• Polo Field - November 3, 1991
    "A benefit for Laughter, Love, and Music" - memorial for Bill Graham - without Bruce Hornsby - only "Born On The Bayou" - only "Green River" - only "Bad Moon Rising" - only "Proud Mary" - only "Forever Young" - lineup: Dirty Dozen Brass Band; Bobby McFerrin; Jackson Browne; Aaron Neville; Tracy Chapman; Santana; Robin Williams; Journey; Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; GD; Joan Baez, Graham Nash & Kris Kristofferson

setlist

  • Hell in a Bucket
    China Cat Sunflower
    I Know You Rider
    Wang Dang Doodle
    Born on the Bayou
    Green River
    Bad Moon Rising
    Proud Mary
    Truckin'
    The Other One
    Wharf Rat
    Sunshine Daydream

    Forever Young
    Touch of Grey

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  • Pickledog
    4 years 3 months ago
    Was here but...

    Was here but I heard CSN and Santana... too late to hear GD...

  • RayDad
    10 years 4 months ago
    A day to remember
    One of the most joyful/sad days I experienced up to that point in my life. Drove home from the Oakland shows exhausted... just to rest up for a couple of days and head back up to SF.My girlfriend at the time had moved down south and we were starting the process of moving on with our lives... but knew that this was one last trip that had to happen. We got to the park around 7:30am and the place was already filling up. Once the Dirty Dozen Brass band did their procession around the field, the day blew by with laughter and tears.Tracy Chapman, Jackson Browne, Robin Williams, Joe Satriani (!) all did heartfelt pieces. I remember CSNY onstage and Graham Nash saying "the last time we played this field, we were trying to stop the Vietnam war". As Joan Baez sang Amazing Grace we were making our way to the back of the field to the tree's where people had been sitting up in all day. I noticed a guy taking photos who I recognized from home. That guy would later be my boss and good friend who I would continue on the long strange trip with many more shows.... making and selling stickers, and posters at the shows. From California all the way to Soldier Field in '95.
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    Anonymous (not verified)
    13 years 4 months ago
    One for the ages
    I had taken a bus down to SF from Vancouver a few days before. I opened the local free entertainment rag and saw the Bridgeschool show was that night so took the caltrain down. On the way someone mentioned the Dead show in Golden gate park. Slept in the lot after Bridgeschool, then hopped the train and bus up to the park for this unbelievably massive show. Spent the night partying with heads and then crashed in my sleeping bag under some trees in a quiet spot. Stayed at a youth hostel at 9th and Minna for a few weeks after this and got to see CSN at the Warfield later that week. What a trrrrriiiipppp that was.
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"A benefit for Laughter, Love, and Music" - memorial for Bill Graham - without Bruce Hornsby - only "Born On The Bayou" - only "Green River" - only "Bad Moon Rising" - only "Proud Mary" - only "Forever Young" - lineup: Dirty Dozen Brass Band; Bobby McFerrin; Jackson Browne; Aaron Neville; Tracy Chapman; Santana; Robin Williams; Journey; Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; GD; Joan Baez, Graham Nash & Kris Kristofferson
setlist
Hell in a Bucket
China Cat Sunflower
I Know You Rider
Wang Dang Doodle
Born on the Bayou
Green River
Bad Moon Rising
Proud Mary
Truckin'
The Other One
Wharf Rat
Sunshine Daydream

Forever Young
Touch of Grey
show date
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This show was a celebration of the lives of Bill, Steve and Melissa. I remember as the Dead were tuning up, SF police helicopters surrounded the polo feilds flying just above the trees which were filled with fans. The music began to gain a rythm and rose in volume, In the distance a twin beach aircraft was flying twoard the feild. The helicopters spread out givingway to the plane. The plane buzzed over our heads, from wing to wing was OTIS SPUNKMEYER, and lage confetti was bombarded upon the crowd, each peice of confetti (i was told) held a cookie. I didn't get a cookie myself. The dead played on the plane flew off, the helicopters went away, then the beach balls came. Thousands of beach balls from behind the stage came into the polo feilds. There was no chance what so ever that you would not get to be one of the guys that got to play with them. It was an amazing event. Bill Grahm would have been proud of the party thrown for him. The music was fantastic, but it was the people and the grandness of the celebration that realy made the show. There were at least 4 large video cameras set up on stages to record this event, yet to this day I have never seen a complete copy of the day. If some one has a copy, I would dearly love one for myself and to share. One man gathers what another man spills.
