Grateful Dead

Didn't know at the time it was Keith and Donna's last show. This was a benefit for the Campaign for Economic Democracy, led by Tom Hayden. His lovely bride, Jane Fonda was in attendance. I was thoroughly dosed. A lovely evening.

As a curious Canadian , I gave the Dead a try at the Copps in Hamilton , Ontario in ( I think ) 91 . Even though it was a warmup show(musically) in comparison the the 2nd night , I was taken in by the atmosphere and unity of crowd. Only got to see 5 or so more Dead shows and one Jerry show but feel lucky I did. Still waving my freak- flag high Grateful Dave

Before the introduction of the band, the crowd was antsy about Jane's movie "Fun w/ Dick & Jane" and voiced displeasure. Maybe this is why the houselights were on during tuning and greatest story. Donna Jean version of sugar/sunshine was great. Very Fine rock and roll show and 70's right of passage for a 16 y.o.

might as well boot k n d and bring on brent. although it was k n d last show iremember it as a definet fav smokin 4 sho agood time for all i was sitting in back of the boys w- a bunch of n. y.ers i was living with at the time on asby n wheeler in berkeley.

This one's been a favourite over the years. It all started with that Deadhead mail flyer invite for a weeknight gig in Oakland, so I bus/BARTED up from LA and used the gig as an excuse to proceed on to friends in the Redwoods.Tickets, dots, and 3D glasses in the parking lot resulted in a few folks with different sized pupils. Deadheads at a crossing near Denny's caused a car to screech and dump a load of timber, but the friendly Deadheads had it all back up on the roofracks in minutes. Jane Fonda's contribution to the benefit was to screen her latest "Fun With Dick And Jane". As much of the crowd was coming on mightily, many prayed that the film of corporate greed, double-crossing, and backstabbing was just a gag or trailer, but it was soon obvious that we were getting very tweaked by 90 minutes of the nasty vibes. Fortunately, most of the audience lived. The band came on (with lights on) and they seemed quite tweaked also, presumably on blow and blotter. I had seen the sublime and beautiful 12/30/78 UCLA show just 6 week earlier, but this was a completely different animal; much more akin to some of those frantic/caustic shows with the Brent band years later. You can really hear it on Jerry's guitar GSET and that unsynched opening on FOTD. The whole place was FRYING and Jerry was singing through clenched teeth (earning him the nickname in my mind that evening of Colonel Skillet). Didn't know at the time, but K & D's last hurrah was more poignant when the band or Donna (latter, I believe) missed a cue in Heart Of Me and she actually cried. One unlikely highlight was perhaps the shortest but most beautiful Wheel ever played (it's a cliche, but true in this case). Some folks have bagged this show, but it's a real corker. After the show I managed to find the kind stranger that had kept my backpack for safekeeping. I moseyed to the Dennys where a whole counter of Heads were having vicious staredown's with their fried eggs. A guy with a maxi-taxi van offered rides to town so I joined a group, only for us to get T-boned by a car on the way and we all tripped off into the night. I spent the rest of the night at the GreyHound terminal with my backback tied to my leg lest it escape, then off in the morning to Eureka and the serenity of the redwoods.

Like other folks, I had no idea that this was Keith and Donna's last hurrah. I was just pumped to have a show to see a few weeks after the Closing of Winterland. 2/17/79 was all I could ask for in a show. Great playing and unusual song selection, with several breakouts: Greatest, Don't Ease, Big Railroad Blues, High Time, Might as Well - a post-Drums Shakedown - nice phat pre-drums helping of tunes: Might As Well, I Need a Miracle>Bertha>Good Lovin', From the Heart of Me, and Big Railroad Blues - all before the meat of the second set - a HUGE Terrapin > Playin'. This show will always be in my top 5 or 6 shows I attended between 1977 and 1995. I still miss the K&D Dead.

such as this one was rarely ever seen(8 song lead in to Drums/Space 2nd set), but I too, like so many others, can say this show would have played better if Brent had already been on board....

Never had gotten off listening to Keith.... and Donna was just so-so, nothing too special.....they had their place, another wonderful piece of the band's history. Just one DH's opinion.

Yet, what a lovely gift, Brent was, to us, the Band, and to our future GD life together. He couldn't have come at a better time, left us far too soon !!

Geoff

"one way or another"-New Speedway Boogie.... and "you need to be kissed often, and by a man who knows how"- Rhett to Scarlet - Gone with the Wind The Big Dog Dad - Schultzie

We arrived in Oakland way too early and spent way too much time in the empty parking lot waiting. Then the movie and Tom & Jane were a real buzzkiller. Now almost 30 years later I recall that the atmosphere seemed very tense, I blamed it on Tom & Jane. As always though you can on the show to get better and better and better the furthur it goes, and it did. Like everyone else I had no idea until I read it here thet It was K & D's last show, and in the end a great one for me. CCC

