grateful dead best tours

Watch CBS News

Top 5 landmark Grateful Dead concerts

June 29, 2015 / 5:17 PM EDT / CBS/AP

Let the countdown begin :

The Grateful Dead's final five shows have arrived.

With shows Saturday and Sunday last weekend in Santa Clara, California, and another three at Chicago's Soldier Field on July 3-5, the five shows cap roughly 2,300 concerts over 30 years.

Pioneers of psychedelic music in the 1960s, the Dead brought jazz-style improvisation to rock music. No two Dead shows were the same - not just the performances but the setlists were made up on the spot. Each show had a seat-of-the-pants quality that meant things could go wrong, but also that great heights could be reached.

The band's run came to an end with the death of lead guitarist Jerry Garcia in 1995. This summer, the four surviving members of the band -- guitarist Bob Weir, bassist Phil Lesh and drummers Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann -- are performing.

Here is a look back at five shows that capture the band at key moments along its long and, yes, strange trip.

Feb. 14, 1969

CAROUSEL BALLROOM, SAN FRANCISCO

Garcia, the lead guitarist with the bushy black (later gray) beard and impish smile, was probably the best-known member of the Grateful Dead. But he was not its leader; that was a role he never wanted.

If the band did have a leader in its early days, it was keyboard player Ron McKernan. Affectionately nicknamed Pigpen for his unkempt look, McKernan also played harmonica and was more comfortable singing lead at first than Garcia or Weir.

Pigpen both did and didn't fit with the Dead. He didn't share the musical adventurism of his bandmates, and he preferred alcohol to LSD. But the blues and R&B tunes he sang served as an anchor to keep the band's more experimental work from spiraling out of the stratosphere.

Pigpen's drinking eventually caught up to him, and he died in 1973 at age 27.

April 8, 1972

WEMBLEY EMPIRE POOL, LONDON

The Europe '72 tour - 22 shows in April and May - is considered by many fans to the Dead's best.

The band was still playing the exploratory jams they became famous for in the 1960s, like the 30-minute version of "Dark Star" that highlighted this show, the second of the tour. But a songwriting partnership of Garcia and lyricist Robert Hunter that was just beginning in the late '60s had matured.

Hunter's lyrics pulled from a wide variety of sources, from blues standards to nursery rhymes. He took an old folk tune based on a real-life train wreck and turned it into "Casey Jones." And he wrote the instantly iconic line in "Truckin,'" the band's 1970 chronicle of life on the road, "What a long strange trip it's been."

"His lyrics worked on a much more elevated level than your typical love ballad or rock anthem - they belonged to literature." Kreutzmann wrote in his 2015 autobiography "Deal" - which borrows its title from a Hunter-Garcia song.

​May 8, 1977

CORNELL UNIVERSITY, ITHACA, NEW YORK

Spring 1977 was another peak for the Dead, and many fans consider this show to be the best they ever played.

In the mid-1980s, tapes of the Cornell show became highly sought after in the Deadhead taping community. The band for years had turned a blind eye to fans making bootleg tapes of their concerts. In 1984, they began to actively encourage it, setting aside a section for tapers at their shows.

David Letterman asked Garcia during a 1982 interview about the philosophy behind giving the music away. "When we're done with it, they can have it," Garcia said.

Oct. 16, 1989

EAST RUTHERFORD, NEW JERSEY

It was a rejuvenated Grateful Dead that took the stage at the Brendan Byrne Arena on this night - Weir's 42nd birthday.

By the early 1980s, Garcia had become addicted to heroin and had put on weight. His bandmates, setting aside their strong inclination toward personal freedom, staged several interventions. They felt the music was suffering, and many fans agreed.

Garcia cleaned up in the mid '80s, but he slipped into a diabetic coma in 1986 and nearly died. Once he recovered, the band recorded their first studio album in seven years. And "Touch of Grey" - a song they'd been playing in concert for five years - became an unexpected hit single in 1987. It was the band's only Top 40 song.

The Dead were riding high for the rest of the decade. Brent Mydland had joined on keyboards in 1979 and added energy to a band of aging hippies. But he died of a drug overdose in July 1990.

The band quickly found a replacement in Vince Welnick, but the pressure of touring, the burden of increased fame and Garcia's return to heroin use conspired to make the band's last five years on the road largely forgettable.

July 9, 1995

SOLDIER FIELD, CHICAGO

You'd be hard pressed to find a Deadhead who thinks that this -- the band's final concert before Garcia's death -- was a good one.

Things had gone sour in the band's world. Several gate-crashing incidents marred their summer tour, and some venues and cities were refusing to host the Dead.

Things weren't much better on stage. Garcia was using again. He would forget not just lyrics but even what song he was playing. Kreutzmann claims that Garcia occasionally nodded off during concerts. "I'd hit my crash cymbals as hard as I could, just to wake him up," the drummer wrote in his autobiography.

The band members have since admitted that by this point, they had stopped listening to each other while they were playing.

The Dead was scheduled to have a few months off after this show, and Garcia sought help. After a short stay at the Betty Ford Clinic, he checked himself into Serenity Knolls, a substance-abuse clinic in northern California, where he died of a heart attack on Aug. 9, 1995, at age 53.

A few months later, the surviving band members decided to retire the name Grateful Dead. The long strange trip was over.

Weir, Lesh, Hart and Kreutzmann have toured periodically in various formations in the 20 years since Garcia's death. They have billed these five concerts in 2015 as the last they will perform together.

• New Releases
• Dave's Picks
• 7" Singles Collection
• Dead & Company
• Accessories

Art & Home

• Recreation & Games

Collaborations

Special edition shops.

• St. Louis Collection
• Shakedown Garden
• Skull & Roses
• Workingman's Dead
• Astrology Collection
• Long Strange Trip
• Pacific Northwest '73-'74
• Cornell 1977
• American Beauty Collection
• Giants Stadium
• 50th Anniversary
• Dead & Company

Grateful Gifts

• Tapers Section
• Grateful Dead Hour

Jam Of The Week

All the years live.

• All In The Family
• Comix by Tim Truman
• Greatest Stories Ever Told
• Documenting The Dead
• Blair's Golden Road Blog
• SIRIUS XM - Grateful Dead Channel

Show Archive

• Shows By Venue
• Shows By Year

Visual Archive

• Album Covers

Band Members

• JERRY GARCIA
• BILL KREUTZMANN
• MICKEY HART
• RON "PIGPEN" MCKERNAN
• TOM CONSTANTEN
• KEITH GODCHAUX
• DONNA JEAN GODCHAUX
• BRENT MYDLAND
• VINCE WELNICK
• ROBERT HUNTER
• JOHN PERRY BARLOW

Discography

Welcome mat.

• Welcome Back

Administration

• Topic & Feature Suggestions
• User Concerns
• How To Use The Site
• Technical Problems
• Admin Questions & Discussions
• Dead Store Products
• Fall/Winter 2020 Lookbook
• Ticket Exchange
• Currently Listening To...
• I'm Looking For...
• Introductions
• Me and My Band
• Me and My Day Job
• Most Life-Changing Show
• News and Talk
• All Around This World
• Announcements

Grateful Dead

• Personal Favorites
• The Vineyard
• Dancin' In The Street
• Shakedown Street
• Strangers Stopping Strangers

Dead On and Off the Net

• Dead-Related Charities
• Festivals & Other Tours
• Grateful Dead Radio

Spinoffs & Similar Music

• Bands You Shouldn't Miss
• Best Shows by Other Bands
• Influenced By:
• Grateful Dead in the Media
• Official Announcements
• Releases We'd Like To See
• The Grateful Dead Catalog

From The Mars Hotel (50th Anniversary Remaster) Dead.Net Exclusive [1LP]

From The Mars Hotel (50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition) [3CD]

From The Mars Hotel (50th Anniversary Animated Picture Disc) [1LP]

Dave's Picks Vol. 49: Frost Amphitheatre, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA (4/27/85 & 4/28/85)

Grateful Dead - Estimated Prophet (Philadelphia, PA 7/7/1989)

• August 25, 2023 read more All In The Family: Charles Seton read more
• September 27, 2022 read more All In The Family: Dave Van Patten read more
• August 9, 2022 read more TRAILBLAZING GLOBAL PERCUSSION GROUP PLANET DRUM RELEASES LONG-AWAITED NEW ALBUM IN THE GROOVE read more
• August 1, 2022 read more Jerry Garcia: 80 For 80 read more
• https://d2cstorage-a.akamaihd.net/wr/Gratefuldead/jamoftheweek2024/6_26_88_Pittsburgh.mp3 April 12, 2024 Listen Now share Facebook Tweet 0 https://www.dead.net/features/jam-week/april-12-april-18-2024 April 12 - April 18, 2024 2024-04-12T03:00:00-0700

GD Radio Hour

• https://d2cstorage-a.akamaihd.net/wr/Gratefuldead/gdh_2024/gdh_apr2024/gdh1846_podcast.mp3 April 10, 2024 Listen Now share Facebook Tweet 0 https://www.dead.net/features/gd-radio-hour/grateful-dead-hour-no-1846 Grateful Dead Hour No. 1846 2024-04-10T03:00:00-0700

Taper's Section

• https://d2cstorage-a.akamaihd.net/wr/Gratefuldead/tapers_2024/apr082024/88.mp3, https://d2cstorage-a.akamaihd.net/wr/Gratefuldead/tapers_2024/apr082024/90.mp3, https://d2cstorage-a.akamaihd.net/wr/Gratefuldead/tapers_2024/apr082024/92.mp3 April 8, 2024 Listen Now share Facebook Tweet 0 https://www.dead.net/features/tapers-section/april-8-april-14-2024 April 8 - April 14, 2024 2024-04-08T03:00:00-0700
• April 20, 2023 Listen Now share Facebook Tweet 0 https://www.dead.net/all-years-live All The Years Live 2023-04-20T08:00:00-0700

Official Site Of The Grateful Dead

• Log in or register to post comments

dead comment

Joe bonamassa tickets.

Joe Bonamassa is an acclaimed nation vocalist, so don't miss the likelihood to visit [url= http://joebonamassatour.com/]Joe Bonamassa concerts[/url]

gsn casino games xqxxe

free vegas casino games <a href=" https://casinorealmoney.icu/">best online casino</a> | <a href=" https://casinorealmoney.icu/ ">foxwoods online casino</a> | [url= https://casinorealmoney.icu/]free casino games slotomania[/url] [url= https://casinorealmoney.icu/]casino slots[/url]

KISS Concerts

Interested in hardrock? How about KISS? The band is on a tour right now all across USA and Canada. Visit [url= http://kisstourdates.com]KISS Tour Dates Minneapolis[/url] to know more about KISS tour in 2019.

admin contact please

I think the site needs updating. Can you please contact the admin?

dfghtekbmkm

http://5.200.52.19/forum/index.php?PAGE_NAME=profile_view&UID=143334 http://sch5.spb.ru/forum/user/1531/ http://www.spelin.ru/forum/index.php?PAGE_NAME=profile_view&UID=13614 http://atombroker.ru/forum/user/17338/ http://rab.innova-school.ru/forum/user/93252/

Grateful dead community

Grateful Gear

• Jerry Garcia
• Bill Kreutzmann
• Mickey Hart
• Robert Hunter
• Ron "Pigpen" McKernan
• Tom Constanten
• Keith Godchaux
• Donna Jean Godchaux
• Brent Mydland
• Vince Welnick
• John Perry Barlow

20 Years Later: The Ten Best Grateful Dead Shows of 1990

Twenty Years ago, the Dead could be found closing out a six-night-run at Madison Square Garden that included some of the top performances of the year. Following a creative resurgence that began in ’89, the Dead played through 1990 with a rediscovered sense of inspiration that frequently allowed their music to reach higher levels. After a series of outstanding fall performances up the East Coast, the Dead returned to Europe for a very successful run of shows that allowed many fans the chance to witness the band in small halls for the first time in years. Tragedy would strike the band, yet again, following the death of Brent Mydland in July of 1990 forcing the band to embark down a new musical path aided by the help of Vince Welnick and Bruce Hornsby.

This list presents, in chronological order, the most memorable Grateful Dead performances from last year.

1) Capital Centre, Landover, Maryland, March 16 Featuring the long-overdue return of “Black Throated Wind,” the first set also closed powerfully with “Bird Song” followed by “Blow Away.” Now how about bringing back “Here Comes Sunshine” ?

2) Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, New York, March 28 This interesting show featured the premiere of the Dead’s rendition of the Band song “The Weight.” This song was on many people’s list of cover tunes they would like to see the Dead play, and they were not disappointed. Note especially Phil’s turn to sing lead. Great stuff.

3) Nassau Coliseum, March 29 The much heralded guest appearance of jazz great Branford Marsalis on saxophone truly energized the band. The “Eyes of the World” made it to the live album Without a Net (as did other songs from this three-show run in Nassau), but it is in the versions of “Bird Song” and “Dark Star” that the improvisations really shine.