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I heard about Bill earlier that week. I had just met him at Shoreline earlier that year. I didnt him him personally, but because I grew up in a close-knit musical community in SoCal, BGP knew me. He worked with Avalon Attrractions in the 70s and one of their CEOs was my neighbor. Although I was real young in the early 70s, I was part of something bigger than I knew. When this news hit, I knew I HAD to be part of his celebration. My friend and I left LA at about midnight and crossed over the Bay Bridge at 5a. Amazing we made LA to SF in 5 hours (yes it can be done). Slept for a couple hours in a Safeway parking lot across from the Cow Palace and found a parking spot east of the part before noon. As we approaced the Polo Fields, we could hear Bobby McFearin doin his thing... The closer we got the more magical it was. BTW I did get one of those cookies from the plane...Dunno what was in it though as I gave it away. I entioned to someone that it was my 23rd Bday and she asked me to hold out my hand......... What I can tell you is that I personally enjoyed the Love and Laughter in the Polo Field. A 1st for me to see CSNY and I still have a 8x10 of Jerry Smiling with Neil...Thanks Uncle Bobo!
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This 11/3/91 Sunshine Daydream completes the 10/27/91 Sugar Magnolia opener, in memory of Bill Graham.
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Simply an amazing event to see !! I also would love to come across the video of this day, there were many, many professional cameras around the field. Thanks Bill !!!
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16 years 8 months
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As I was in Culinary school at the time in SF this was a very enjoyable time. After the 4 halloween shows my best friend Paul from MS. was in town and we went to the Polo field on Saturday afternoon. i saw Dan Healey setting up in the field and where Healey was the dead were sure to follow. On the morning of the 3rd we arose at 3:30 A.M. and walked the 5 blocks to the Polo field to join approximately 10,000 other deadheads who had already assembled for the 10:00 A.M. start of a very magical show. If you were there you know what it was all about if you were not there you missed the boat. I received a cookie from the plane when it flew overhead and we all goobled it down with some jungle-juice. I have seen 2 different videos of this day but both were lost in the winds of that bitch Katrina. Please if you have a copy get in touch as I would like a replacement. Gratefully yours Hammertime
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This was a VERY special day. We had three generations of our family there. We spent the entire day near the front. All of the artists performed from their hearts. The planes dropped carnations onto the crowd (I still have one). I remember the seagulls soaring to Jerry's guitar during Wharf Rat. Neil & the boys really did a nice rendition of Dylan's "Forever Young". I have a video of the entire Grateful Dead performance, and audio of the entire day. Peace, Jim
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I had just moved from So-Cal to Carmel...I had lost touch with the Dead and was married to a stiff. Bill died.. and I convinced the debutant to drive up to the park the night before the show. She was blown away by the cool vibe of the bus folks...smoked a little herb,rad sex in the Trooper and the concert the next day. The Dead with John Fogerty was very cool (Repeat of the Aids Show) and the jam with Neil was great! But what I remember best is the Dc-3's (Smugglers favorites) dropping carnations on the crowd during " I will Survive" part of shades of gray. I could be remembering it wrong...I don't recall any cookies .. hey Steve Perry singing the lights over the city at sundown I remember, los lobos and Santana I remember....I do remember it was fucking cooooool! And I was a born again Dead head ever after... Fil B
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i ate many things that day!..are you sure that was cookies??all i remember is i looked up and i thought the plane exploded..thats when rainbows started pouring out of the speakers...and i remember wavy going around with this magical wand blessing the speakers..thankfully there was this sister there to help me find my way back to the haight ..what a magical/electrickoolaid of a day!
