird Song
Hell in a Bucket
Deal

Mississippi Half-Step
Franklin's Tower
Lost Sailor
Saint of Circumstance
Crazy Fingers
drums
The Wheel
The Other One
Wharf Rat
Johnny B. Goode

Brokedown Palace

[whatwouldcooleydo?]

crossposted from "what's everyone listening to?"



phenomenal Dark Star, nearly 24 minutes, jazzy and out there as fuck, featuring one of the few times they did the Tighten Up jam (this is by all accounts the last time they did it). Below is the original Tighten Up by Archie Bell and the Drells (Archie is the brother of the late (RIP), great Rickey Bell, of USC and NFL fame. One of my favorite running backs ever, for anyone keeping score)



Audio of the aforementioned phenomenal Dark Star

yeah, I know no one else gives a fuck but there's the link just in case

[tinnitus photography]

hey WWCD did you see this the other night?

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/howlin-r ... d2ccc.html

[whatwouldcooleydo?]

hey WWCD did you see this the other night?

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/howlin-r ... d2ccc.html

Did not, damn! Doing Live Dead from start to finish, no less. I'm not really involved in any Dead online communities these days, and I don't do social media, so I'm at the mercy of my friends passing along such info. So thanks!

[tinnitus photography]

hey WWCD did you see this the other night?

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/howlin-r ... d2ccc.html

Did not, damn! Doing Live Dead from start to finish, no less. I'm not really involved in any Dead online communities these days, and I don't do social media, so I'm at the mercy of my friends passing along such info. So thanks!

haha shit i should have given you the heads up... a friend went and said it was awesome. here's a download link (audio) if you are curious:

https://t.co/OkF0dxtM1h?amp=1

[whatwouldcooleydo?]

hey WWCD did you see this the other night?

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/howlin-r ... d2ccc.html

Did not, damn! Doing Live Dead from start to finish, no less. I'm not really involved in any Dead online communities these days, and I don't do social media, so I'm at the mercy of my friends passing along such info. So thanks!

haha shit i should have given you the heads up... a friend went and said it was awesome. here's a download link (audio) if you are curious:

https://t.co/OkF0dxtM1h?amp=1

That's still 2.5 hours (at best) away, on short notice not likely I would have been able to go. Thanks for the link!

ETA: the guests listed on that poster (from the download) are fucking incredible- Meg, Bill Orcutt, Steve Gunn, Greg Loiacano, et al.

[whatwouldcooleydo?]

[whatwouldcooleydo?]

Question: why?

Answer: this

magic was in the air and oh, how they danced, the little children of Terrapin

[whatwouldcooleydo?]

his week's All the Year Live release

[whatwouldcooleydo?]

[Beaverdam]

[whatwouldcooleydo?]

What have I missed?

[whatwouldcooleydo?]

[whatwouldcooleydo?]

51 years ago today the band played what I fervently believe is their finest show ever. Adjectives don’t suffice. This show is what 5/8/77 hopes to be when it grows up. But hey, enough of my yakkin'. Whaddaya say? Let's boogie!

[lajakesdad]

51 years ago today the band played what I fervently believe is their finest show ever. Adjectives don’t suffice. This show is what 5/8/77 hopes to be when it grows up. But hey, enough of my yakkin'. Whaddaya say? Let's boogie!

I agree, this show is probably my favorite. That Dark Star is the best. Just listened to the whole show last week. (I couldn't wait)

[whatwouldcooleydo?]

51 years ago today the band played what I fervently believe is their finest show ever. Adjectives don’t suffice. This show is what 5/8/77 hopes to be when it grows up. But hey, enough of my yakkin'. Whaddaya say? Let's boogie!

I agree, this show is probably my favorite. That Dark Star is the best. Just listened to the whole show last week. (I couldn't wait)

We always called it The Severe Star. Definitely not for the weak of heart

Got to see The Gourds play two sets, on this hallowed ground, at The Oregon Country Faire years back. Just amazing experience. Drove through Veneta two months ago & paid homage

[whatwouldcooleydo?]

[whatwouldcooleydo?]

45 years ago today

Begins with soundcheck, set one starts a 17:50

[whatwouldcooleydo?]

https://slate.com/culture/2023/12/grate ... shows.html