art

art this was like my 5th show,and the first for my new girlfriend (and,later my wife).The vibes seemed really wierd to me before the show.The high doses we took only intensified it.Being a relative newcomer,I was a little unsure of myself and the strange feelings I was having.Still,I enjoyed the first set,especially the "High Time".During halftime we sat on the floor staring at each other-speechless.The weirdness intensified during a break that seemed as though it would never end.The second set started with "might As Well",which seemed like some sort of invitation.I looked at my girl,and she had the most terrified look I have ever seen on a human face.All of a sudden she bolted through the crowd,knocking people over as she went.I followed,appologizing to the victims of our sudden flight.We ended up in the lobby,where she approached three Oakland Coliseum security guards (not BGP guys).They seemed to be about 300Lbs.each,and wearing green police-like uniforms.She told them that I was the devil.They looked at me inquisitively,so I assured them that I was not,in fact,the devil,and that she was experiencing a bad trip,of sorts.THey told me that she was my problem,and went back to the conversation they were having before they were so rudely interrupted.I was ,in fact, deeply concerned for her,and felt responsible for the whole thing.We walked around the parking lot for hours as I tried to help talk her down.I ran into a friend out there sitting in his car,and when I told him what happened,he smiled ,shook his head and said,"I know just how she feels man,I had to get out of there too,it was WAY to intense".I took her home to her parents at about 4:00 am.Luckilly they were asleep.I called her the next day ,and she thanked me for a wonderful evening, and asked when we could see the Dead again!This exprience went a long way to help me understand the power of L.S.D.,the Grateful Deads music,and 15000 deadheads all in one place.Not to be taken so lightly.I had more respect forthe powers at hand when the time is right.(or wrong,as in this case.)I took great care after this to be the most positive ,loving,and caring person I could be ,in times like this.My girlfriend and I got married in 1980 and had two sons.We enjoyed many wonderful Dead concerts together until we split in 1988.Now my two boys, men now,will join me at the shoreline on 5-15-09 and the wheel keeps turnin'.

Yes, a very weird show. A weird night.Halfway through the first set I watched my friend Jeff rip off several strips of Dragon blotter, slurpin' 'em up like Chinese noodles. By the end of that same set Eddy was screamin' "Forget the eighties! Forget the eighties, we're headed straight for the nineties!" By the end of the show I was feelin' a bit ragged myself and knew I had a van full of hippies to drive back to Fell Street. I saw Gam, so I asked if I could hold one of his Camels (meaning could I have a cigarette). He looked up over his shoulder, expecting to see a dromedary standing there. He finally, got what I was trying to say and gave me a few puffs of tobacco, Just what I needed to ground me a little. Everyone was ambling about, not sure of what to do; the show was over, but folks were still mighty dosed-out and nobody wanted to go out into the chilly Oakland night. Next thing I know, this huge WHISTLE BLAST goes off! Everybody kinda jumps outta their skin! Bill G. is SCEAMING at this rookie security guard,"Don't EVER blow your whistle in my guests' faces. DO YOU HEAR ME? DON'T EVER BLOW YOUR FUCKIN' WHISTLE!!!" Francine and I are dancing a figure-eight around the floor, like two figure skaters. I trundle by and say, "Thanks Bill, but let the kid live, will ya!" Just then, Judy comes by looking for Jeff, hearing he'd got taken to the "Bummer-Tent." I go over to the para-meds with her, Jeff's lying there, saucer-eyed; they tell us, "Your friend is waaayyy too stoned, you better let us take him for the night." I'm thinkin' this is not-a-good-idea. So I lean over and whisper to Jeff, "Do you wanna come home with us, or go to SF General?" Jeff puills himself up just long enough to say, "I wanna go home with these guys." Judy pulls-up Stella Blue (the big blue school bus), and we pour Jeff into the back. I finally round up my crew and head to The City, Six or eight of us end up at Francine's house for a a post-show debriefing. What a night! Later, JiJi

This show starts off great, with the post-retirement premier of a hot GSET, and continues with fine and fun versions of Don't Ease, Mama and Mexicali. FoTD is pretty good too but then the set dips and never recovers. Set 2 starts off with energy and the first few songs are well done (well, Jerry messes up Bertha pretty bad) but nothing special. The transition in Terrapin is interesting but the Terrapin portion isn't right. Nothing special to the pre-drums Playing. The Shakedown out of Wheel is a surprise, but doesn't do anything for me until about the 10:35 mark when the jam takes an interesting turn. The following return to Playing is the highlight of the show, featuring some great, spacey exploration. Overall, Good show, 7/10

Keith playing in other band date said 5 10 1979 http://images.gdao.org/view/image/ark%3A%2F38305%2Fg41j993m%2Fis%2F1 Keith and billy back stage http://images.gdao.org/view/thumbnail/ark%3A%2F38305%2Fg4ws8smx%2Fis%2F1

whole lotta fun

This one started out on Super Bowl Sunday when my closest Deadhead friend and I saw the ticket sale announcemnt in the pink section. At halftime, we split a small handful of very potent mushrooms, and I took off down Sir Francis Drake, the Miracle Mile, and Second Street to the Record Factory on Francisco Boulevard in San Rafael. At no time during the trip did we exceed ninety miles per hour. We bought the tickets, turned around, and made it back to his house in San Anselmo before the second-half kickoff. The weirdness continued on show night. I took two girls, one of whom I'd been dating and the other whom the first thought was more my type and was hoping to palm off on me. Both were more attuned to Donna Summer than to Jerry Garcia, but ya gotta do what ya gotta do. The minute we arrived we could feel a peculiar urgency/intensity/tension in the air, everywhere. Like most, we had no idea this was Keith and Donna's last show. Overall there was a lot of sloppiness but just tremendous energy. Donna, clearly moved by the occasion, sang a beautiful counterpoint on "Looks Like Rain" which made me, a Donna defender, want to turn to the skeptics and say, "Okay, how about that?" The second set rocked hard, and I hear a lot of mistakes on the audio today, but it all seemed to make sense then. I do remember being aware of Donna a lot even though I had no idea this would be it for her and for Keith. Both Bob and Donna hollered themselves hoarse on a runaway "Sugar Magnolia," and I remember thinking, "That's it. Their voices are shot. No way Bob does the encore." But he did, and while I've always found "Saturday Night" pedestrian, he (and she) deserved big props for even attempting it. We heard about the split a few days later, and while the Brent band put down some amazing music, and with more consistently in-tune backing vocals, I still hold the Keith and Donna years as the group's best. Eighteen months later Keith was gone.