5) World Music Theatre, Tinley Park, Illinois July 23 Brent’s last show. Still singing and playing well until the end, Brent performed “Never Trust A Woman” on this night, and one song during each of the other two shows of this run. There was no sign of the tragedy that was to come. An era came to a close to soon. Brent, we miss you.

6) Madison Square Garden, New York City, September 19 With Vince Welnick and Bruce Hornsby recently joining the Dead (ingenious attempt to beat the keyboardist jinx by having two at once), the Dead’s sound is, as it had to be, drastically different. Attempting to replace what had become an important part of the Dead’s sound (both Brent’s sung harmonies and his keyboard leads and fills) has taken the band in a whole new direction, as was necessary. This show is an example of the incredible progress that this new configuration has made in a very short time. Note especially the jams during “Slipknot” and “Franklins Tower” (especially Hornsby’s fine jazzy piano rolls). Given time, this version of the Dead will certainly reach new heights of excellence.

7) Madison Square Garden, September 20 “Dark Star,” its two verses buttressed around an oddly placed “Playing In The Band” reprise, shows the new Dead playing well and taking chances. The quality of the play here shows why they were able to break out this segue with confidence.

8) I C C, Berlin, Germany, October 20 If the Berlin Wall had not come down already, this show may have done the trick, featuring more top-rate piano play from Bruce Hornsby (note the solo leading from “Let It Grow” ).

9) Wembley Arena, London, England, October 31 A solid show, noteworthy for a strong first set and a playful, now standard for Halloween, “Werewolves Of London.”

10) Wembley Arena, November 1 The “Playing In The Band” /" Dark Star" sandwich (first verses before drums, second ones after space) threatens to become a segue of choice, and is continuing evidence of the progress of the latest orientation of the Dead.

Newsletters

Marketplace.

March 2024 Relix Issue

Phish "Balloon" White T-Shirt by Danny Clinch

Daniel Donato's Cosmic Country - Reflector (Exclusive 2-LP Relix Red Variant)

RetroBlakesberg Volume One: The Film Archives

Rose & Bolt Logo Pin | Silver / Sparkle

Music Pro Ear Protection Set by EARPEACE

Floating Orbs - Throwback Tie-Dye T-Shirt

Mikaela Davis & Southern Star - The Relix Session (Limited Edition 2-LP Sunflower Splatter Vinyl)

Grateful Dead Rainbow Bears Woven Cotton Blanket

Taper's Section "Stack" T-Shirt

Futurebirds - Thanks Y'all (Exclusive 3-LP Relix Clear Violet Variant)

Love Lights | Crystal String Lights | Rose Quartz

They Sound Grate Crewneck Sweatshirt

Daily 7 news.

Watch: Paul McCartney and the Eagles Perform “Let It Be” at Jimmy Buffet Tribute Concert in Los Angeles

Abigail Rosen Holmes, Phish Vegas Show and Co-Creative Director, Hints at Sphere Experience

Joan Osborne on the Group Mind Experience, the Studio as Sanctuary and Grateful Dead Boot Camp

Spotify to Unveil Remix Feature, Allowing Listeners to Speed Up, Slow Down and Mash Up Songs

Members of Talking Heads, Pavement and More Discuss Food Habits in New Book ‘Taste in Music’

Listen: Brian Wilson Offers Posthumous Duet with Glen Campbell on “Strong,” Fifth Preview Single from Glen Campbell Duets

The Soul Rebels Announce Spring 2024 Tour with Ghostface Killah, Chris Dave, Fred Wesley, Seun Kuti and More

You might also like

Track By Track: Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams Muse on Adoration and Adversity with ‘All This Time’

Brittany Howard: Screaming into the Void

Behind The Scene: WinterWonderGrass Founder Scotty Stoughton

• Live at Relix

Shower your loved ones with  the  gift  of  music!

1 Year. 8 Issues. Only $24.95

The Grateful Dead's 50 Best Live Performances

Two years removed from the Grateful Dead’s 50th anniversary celebration and the triumphant “Fare Thee Well” stadium concerts in their native San Francisco Bay Area and in Chicago, the surprising, resurgent Deadmania has not subsided.

Indeed, the events of that year seem to have both rekindled the ardor for the group’s music in many Deadheads who dropped off the psychedelic bus following Jerry Garcia’s death in the summer of 1995, and also brought in many new fans who never had a chance to see the band but are attracted by the Dead’s amazingly diverse and appealing songbook, and the colorful, upbeat, Sixties glow that will forever surround the group.

The ongoing success of the many Phil Lesh & Friends lineups and, more recently, Dead and Company, featuring newish Dead convert John Mayer (playing with Bob Weir and Grateful Dead drummers Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart), show that the Dead’s legacy is very much intact and that the music is continuing to evolve.

The individual musicians in the Grateful Dead were never poll winners in music magazines, yet you would be hard-pressed to find a rock group with a core so adept at playing so many different styles—and always in an improvisational context.

They drew from electric and country blues, oldtime and bluegrass, jazz, rock and roll, soul, funk, Indian, New Orleans R&B, electronic and classical music; nothing was off-limits. Each of the musicians brought in different influences and forged his individual style. Nobody sounded quite like Garcia (often imitated, never duplicated), and the same could be said of Bob Weir, whose designation as a “rhythm guitarist” is hopelessly inadequate given the sophistication and depth of his playing.

Their styles couldn’t be more different, but they were completely sympathetic players, tightly enmeshed and equally in sync with bassist Lesh (another utterly unconventional player) and the drummers.

They brought it all together in a unique mélange that took them from the fire-breathing psychedelia of the late Sixties, to the Dead Americana of Workingman’s Dead and American Beauty , and far beyond. Along the way they built the most loyal fan base the music world had ever seen

What follows is a selection of the best live versions of 50 songs by the Grateful Dead (and a few cover tunes) spanning their history.

Why live performances? Because that’s where the magic happened with this band. Everyone, including band members, will tell you that studio albums never quite captured the Dead’s mystical X-factor. So, live recordings it is. Fortunately, the Dead had the largest archive of live tapes of any band ever, so there is much to draw from. The difficulty, of course, is narrowing it down to just 50. After all, hardcore Deadheads would argue that 50 versions of “Dark Star”—each different as can be—could be a list in itself.

And the fact is, this does go beyond 50: As you’ll see, for a number of tunes, there are second and third picks based on eras—songs such as “Dark Star,” “Playing in the Band,” “The Other One” and a few others changed radically from one period to the next (influenced by the change in keyboardists and other factors), so versions from each epoch get a nod.

As for the criteria for the choice of songs—most are ones that, over time, were most variable night to night either because of the jamming in them or the intensity of the vocal delivery, or some other elevating force. So why not have “Sugar Magnolia” here? Or “Deal”? Or “Touch of Gray”? Surely there are multiple versions of each that fit those categories. Of course there are, and so it is with nearly any tune you’d care to mention that is not here. Such are the cruel realities of list-making.

A couple of final notes : The songs are listed in chronological order by performance date. For the main picks, we’ve listed where they can be found on Grateful Dead–sanctioned releases (where applicable), most of which can be accessed through Apple Music and Spotify. But here’s the cool news: There’s a fantastic web site called headyversion.com that is the ultimate resource for listening to the “best” versions of Grateful Dead songs.

Not only do they appear in order of popularity according to hundreds of folks who have weighed in on their favorite versions of just about every song in the Dead cannon—280 versions of “Eyes of the World,” 27 versions of “Liberty,” 59 versions of “Jackaroe,” etc.—but the site also provides direct links to archive.org ’s immense vault of Dead performances, so you can hear them all in just a couple of mouse-clicks.

Of course, there is no true consensus on any of this, but it is fair to say that there is widespread agreement that certain versions of certain songs would probably make most discerning Deadheads’ lists. Similarly there is general agreement on the Dead’s peak performance periods: 1968–1974, 1977, 1981–'82, 1988–'90; you’ll find a heavy concentration of Seventies performances here. In the end, though, opinions about “best” anything are always going to be completely subjective and also probably change over time.

50. “Victim or the Crime” March 21, 1990; Copps Coliseum, Hamilton, Ontario

Call it jagged, gnarly, noisy or unpleasant, the fact is this dissonant late Eighties Weir song was a darkly powerful force to be reckoned with, and almost featured a harrowing jam, as its ascending lines crashed and clashed. This first-set version shows all its bludgeoning brute force (and sophistication), then dissolves into Garcia’s late-Eighties ballad tour de force, “Standing on the Moon”—which, truthfully, deserves to be on this list, too, so listen to both! Available on the Spring 1990 (The Other One) box.

49. “Foolish Heart” July 19, 1989; Alpine Valley Music Theatre, East Troy, Wisconsin

Introduced two days after “Victim” in 1988, this melodic Hunter-Garcia number (occasionally paired with “Victim”) provided a bouncy contrast, somewhat in the tradition of “Franklin’s Tower.” This version, as presented as a bonus track on the remastered Built to Last CD, is mixed so that every instrument is clear and loud—you can really feast on Weir’s imaginative rhythm lines and Brent’s synth washes. And this is easily Garcia’s best-ever vocal on the song.

48. “The Music Never Stopped” July 17, 1989; Alpine Valley Music Theatre, East Troy, Wisconsin

The best Eighties versions of this Weir tune, also from 1975’s Blues for Allah , have a ragged majesty and intensity that is unmatched by earlier ones. The song part is fairly similar one to the next, but the two jams at the end are where the fireworks occur. Chosen by Phil for his Fallout from the Phil Zone compilation.

47. “Dear Mr. Fantasy” July 2, 1989; Sullivan Stadium, Foxboro, Massachusetts

From its introduction in the summer of 1984 until Brent’s demise in summer 1990, this relatively rare Traffic cover was a real crowd favorite. Brent would sing the first verse alone, Garcia would go wild between verses, and then sing the second verse as a duet, followed by more fiery leads, and in some cases—as in this incendiary version from 1989 (one of the Dead’s best years), go into the “Na-na-na” coda of “Hey Jude,” with Brent singing “Mr. Fantasy” in between the “na-nas.” Truly electric; Jerry goes off!

46. “Shakedown Street” June 30, 1985; Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, Maryland

This song was Garcia’s great contribution to late Seventies funk, and this colossal version has been the deserving winner of every poll on the subject. The interplay between Garcia (again with the envelope-wah) and Weir (who artfully employs a phase-pedal wah and octave divider in the middle of the jam) is deliciously rhythmic, and Brent adds much with his keyboards as well. If spacey/strange is more your thing, look no further than this Seventies pick : Egypt 9-16-78 (no third verse or vocal coda, but jamming galore).

45. “Cassidy” March 28, 1985; Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, New York

First on Weir’s solo Ace album in 1972, but not played regularly until 1976, this is another one that fully matured in the Brent era, thanks to his solid duet vocals and the more variegated jam near the end. This one hits all its marks beautifully, including a nice “landing” after the jam. Look for the “SteveSW” soundboard recording on archive.org .

44. “Uncle John’s Band” October 12, 1984; Augusta Civic Center, Maine

Speedy and adventurous, this one has a searing middle jam and then a really long ride before the final vocal reprise—which doesn’t materialize! Instead, the boys drift into an unconnected spacey jam, then “Drums,” “Space,” a fantastic “Playing in the Band” reprise, and then back to the “Uncle John’s” vocal reprise; stunning! Available on the 30 Trips Around the Sun box. For an acoustic rendering closer to the Workingman’s Dead version, check out Harpur College 5-2-70.

43. “Lost Sailor” > “Saint of Circumstance” October 10, 1982; Frost Amphitheatre, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California

These two Weir-written nuggets, which date back to the summer of ’79 and were paired until mid 1986, show two sides of Bob’s writing. “Lost Sailor” is drifty and floaty, with a slightly odd structure (that works!); and “Saint of Circumstance” is a riff-heavy and ultimately anthemic rocker, which also has some unpredictable components. From December ’86 on, “Saint” appeared alone; usually not quite as potent as it was with the then-departed “Sailor.” (Still, check out this excellent Hornsby-era solo “Saint” pick: Giants Stadium 6-17-91.)

42. “Feel Like a Stranger” August 10, 1982; Fieldhouse, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa

When this wonderful Weir funk number—introduced in 1979, less than a year after “Shakedown”— appeared as an opener, it promised a “long, long, crazy, crazy night!” and laid the groundwork for exactly that. As with “Shakedown,” its success hinged on the meshing of different rhythmic lines from everyone in the band, with Jerry’s clucking envelope-wah dancing above Bob’s slashing chords.

41. “The Wheel” December 14, 1980; Long Beach Arena, California

What a great moment it was at any show when the first golden notes of “The Wheel” would emerge, float into the air, and point the way to that rousing sing-along. It was best in the early Eighties, once Brent solidified the harmonies that were often rough in the late Seventies, and Garcia took more time getting into and out of the song. This one comes out of a fantastic “Estimated Prophet” and quickly rolls up to cruising speed and becomes very powerful; and the post-song jam is a thing of beauty, with Weir on tasteful background slide for some of it, before it eases into “Drums” (featuring Brazilian jazzers Flora Purim and Airto).

