October 13 - October 19, 2008

This week, we're going to check in with three sequences of music, a little lighter than usual in number, but the scope of these jams should more than make up for it. One little thing to note is that all of the music this week is from San Francisco.

From 10/13/68 at the Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco, we have a typical-for-the-era sequence of Dark Star>St. Stephen>The Eleven>Death Don't Have No Mercy, a terrific sequence from an amazing year. In just about a month, Tom Constanten would join the band on keyboards, adding another layer of depth to this already-magnificent music.

Next up is a long, spacey, deep and dark version of Playing In The Band from 10/16/74 at Winterland in San Francisco. This is the version that was included in The Grateful Dead Movie, albeit in a very truncated arrangement, as film reels could only run about 20 minutes. We are pleased to include it in all its more than 30-minute glory here, mixed from the 16 track master tapes.

Lastly this week, from 10/14/80 at the Warfield Theatre in San Francisco, we have the opening of the third set, Scarlet Begonias>Fire On The Mountain>Estimated Prophet>Terrapin Station>Playing In The Band. This was the final night of a 15 night run of concerts, the longest uninterrupted residency the Grateful Dead had ever played at a venue.

Be sure to check back in next week for more great music. We'll have music from 1972, 1973, 1974 and 1989, including, by very popular request, an epic version of Playing In The Band from 1973. See you then.

David Lemieux
vault@dead.net