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.