40. “Jack Straw” January 11, 1979; Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, New York

Overall, my preference is for Brent-era versions, but there are many, many great ones from 1972 to 1979, and I have to concur with popular opinion that this one from the close of the Keith and Donna [Godchaux, singer] era smokes from beginning (“We used to play for acid/Now we play for Clive”) to the blistering ending jam. One of my longtime favorite Eighties versions is from Oakland Stadium 7-24-87, found on View from the Vault IV .

39. “Stella Blue” October 21, 1978; Winterland Ballroom, San Francisco

It could be argued that this heavy, affecting ballad, introduced in the summer of 1972, is the single most perfect work that Garcia and [lyricist] Robert Hunter ever wrote, its power never diminishing through the years. This rightly revered version is, alas, cut near the end on the soundboard recording, but when it was officially released on Road Trips Vol. 1 No. 4 , a patch from an audience-made recording was added, and it’s still the best there is.

38. “Estimated Prophet” July 8, 1978; Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, Colorado

Year after year one of the most dependable tunes in the Dead’s second sets, Weir’s moody reggae number, with Garcia employing a wah-ish envelope filter, was played at most shows in ’77-’78 and was common for the rest of their history. The “song” part was reliable over time; it’s what happened in the jam that followed that Deadheads lived for. Here, it drifts evenly for a while, then picks up steam and rides high, before settling back down and eventually chiming into “The Other One.” Available on Red Rocks: 7/8/78 .

Brent-era pick: Oakland 12-26-79 (major “clam” notwithstanding).

Nineties pick: Nassau 3-29-90, with [saxophonist] Branford Marsalis.

37. “Wharf Rat” April 22, 1978; Nashville Municipal Auditorium, Tennessee

I’ve rarely encountered a “Wharf Rat” I didn’t love—which is good, because they played it a lot . Though I generally prefer the harmony vocals on the bridge in the Brent-era, the late Seventies versions have a distinctive haunting quality and some crushingly powerful jams. Here, the harmonies are fine, Garcia’s lead vocals are deep, and his playing outrageous and spectacular on the two concluding jams. Available on Dave’s Picks Volume 15 .

36. “Black Peter” October 29, 1977; Evans Field House, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois

Dark, passionately sung, with a wonderful, if brief, slide guitar solo, and then a completely rip-roaring finale that keeps on building to a sustained climax before it lurches into “Sugar Magnolia.” Look for the soundboard recording on archive.org .

35. “Terrapin Station” September 3, 1977; Raceway Park, Englishtown, New Jersey

Introduced in March ’77, this multi-layered Hunter-Garcia epic was always solid during its first year, with this version—played as the encore of what to this point was their biggest show as a headliner—notable for both its precision and power; just about perfect. It combines a folk sensibility with its famous baroque-ish contrapuntal coda and crunching rock power. Available on Dick’s Picks Vol. 15 .

34. “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodleoo” September 3, 1977; Raceway Park, Englishtown, New Jersey

This perky little number took the Dead’s Americana thrust in a slightly new direction, with its nod to old-time jazz, as well as country flavors. It always built to a couple of nice peaks—the first instrumental and then the vocal coda (“Across the Rio Grande-o…”) and ending solo. This is another winner from the dynamite Englishtown show. Available on Dicks Pick’s Vol. 15 .

33-32. “Help on the Way” > “Slipknot!” > “Franklin’s Tower” June 9, 1977; Winterland Ballroom, San Francisco

This powerful and diverse triumvirate had three distinct incarnations: ’75–’77, ’83–’85, and ’89–’95, while the bouncy “Franklin’s Tower” also enjoyed solo spins during the in-between periods. This titanic 31-minute marvel from ’77 crackles with electricity, with a booming “Help,” an intricate then relentlessly building “Slipknot!” jam, all resolved with a triumphal “Franklin’s Tower.” Available on Winterland June 1977: The Complete Recordings .

Eighties pick: Santa Fe 9-10-83 (“Slipknot!”).

Nineties pick: RFK Stadium 6-14-91 (with Bruce Hornsby and MIDI Jerry) “Franklin’s Tower” alone: Cape Cod 10-27-79.

31. “Sugaree” May 22, 1977; The Sporatorium, Pembroke Pines, Florida

Again, lots of great choices from 1977. This one was vaultkeeper Dick Latvala’s favorite, a big reason he chose the show as Dick’s Picks Vol. 3 , and it’s hard to argue against its greatness. It’s big, loping and jammed to the max between verses with everything from fast, intricate runs to powerful fanning to gentle guitar etchings. As the saying goes in the Dead universe: “All killer, no filler!”

30. “Comes a Time” May 9, 1977; War Memorial, Buffalo, New York

The voters at headyversion.com get it right again. With this song, it’s all about Garcia’s vocal delivery and swelling, crying solo after the verses, and this one delivers in spades! My favorites are from ’76-’77, with Donna on sweet harmony vocals and Keith adding little piano touches to the spare arrangement. Available on Dick’s Picks Vol. 29 .

It was still powerful when it was revived in the mid Eighties , and from that era I’d recommend checking out Richmond Coliseum 11-1-85, which has a fragile but committed Jerry really baring his soul. It almost falls apart, but the recovery is great!

29-28. “Scarlet Begonias” > “Fire on the Mountain” May 8, 1977; Barton Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York

After a couple of years of “Scarlet” enlivening any set it appeared in, in March 1977 it was paired with the new “Fire on the Mountain” to become perhaps the most popular combo of songs in Dead history—it was played around 240 times. My own preferences run toward the driving, high-energy Brent-era versions ’79–’90 (I loved what Brent’s B-3 and backup vocals added), but it’s hard to argue with the primacy of Cornell ’77, which has the unbeatable ending “Fire on the Mountain” jam (but the best-ever “Scarlet” is the amazing Giants Stadium 9-2-78 version).

Eighties pick: Atlanta 11-30-80.

Nineties pick: Hamilton 4-22-90 (tight, great MIDI Jerry). “Scarlet” alone pick: Fresno 7-19-74.

27. “Morning Dew” May 8, 1977; Barton Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

This song was great in all eras, always a highlight when it appeared. The subtext of the Bonnie Dobson–penned folk ballad could not be more dire—the last man and woman on earth after a nuclear holocaust!—but in the Dead’s hands it was both delicate and filled with heavy pathos. At this show, it closes an incredible second set, with Garcia and company reducing the place to rubble with the ending buildup—the mark of a truly great “Dew.” A pre-hiatus version to check out is Winterland (San Francisco) 10-18-74.

From the Eighties , it’s hard to top Augusta, Maine 10-12-84.

26. “Crazy Fingers” June 9, 1976; Boston Music Hall, Boston, Massachusetts

Played briefly in the mid Seventies and then from ’82 on, the ’76 versions capture the spirit of the jewel-like Blues for Allah version, with this one a particularly satisfying rendition, with its breezy, reggae lightness. Available on Road Trips Vol. 4 No. 5.

Eighties pick: Frost Amphitheatre 10-10-82.

25. “Eyes of the World” August 6, 1974; Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, NJ

So many contenders! Even though this is another tune that was great in every period, only versions from ’73 and ’74 included the amazing, still-unnamed jam that would materialize after a few minutes after the final verse (and following Phil’s dependably monstrous bass solo), in which the group bopped through an intricate series of key and tempo changes, jazzy intricate unison lines that were miles away from the song, and then soared on the “Eyes” groove for several minutes.

I love the relaxed-but-still intense vibe of Seventies “Eyes”; by the early Eighties the tempo had increased and the tune sometimes lacked that liquid-sunshine flow the song begs for. This one, clocking in at 19 minutes, is just about flawless in every respect. Available on Dick’s Picks Vol. 31 .

Eighties pick: Greek Theatre 5-13-83; Seventies tempo, lots of jamming, nice work by Brent; look for the soundboard version on archive.org.

Nineties pick: Nassau Coliseum 3-27-90; gotta give some love to the magnificent first show where saxophonist Branford Marsalis sat in with the Dead, and fit in perfectly!

24-23. “China Cat Sunflower” > “I Know You Rider” June 26, 1974; Providence Civic Center, Providence, Rhode Island

This was a tough one. The version 10 days earlier from Des Moines, Iowa, (6-16-74) has a slightly better “China Cat” and a cooler between-songs jam, but Providence has a fantastic long intro to “China Cat” and better “I Know You Rider,” so we’re going with that choice. Both are wonderful (as are most of these loping ’74s), filled with excellent interplay. Available on on Dick's Picks Vol. 12 .

Eighties pick: Madison Square Garden, New York; 3-9-81. I really love all the peppy [keyboardist] Brent Mydland–era “China-Riders,” too. This one is over-the-top spectacular, with super high-energy jamming all the way through its generous length; one of several highlights in an amazing show from an underrated year.

Nineties pick: Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View, California; 6-16-90. Strong late Brent-era version with hot extended jam (including MIDI flights) between tunes and solid “Rider.” Available on View from the Vault III .

22. “Truckin’ ” May 19, 1974; Portland Memorial Coliseum, Oregon

Another nearly impossible choice, with more than 500 versions to pick from! Again, we lean early: ’72–’74, when Keith was in the band, Phil was at his most prominent musically, and the jams following the song typically opened up the widest and wildest. Like on this one—talk about the Group Mind in action! This one bounces and grooves forward with so much vigor and purpose before it falls into a funky jam and eventually ends up at “Not Fade Away.”

21. “Here Comes Sunshine” November 30, 1973; Boston Music Hall, Boston, Massachusetts

It’s difficult to fathom why this lilting, bopping tune was only played during 1973 (and once in ’74), then dropped until 1992. Yes, the Beatles-ish harmonies were a challenge, but the jams were varied and often tremendous. Phil really shines on this version, but everyone is on-point. The harmonies were better in the Nineties, but the jams not nearly as interesting. Available on Dick’s Picks Vol. 14 .

20. “Weather Report Suite”/“Let It Grow” August 4, 1974; Philadelphia Civic Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Weir’s three-part “Weather Report Suite” (“Prelude” > “Part One” > “Let It Grow”) was an important part of many shows only in ’73-’74; then “Let It Grow” alone was a fast-paced, multi-textured spin-off from ’76–’95. This version of the suite is spectacular, and leads to a long jam where Billy Kreutzmann takes the “Let It Grow” pulse and drives it frenetically in jazzy directions, with Garcia’s wah-wah and Keith’s Rhodes sounding like electric Miles Davis. Available on Dick’s Picks Vol. 31 .

Eighties pick: “Let It Grow”: Alpine Valley 8-7-82.

Nineties pick: Capital Centre 3-14-90.

19. “He’s Gone” May 26, 1973; Kezar Stadium, San Francisco

Always a winner pre-hiatus (i.e. ’72-’74), this particular version has a perfect tempo, a top-notch lead vocal, Keith seemingly channeling country piano great Floyd Cramer throughout, a soulful stroll through the “Nothin’s gonna bring him back” coda, and then an extremely tasty melodic jam that’s as pretty as anything you’ll hear from this group. Don’t miss it! In the Eighties, the trio of Jerry, Bobby and Brent always did a nice job on that vocal coda.

18. “Cumberland Blues” September 27, 1972; Stanley Theatre, Jersey City, New Jersey

This song was always much more rockin’ and intense in a live setting than you might expect, and many versions in the early Seventies stretched out nicely under that fast, shuffling beat. At this show it comes out of 30-minute “Dark Star,” so it feels like it has a little extra juice and sparkle to it. Available on Dick’s Picks Vol. 11 .

17. “Bird Song” August 27, 1972; Old Renaissance Faire Grounds, Veneta, Oregon

Are you picking up a trend here? Yes the ’72 Veneta show, put on by Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters, is as good as its reputation. No collection should be without the superb 2013 set called Sunshine Daydream , which includes the full concert and also a DVD of the trippy, long-bootlegged-but-now-restored film of (some of) the event that gives the box its name. This was the year that “Bird Song” really blossomed; from here on out it was a cherished jamming vehicle (usually) in GD first-sets; not as common as some, but always welcome when it flew in.

Eighties pick: Greek Theatre 7-15-84; cool and jazzy.

Nineties pick: Greensboro Coliseum 4-1-91; strong Bruce Hornsby and [keyboardist] Vince Welnick contributions, and some great peaks over its 17 minutes.

16. “Playing in the Band” August 27, 1972; Old Renaissance Faire Grounds, Veneta, Oregon

You can’t lose with any ’72 “Playing in the Band” (it was featured every night on the European tour), but this justifiably famous version has an acid-drenched, edge-of-chaos vibe that that makes it completely gripping for every second of its 23 minutes. There are longer and spacier versions, but this has everything it needs. Available on Sunshine Daydream .

Eighties pick: Laguna Seca 7-29-88; a rare later version that includes the “reprise.”

Nineties pick: Cal Expo 5-26-93—one of the band’s last truly great jams; the “reprise” comes later in the set.

