Spartan Stadium

Brent Mydland's first concert - billing: GD; Charlie Daniels; Greg Kihn Band

setlist

Jack Straw
Tennessee Jed
Mama Tried
Mexicali
Sugaree
Minglewood
B. E. Women
L. L. Rain, Stagger Lee, Passenger, Deal

Miracle
Bertha
Good Lovin
Scarlet
Fire
Estimated Prophet
He's Gone
Drumz
Other One
Wharf Rat
Around

U. S. Blues

Shakedown

show date

Sat, 04/21/1979 - 16:00

Venue

Spartan Stadium

dead comment

Looks Like Rain

A good show with Greg Kihn and Charlie Daniels. I'll never forget how it was RAINING with the SUN still shining while the Dead were playing 'Looks Like Rain'. It gave me chills!! Wish I could find my T-Shirt from that show.

I love this show, would make a great vault release

I remember reading Corry Arnold's Deadbase review, which basically trashed the entire show. With that, I was initially hesitant to listen to the tapes. But once I got the tapes, I was blown away, and now it's my #1 recording of all time. Disco Dead at its finest. Great "Jack Straw" opener, terrific "Sugaree." Set two is awesome, Scarlet/Fire is a classic. Estimated>He's Gone is beautiful. Drumz contains some interesting percussion sounds. Elegant "Wharf Rat" and a good "Shakedown Street" ends the show. Brilliant and underrated show.

Haven't Changed My Mind

Long ago in a volume of Deadbase (children, this was in the Stone Age, before the Internet) I wrote a review of this show, saying how badly the Dead played and how let down I was by the whole thing. I'm glad other people liked it, but I haven't changed my mind. Corry Arnold

Rainbow

Gregg brought his dog to the show and lost Rainbow, his mind and his relationship. dog was found several days later through our community.

A complete audience

A complete audience recording of this show is now available for download at the Archive. By the way, I definitely understand what Corry was saying in his review, and fully respect his criticisms. The Dead did not introduce any new songs into their playlist. '79 was definitely not a year for new material. However I feel that at Spartan Stadium, Brent did help foster a bit of change in the arrangements. There was a lot more keyboards than ever before. Scarlet/Fire is filled with great leads from Jerry. And dig that funky & amazing Shakedown final encore!

I picked up an AUD copy of

I picked up an AUD copy of this show at "Its Only Rock n Roll" on 8th Street in Manhattan, maybe 20 years ago. I could swear you could hear the crowd yelling "Where's Keith?" and "Jerry, who's the new guy?". The show itself was mundane; nothing remarkable, except I didn't know a lot of "Shakedown" encores. That and the whole "Brent" thing...

Legendary & Stratospheric!

Great opening acts(remember them?). LOL! Shrooms, Brent's 1st show, 1st set rain turning into beautiful Spring day, one of(if not the first) outdoor Ultrasound P.A. shows(GREAT sound), passenger jets overhead(almost next to San Jose airport), jets heard on aud. tape during "He's Gone" & "Wharf Rat"-WOW(My mind was blown)! Stunning Scarlet/Fire. Absolutely Fabulous - Will Never Forget This One!

Orange garbage bags

The Dead made it start raining with an awsum looks like rain. Then a bunch of Uncle Bo Bo's blue coats started handing out orange garbage bags that the Deadheads made into rain coats. It was a beautiful orange rain sunshine trip. I was amazed by Brent's style and his very good advise. Shakedown kicked ass! SJCC dance heads were shakin n bakin.

Being Paid to Attend

I was a BGP Blue Coat at this show and was stationed up in the Press Box (upper stage right) Great view and great sound! I was very impressed with Brent and loved Greg Kihn and Charlie Daniels, but the best part was being paid to attend the show! Thank you, and Stay In Touch!

I never saw the Dead there

but around this time I saw what remains one of my favorite shows of all time there--Jackson Browne, Warren Zevon and Jimmy Buffett. I have very fond memories of the venue, which was perfect for summer shows.

Odd pairing of acts

Greg Kihn getting on stage to open up and his first words "Anyone out there on psychedelics?" set a tone for the day. Charlie Daniels followed with a new song called "Devil went down to Georgia" from an album released 4 days later made it interesting. The Dead were good that day, Donna sang well, Jerry played tremendously and the monster sound system was worth the drive from Chico. I was a huge Lowell George fan so I liked the Shakedown era quite a bit. The rain was fun, it was a day to remember.

