The Grateful Dead and Philadelphia have a very long history going back to 1968, with some truly exceptional shows played just about every year from 1968 to 1995 with very few annual exceptions. There were quite a few venues in and around Philly that the band played, but the primary Philly home for the band was the old Spectrum, where the Grateful Dead played 53 of their 67 Philadelphia shows. Other venues included JFK Stadium, the Civic Convention Hall Auditorium and Electric Factory.
In 1968, the Grateful Dead made two visits to Philadelphia, the first in April for a three night run at the Electric Factory, followed by a December visit to the Spectrum as part of the Quaker City Rock Festival. In 1969, the band returned to the Electric Factory for a couple of February shows (just two weeks before the famed four night run at the Fillmore West in San Francisco), with two more shows in 1970, at Temple University in May (on the Harpur College tour) and an October visit to the University of Pennsylvania’s Irvine Auditorium (check out some images of that beautiful venue online!). In 1972, the band returned to the Spectrum on 9/21/72, a show that was so good it became Dick’s Picks Vol. 36, the final installment in that archival release series. From 1972 to 1995, the Grateful Dead visited the Spectrum every year with the exception of 1974 (played the Civic Convention Hall instead), 1975 (no shows outside of California), 1976 (played the Tower Theatre in Upper Darby), 1984 (Civic Convention Hall again), and 1991 (no excuse). The other Philly shows were the 1987 visit to JFK Stadium with Bob Dylan, as well as the 7/7/89 show at the same venue, by which time the stadium had been officially condemned (and what a show they played to close out the building!).
Musically, you could count on a great performance in Philadelphia. The aforementioned show in 1972 at the Spectrum was one of the best on one of the finest tours in Dead history; the 1977 Spectrum gig opened one of the other finest tours in Dead history on 4/22/77 (bookended nicely with the new Hartford ’77 CD release that closed the tour on 5/28/77); and the two shows in August 1974 at the Civic were so good they were turned into the terrific Dick’s Picks Vol. 31
(along with 8/6/74 in Jersey City). Although not in Philadelphia proper, the Philly-area Tower Theatre in Upper Darby was the site of the band’s four night run during their Summer 1976 comeback tour when the band was playing small theatres (Portland’s Paramount aka Schnitzer Auditorium; New York’s Beacon; Boston’s Music Hall; Capital Theatre in Passaic; Auditorium Theatre in Chicago; Orpheum in San Francisco), followed by a summer and fall touring season through stadiums and hockey arenas.
We'll update this page shortly after the show with the setlist and to recap each performance by The Dead as it relates to the context of the Grateful Dead's history at this venue or city.
Set 1
A Playing In The Band opener is a great way to loudly welcome everyone back to the Spectrum, site of loads of great shows going back about 40 years. It certainly wasn’t a common opener for the Grateful Dead, with a only a few common to mind immediately, 4/29/72, 9/21/82 and 7/2/89. And those were all good shows. And as many of you know, Playing In The Band is one of my favourite tunes by the Grateful Dead. Next up is Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo, played here for the second time on the tour. Then comes New Speedway Boogie, always a good number to hear played by anyone. With the first three tune tonight coming from 1970-1973, the show then jumps forward a few years to 1978, with a mid-set Shakedown Street. There was always something very Philadelphia-esque about Shakedown Street, so this seems an appropriate song for the venue. The one played by the Grateful Dead in this very same venue on 4/6/82 is a favourite of many people, me included. Then as if to say “enough of this recent stuff,” they dive back into the late 1960s with Dupree’s and Hard To Handle, the latter being another tour debut. About the only song they haven’t pulled out on this tour is Day Job! Then the show goes back to the land of New Speedway, 1970 (ok, Speedway was debuted in late 1969) with Friend of the Devil. Then to wrap it all up with Playing In The Band bodes well for a great second set of music.