15. “Good Lovin’ ” January 2, 1972; Winterland Ballroom, San Francisco

As Pigpen’s raps on this tend to be fairly similar one to the next, with a few notable exceptions (such as Princeton 4-17-71 with the famous “Brooklyn Bridge” rap), I tend to judge them by what the band does behind him. This one, from the first show of their greatest year, is smokin’ and amazingly varied, even tucking in a bouncing “China Cat” at around the 18-minute mark, before bringing “Good Lovin’ ” to a close. Weir revived the song in earnest in 1977, and many fine versions of that more compact, but still energetic, showstopper abound.

14-13. “Not Fade Away” > “Goin’ Down the Road Feeling Bad” November 15, 1971; Austin Municipal Auditorium, Texas

If you’re looking for a song to play for non-Deadheads, go with this one. The jam in between the two songs is completely magical, quoting “China Cat,” dipping in to a “Dark Star”–ish space briefly, and flitting into all sorts of other interesting realms. For a stand-alone “Not Fade Away,” try Englishtown 9-3-77. For “Goin’ Down the Road” it’s gotta be Fillmore East 4-29-71, coming out of an exquisitely constructed jam that has “China Cat” and “St. Stephen” teases in it. Available on Road Trips Vol. 3 No. 2 .

12. “Hard to Handle” August 6, 1971; Hollywood Palladium, California

Pigpen and the band really kicked out the jams on this Otis Redding tune, an explosive element in so many Dead sets in 1969 and ’70. This version is one that could reasonably be called a consensus choice—almost everyone thinks it’s easily the best they played. With its churning rhythms, slashing guitar, crunching bass and high-octane build-up during the jam, it’s a gripping rock/R&B tour de force. Available on the bonus disc of Road Trips Vol. 1 No. 3 .

11. “New Speedway Boogie” May 14, 1970; Meramec Community College, Kirkwood, Missouri

The Dead played this only in late 1969–70, and then again from ’91 (at the outset of the first Gulf War) until ’95. We’re going with this 1970 version because of Jerry’s emotional vocal delivery and the snaky, all-too-rare, slide solo that leans heavily on the old country blues lament “Nobody’s Fault But Mine.”

For a Nineties pick , let’s go with Giants Stadium 6-17-91, which really shows what pianist Bruce Hornsby brought to the mix in that era. Collected on the bonus disc of Road Trips Vol. 3 No. 3 .

10. “Dancing in the Street” May 2, 1970; Harpur College, Binghamton, New York

This Motown nugget [originally released by Martha and the Vandellas] was still relatively new when the Dead started covering it in 1966. By 1969–70, it had expanded to a big jamming number, with all sorts of great R&B riffing (a quote from Archie Bell & the Drells’ “Tighten Up”!) and sinewy threads. This version is the titan of them all! Available on Dick’s Picks Vol. 8 .

The song came back in an exciting, if vocally challenged, disco-influenced arrangement—also very jam-heavy—in 1976. My favorite version in that style is the long, ultra-funky one from Cape Cod Coliseum, 10-27-79, just the second time Brent played it live. Dig that clavinet!

9. “That’s It for the Other One” May 2, 1970; Harpur College, Binghamton, New York

The mini-suite from Anthem of the Sun , incorporating “Cryptical Envelopment” sandwiching “The Other One,” was at its best from 1968–70, with ’69 its best year, but this one is my longtime favorite, for its many incredible mood swings, peaks and valleys; just an amazing ride. By ’72, “The Other One” had been cut loose completely from its original moorings, but it still careened across the Dead landscape as a compelling and constantly changing blast of trippy energy for the rest of the group’s career.

While it would be impossible to choose the best Seventies version of “The Other One,” the one I’ve enjoyed most often the past few years is from May 7, 1972, at the Bickershaw Festival in Wigan, England). Churning, sweetness, Phil bombs, space; it’s all here. Available on Europe ’72 Vol. 2 .

For an Eighties pick , try April 23, 1983, at Veteran’s Coliseum in New Haven, Connecticut. The first hints come during a tremendously strange and ominous “Space,” then a long build-up (guitars and talking drum!), a full-band jam around the main riff, and more than 13 minutes in, Phil leaps forward with the classic entrance. Not as wildly explosive as some (8-19-89!), but consistently fine for more than 20 minutes.

8. “Saint Stephen” February 27, 1969; Fillmore West, San Francisco

This performance, which is the Live Dead version, is what hooked me on the Dead back in November 1969, and though there are many other killer versions, this one still resonates most strongly with me. It’s big, bold and has both punch and crunch. Sad to say, I never got to see them sing the “High green chilly winds” bridge into “The Eleven.”

Seventies pick: Boston Music Hall, 6-9-76. When “Stephen” came back after a five-year break at this show, it was slower, more delicate and had its “Ladyfinger dipped in moonlight…” bridge turned into a waltz, but it also opened up in ways it never had before. This very spacey extended version is unlike any other they ever played. Available on Road Trips Vol. 4 No. 5 .

7. “Dark Star” February 27, 1969; Fillmore West (San Francisco)

The Big Kahuna of the entire Dead repertoire, utterly different from era to era, “Dark Star” evolved into the band’s most open and exploratory jamming tune, living up to its name night after night. I’ve probably listened to the 2-27-69 version immortalized on Live Dead, more than any other piece of music, so I am hopelessly biased about its greatness—the worlds it visits, its elastic rhythmic pulse, the riffs that were perfected this night, the overall flow of the thing.

Seventies pick: County Fairgrounds, Veneta, Oregon, 8-27-72. After about 11 minutes of floaty, drifty goodness leading up to the first verse, the jam gradually accelerates and starts to go more “out,” as Phil signals a shift to a mid-tempo cruising altitude, then does it again a few minutes later for a long spacey stretch. Major dissonance/weirdness ensues at around 30 minutes and hits some frightening (but cool!) meltdown moments along the way; 32 minutes in all and truly epic! (Available on Sunshine Daydream).

Eighties pick: Greek Theatre, Berkeley, July 13, 1984. Played for the first time in two-and-a-half years, this is more in the vein of ’69 versions (even dropping in a couple of actual riffs from that era) and surprisingly self-assured—more to my taste than the best late-Eighties or early-Nineties versions, which relied so heavily on MIDI textures.

Nineties pick: Greensboro (North Carolina) Coliseum, 4-1-91. [Keyboardist] Bruce Hornsby loved playing (and teasing) “Dark Star” during his tenure, and this is my favorite with him—long, weird and noisy pre-“Drums” with lots of Garcia MIDI, a totally hypnotic “Drums,” and then a short, tasteful reprise (second verse).

6. “Turn on Your Love Light” January 26, 1969; Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco

Admittedly, my favorite “Love Light” is the one from Frankfurt, Germany, 4-26-72 (first released on Hundred Year Hall ), on which the band is unflaggingly spectacular—go Keith! [ Godchaux keyboards ]—but it has almost no Pigpen verbal riffing on it, so it’s not fair to choose it as the version. So I go back to Live Dead again and pluck this one, which has all the cornerstones I love—the crazy double-drumming, Pig at his most confident, band members chiming in on backups, and a crowd going appropriately nuts throughout. Not too short, not too long, this one feels juuust right.

5. "The Eleven" August 24, 1968; Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, CA

This song/jam was only around for about two years, but what a glorious run it had! Nearly every version is a blazing psychedelic swirl. The one on Live Dead (from 1-26-69) is the most famous (and also great!), but this one from a few months earlier is even more exciting and expansive. It just won’t quit—until it drops down into a devastating “Death Don’t Have No Mercy.” Available on Two from the Vault .

4-3. “Alligator” > “Caution (Do Not Stop on Tracks)” August 23, 1968; Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, CA

With these two Pigpen numbers, it was less about the songs than the jams they spurred. “Alligator” always led to a mesmerizing rare-for-the time double-drum duel between Mickey and Bill, and the jam after would usually build from a Jerry-plus-drummers noodle to a ferocious full-band boil before dropping eventually into the locomotive rhythm and big crescendos that lace together Pig’s visit to the mysterious Gypsy Woman in “Caution.”

Available on Anthem of the Sun expanded edition. And don’t miss the primal, acid-drenched version from the Carousel Ballroom 2-14-68, and for a “Caution” alone, Fillmore Auditorium 11-8-69.

2. "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl" February 14, 1968; Carousel Ballroom, San Francisco, CA

The slinky, Pigpen-sung “Schoolgirl” gave the early Dead a chance to stretch out on an easy shuffling blues groove, with Garcia and Pig trading licks on guitar and harmonica, and Phil always dancing on top with what was already a formidable bass assault. Available on Road Trips Vol. 2 No. 2 .

1. "Viola Lee Blues" November 10, 1967; Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, CA

The longest and perhaps most intense versions are from the late period of the song’s relatively brief existence in the repertoire (such as Chicago 4-26-69 and Harpur College 5-2-70), but this one from 1967 really encapsulates what made this song such an important part of the Dead’s first years—it was the biggest jamming vehicle for the early group, capturing that era’s feral intensity, with all the parts interlocking, more by kismet than by calculation, Phil completely monstrous on the bass, and [Ron] Pigpen [McKernan’s] swirling organ still such a fundamental part of the sound. Available on 30 Trips Around the Sun .

Thank you for reading 5 articles this month**

Join now for unlimited access

US pricing $3.99 per month or $39.00 per year

UK pricing £2.99 per month or £29.00 per year 

Europe pricing €3.49 per month or €34.00 per year

*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription

Prices from £2.99/$3.99/€3.49

Get The Pick Newsletter

All the latest guitar news, interviews, lessons, reviews, deals and more, direct to your inbox!

“Johnny Depp was the worst guitarist I'd ever seen”: The moment the man who discovered Mötley Crüe and Guns N' Roses knew Depp wasn't meant to be a rock star

“The work ethic gifted to me by the Pumpkins helps me get prepared… I’m excited to be playing with these amazing, legendary musicians”: Ex-Smashing Pumpkins bassist Ginger Pooley will join Garbage on their upcoming tour

“We started thinking, ‘Well, who could possibly be in the band?’ The only person I could think of was Steve”: Adrian Belew on how he and Steve Vai are forming a new guitar partnership ahead of a King Crimson supergroup tour

Dead and Company 2021 tour: The 13 best performances from a long, strange trip

What a run.

Dead and Company wrapped up its year on the road with the final show of a three-night stand at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on Sunday, Oct. 31, and in the wake of the tour there is plenty to unpack.

This was undoubtedly the wildest outing yet for the Grateful Dead legacy act. The band braved the elements — playing on through a downpour in Philadelphia and rolling with a rain delay in Chicago — and played on as a non-COVID-19 illness forced drummer Bill Kreutzmann to miss October shows in Colorado and California.

But Dead music has always been about the present, living and playing in the moment — and as this band continued its search for the sound, they discovered plenty of wonders out there on the road.

From mid-August through the end of October, Dead and Company — the Grateful Dead's Bob Weir on guitar and vocals with drummers Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart, joined by singer/guitarist John Mayer, singer/bassist Oteil Burbridge and keyboard player Jeff Chimenti — crossed the country to deliver 31 shows, each in the neighborhood of four hours and drawing on a decades-deep catalogue of American classics. 

Delights were to be found at every turn. Let's look back, in chronological order, on 13 highlights of the tour, one for every point on the Grateful Dead's signature lightning bolt logo:

Just as no two Dead shows are ever the same, no two lists of high spots will be the same, either. But we're all enjoying the ride.

1. "New Speedway Boogie," Aug. 16, Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek in Raleigh, North Carolina

A pair of Grateful Dead classics, "Touch of Grey" and "New Speedway Boogie," became anthems of perseverance for many during the hard days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

And while this tour-opening show began with the defiant "we will get by" chorus of "Touch of Grey," it was the gritty blues of "New Speedway Boogie" that hit the hardest, delivered with ever-enduring world weariness by Weir with sharp blues guitar leads directly from Mayer's wheelhouse. 

2. "Eyes of the World," Aug. 20, Citi Field, New York City

The band opened the second set of its triumphant New York City return with a luxurious and exploratory 18-minute "Eyes of the World," Mayer and Chimenti's complementary leads intertwined in a sublime cosmic dance as Weir, Burbridge, Hart and Kreutzmann served as the sturdiest of terra firma — all before Burbridge unleashed his own sparkling bass solo that reverberated throughout the whole stadium.

3. "Morning Dew," Aug. 21, Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia

Some of Dead and Company's finest moments occur when Weir and Mayer join forces to wrap their arms around songs that were showcases for Grateful Dead singer and guitarist Jerry Garcia, and there was no finer example of this tandem in action this year than on the Philadelphia rendering of the apocalyptic folk-rock odyssey "Morning Dew."

With Weir's weathered and passionate lead vocal matched by Mayer's meteor shower guitar work, the band found every last drop of ancient and timeless soul in the song and delivered it to the Philadelphia faithful. 

4. "High Time," Aug. 23, Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, Bethel, New York

When Dead and Company returned to the site of the landmark 1969 Woodstock Music and Arts Fair at the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts in Bethel, New York, the second set began with a replication of the Grateful Dead’s five-song set at that generation-defining festival.

After a 21-minute pass through the potent and bold rock 'n' roll incantation of "St. Stephen," a sturdy Weir-led reading of Merle Haggard's "Mama Tried" and a nearly-22-minute trip through the jazz rock masterpiece "Dark Star," a touchdown on solid ground was found with a rich and tender reading of the ballad "High Time."

