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  • SPACEBROTHER
    6 years 6 months ago
    Love these picks
    I love '88 Dead. The Landover run is fantastic from Sept '88. I would love to see those released. Missed Richfield '90, but did attend the '91 Fall tour opening run and those shows were magical. 9/4-6/91 are highly recommended. Besides the '91 run, I attended the Spring '93 show, first night cancelled due to blizzard. 3/14/93 has grown on me over time.
  • stoltzfus
    6 years 6 months ago
    old joke around here:
    what's the best thing about Tacoma? Seattle is only 30 minutes away.
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    dahainer
    6 years 6 months ago
    Tacoma Dome
    Strange show, strange venue, the separate entrances for upper and lower levels made it hard to hook up with friends. Sound was weird like Healy never got the venue figured out. Strange thing was Santana sounded great as the opener, which made the Dead's set seem more lackluster. This was the first time I had heard any of it since that night.
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16 years 10 months

Welcome back to the Tapers’ Section, where this week we have a double dose of 1988 Grateful Dead music, and music from Vince Welnick’s second show with the Dead.

First up is the entire first set from Tacoma, WA, on 8/26/88, from the Tacoma Dome. If you’ve ever driven on Highway I-5 just a bit south of Seattle, you’ve definitely seen the Tacoma Dome, sitting just a few feet west of the highway. Unmissable. From that show, we have Hell In A Bucket ; Sugaree ; Never Trust A Woman ; Iko Iko ; Walkin' Blues ; When Push Comes To Shove ; When I Paint My Masterpiece ; Row Jimmy ; The Music Never Stopped.

Next is the end of the second set and encore from 9/3/88 in Landover, MD. I was fortunate to attend this show, and it was a very high-energy Saturday night in DC, a drastically different show than the low-energy show of the night before. From this show, we have Goin' Down The Road Feeling Bad > I Need A Miracle > Morning Dew, One More Saturday Night, Ripple. This was the first electric Ripple since 1971, and the first of any kind since the acoustic version on 10/16/81 in Amsterdam. It was also the final version ever played.

Lastly this week is the end of the show from the second night of a two night run Richfield, OH, Vince’s second show. They played it mostly quite safe at these shows, but Vince filled some huge shoes very admirably, having joined the band only a couple of weeks earlier. All Along The Watchtower > SteIla Blue > Throwing Stones > Not Fade Away, One More Saturday Night. I remember vividly the love with which Vince was greeted in Richfield by 18,000 people, all eager to welcome the new guy into the family.

Be sure to join us here next week for more music from the vault.

David Lemieux
Email: vault@dead.net
Twitter: @lemieuxdavid

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Welcome back to the Tapers’ Section, where this week we have a double dose of 1988 Grateful Dead music, and music from Vince Welnick’s second show with the Dead.
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August 21 - August 27, 2017
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16 years 8 months
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Great vibe in Richfield, especially the night before with Vince's intro. It's spooky to think that this place no longer exists!
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16 years 6 months
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It was my understanding that this Ripple was played for a terminally ill youth and was arranged through the Make a Wish foundation. Can anyone corroborate?
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16 years 9 months
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i did hear the same
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16 years 8 months
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good to see some love for Richfield. I always thought those shows were all solid to excellent, especially with Vince's newness this particular weekend. Didn't Horsnby tour with them that Fall. too? Last time I drove by the Coliseum's former address, it was completely razed. don't know what's there now. edit...just googled it...former home of the Richfield Coliseum is now a meadow in the Cuyohoga Valley National Park. Blossom Music Center (amphitheater) is in the midst of the CVNP, as well. Blossom has hosted some great shows, and was a venue in the recent D&C tour.
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16 years 9 months
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Has a reputation as one of the worst shows of the era. People blame bad acoustics but I remember several shows there during that period that had good to great sound. Van Halen had one of the best live mixes I've heard in that place. Now if they can do it why couldn't the Dead?
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13 years 4 months
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that is true
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14 years 2 months
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my first of two shows in 88. not THAT bad. Touch of Grey out of Space was cool. 8/28 was very forgettable except for Jack Straw > Bertha to open second set. or was it Bertha > Jack Straw. and then, sure, on the East Coast, a few days later...RIPPLE. meh. just another few bricks in my "88 GD ain't my thing" wall.
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10 years 8 months
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Strange show, strange venue, the separate entrances for upper and lower levels made it hard to hook up with friends. Sound was weird like Healy never got the venue figured out. Strange thing was Santana sounded great as the opener, which made the Dead's set seem more lackluster. This was the first time I had heard any of it since that night.
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14 years 2 months
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what's the best thing about Tacoma? Seattle is only 30 minutes away.
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16 years 9 months
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I love '88 Dead. The Landover run is fantastic from Sept '88. I would love to see those released. Missed Richfield '90, but did attend the '91 Fall tour opening run and those shows were magical. 9/4-6/91 are highly recommended. Besides the '91 run, I attended the Spring '93 show, first night cancelled due to blizzard. 3/14/93 has grown on me over time.