Well, allow me to start by saying that I love the Forum in LA. Abandoned by its former residents, the LA King and LA Lakers for the newer, shinier confines of the Staples Center, it remains a viable venue due to concerts and other events. It might feel a little old and dated, but it sounds great and has a good old feeling to it.
Where to begin with the Grateful Dead’s history in LA? With “only” 41 shows in LA proper, there were at least that many shows at venues that I’d consider LA without actually being in the city limits. Shows in Irvine, Hollywood, Inglewood (home of the Forum for this stop on The Dead’s tour) El Monte, and Santa Monica total about 40, and add to that a dozen in Long Beach and one near Long Beach at Terminal Island, and you have close to a hundred LA-area concerts.
As some of you might know, LA was the Grateful Dead’s home for a few months in early 1966, when Bear brought them down to live, rehearse, play gigs and possibly get a record deal. They played some great little early gigs (check out the CD Rare Cuts and Oddities 1966 for some of that early 1966 material that’ll knock your socks off) and rehearsed a lot. And ate a lot of meat and drank a lot of milk.
There are really so many ways to look at the band’s history in LA that we’ll do a quick run through of the places and times they’ve played in the area. They played this very same Forum seven times, in 1977 and 1989, with other major indoor venues for the band being the Shrine (10 shows 1967-1968), the other Shrine (four shows 1976 and 1978) the UCLA Pauley Ballroom, and seven shows at the LA Sports Arena. In the early years there were several shows at venues with names like the Danish Center, AIAA Hall, Ambassador Hotel’s Banana Grove, The Club and other cool one-off venues for the Grateful Dead.
Most famous amongst Dead Heads in terms of Grateful Dead music from the LA area are likely the two shows from the Hollywood Palladium in August 1971. These shows featured not only one of the greatest versions of Hard To Handle ever played on 8/6/71, but plenty of other fine music. Some it was included as bonus material on Road Trips Vol. 1 No. 3 and some was included as part of Dick’s Picks 35 (aka the Houseboat Tapes), so definitely check those two CDs out for some great playing. Between them there is about eight hours of stunning Grateful Dead music from Chicago, San Diego, Terminal Island, Yale Bowl and Hollywood. Two perfectly complementary albums. While we’re talking about the Hollywood Palladium, I have to mentioned to the excellent shows on 9/9&10/72, just after the Boulder show on 9/3/72. Of course, from the Shrine Exhibition Hall on 8/23&24/68, there were the two exceptional shows that make up Two From the Vault (8/24 plus a big jam from 8/23), some of the finest 1968 Dead you’ll hear outside of January and February. One of the great missing shows from the vault is from this very venue, the Great Western Forum, on 6/4/77. This show was just a few days after the world theatrical premier of The Grateful Dead Movie on 6/1/77 at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York, and was the show that fell between the end of the massively great April-May 1977 tour and the three magical nights at Winterland 6/7-9/77. What a terrific run of shows this was. So, although the June 4, 1977 show isn’t in the vault, there are excellent audience tapes of this show floating around, so do try to hear it if you can.
With so many shows to mention in the LA area, we likely should keep it to what we’ve already mentioned. Otherwise we’d start talking about the three nights at Legion Stadium in El Monte, the many great nights at Irvine and Long Beach, the 1976 shows at the Shrine, the show in 1989 at which Bob Dylan showed up, the other shows in 1989 at which Bruce Horsnby and Spencer Davis sat in.
Have fun at the show!
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
I’d forgotten about the funky yellow and orange seats in the Forum. It’s so funky! The first set has an unreal list to it. The last time Bobby, Phil, Bill and Mickey played Viola Lee Blues and Caution in the same set in LA was 11/10/67 at the Shrine. That’s pretty darn cool. I like the idea of adding a couple of cool early 1970s songs around Viola Lee Blues, Bertha and Black Peter. And to cap things off with a big Cosmic Charlie is a terrific way to end what is a crazy-looking set. It just hit me that I ran into Fred Savage at this venue a few years ago and said “Doogie Howser!” Oops. The tour is now 19 shows old and they keep playing remarkable setlists.