One of Garcia and lyricist Robert Hunter's most vulnerable compositions, the song served as a brilliant showcase for Burbridge's captivating vocals and a prime example of how he's found a niche in Dead and Company shows singing Garcia ballads.

For the love of Jorma:  Jorma Kaukonen, back on tour, brings joy and the blues to NJ. See photos, his setlist

5. "El Paso," Sept. 2, Xfinity Center, Mansfield, Massachusetts

Weir has always been a cowboy at heart, and for decades he has shown a particular affinity for the work of country singer Marty Robbins, covering his material or taking influence for originals such a "Mexicali Blues."

A Robbins classic long favored by Weir, "El Paso" returned to the stage in Mansfield, Massachusetts, in particularly weathered and poignant form with a rich patina. It arrived after the space dust had settled from a potent "Dark Star," complemented by rollicking saloon piano from Chimenti.

6. "St. Stephen," "William Tell Bridge" and "The Eleven," Sept. 5, Xfinity Theatre, Hartford, Connecticut

Mayer and Weir found themselves in lock-step with the rhythm section on one of the Dead's earliest multi-part suites, the grand procession of "St. Stephen" followed by the less-frequently-played "William Tell Bridge" and the tricky pop majesty of "The Eleven." 

With so many things in the world being thrown into disarray, hearing this old wonder in fine form was incredibly heartening.  "This is the season of what now"  indeed.

7. "Friend of the Devil," Sept. 10, DTE Energy Music Theatre, Clarkston, Michigan

"Friend of the Devil," an all-time country rock classic, continues to enchant listeners more than 50 years after it made its debut on the Dead's "American Beauty" album, and this rendition was a lush and lovely reminder of why it's one of the band's most-beloved songs.

8. "Looks Like Rain," Sept. 11, Riverbend Music Center, Cincinnati

This was a perfect pairing of song and occasion. At a time when the emotions of many were raw — due to factors including the pandemic and the fact that this show fell on the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks — Weir guided the band through "Looks Like Rain," one of his and lyricist John Perry Barlow's most mournful songs.

It's a song of love and loss, lovingly captured on this night flush with tenderness and grace. 

9. "Drums," "Space" and "Milestones," Sept. 18, Wrigley Field, Chicago

The "Drums" and "Space" improvisational sections in the middle of the second set are opportunities for pure invention on each night. And a grand delight of the Dead and Company experience for many has become the occasional appearance of the Miles Davis composition "Milestones," as the entire band returns to the stage for the evening's home stretch.

While "Milestones" was stately and respectable in Hershey, Pennsylvania, in August, by the time the band made its return to Wrigley Field in Chicago it had become inescapably propulsive: Chimenti anchoring a driving rhythm as Mayer and Burbridge played brilliant figures around the foundation.

'Deep magic': Allman Brothers family conjures NYC wonders on MSG, Fillmore East sets

10. "It Must Have Been the Roses," Oct. 11, PNC Music Pavilion, Charlotte, North Carolina

Since the 2015 formation of Dead and Company, Mayer has fully immersed himself in this collection of music, to the point where he is capturing it with confidence and playfulness to a wonderful degree.

Mayer's command of the material most often materializes in the form for fire-slinging powerhouse performances, such as Oct. 30 Hollywood Bowl performance of "Sugaree." But he's also an incredible balladeer, evidenced by his lovingly soulful performance of the relative rarity "It Must Have Been the Roses."

It was terrifically delicate, and the fact that it was followed by the blues rocker "Mr. Charlie" shows exactly why Mayer was the right man for this job.

11. "Queen Jane Approximately," Oct. 14, Dos Equis Pavilion, Dallas

The writings of Bob Dylan have often occupied a place of honor in the Dead universe, and that tradition continued this tour. There was Weir's sagely reading of the grand surrealist epic "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" on Sept. 15 at the Ruoff Music Center in Deer Creek, Indiana, and a reggae-infused "All Along the Watchtower" on Oct. 29 at the Hollywood Bowl.

The band's strongest Dylan moment arrived Oct. 14, when the "Highway 61 Revisited" gem "Queen Jane Approximately" returned to the repertoire for the first time in more than three years in joyous, loving form. The song came amid the first set of the band's Texas return, a block of songs that started with a cover of the calypso classic "Man Smart (Woman Smarter)," followed by six songs named after women.

12. "Sugar Magnolia," Oct. 22, Fiddler's Green Amphitheatre, Greenwood Village, Colorado

With Kreutzmann sidelined due to medical issues for the band's four Colorado shows (and eventually the tour-closing Halloween night engagement at the Hollywood Bowl), RatDog and Bob Weir and the Wolf Bros. drummer Jay Lane stepped up to hold down the beat.

One of Lane's peak moments was the second set of the band's first show at the Fiddler's Green Amphitheatre in Colorado. After nimbly navigating the spacier corners of the repertoire — "Dark Star," "The Other One," "Drums" and "Space" — then the haunting ballad "Wharf Rat," Lane commandingly picked up the pace so band and audience alike could bask in the sonic sunshine daydreams of the Weir rocker "Sugar Magnolia."

13. "Playing in the Band," Oct. 29, Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles

This Weir-led odyssey is certainly one of Dead and Company's most-played numbers, but after all of these years it it still capable of transcendence.

Launching the band's tour-ending three-night run at the Hollywood Bowl with an extended introduction, this performance of the song felt utterly luxurious. Here they were, beginning their last stand of the year, soaking it all in and still finding spaces to explore. Burbridge's bass work was vivid, Weir's command of it all was steady and the band was all in for whatever happened next.

Dead and Company's 2021 shows can be streamed in audio and video formats via Nugs.net. The band's next scheduled dates are Jan. 7 to 10, 2022, and Jan. 13 to 16 for its sold-out Playing in the Sand gatherings in Mexico.

Alex Biese has been writing about art, entertainment, culture and news on a local and national level for more than 15 years.

The Grateful Dead’s Greatest Year

By David Browne

David Browne

Bikers, blow and Belushi: As usual when the Grateful Dead took Manhattan, the band’s five-night stand at the Palladium in April 1977 had them all. Hells Angels rode their hogs right into the dressing rooms, brandishing a knife and demanding they play “Truckin.” John Belushi, in his Saturday Night Live heyday, popped into a dressing room to share some weed. Onstage, though, something different took place in those shows. Dating back to their earliest performances a decade before, the Dead could be loose, sharp, undisciplined, sloppy, fierce – sometimes all during the same night. But Deadheads who caught the Palladium shows witnessed a startling sight: a firm and focused Grateful Dead. “We came out really strong,” says percussionist Mickey Hart of those and other shows on the band’s spring ’77 tour. Recalling some of the brand-new songs the group premiered onstage then, he adds, “‘Estimated Prophet,’ ‘Fire on the Mountain’ – it was fresh meat, and we were ready to play those things. It was perfect timing.”

Ask Dead fans and scholars to name certain key years, and you know what you’ll hear. Some point to 1970, when the band cut two enduring masterpieces, Workingman’s Dead and American Beauty . Or 1972, when the Dead toured Europe for two months and played some of their finest shows, resulting in another landmark album, Europe ’72 . Singer-guitarist Bob Weir points to the late Eighties, just before the death of keyboardist Brent Mydland: “For me, that was our peak,” Weir says. “We could hear and feel each other thinking, and we could intuit each other’s moves. Jerry , Brent and I reached new plateaus as singers. We packed a punch.”

Editor’s picks

The 250 greatest guitarists of all time, the 500 greatest albums of all time, the 50 worst decisions in movie history, every awful thing trump has promised to do in a second term.

Yet few years make Deadheads wax more nostalgic than 1977. Over the course of two tours, an Eastern-rooted swing in the spring and a mostly Western and Midwestern trek in the fall, the Dead played what many consider the tightest, most consistently satisfying shows of their career. “It’s as close to a flawless Grateful Dead tour as I’ve ever heard,” says band archivist David Lemieux. “There were no train wrecks.”

About a dozen concerts from that year have already been released on CDs and downloads, but on June 11th, the biggest batch yet arrived with May 1977 , a 14-disc box featuring five complete shows from that tour. “We had all this new material we were excited about playing,” says Donna Jean Godchaux, who sang with the Dead during this period. “Everyone wanted to say, ‘All right, this is the time to make a statement and not just be a psychedelic weirdo hippie band.'” As a record-company ad that year read, A NEW DEAD ERA IS UPON US – which, as the band would learn, was both a blessing and a curse.

T he dead were coming off a troubled few years. In 1973, beloved founding member Ron “Pigpen” McKernan had died as a result of a longtime drinking problem. The following year, the Dead’s experiment with their massive, costly Wall of Sound PA collapsed. Their attempt at running their own record label, Grateful Dead Rec­ords, had floundered and left them in the hole when label head Ron Rakow skipped town with the $225,000 he felt was owed to him. Rex Jackson, a member of the Dead’s hardworking, hard-rocking crew, had died in a car accident in September 1976.

The following month, the Dead signed with Clive Davis’ Arista Records, then also the home of rockers like Lou Reed and Patti Smith . At Davis’ suggestion, they agreed to work with a pop-oriented producer: Keith Olsen, who had just produced a huge hit album for Fleetwood Mac . “We were trying to make a real rec­ord for Clive,” says Hart.

Starting in January 1977, the band and Olsen bore down on new material – including the epic “Terrapin Station” suite and Weir’s reggae-influenced “Estimated Prophet” – at Sound City, the funky but first-rate San Fernando Valley studio recently immortalized in Dave Grohl’s Sound City documentary. More so than probably any previous studio collaborator, Olsen put the bandmates through their paces, making them rehearse and replay parts until they nailed them. Normally, the Dead would have bristled, but not this time: “Keith was cracking the whip, but we liked it – it made us sharper,” says Hart. “We became much more disciplined. And Keith was always a little too small to hit. So he got away with a few things.”

Although he got high with Garcia on at least one occasion, Olsen didn’t become fully acclimated to the Dead universe until the later wrap-up sessions in New York, when Belushi came by, did cartwheels in the studio and hung out. “He drank everything he could and took everything and then passed out in front of the console,” Olsen says. “Everyone said, ‘Don’t bother him – let him be.’ This was all still really new to me.” Yet Olsen was also impressed with Garcia’s creativity and nonstop input: “He would have 20 ideas for everyone. He’d say, ‘I got a bunch of ideas,’ and we’d do them all. He really enjoyed the process.”

20 Essential Grateful Dead Shows

Grateful dead's first decade captured in new photo memoir, bob weir on dead & company's summer tour, legendary 1977 shows.

But the process was slow. As the recording sessions started to drag throughout the winter of 1977 – and the band faced the possibility of not finishing the record before going on tour – Steve Parish, a member of the crew (and later Garcia’s manager), came up with a novel idea: Nail the studio door shut. “It was a joke,” says Parish. “But we were under the gun, and it kept the guys in there.”

The finished album, Terrapin Station , was the Dead’s most polished, professional effort to date, foreign adjectives that didn’t necessarily thrill everyone in the band. Hart was upset when Olsen overdubbed strings on one of his parts without telling him. With tempered enthusiasm, bassist and co-founder Phil Lesh later called the album “a fairly successful effort” that “varied wildly in terms of material.” At the time, though, the band put on a positive face about its aural makeover. “It actually sounds like a record,” Garcia enthused to Rolling Stone before its release. “People won’t believe it’s us.” Added Weir, “It’s the Dead without all those wrong notes.”

O n May 8th, fans crammed into Cornell University’s Barton Hall, a field house, were a little too pumped that the Dead were in town. “All right, now,” a newly bearded Weir told them about halfway through the show. “We’re gonna play everybody’s favorite fun game: ‘Move back.’ Now, when I tell you to take a step back, everybody take a step back.” Weir had to say it a few times, and bit by bit, the nearly 5,000 fans moved toward the rear of the venue to alleviate the crush at the front of the stage.

For the Dead, Barton Hall was just another stop, and a fairly out-of-the-way one. The only thing Donna Jean Godchaux remembers about it is how cold it was. “A college gig in New York, and it’s snowing, and you just play the gig,” she says. Hart’s future wife, Caryl, attended Cornell at the time but opted to see “Barry Manilow or something” with a boyfriend that night. Just about every Deadhead, though, remembers Barton Hall, whether they attended or not. The show regularly tops fan polls of best Dead performances, and last year a tape of the show was included in the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry. Ironically, the Barton Hall performance has never been officially released, since the master tape is now in the hands of an unknown collector. In the mid-Eighties, recording engineer Betty Cantor-Jackson – who recorded all the shows on the ’77 tour – lost possession of the tapes after they were auctioned off (without her consent) from the storage facility where she was keeping them.