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We drove down from portland, arrived as the field was filling with every walk of life imaginable. Everyone loving life and music. The crowd grew and grew as the day went on and on. It was all a secret. Each new act was an earthshaking surprise. Waves of astonishment and love. people filled the trees, every inch of polo field. Robin Williams did comedy in between set changes. I remember having to use a honey bucket as the dead were tuning up. I guess I'd been holding it hoping it would go away but alas the time had come and i scrambled to the enormous lines for the porta potties. I waited and waited in all my smiling glee. I just wanted to do the deed and get back to my friends and our blanket. More tuning, moving closer to the door of that honey bucket. Then just as it was my turn I entered, sat and the boys ripped into HELL IN A BUCKET to open their set!!! I laughed and laughed nearly falling off my seat. Seeing all those amazing musicians for free all in one day was legendary. The dead backed John Fogarty for christs sake! Get ahold of these tapes, I urge you. Thank You Bill! words cannot express.
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just a couple of weeks before this concert there was a Ben and Jerry's One World festival (or some such) with Hot Tuna and Michelle Shocked. I dunno if BGP had a hand in it, but the template was there and it was musch easier (I think) to call all of the equipment rental folks back and set it up ll over again. At the time I was living at Cabrillo and 45th and rode my bicycle to both of those concerts. Free outdoor concerts means bring your bike and/or dog! As for the camera crews, every Bay Area TV station has a copy of this event. Every one of them had a Satellite van on the right side of the stage. Many were crowded around those vans watching the Niners on the TVs in the vans. The niners lost in Atlanta that morning and I laffed and laft. Anyway, the copies are out there, it would be a legalese nightmare to get everybody to sign onto the production of said video though... Did anybody mention Jerry on Bertha with Los Lobos? Los Lobos did Bertha and Jerry came out for a lick or three. Hey! No mention of Los Lobos up there! They played before lunch, I think. (Lunch is marked by Robin Williams who did his bit @ noon)
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I could've swore that Los Lobos was there too. They even played Bertha and Jerry came out and played a lick or two....
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Uncle BoBo, nobody did it quite like you, nobody. This was a really amazing, heartfelt day. I'm sure Uncle BoBo looked down with a smile. Just think of the parties he's givin upstairs with Jerry, Ron, Brent, Keith, Janis, Jim, Jimmy, Jaco, Keith, & John. Fuck me, that's one hell of a line up. Bill my favorite party was some of your last ones. Starting in July of 90, three festivals; Telluride, Monmouth Mountain & Lake Tahoe Music Festival(s). I had some of the greatest musical experiences of my life at these. Had I ever meet you, I would have loved to thank you for them. Sayin' thank you for a real good time.