Set 2
A couple of very cool things to note about the pre-Drums sequence, and one is the fact that it contained both Jack Straw and Caution, which I recall seeing this band play as a pairing on 7/4/03 in Austin, TX, at the weirdest gig I ever saw (The Dead, Toby Keith, Leon Russell, Willie Nelson; yes, Toby Keith!), although on this night the two songs were separated by Alligator. Which brings me to the second cool thing, Alligator>Caution! Very cool. There have been plenty of Alligators and Cautions played by these guys in various bands since 1995, but not too many full-blown Alligator>Caution jams, really since about 1970. Up next was Rhythm Devils (aka Drums), which by all accounts have been phenomenal on this tour. This then led into an rare choice to come out of Space, Loose Lucy. This was followed by a batch of really great Grateful Dead songs, Comes a Time, Cold Rain and Snow (Alligator and Cold Rain in the same jam, sounds familiar…) and Sugar Magnolia, with a Box of Rain encore. All in all, a very good looking setlist tonight.
Read more about the Dead in our local and national press section.
name to the list of people attending the show.
(Set 1)
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Playin' In The Band>
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Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo>
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New Speedway Boogie
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Shakedown Street
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Dupree's Diamond Blues
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Hard To Handle
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Friend Of The Devil>
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Playin' In The Band Reprise
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Jack Straw
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Alligator
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Caution (Do Not Stop on Tracks)>
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Drums>
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Space>
(Set 2)
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Loose Lucy
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Comes A Time>
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Cold Rain and Snow>
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Sugar Magnolia
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Donor Rap
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Box Of Rain
(Encore)
Comments
SONG LIST
let me know if you see any errors.
SONG SHOW #s
A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall (acoustic) 2
Alabama Getaway (Warren vocals) 2,9
All Along The Watchtower 1,11
Alligator 6
Althea 5
Bertha 3,11
Big Boss Man 3
Big Railroad Blues 2
Big River 7
Bird Song 5,12
Black Peter 11
Born Cross-Eyed 6,10
Box of Rain 8
Brokedown Palace 10
Brown Eyed Women 4,9
Built To Last 8
Candyman 8
Casey Jones 4,13
Cassidy 2,10
Caution (Do Not Stop On The Tracks) 1,8
China Cat Sunflower 5,10
Cold Rain and Snow 4
Come Together 2
Comes A Time 4
Cosmic Charlie 1,10
Cumberland Blues 4,11
Crazy Fingers 3,13
Cream Puff War 6
Cryptical Envelopment 10
Dancin in the street 5
Dark Star 2,9,12
Days between 5,13
Deal 6,13
Dear Mr. Fantasy 12
Death Don't Have No Mercy 9
Dire Wolf 8
Doin' That Rag 3,13
Don't Ease Me In 9
Dupree's Diamond Blues 5
Easy Wind (Warren vocals) 2,9
Estimated Prophet 1,12
Eyes of the World 7,12
Feel Like A Stranger 5,12
Fire On The Mountain (Warren vocals) 6
Fire On The Mountain (w/ Branford Marsalis) 12
Foolish Heart 3
Franklin's Tower 1,12
Gimme Shelter 10
Good Lovin' 6
Good Morning Little Schoolgirl 6
Glory Road (acoustic) 2,11
G-L-O-R-I-A 3
Goin' Down The Road Feeling Bad 5,9
Greatest Story Ever Told 11
Hell In A Bucket 6
Help On The Way 1
Here Comes Sunshine 6
He's Gone 1,10
High Time 3,12
Iko Iko 8
I Need A Miracle 1
I Know You Rider 5,13
Into The Mystic 4
It’s All Over Now 7
It’s All Over Now Baby Blue 9
Jack Straw 1,9
Johnny B Goode 5
King Solomon's Marbles 2,11
Knockin' On Heaven's Door 9
Lazy River Road 2
Let It Grow 6
Liberty 8