For fans and even band members, debate rages about whether or not the show matches the legend. “That was a really good performance,” says Hart. “Was it the best? That’s not for me to say, really.” Listening to one of the many audience tapes available, there’s no denying its highlights: a rare performance of Bonnie Dobson’s apocalyptic nightmare “Morning Dew,” which the Dead transformed into a huge, cathartic soundscape; fans also heard a new combination introduced onstage in February: “Scarlet Begonias” segueing into “Fire on the Mountain,” which didn’t make the cut on Terrapin Station but would end up on the Dead’s following album, Shakedown Street .

What few debate is how sparkling the Dead sounded that night, and throughout that tour. At the University of Alabama, they played a slow, mournful “High Time” and added dramatic flourishes to Weir’s “Looks Like Rain.” A beautifully burnished “Wharf Rat” in Hartford, Connecticut, showed how they’d matured as a band without losing their shambolic charm. During a particularly strong “Sugaree” in St. Paul, Minnesota, Garcia discharged a wild flurry of notes that dispelled any sense that the Dead were mellow old hippies – one of many demonstrations that all the studio hours they’d logged with Olsen had paid off. “We’re still as confused as we ever were,” Garcia told RS’s Charles M. Young during the Palladium run. “But the old Dead trip was getting to be a burden, so we sacked it and went on to new projects. We’re having fun again.”

Members of the Dead’s legendary road crew still enjoy reminiscing about the musical high points. The secret weapon was keyboardist Keith Godchaux, Donna Jean’s husband, who’d joined the band in 1971. “When you hear the tapes now, you’re totally blown away,” says Bill “Kidd” Candelario, a member of the crew from 1968 to 1995. “He played so quietly, but you’re astounded at what he was playing. He was magical.”

Every so often, the Dead encountered a bump in the road. When they played Buffalo’s War Memorial Auditorium the night after Cornell, the two young local concert promoters – Bob and Harvey Weinstein, later renowned movie producers – offered receipts that seemed “a bit cockeyed,” says tour coordinator John Scher. “I’ve kidded Harvey about it.” But more often than not, the Dead machine rolled along as smoothly as it ever would. When they arrived at the University of Alabama, marking their first-ever visit to a state not known for being friendly to longhairs, the school’s football team helped the Dead crew set up. “If you want to pick a year where everything was working well, that year stands out,” says Parish. “We realized there were losses we had overcome, but we were still tight and had each other and were close. Everyone was healthy and partying full blast, every day.”

I n the predawn hours of June 20th, while the band was back home in Marin County during a break, Hart left a local club show and lost control of his car. He crashed through a guardrail, and only a tree on the side of the road prevented the car from falling into a ravine. Hart emerged with a broken collarbone, smashed ribs and a broken arm. “I opened my eyes [in the hospital] and Jerry was there: ‘You look like shit!'” he says.

Hart recuperated, thanks to almost two months of rehab, but the incident was a sign that there were more troubles ahead. Stuck in an unhappy marriage, Lesh began relying increasingly on alcohol for what he called “the slightly numb, detached feeling”; by the fall, he’d put on 30 pounds thanks to the beers he would start downing for breakfast. Drummer Bill Kreutzmann ‘s second marriage was falling apart, and Weir had, the year before, parted ways with his longtime love, Frankie Weir (they weren’t married, but she took his last name anyway).

Offstage, Keith and Donna Jean Godchaux were an increasingly volatile couple. Donna Jean was, in her words, “no angel,” and was regularly using cocaine and drinking wine. She’d tried heroin once and hated it: “I just threw up for 24 hours. So I couldn’t plant my feet in that patch.” But her husband became increasingly beholden to the drug; Olsen remembers him mostly sleeping on a couch during the Terrapin Station sessions. On the road that year, band and crew often heard the couple’s screaming matches. “There was always backstage drama,” says Candelario.

Garcia, the group’s charismatic but unwilling leader, was besieged on numerous fronts. “It was an emotionally difficult time for him,” says Richard Loren, then the Dead manager. “He was at wit’s end pretty much.” He went through a messy breakup with his girlfriend (and future wife), Deborah Koons, and had to deal with the fallout from Ron Rakow’s expensive departure from the band. Since it was Garcia who had brought Rakow into the fold, the band penalized him for it, cutting his paycheck down to about $50 a week (from about five times that amount). Garcia was also beginning to feel the burden of being an iconic figure who was easy prey for anyone who needed a favor. “He was starting to hide,” says Candelario. “He had guys hounding him to do free shows. They didn’t come by to say, ‘Hi, what’s going on?’ They came to tell him he needed to do a benefit concert or whatever. It was a hustle. He had all those kinds of things pounding on him.”

As with Keith Godchaux, Garcia turned to opiates – in particular, a new, strong Persian style of heroin. At the time, Garcia hid his growing habit from his bandmates; Hart and Godchaux say they didn’t realize until later that he was using. And given the quality of Garcia’s playing and singing in 1977, there was no reason to suspect anything at that point. “I think it made him feel good,” says Loren, “and when he felt good, he played good.”

One bright spot cracked open that June, when The Grateful Dead Movie , filmed during the band’s pre-hiatus shows in San Francisco in 1974, made its long-overdue premiere at the Ziegfeld Theatre in Manhattan. “Jerry was really proud of that movie,” says Loren. Of Garcia during that period, Hart recalls, “He was in a creative zone, and his health was OK. Yes, there was a lot of pressure. But that didn’t interfere with Grateful Dead music. Music was the only way any of us could deal with pressure.”

Jellyroll vs. Jelly Roll: Pennsylvania Band Sues Country Star for Trademark Infringement

Inside jimmy buffett's tribute concert: mccartney, margaritas, and one hell of a parrothead party, lana del rey brings romantic hits — and billie eilish — to enchanting coachella set, judge halts texas ag’s probe into media matters.

On Labor Day weekend, the Dead returned to the road in a big – almost risky – way. Scher booked the band into Raceway Park, a racetrack in Englishtown, New Jersey. The park normally held about 50,000; the band sold 102,000 tickets – up to that point its biggest nonfestival gig. Until then, everyone assumed the Dead’s on-the-road success was a result of repeat business – the same fans buying tickets to more than one show. But Raceway Park proved that the Dead could pull in huge numbers for just one show. “It said, ‘We’re a big band,'” says Loren. “It put the Dead up there with anybody else who was performing: ‘Yeah, the Allman Brothers are a big band, but they’re not the Grateful Dead.’ The industry stood up and said, ‘Holy mackerel!'”

In the years that followed, the Dead’s audience would only grow larger and more fervent – and the Dead’s excesses would sometimes grow proportionally. The Godchauxs left the group in 1979 (Keith was killed in a car accident the following year). Garcia grappled with hard-drug use on and off between then and his death in 1995, and Lesh sobered up, but only after hitting rock bottom in the early Eighties. But in 1977, it seemed as if the music could hold everything at bay, at least for a while. “We kept getting reborn, and this was one of those birthing processes,” says Hart of that flagship year. “We all played good when we got to that group-mind place. When the music played, everything made sense. When the music stopped, things started getting weird.”

This story is from the July 4th–18th, 2013 issue of Rolling Stone.

See Hurray for the Riff Raff Play 'The Past Is Still Alive' Tracks for 'Saturday Sessions'

• Saturday Sessions
• By Daniel Kreps

Watch Bruce Springsteen Play 'Seeds' For First Time Since 2016 at Mohegan Sun Arena

• Viva Uncasville!
• By Andy Greene

‘The Celebration of Mimi': Inside Mariah Carey’s Career-Spanning Las Vegas Comeback

• it's like that
• By Larisha Paul

Rico Wade, Producer With Atlanta's Pioneering Organized Noize, Dead at 52

Lana del rey's opulence, peso pluma's corrido history lesson shine at coachella day one.

• Coachella 2024
• By Tomás Mier and Ethan Millman

Most Popular

Jodie foster pulled robert downey jr. aside on their 1995 film set and told him: 'i’m scared of what happens to you next' because of addiction, where to stream 'quiet on set: the dark side of kids tv' online, prince william & kate middleton are reportedly struggling with a 'tidal wave' of royal issues, angel reese signs multiyear agreement with panini america, you might also like, ‘player kings’ review: ian mckellen and toheeb jimoh give star turns in a chilly new take on shakespeare’s ‘henry iv’, from pucci to pulitzer: ‘palm royale’ stokes caftan nostalgia, the best running water bottles according to marathoners, giving away your baby for absolutely no reason please, watch ‘greener grass’ first, coyotes’ name, logo to remain in phoenix while team relocates.

Rolling Stone is a part of Penske Media Corporation. © 2024 Rolling Stone, LLC. All rights reserved.

Verify it's you

Please log in.

Join our newsletter!

Dead & Company 2021 Tour Recap: Highlights, Stats, & Top Shows

Dead & Company , the Grateful Dead spinoff band featuring John Mayer (lead guitar/vocals), Oteil Burbridge (bass/vocals), and Jeff Chimenti (keyboards/vocals) alongside Grateful Dead alumni Bill Kreutzmann (drums), Mickey Hart (drums), and Bob Weir (rhythm guitar/vocals), recently completed their first tour since the COVID pandemic shut down the live music industry in March 2020.

The loosely-branded What A Long Strange Trip It’s Been tour was the longest in the band’s six-year history, lasting 31 shows split into three legs spanning from August 16th through Halloween . The shows continued the band’s established practice of playing two sets of material from the Grateful Dead’s repertoire, focusing heavily on original songs co-written by late guitarist/vocalist Jerry Garcia and the late lyricist Robert Hunter and Weir’s co-writes with the late John Barlow .

Because it was Dead & Company’s first tour since the pandemic arrived in early 2020, new protocols required that attendees were vaccinated or at least tested negative for COVID shortly before the event. However, early in the tour, there were enough no-shows by vaccinated-but-hesitant or unvaccinated ticketholders that people were actually giving top-priced tickets away on show days. By mid-October proof of vaccination became standard for ticketholders to gain entry while the number of no-shows lessened, with significant numbers of ticketless folks doing the one-finger shuffle outside all four Colorado shows and three of the four California shows.

Now that it’s over and we’ve more or less recovered, here’s a show-by-show recap, with our favorites listed at the end in the Top Shows section. We threw in some song statistics and a few other random details along the way too, so kick back, relax, and enjoy.

SUMMER TOUR, LEG 1 – AUGUST 16th – 28th

NORTH CAROLINA AND VIRGINIA

After 576 days without a Dead & Company show, the wait was finally over and the first show since January 2020 would finally happen, but not before one final setback from a thunderstorm that delayed the doors at the Coastal Credit Union Amphitheatre (aka Walnut Creek) and the start of the show. No matter. The band wordlessly took the stage to a deafening roar and kicked off a shortened six-song first set with the most meaningful version of “Touch Of Grey” in a long, long, long time.

The band was tight, rehearsed, and clearly happy to be back as well, as the second set’s pre-“Drums” ran eight songs, lasted over an hour, and included “Playing In The Band”, “Truckin’”, and the tour’s sole version of “Spoonful”. On the far side of “Space”, the band delivered the show’s highlight, a stunning debut of the blues dirge “Death Don’t Have No Mercy”, a yes-they-went-there moment if there ever was one, and the set ran so long that the venue’s curfew prevented an encore. Welcome. Back.

After a day off the tour resumed at the Jiffy Lube Amphitheatre in Bristow, VA outside Washington, D.C. After Mayer delivered strong versions of “Cold Rain & Snow”, “Mr. Charlie”, and “Dire Wolf” in the first set, he’d also get the nod to start the second with the Garcia/Hunter classic “Here Comes Sunshine”. This would be the first of several stellar versions of the song he’d deliver on the tour and take to a new level; in 2021 Mayer found his way to the heart of this song in the way that he’s previously done with “Althea”, “Deal”, and “Brown Eyed Women”. Not long after that, the first of only two uninterrupted versions of the classic pairing of “Scarlet Begonias” and “Fire On The Mountain” on the entire tour would be another highlight.

NEW YORK AND PENNSYLVANIA

The tour’s third date was Dead & Company’s first post-lockdown show in a stadium, and seeing the band walk onstage at New York’s Citi Field made us feel like things were sort of getting back to normal. While the fact that the song had been overheard being played at soundcheck took the surprise factor away for some, the band opened the show with their debut of “Let The Good Times Roll”, a staple of Grateful Dead shows from 1988 onwards. Not only does this one fit the vibe like it always did, but the “everyone sing a verse” lyrics also allow monitors and PA levels to be adjusted as needed.

The second set kicked off with “Eyes Of The World” for the only time on the tour, and the “Drums” section would feature the debut of Voices Of The Rainforest , recordings sourced in Papua, New Guinea by Hart that included video footage to go along with them. The tour’s sole version of the elusive “Spanish Jam” followed “Space”, and aside from “Althea” and the encore of “The Weight”, the second set’s song list could have come from a Grateful Dead’s 1974 “Wall Of Sound” show.