Donna sang so well that she

Donna sang so well that she wasn't even there! (Donna & Keith left the band a month before the Spartan Stadium gig)

When I lived in San Jose

Second time seeing Charlie Daniels and Greg Kihn. It was getting cloudy and one of them told the crowd that the Dead had assured him that they had never been rained out. It started sprinkling during "Looks Like Rain". I used to wear a Buck knife on my belt and it wasn't until I was in line that I realized that I still had it on. I quickly took it off and stuffed it down the front of my pants. When I got patted down, the guy felt it and said, "what's that?". I gave him a disgruntled look and he said, "forget it". I can't imagine what he was thinking.

photo from archive

http://images.gdao.org/view/image/ark%3A%2F38305%2Fg45d8qz8%2Fis%2F1

dead at Spartan

Had a great time!Kihn was pre coke so good rock n roll and Charlie was before the devil/georgia broke nationally man he had a KILLER band and the Dead were just FUN!!!Who was the Beuatiful woman in big hat and thigh high 7 league boots dancin' towards the back of the crowd!Will NEVER forget her.Took a friend it was his first,instant convert!

College road trip

Me and about 10 friends drove up for the concert from UCSD! We took several cars, but me and two others were at a party in La Jolla and left at about midnight. Drove all night to get to San Jose. It was the first concert without Keith and Donna. It was a fantastic show, definitely in my top ten out of about 90-100. Killer scarlet/fire, wharf rat, jack straw...so many. Jerry on fire during Passenger. Anyway, classic road trip with friends from all across the U.S. That I happened to meet in college....most just because I would hear them playing the dead in their dorm room and I would burst in and say high. That is what SF "city" dead heads do! Some, like my roommate from Bakersfield, I introduced to the dead and they were hooked. So we drove all night, had a mushroom omelette , and then danced. We had to sell product ( in this case it was hash)after the show to scrape up gas money to get back to school, but we were jacked the whole way back!

Today is the 39th year, Sunday anniversary at Spartan Stadium

This was one of those earthquake weather concerts days. You know the one, it feels like a heavy pressure on the head and face like anything could happen. Just ready to crack open the world of time and space and swallow you up whichever way, then just in time cutting your left leg loose and setting you free. Opening band Greg Khin Band, Charlie Daniels Band and Bill Graham Grateful Dead Event extravaganza featuring Brent Mydland's opening concert with The Good Ol' Grateful Dead; Found my new friends Dan Chase and Tara Todd, plus a cascade of youngster pranksters that wherein tow. The rest is history! Hot concert! bear

Great show!

I'll never forget it. I took a lot of photos there but most were stolen the only one that remains is a great shot of bobby during LLR with raindrops all over his denim shirt. I still have my Spartan shirt from the show.

Great show!

Today is the 39th year, Sunday anniversary at Spartan Stadium

College road trip

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walstib

7 years 6 months ago

Great show!
I'll never forget it. I took a lot of photos there but most were stolen the only one that remains is a great shot of bobby during LLR with raindrops all over his denim shirt. I still have my Spartan shirt from the show.
bchar

7 years 9 months ago

Today is the 39th year, Sunday anniversary at Spartan Stadium
This was one of those earthquake weather concerts days. You know the one, it feels like a heavy pressure on the head and face like anything could happen. Just ready to crack open the world of time and space and swallow you up whichever way, then just in time cutting your left leg loose and setting you free. Opening band Greg Khin Band, Charlie Daniels Band and Bill Graham Grateful Dead Event extravaganza featuring Brent Mydland's opening concert with The Good Ol' Grateful Dead; Found my new friends Dan Chase and Tara Todd, plus a cascade of youngster pranksters that wherein tow. The rest is history! Hot concert! bear
martyroosf

10 years 8 months ago

College road trip
Me and about 10 friends drove up for the concert from UCSD! We took several cars, but me and two others were at a party in La Jolla and left at about midnight. Drove all night to get to San Jose. It was the first concert without Keith and Donna. It was a fantastic show, definitely in my top ten out of about 90-100. Killer scarlet/fire, wharf rat, jack straw...so many. Jerry on fire during Passenger. Anyway, classic road trip with friends from all across the U.S. That I happened to meet in college....most just because I would hear them playing the dead in their dorm room and I would burst in and say high. That is what SF "city" dead heads do! Some, like my roommate from Bakersfield, I introduced to the dead and they were hooked. So we drove all night, had a mushroom omelette , and then danced. We had to sell product ( in this case it was hash)after the show to scrape up gas money to get back to school, but we were jacked the whole way back!

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Brent Mydland's first concert

Mickey Hart - Spartan Stadium