Set 2
I heard a lot of people hoping for a few specific songs tonight, and the first set took care of all of the Viola Lee Blues requests, and the second set started out with the much-hoped-for Shakedown Street, followed by another New Speedway Boogie, played so well on this tour. Everything from Workingman’s Dead has been played exceptionally well on the tour so far. The somewhat-expected Scarlet>Fire came next, as it was hard not to be thinking about the fires in Santa Barbara. They then veer into the always-impressive-on-this-tour Rhythm Devils part of the show, during which Bill and Mickey have been conjuring some incredibly way-out-there sounds. Space. Out of Space comes Dark Star, which is another of the many songs loads of people were talking about in the lead-up to the show. There are very few classic Grateful Dead songs they haven’t yet played on this tour, and Wharf Rat was one of them. No longer, as the first Wharf Rat of the tour was busted out tonight in LA. Another taste of Dark Star and then a double dose of Bob Weir rock-n-roll with Satisfaction and One More Saturday Night seems like an appropriate way to end a show in LA. Now homeward bound to two shows in the Bay Area…
name to the list of people attending the show.
(Set 1)
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Viola Lee Blues
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Bertha
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Viola Lee Blues
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Caution
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Viola Lee Blues
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Black Peter
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Cosmic Charlie
(Set 2)
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Shakedown Street
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New Speedway Boogie
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Scarlet Begonias
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Fire On The Mountain
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Drums>
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Space
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Dark Star
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Wharf Rat
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Dark Star
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Satisfaction
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Donor Rap
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One More Saturday Night
(Encore)
Comments
song list
SONG SHOW #
A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall (acoustic) 2,16
Alabama Getaway (Warren vocals) 2,9
All Along The Watchtower 1,11,16
Alligator 6,14
Althea 5,15
Bertha 3,11
Big Boss Man 3
Big Railroad Blues 2
Big River 7
Bird Song 5,12
Black Peter 11
Born Cross-Eyed 6,10,16
Box of Rain 8,14
Brokedown Palace 10,17
Brown Eyed Women 4,9,15
Built To Last 8,16
Candyman 8
Casey Jones 4,13,18
Cassidy 2,10
Caution (Do Not Stop On The Tracks) 1,8,14
China Cat Sunflower 5,10.16
China Doll 18
Cold Rain and Snow 4,14
Come Together 2,17
Comes A Time 4,14
Cosmic Charlie 1,10
Cumberland Blues 4,11,15,18
Crazy Fingers 3,13,18
Cream Puff War 6
Cryptical Envelopment 10,15
Dancin in the street 5,17
Dark Star 2,9,12
Days between 5,13
Deal 6,13
Dear Mr. Fantasy 12
Death Don't Have No Mercy 9
Deep Elem Blues 18
Dire Wolf 8
Doin' That Rag 3,13
Don't Ease Me In 9
Dupree's Diamond Blues 5,14
Easy Wind (Warren vocals) 2,9,18
Estimated Prophet 1,12
Eyes of the World 7,12
Feel Like A Stranger 5,12,18
Fire On The Mountain (Warren vocals) 6
Fire On The Mountain (w/ Branford Marsalis) 12
Foolish Heart 3
Franklin's Tower 1,12,15
Friend Of The Devil 14
Gimme Shelter 10
Good Lovin' 6,15
Good Morning Little Schoolgirl 6,15
Golden Road (to Unlimited Devotion) 17
Glory Road (acoustic) 2,11
G-L-O-R-I-A 3
Goin' Down The Road Feeling Bad 5,9,16
Greatest Story Ever Told 11
Hard To Handle 14
Hell In A Bucket 6,17
Help On The Way 1,15
Here Comes Sunshine 6