We’ll talk more about the tour’s next four shows in Philadelphia, Bethel, Darien Lake, and Saratoga Springs in the Top Shows section at the end of the recap. And directly after them, the opening leg of the summer tour ended on a Saturday night at Hershey Stadium , which was the first night of Grateful Dead music at the venue since the OG band’s 1985 rain-soaked classic . Intentionally or not, Dead & Company’s show paid immediate homage to the peak of that 1985 night by starting with “The Music Never Stopped”, before deftly weaving Weir’s 90s-era Dead tune “Easy Answers” into it, a tricky tune that Dead & Company handle far more deftly than their predecessors. Later, the second set’s highlights came from another kaleidoscopic “Here Comes Sunshine” from Mayer, Weir’s second reading of “Death Don’t Have No Mercy”, and the tour’s sole performance of “Quinn The Eskimo” as the encore.

SUMMER TOUR, LEG 2 – SEPTEMBER 2nd — 18th

MASSACHUSETTS AND CONNECTICUT

These three New England shows clearly meant a little something extra to Wilton, CT native and Berklee College Of Music student John Mayer, who’d posted a photo of the Wilton exit on I-84 and also say as much on the day of the first show. The band would also take the opportunity to actively treat this trio of shows as a distinct group by starting and ending the three-show run (two nights at XFinity Centre   Amphitheatre  [aka Great Woods] in Mansfield, MA, and one at Hartford’s Xfinity Theatre ) by starting and finishing the run with the two halves of “Playing In The Band”, and the band would also split the tour’s first appearances of “Dark Star” over the two Great Woods shows as well. The aforementioned show-opening version of “Playing” combined seamlessly with “The Wheel” to last a combined 30 (!) minutes, while the second set kicked off with one of Mayer’s best versions of “Deal” on the tour, complete with him simultaneously fanning his guitar while repeatedly jumping up and down like a pogo stick.

After Friday’s Great Woods show (which we’ll talk more about in the Top Shows section at the end) and a day off on Saturday, the band made its way down I-84 to Hartford and picked right up where they’d left off, with a first set so stacked that the songs could have actually comprised a 1980 second set by the Grateful Dead if “Drums” and “Space” were added, and included “Shakedown Street”, “Samson & Delilah”, and “Franklin’s Tower”. The second set’s highlights came from the tour’s first versions of “St. Stephen”, “William Tell Bridge”, and especially “The Eleven”, and Hartford also scored the tour’s sole version of “Werewolves Of London” as the encore. All three nights of the New England run were strong individually, but collectively the shows wove themselves together into a distinct trio.

OHIO AND MICHIGAN

Next up was a drive west on I-80 to Ohio and the Blossom Music Center in Cuyahoga Falls just south of Cleveland. As the band took the stage Mayer quickly won the “best-dressed band member” award by sporting a black satin shirt that would have passed Studio 54 ’s dress code, and he’d also deliver the tour’s sole version of “Next Time You See Me” early in the show before a strong pairing of “Cassidy” and “Bird Song” closed the first set. The second set truly caught fire with the version of “Eyes Of The World” preceding “Drums”, and the show’s peak occurred via an absolutely gorgeous transition from the end of “Standing On The Moon” into the extended final verse of “Viola Lee Blues” along with a lengthy, standout version of “Not Fade Away” to close the set.

Three days later the next stop was DTE Energy Music Theatre in Clarkston, MI (aka Pine Knob), whose first set featured a rare mid-set placement of “New Speedway Boogie” just before the tour’s first version of The Beatles ’ “Dear Prudence”. The second set’s highlight came early via Burbridge’s gorgeous vocal take on the Garcia/Hunter ballad “Comes A Time”, complete with an equally gorgeous closing solo by Mayer. If you were there you got lucky, because it was the only one on the tour.

Later highlights came from the “China Cat Sunflower” and “I Know You Rider” pairing that led into “Drums”, and the relaxed-but-welcome tour premiere of “I Need A Miracle” following “Space”. The following day found the band moving fast down I-75 to the Riverbend Music Center in Cincinnati for a show on Mickey Hart’s 78th birthday, but we’ll talk about that one in detail later, in the Top Shows section.

MISSOURI, INDIANA, AND ILLINOIS

The summer tour remained in the Midwest for its last week, with shows at the Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre in St. Louis, MO (aka Riverport) and the Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center in Noblesville, IN (aka Deer Creek) that we’ll go over in detail in the Top Shows section at the end. From there, the summer leg closed with a pair of weekend shows within the friendly confines of 107-year-old Wrigley Field in Chicago. However, before the first show on Friday night , Mother Nature dropped a thunderstorm that caused two delays and worked heavily against the band.

The first set started late, was marred by equipment issues, and was then cut short after four songs. It was followed by a second set whose rushed pre-“Drums” did at least contain the sole “Dancing In The Streets” of the tour, but fortunately, the closing run of songs after “Space” was much stronger, with “Morning Dew” as the night’s highlight. The “Ripple” encore made for a nice finish, but overall, this was a rare off-night.

This wasn’t lost on the band, who’d make it up for it the following night . The first set started with a trio of second-set songs (“Althea”, “Uncle John’s Band”, and “He’s Gone”) and also contained the tour’s sole version of “Little Red Rooster”. But even better was the sprawling, generous second set that ran nearly two hours and contained, in Deadhead shorthand, “China” > “Rider”, “Estimated” > “Eyes” and “Help” > “Slip” > “Frank”. Yes, all of those in the same set plus “Milestones” and “Days Between” too, and after a double encore of “Brokedown Palace” and “Touch Of Grey” the band headed home for a two-week break before the fall leg commenced.

SONG STATS AND FUN FACTS

MOST AND LEAST PLAYED SONGS

Over the course of 31 shows the band played 119 different songs, aside from the “Drums” and “Space” segments each night during second sets. There was actually a 13-way tie for first place in the “most played song” category, with the following songs getting eight airings each: “Dark Star”, “Althea”, “The Other One”, “Deal”, “Playing In The Band”, “Uncle John’s Band”, “China Cat Sunflower”, “I Know You Rider”, “Bertha”, “Scarlet Begonias”, “Fire On The Mountain”, “Not Fade Away”, and “Franklin’s Tower”.

Right behind all those there was a 7-way tie for second place, with the following songs getting seven plays each: “Help On The Way”, “Slipknot”, “Let The Good Times Roll”, “Casey Jones”, “Jack Straw”, “Shakedown Street”, “New Speedway Boogie”, and “They Love Each Other”. On the other end of the statistics, 23 songs were only played once, with 14 shows getting one of them, the Raleigh, Bethel, and St. Louis shows each getting two, and the Dallas show getting three.

2021 DEBUTS

Dead & Company only added three new songs to the repertoire in 2021, but they were all winners. The Reverend Gary Davis  blues dirge “Death Don’t Have No Mercy” debuted on the tour’s opening night ( Raleigh 8/16 ), and Sam Cooke ’s 1964 party anthem “Let The Good Times Roll” opened up the tour’s third show ( New York 8/20 ). Both these songs remained in regular rotation for the entire tour, but the version of The Rolling Stones ’ “The Last Time” would sadly be a one-off, making its sole appearance at Darien Lake on August 25th as a dedication to Stones drummer Charlie Watts , who had passed away the day before.

ALTHEA’S HOT SPACES

In 2019 “Terrapin Station” was the song whose location in Dead & Company shows would constantly bounce around, but in 2021 Mayer’s signature song “Althea” moved into this welcome role. Over its 8 appearances, it kicked off the second set twice ( Cuyahoga Falls 9/7 and Los Angeles 10/31 ) and appeared in the body of the second set’s pre-“Drums” twice ( Atlanta 10/12 and Phoenix 10/25 ), but it also opened a first set ( Chicago 9/18 ), led directly into “Drums” ( Hershey 8/28 ), came out of “Space” ( New York, 8/20 ), and served as the encore ( Red Rocks 10/19 ).

SCARLET > FIRE AND FRIENDS

Another thing Dead & Company setlist architect Matt Busch did to keep people guessing in 2021 was add one or more songs into the middle of the “Scarlet Begonias” > “Fire On The Mountain” pairing, one of Deadheads’ most beloved song combinations since March 1977. This pairing was played 8 times in 2021, all in second sets, but only 2 were “traditional” and flowed directly into one another (Bristow 8/18 and Los Angeles 10/31 ). During the other six airings, the following songs flowed between them: “Help On The Way” and “Slipknot” (Saratoga Springs 8/27), “Viola Lee Blues” ( Clarkston 9/7 ), “Deal” ( Chicago 9/17 ), “Uncle John’s Band” ( Charlotte 10/11 ), “Estimated Prophet” and “Eyes Of The World” ( Red Rocks 10/19 ), and “Touch Of Grey” ( Phoenix 10/25 ).

THE STORYTELLERS SPEAK

Another welcome change in 2021 was that the tour’s livestreams on Nugs.net now had hosts to fill the “Dead Air” before the first set and during intermission. They were familiar faces, too: Gary Lambert and David Gans , two longtime torchbearers of the Deadhead community who host Tales From The Golden Road , the weekly call-in show on Sirius XM’s Grateful Dead channel.

Not only was it fun to watch them recap sets and manufacture on-the-fly conversation to fill the final minutes before the band took the stage for the second set each night, they were also joined by guests of prominent stature from all eras of the Grateful Dead universe, and these are less than half of the names: GD family members ( Trixie Garcia ), OG GD extended family members ( Ken Babbs , Rosie McGee ), those who make official GD music releases happen ( David Lemieux , David Glasser , Mark Pinkus ), a podcast host ( Jesse Jarnow ), a Nugs founder ( Brad Serling ), and a musician or two ( Don Was , Branford Marsalis , Denise Parent , Jeff Mattson , and some random guy named John Mayer).

YOU SHOULD BE MADE TO WEAR EARPHONES

When Dead & Company took the stage in Darien Lake on August 25th , there was a surprising sight on stage right: John Mayer was wearing headphones during the show, though aside from that he played and sang normally. And as soon as it got to intermission, Dead Air host Gary Lambert texted Mayer to ask about them, and Mayer texted him right back so Gary could get the word out: the headphones were to protect his hearing against (further) tinnitus and hearing loss, but they also help him to hear the band more fully, as he has the band’s front-of-house engineer mix piped in, so he’s hearing the very same mix by front-of-house engineer Derek Featherstone that Deadheads do. Want a pair for yourself? Go here .

FALL TOUR – OCTOBER 11th — OCTOBER 31st

NORTH CAROLINA, GEORGIA, AND TEXAS

Originally, the fall leg of the tour was supposed to start with a pair of shows in Florida, in West Palm Beach on October 6th and Tampa on October 7th. However, on September 28th the band canceled these shows and issued refunds, citing “routing and logistics” as the reason and not elaborating further.

A week earlier the band had also added two dates at the 9,000-capacity Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado. This was a surprising move for a band who draws over four times that number just up the road at Folsom Field in Boulder on a summer Saturday , but they’d pull this off by booking the shows on a Tuesday and Wednesday night in late October.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the Tarheel State of North Carolina hosted their second kickoff show of the tour at PNC Music Pavilion in Charlotte on October 11th. The opening “Let The Good Times Roll” was now clearly a band favorite, and it would be the only song of the night that wasn’t a Grateful Dead original. It was followed by an early-show surprise of “Cassidy” in the second slot, and the set’s highlight was the expansive “Bird Song” closer.

Related: Grateful Dead Studio Albums Ranked Worst To Best

The second set neatly incorporated half of the Grateful Dead’s classic 1970 Workingman’s Dead LP, starting with “Uncle John’s Band” between “Scarlet Begonias” and “Fire On The Mountain” before “Drums”, and finishing with a post-“Space” segment of “New Speedway Boogie”, “Black Peter”, and “Casey Jones”. The following day the band traveled to Atlanta’s Cellairis Amphitheatre (aka Lakewood), which seems to have become a charmed venue for the band. Dead & Company’s two previous shows there in 2017 and 2019 were each among that year’s best, and since it happened again at Lakewood in 2021 we’ll talk about that one in more detail in the Top Shows section at the end.

  View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Bobby Weir (@bobweir)

Well before Dead & Company arrived in Texas for a pair of shows in Dallas and Houston, the state created one of the year’s biggest political controversies by passing Senate Bill 8, a nefariously crafted abortion restriction bill that’s outrageous enough that it could be overturned by the most conservative Supreme Court in a century. Weir had already made his public pronouncement on the issue by posting photos of his and his wife’s attendance at the San Francisco edition of a national Women’s Rights march that took place on October 2nd, and the band’s first set at Dallas’ Dos Equis Pavilion would say much more.

After opening with the sole “Man Smart, Woman Smarter” of the tour, the rest of the set featured songs about beloved female characters in the Grateful Dead’s universe: “Bertha”, “Queen Jane Approximately” (the only one of the tour), “Brown Eyed Women”, “Peggy-O”, and “Sugaree”. After the dust settled from all that, the second set kicked off with the only “Deep Ellum Blues” of the tour as a friendly callout to the notorious Dallas nightlife district that spawned the song. Later on, the extended version of “The Other One” just before “Drums” would be the highlight of the show, and the band closed the night with one final, gentler political plea via their “Liberty” encore.

