Welcome back to the Tapers' Section, where this week we check in on some Grateful Dead music from 1976, 1981 and 1987.
Our first selection is from the final night of the Fall Tour of 1976, the second two of the band's comeback from performance hiatus. They'd done a long tour of small theaters in June 1976, playing some of their bigger markets (Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago) amd followed that up with the Fall Tour of arenas in mostly smaller markets (Rochester, Syracuse, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Williamsburg), endin things in Detroit on 10/3/76. Of course, less than a week later they'd be playing at the Oakland Stadium with The Who, followed by two shows in LA before taking another two and a half months off before their 12/31/76 show at the Cow Palace. From the end of the first set on 10/3/76, we have Loser, El Paso, Scarlet Begonias, The Music Never Stopped. Pay particular attention to the great groove they lock into on the post-Scarlet jam.
Next up is music from 9/27/81 at the Capital Center in Landover, MD, where the Dead would wrap up one of their shortest tours in their history: three shows in three nights in three cities. From the start of the first set, we have Jack Straw, Alabama Getaway>Promised Land, Candyman>Little Red Rooster, Althea. This mini-tour acted as more of a stopover on their way to Europe, where the Dead would open their European tour a few days later in Scotland, similar to the Academy of Music March 1972 shows acting a springboard to the Europe '72 tour, and Giants Stadium '78 acting as the jumping off point for the Egypt excursion.
Our last selection this week is from 9/23/87, on the Fall Tour of 1987. Like much of 1987, what the 1987 Dead lacked in extended jams, they made up for in high energy. From this show, the penultimate show of the tour, we have Feel Like A Stranger, Franklin's Tower, Walkin' Blues, Friend Of The Devil, Tons Of Steel from the first set. Please note there are some sound issues on Feel Like A Stranger, but things settle down nicely.
Be sure to join us here next week for more tunes from the Grateful Dead's vault.
David Lemieux
vault@dead.net