He's Gone 1,10,15
High Time 3,12
Iko Iko 8,16
I Need A Miracle 1,16
I Know You Rider 5,13,17
Imagine 16
Into The Mystic 4,16
It’s All Over Now 7
It’s All Over Now Baby Blue 9
Jack Straw 1,9,14
Johnny B Goode 5
King Solomon's Marbles 2,11,18
Knockin' On Heaven's Door 9
Lazy River Road 2
Let It Grow 6
Liberty 8,16
Little Red Rooster 11
Looks Like Rain 9
Loose Lucy 7,14
Loser 7,18
Lost Sailor 9,18
Lovelight 6
Maggie's Farm 7
Mason's Children 3,15
Me and Bobby McGee 7
Me and My Uncle 8,18
Mexicali Blues 16
Midnight Hour 8
Milestone 5,12
Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo 3,14
Momma Tried 7
Morning Dew 15
Mountains of the Moon 5
Mr. Charlie 8,17
New Potato Caboose 1,12
New Minglewood Blues 4
New Speedway Boogie 3,14
Not Fade Away 4,18
One more Saturday night 5,10,15
Passenger 2
Peggy-O (acoustic) 2,9,16
Playing In The Band 3,7,14
Playing In The Band (Reprise) 14
Pride of Cucamonga 2,13.16
Promised land 7
Ramble On Rose 7,13,18
Revolution 8,15
Ripple 2,11,18
Row Jimmy 11
Saint of Circumstance 9,18
Samson And Delilah 1,6,11,15
Satisfaction 6
Scarlet Begonias 6,12
Shakedown Street 1,10,14
Ship Of Fools 10
Sittin' On Top Of The World 13
Slipknot! 1,6,15
Smokestack Lightning 7
So Many Roads 8
Stagger Lee 8
Standing On The Moon 3,16
Stella Blue 7
St. Stephen 3,10,15
Sugar Magnolia (with Tipper Gore on drums) 2
Sugar Magnolia 14
Sugaree 4,10
Tennessee Jed 8,17
Terrapin Station 5,13
The Eleven 3,10
The Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion) 8
The Other One 4,10,15
The Music Never Stopped 1,13
The Weight 11,18
The Wheel 6,13
They Love Each Other 7,17
Throwing Stones 4,17
Till The Morning Comes 11
Tomorrow Never Knows 11
Touch Of Grey 1,9,13,17
Truckin' 1,7,17
Turn On Your Love Light 12
Unbroken Chain 4,10,17
Uncle John's Band 2,6,10,15
US BLUES 12
Viola Lee Blues 4,11
Wang Dang Doodle 16
Weather Report Suite Part 1 8,17
West LA Fadeaway 4,11,16
When I Paint My Masterpiece 9
Whiskey in the Jar 18
Women Are Smarter 13
space/ 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,910.11,13,14,15,16,17,18
rhythm devils drums 1,2,3,45,6.7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18
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*
Thank you!!
Thank you for touring again!!! Coming from Tucson to see the LA show with great friends. Gracious graduation gift from my loving wife.
NICE JOB BOYZ, SWEET LOOKIN
NICE JOB BOYZ, SWEET LOOKIN SET LIST FROM THE ROCKIES!! NEXT UP, LA BOUND!! ALL ABOARD!!!
DoDa Man ;^ )
Without love in the dream it'll never come true
=================================
Robert Hunter, Jerry Garcia
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It's finally our turn!!!!
One more day friends then it's our turn! I can't wait, I'm so freaking excited I can hardly sit here at work!
gsdfh
boyz going to tear up the west coast believe it. there winding down and are goin to go out in STYLE.
THANKS BOYZ FOR A GREAT RUN!!!!!
loaves and fishes,dont give up dont ever give up!
After 18 shows: 4 tunes
After 18 shows:
4 tunes played 4 times (Samson, UJB, Touch, Cumberland).
30 tunes played 3 times.
62 tunes played twice
52 tunes played once.
Beautiful sunny day in LA
Beautiful sunny day in LA today... Can't wait for the Forum show tomorrow.. here's to wishful thinking:
Promised Land
Desolation Row
Estimated Proph
LoveLight
Dew
Scarlet>Fire
but who am I kidding.. play whatever strikes you boys, and if it's worth playing, it;s worth playing loud!
I'm hoping for...
The Weight
Scarlet
Shakedown
When I Paint My Masterpiece
Box of Rain (which I've never heard live)
I need a Miracle
Uncle John's
Lovelight
A rockin Sugar Mag/Sunshine Day Dreams
Oh god I could seriously go on and on...but those are few that come to mind :o)
A ride
Hello all I can't wait for tommorow. I was wondering if anyone could give me a ride to the fairfax and pico area after show. i really dont wanna get stuck in inglewood . My e-mail is terripen420@gmail.com or 310-499 6294
Can't wait to see all you
Can't wait to see all you good people at the show.