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Over 20 yrs. of shows, and not a single bad show. Bill was the best in the business. I saw his Stones Show in Chicago, The US Festival, and countless other shows in the Bay area. I actually approached him in G. G. Park years before at a free fest, shook his hand and thanked him for every and all of his shows that I had seen. He was class, and sincerely touched. When I heard about this show, I knew I'd be there early and stayin' late. The afternoon before the show date found me at my local watering hole in San Jose, tippin' a pitcher of Sierra Nevada and planning the details. I soon figured that I'd have to hit Home Depot and Toys-R-Us before closing. A good ECV brother of mine asked me what I was up to, and when I told him that I was heading up to S. F. for the memorial show, he wondered if he could go too. I said sure. He could even use some of my extra warm clothes as we were the same size fellas, XL, so no need to hit his house. We went straight to Home Depot and I bought a new table top grill and some gas containers. Then it was down the street to Toys-R-Us for a little 3 ft. red wagon. On the way home, I hit the grocery store for all the supplies, incl. a case and a half of Warsteiner German Lager 17oz bottles. I was telling Eddie the rough logistics of pulling this off. We got home and assembled the two new toys, then crashed until around 3:00 AM or so. I started packing the two full size coolers, one with beer and the other with food. There was plenty of ice for the duration. We packed everything in the back of the my Nissan 4X4, and took off for S. F. Right up 280 down 19th hit the park, west to where we started looking for a parking place at pre dawn. I parked about 3 or 4 blocks S. of the entrance near the Polo Field, and started to pack all the stuff onto the wagon. I had a Coleman Stove, a Charbroil grill, a coffee pot, frying pan, mixing bowl, 9" portable b/w TV, two full size coolers, two folding chaise lounges, two little folding camp tables, two lg. blankets, and my portable CD-cassette recorder work radio. By the time it was all stacked onto the wagon, it weighed about 150 lbs. (est.) and was piled about 4 ft. high on the wagon. That's where the 100 ft. of rope came in. I whipped it around everything about 5 or 6 times, and it seemed fairly stable. I pulled and Eddie pushed, and kept it from tipping over. We were able to make it right up to the middle of the field, and worked our way to about 50 yds. from the stage, dead center, when I heard "Hey Dizz", and looked over to see "Roady", a friend from the bar. I asked if we could join him and he said "sure, man", "WOW, what the f#%^ did you bring?" Well, I didn't bother to explain, but first I laid out the two blankets side by side, so we had an area of about 7' x 14' or so, and parked the wagon in the middle up front on the blankets, and set up the tables and grill and bbq machines and set out the radio for recording the show and TV (for the '9er game later in the morning). Then I set up the two lounge chairs, and we had our claim staked. I got to cookin'. First came the coffee, fresh ground gormet, with unrefined sugar and 1/2 & 1/2. While that was going, I was cutting up mushrooms, green pepper, green onions, tomatoes, avocado, pre-steamed asparagus and artichoke hearts. Then I whipped 7 eggs with some 1/2 & 1/2 and equal amt. of Xdry vermouth, stone ground mustard and capers. That all went into the 14" skillet, cooked for a while, then I loaded all the veggies, some sauted onto it, along with a 3 cheeze blend and folded it over, then toasted some Orowheat 7 grain on the open side of the pan. When it was ready, we sat at our little tables, and ate a great breakfast with coffee and Tropicana O.J. We got some nasty looks. After finishing the meal, I quickly cleaned up with a couple paper towels, put 'em in the trash bag, and flopped back into the lounge chair, which promptly collapsed underneath me, jabbing me in both kidneys, and it was like a bear trap. I couldn't get up or out of it. And everyone around me was roaring with laughter. Well, someone finally got up from rolling around on the ground in hysterics, and pulled me out of the grip, and I was told that it served me right. All in good fun. In a little while, a band started playing, then the 49er game came on TV and we got a cardboard box from someone, and put the tv into the end of it. We could fit about 3 heads into the open end of the box, and that's the only way we could see the tv in the outdoor natural light. It looked pretty funny seeing 3 guys with their heads stuck in a cardboard box, and every little while, we'd be yelling in the box, and falling over each other. Maybe you can picture that? Around noon, I got hungry for lunch, and broke out the shish-kabobs and a 2 lb. Alaskan salmon filet. That almost caused a riot. That was chased with the first of many Warsteiners. And when people started hearing those beers getting ripped out of packed ice in the coolers, some came up and offered to buy some. They were selling beers way back, maybe 100 yds. away, or about 100,000 people away, and I heard that the line for beer was awful. Guys were giving me $10 for 2, and in a short time, I had to stop selling. Eddie and I still had enough for about 10 each, and I ended up with about $70 cash. The Niners lost, but that was pretty forgettable. The show wasn't! We all caught a carnation from the Spunkmeister, maybe a cookie, but I don't recall that. So many bands, such a great vibe, it was probably the best show I ever attended in a single day. Bar none! Funny thing was, after it was all over, an old hippy kind of guy came up and told me, "Man, I've been coming to the park for 25 years, and I've NEVER seen anyone party like you guys!" Nuthin' left over, at all. Thanks, UnK Bobo, Bill, Mr. Graham, whatever, wherever you are. Dizz Quixote, "Clamper at large" Travelin' at the speed o' light.......