Little Red Rooster 11
Looks Like Rain 9
Loose Lucy 7
Loser 7
Lost Sailor 9
Lovelight 6
Maggie's Farm 7
Mason's Children 3
Me and Bobby McGee 7
Me and My Uncle 8
Midnight Hour 8
Milestone 5,12
Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo 3
Momma Tried 7
Mountains of the Moon 5
Mr. Charlie 8
New Potato Caboose 1,12
New Minglewood Blues 4
New Speedway Boogie 3
Not Fade Away 4
One more Saturday night 5,10
Passenger 2
Peggy-O (acoustic) 2,9
Playing In The Band 3,7
Pride of Cucamonga 2,13
Promised land 7
Ramble On Rose 7,13
Revolution 8
Ripple 2,11
Row Jimmy 11
Saint of Circumstance 9
Samson And Delilah 1,6,11
Satisfaction 6
Scarlet Begonias 6,12
Shakedown Street 1,10
Ship Of Fools 10
Sittin' On Top Of The World 13
Slipknot! 1,6
Smokestack Lightning 7
So Many Roads 8
Stagger Lee 8
Standing On The Moon 3
Stella Blue 7
St. Stephen 3,10
Sugar Magnolia (with Tipper Gore on drums) 2
Sugaree 4,10
Tennessee Jed 8
Terrapin Station 5,13
The Eleven 3,10
The Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion) 8
The Other One 4,10
The Music Never Stopped 1,13
The Weight 11
The Wheel 6,13
They Love Each Other 7
Throwing Stones 4
Till The Morning Comes 11
Tomorrow Never Knows 11
Touch Of Grey 1,9,13
Truckin' 1,7
Turn On Your Love Light 12
Unbroken Chain 4,10
Uncle John's Band 2,6,10
US BLUES 12
Viola Lee Blues 4,11
Weather Report Suite Part 1 8
West LA Fadeaway 4,11
When I Paint My Masterpiece 9
Women Are Smarter 13
space/ 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,910.11,13
rhythm devils drums 1,2,3,45,6.7,8,9,10,11,12,13
4/28*With Branford Marsalis
Fire On The Mountain*
Birdsong*
Feel Like A Stranger*
Turn On Your Love Light*
(Set 2)
Estimated Prophet>*
Milestones>*
Drums>*
Space*
Dear Mr. Fantasy>*
Dark Star>*
Eyes Of The World*
(Encore)
Franklin's Tower*
SHOW NUMBERS
#1. 4/12 Greensbor , NC
#2. 4/14 Washington, DC
#3. 4/15 Charlottesville, VA
#4. 4/17 Albany, NY
#5. 4/18 Worcester, MA
#6. 4/19 Worcester, MA
#7. 4/21 Buffalo, NY
#8 . 4/22 Wilkes-Barre, PA
#9. 4/24 Uniondale NY
#10 . 4/25 New York, NY
#11. 4/26 Hartford, CT
#12. 4/28 E. Rutherford, NJ *With Branford Marsalis
#13. 4/29 E. Rutherford, NJ
#14. 5/1 Philadelphia, PA
#15. 5/2 Philadelphia, PA
#16. 5/4 Chicago, IL
#17. 5/5 Chicago, IL
#18. 5/7 Denver, CO
#19. 5/9 Los Angeles CA
#20. 5/10 Mountain View, CA
#21. 5/14 Mountain View, CA
#22. 5/16 Quincy, WA
#23. July Rothbury Fest. MI
the bomb
these 2 shows are going to rock. good by spectrum you have given us all a lot of great memories over the yearsss!!
thanks for the memories boyz it has been fun...... lets hope they do more shows in the futher.
loaves and fishes,dont give up dont ever give up!
tonight---send me back home
tonight---send me back home smiling with a To Lay Me Down--my first one was at the Rectum--time for another one tonight!!!'
Please--and/or a Victim or the Crime!!!
Have fun everyone..... Zomby
Have fun everyone.....
Zomby D Wulf - keep up the good work. It highlights the effort these guys put into this tour, the catalog is simply amazing. I don't think anybody else can touch this or even come close.
Well done boys.
Big thanks to the tapers as well, much appreciated.
gdradio.net?
Any ideas if this will be on gdradio.net tonight?
I am regretfully sitting here at home 50 miles away from Philly. Originally I refused to pay $100+ to see a show but now I am kicking myself in the a$$. I will make sure I drive down tomorrow but I really want to hear the show tonight as Philly shows have always been awesome.
Just wondering - Any of
Just wondering - Any of y'all going to the Gorge?
Also, Hope everyone knows where to recordings of the shows:
http://www.archive.org/details/TheDead
is someone sitting in on drums tonight?
anyone know ? sitting at Billy's kit ???
tootaloo
And there's my Half-Step...the show AFTER my last show. Oh well...it was a fantastic run while it lasted!
Ah, well...setlists aren't
Ah, well...setlists aren't shows. I was hoping that Hard To Handle would hold off till Chicago...but it's cool. What's on paper isn't what's in yer ears.
gd radio
gd radio now frist half from tonight
loaves and fishes,dont give up dont ever give up!