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Thanks for that memory!!
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We heard the sad news the day before, I guess, and we figured the band would want to commemorate Bill's life and work and achievements. I was very excited because I had never seen the Dead in that most classic of all classic venues, Golden Gate Park. We arrived around noon, I guess, pushing the kids in the stroller as quick as we could over the hills in the park. As we approached the Polo Fields I could hear the bomber overhead, and I knew something special was up cause in my home town they used the same kind of plane to do sky writing. As we came into the clearing we spotted the plane with it's doors open circling the field. I knew something was gonna come out of those doors, and sure enough in a couple of minutes we could see dots flinging out of the door, and we were like "What's that?" and as they fell to earth we could see they were beautiful, multi-colored carnations (my favorite flower). They were raining down on us so thick I actually got hit in the head with some. We gathered some up and piled them on top of the stroller, and later gave them away to people who had not gotten any. I kept the peach colored one that hit me in the head. As I looked up and saw the flower-rain I thought 'the Dead have really blown my mind this time' We heard later that the flowers were a gift from the flower purveyors that had provided the floral decorations for Bill Graham's events for years.The music was beyond fabulous, a once in a lifetime event worthy of the man who was honored. Bill Graham, a life cut short way too soon. We still miss you, Uncle Bo Bo. (though I swear I could feel you real strong with us in the Fox Theater, Oakland, last fall )
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My Girlfriend and I parked our car on Lincoln right by the entrance, spent the night, no hassles, were among the first 50 in line around 5:00 a.m. Gates open, we rushed, laid our blankets 5 rows back (stage was high up, so we kept it at a good viewing distance). And all I kept thinking is the Dead are going to play a free gig and i'[m there!! Was it here best work. No, but when Fogerty joined them theey became a hell of a backup band, and forever young with neil was goosebump city. A sad and beautiful day.
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I had taken a bus down to SF from Vancouver a few days before. I opened the local free entertainment rag and saw the Bridgeschool show was that night so took the caltrain down. On the way someone mentioned the Dead show in Golden gate park. Slept in the lot after Bridgeschool, then hopped the train and bus up to the park for this unbelievably massive show. Spent the night partying with heads and then crashed in my sleeping bag under some trees in a quiet spot. Stayed at a youth hostel at 9th and Minna for a few weeks after this and got to see CSN at the Warfield later that week. What a trrrrriiiipppp that was.
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One of the most joyful/sad days I experienced up to that point in my life. Drove home from the Oakland shows exhausted... just to rest up for a couple of days and head back up to SF.My girlfriend at the time had moved down south and we were starting the process of moving on with our lives... but knew that this was one last trip that had to happen. We got to the park around 7:30am and the place was already filling up. Once the Dirty Dozen Brass band did their procession around the field, the day blew by with laughter and tears.Tracy Chapman, Jackson Browne, Robin Williams, Joe Satriani (!) all did heartfelt pieces. I remember CSNY onstage and Graham Nash saying "the last time we played this field, we were trying to stop the Vietnam war". As Joan Baez sang Amazing Grace we were making our way to the back of the field to the tree's where people had been sitting up in all day. I noticed a guy taking photos who I recognized from home. That guy would later be my boss and good friend who I would continue on the long strange trip with many more shows.... making and selling stickers, and posters at the shows. From California all the way to Soldier Field in '95.
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Was here but I heard CSN and Santana... too late to hear GD...