The band headed 210 miles south on I-45 the following day for a show at the Cynthia Woods Pavilion outside Houston, with the band competing against the Friday Night Lights of Texas high school football. Two of the first set’s big plays came from the hoped-for songs with local references (“El Paso” and “Jack Straw”), and the second set’s touchdowns came from yet another classic with a local reference (“Truckin’”), versions of “St. Stephen” and “The Eleven” whose jams took some slight darker turns, and one of the tour’s two versions of Miles Davis’ classic “Milestones”. Lastly, there was a classic sliver of sibling-style banter onstage after the “Black Muddy River” encore, an hour or so before Weir turned 74 and Mayer turned 44 on October 16th:

Burbridge: “An early ‘Happy Birthday’ to John and Bob!”

Hart: “The birthday boys…How cute.”

On paper, this was as good as things could get for Dead & Company and Deadheads in 2021, with two shows at the legendary Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, just west of Denver. But just before the first show started, as the temperature was dropping to a bone-chilling 34 degrees, there was a stunning announcement.

Drummer Bill Kreutzmann had contracted a non-Covid 19-related illness and would not play , and Wolf Bros and Ratdog drummer Jay Lane would fill in for him. And when we say stunning, we mean it: Kreutzmann himself couldn’t recall ever missing a show in his entire career, which is fair, because a look through Deadbase revealed he had missed only one, on 11/22/68 .

Rallying, defiant versions of “Not Fade Away” and “New Speedway Boogie” started the show and the “Eyes Of The World” in the second set would be the show’s powerful highlight, but at the conclusion of “Casey Jones”, the cold conditions and equipment issues forced Mickey Hart offstage for the rest of the night, leaving new guy Lane out there on his own for the closer and first-ever “Althea” encore. No pressure, man. It was a beautiful but cold setting and it was definitely a Dead & Company show, but the drummers’ circumstances made for an uncommon night onstage.

The second Red Rocks show on October 20th took place under a full moon, with slightly higher temperatures ranging from the low 50s into the 40s during the show. Lane would fill in for Kreutzmann for a second straight night, and the first set featured a nice run of 70s-era songs highlighted by “The Wheel” and “Black-Throated Wind”, while the 80s were represented by what was possibly the most relaxed version of “Hell In A Bucket” ever. And while the second set was solid throughout and highlighted by “Terrapin Station”, two quick moments after “Space” stood out: during the closing jam of “All Along The Watchtower” Lane unleashed a powerful blast of drumming that rippled right through the entire band, and then got in a second one with the same effect during the climax of “Standing On The Moon” two songs later.

While Lane has played with Weir for decades and was already familiar with a sizable chunk of the Grateful Dead’s catalog, these were breakthrough moments for him with Dead & Company, right after being airdropped into this madness. Two days later, the tour resumed just 25 miles down the road at Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre in Greenwood Village with another pair of shows , and Lane continued filling in for Kreutzmann at both of them. Lane’s surges would prove a good omen for the Fiddler’s Green run, and his new-guy energy would help those shows become two of the tour’s best. We’ll talk more about them in the Top Shows section at the end.

ARIZONA AND CALIFORNIA

The weather warmed up considerably once the band moved on from Colorado to Arizona, but even more importantly, Kreutzmann was back on his drummer’s throne for the Monday evening show at Phoenix’s Ak-Chin Pavilion . Not only were Kreutzmann and the band in fine form all evening, the setlist would make fans of the Grateful Dead’s “dirty 80’s” era very happy: aside from the encore, every song could have been from a 1984 Dead show. In particular, we loved Burbridge’s “China Doll” and the “Let It Grow” from the first set, and the second set trio of “Scarlet Begonias”, “Touch Of Grey”, and “Fire On The Mountain”, a sequence the Grateful Dead would only do twice, on July 3rd, 1984  and July 13th, 1984 .

Next up was a drive west on I-8 to the North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre in Chula Vista, CA, just outside San Diego. Local boy (and World’s Tallest Deadhead) Bill Walton turned up, and beaming visage and outstretched arms were consistently broadcast on the video screens to the delight of the crowd, while the first set’s highlights came from another great “Cumberland Blues” and the “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo” closer. However, the Chula Vista show would be set apart by its second set song choices, which included five songs from the Grateful Dead’s 60’s era and a looser, slightly rawer vibe to go with them: “St. Stephen”, “The Eleven”, “New Speedway Boogie”, “Death Don’t Have No Mercy”, and “Good Lovin”.

The tour concluded with a drive up I-5 for three sold-out shows at the iconic Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, with many folks taking advantage of Halloween weekend by dressing for the occasion on all three nights. (Skeletons were far and away the most common costume, followed by a respectable number of people dressed as The Dude from The Big Lebowski .)

Both sets on opening night were bookended by a Weir/Barlow classic: the first set started and finished with “Playing In The Band”, with highlights between them coming from “Deal”, “All Along The Watchtower”, and “High Time”. Not to be outdone, the second set kicked off with “Sugar Magnolia” and finished with its coda, “Sunshine Daydream”, with highlights in between coming from a dense “Slipknot!” and a lengthy “Estimated Prophet”. There was a somber note to this set, however, as right before the band started “Sugar Magnolia” Weir quickly said the song was “for Rob”. This rare onstage dedication was for Rob Lawson , Weir’s longtime driver and confidant who was in his final days and who would pass away on November 1st, the day after the tour ended.

Hollywood Bowl’s middle night on Saturday was rolling smoothly along after a first set highlighted by “It Hurts Me Too” and “Tennessee Jed”, and a second set that started with an agreeable run of “Jack Straw”, “Sugaree”, and the classic pairing of “China Cat Sunflower” and “I Know You Rider”. However, before the band could start a fifth song Kreutzmann would leave the stage, and most of the band followed while Hart handled the “Drums” segment largely on his own. It turned out the band had prepared for this possibility and had kept Lane on hand, as he took Kreutzmann’s place for the remainder of the show, which had a heavier, more serious vibe during “Throwing Stones” and “Days Between” before the more upbeat, celebratory vibes of set closer “One More Saturday Night” and encore “U.S. Blues”.

The following morning on Halloween, Kreutzmann took a light tone on a social media post and apologized if he’d “spooked” anyone with his absence, while disclosing that he’d come back too soon from his illness and Lane would fill in for him one last time for that evening’s Halloween tour closer , and we’ll talk a little more about that one in the Top Shows section below.

TOP 8 SHOWS, PLUS 4 HONORABLE MENTIONS

The What A Long, Strange Trip It’s Been tour lasted 31 shows and 77 days, and it more than lived up to its name, as you’ve read here and/or experienced firsthand. Over that time there were some shows that stood out from the others, and we kept track of them along the way. Since this Dead & Company tour was longer we expanded the customary Top 5 to a Top 8, and to 4 Honorable Mentions instead of the usual 3. So with a resounding Rhythm Devils drum roll and without further ado, here are 2021’s top Dead & Company shows, in chronological order.

TOP 8 SHOWS

August 21st – Philadelphia, PA

Just before the band took the stage for the fourth show of the tour, word came down that tonight’s show would have no intermission due to severe incoming storms and would instead consist of one solitary set that had to end by 10 p.m. But the Philly crowd took it all in stride and pushed the band the way they always have, and after a pair of rainbows formed over the stadium during the third song, “Jack Straw”, the band was off to the races for the rest of the night, with the pre-“Drums” highlights coming from Chimenti’s lengthy, fiery Hammond B3 organ solo in “Franklin’s Tower”, and a 35-minute journey through “Terrapin Station” and “The Other One”. However, the faster-tempo-than-usual “Morning Dew” that closed the set would not just be the peak of this show. Instead, Mayer’s closing solo ensured this song was the peak moment of the entire tour, and it will remain one of his signature moments with Dead & Company.

August 23rd – Bethel, NY

One of the trademarks of any band led by Bob Weir is that there’s an avoidance of nostalgia or simply recreating past glories. Weir’s focus is all about creating something new each night, so after a solid first set featuring four 80s-era Weir/Barlow classics, Weir stepped to his microphone at the beginning of the second set and delivered the biggest surprise of the tour.

Since the stage they were on that was adjacent to the site of the August 1969 Woodstock Music & Arts Festival and the Grateful Dead’s utterly disastrous five-song set there (thunderstorms caused life-threatening technical issues), Weir announced a “do-over” of that set, 52 years later. And to the crowd’s disbelief and joy, they’d run through “St. Stephen”, “Mama Tried”, “Dark Star”, “High Time” and “Turn On Your Lovelight”, and it would go a lot better this time. To finish the night off, “Ripple” would be the perfect encore at this proving ground of hippies with the best of intentions trying to make a huge rock festival work before anyone had truly figured out how exactly to do it.

August 27th – Saratoga Springs, NY

The 20-minute “Bird Song” that closed the first set of this show featured a jam with a heavy metal level of intensity, with David Gans and Gary Lambert later declaring it one of the best performances of the song by anyone in its 50-year history. The second set would stand up to it, too, with the front half featuring a sequence of “Scarlet Begonias”, “Help On The Way” and “Slipknot!” that recalled the Grateful Dead’s exploratory 1976 approach to each of these songs, and the show’s peak would be the definitive-D&C-version-so-far of “Cumberland Blues” out of “Space”, followed by Weir delivering the tour’s best version of “Days Between”. On its fifth try, the venerable Saratoga Performing Arts Center finally hosted a Dead & Company show that channeled the intensity of the Grateful Dead’s legendary 80s-era shows there.

September 11th – Cincinnati, OH

For the first time in Dead & Company’s six-year history, a show took place on a band member’s birthday, and the band would celebrate drummer Mickey Hart’s 78th trip around the sun by leading the crowd through a version of “Happy Birthday To You” before the second set, which was inspired and seamless. Highlights came from its opener of “The Other One” that would conclude over an hour later after journeys through “Uncle John’s Band”, the “Help On The Way” > “Slipknot!” > “Franklin’s Tower” trio and another top-notch “Cumberland Blues” coming out of “Space”. The first set stood out too, thanks to a well-chosen run of five early-70’s Grateful Dead originals: “Tennessee Jed”, “Here Comes Sunshine”, “Loose Lucy”, “Mr. Charlie”, and “Looks Like Rain”.

September 15th – Noblesville, IN

The venue we still call Deer Creek once again served as the location for a night of magical Grateful Dead music. The first set peaked with Weir’s dramatic reading of the tour’s sole version of Bob Dylan ’s “A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall”, and the second set got off to an unconventional start with Mayer leading the band through a stand-alone version of “Sugaree”.

But from there, the band would head straight to 1969 and stay there for the rest of the set, and if you allow “Space” to be considered the equivalent to “Feedback”, they’d play the entire Live Dead  double album, slightly out of sequence and with the additions of “Drums” and “Casey Jones”. Once again, while it remains rare for Dead & Company to make clear and conscious nods to big, specific happenings from the Grateful Dead’s past, when it does happen the results tend to be pretty big as well.

October 12th – Atlanta, GA

For the third time in three Dead & Company shows at Lakewood, the show made our best-of-tour list. This one started with the best first set of the tour, which kicked off with 19 minutes of “Shakedown Street” and was later bolstered by the band’s then-and-there decision to try out the original, faster 1973 arrangement of “They Love Each Other” without ever having rehearsed it. It worked. But the second set eclipsed it, with an opener of “Playing In The Band” that segued into the first “Crazy Fingers” in two years.

After Mayer delivered his signature song “Althea”, the version of “China Cat Sunflower” > ”I Know You Rider” that followed lasted for an eye-popping 28 minutes, nearly three times the 10:35 duration of the Grateful Dead’s benchmark version from Europe ‘72 . Hart’s segment on The Beam at the conclusion of “Drums” was also the tour’s best, and with all of this it’s unsurprising that the band ran so late with their set that the gorgeous set-closing reprise of “Playing In The Band” would be the final number of the night. But by then, an encore wasn’t really necessary.

October 22nd – Denver, CO

After a first set that drew from six different eras of the Grateful Dead’s live repertoire, the second set kicked off with a stand-alone “Sugaree”. Once again it was a seemingly odd choice, just like it was in Deer Creek , but once again it would precede a continuous psychedelic blast that would last for the remainder of the set. This time, every song (including “Sugaree”) could have come from a Grateful Dead show from 1971, and the set’s centerpiece that was the highlight of the fall leg of the tour: a 45-minute excursion of “Dark Star” > “The Other One” > “Drums” > “Space” > “Dark Star” > “The Other One”.

Sets containing both of these open-ended classics were extremely rare after 1971 with the Grateful Dead, and it’s only happened a couple times before with Dead & Company, but this is the first instance we know of where either band played both songs and split them both in half in the same set. The band knew they’d nailed it all too, and they remained dialed-in for the “Wharf Rat” and “Sugar Magnolia” closers. Oh, and we almost forgot: Weir’s delivery of the “headlight” verse in “I Know You Rider” was the best one we can remember.

October 31st – Los Angeles, CA

Jay Lane had to sit in for Kreutzmann again on this night, but not for the first time; the band used the last night of the tour to stack the setlist and go for broke. The first set was highlighted by the opening “Samson & Delilah” and second-set-intensity versions of “Uncle John’s Band” and set-closer “Terrapin Station”. The second set closed out the tour with a list of favorites and stone-cold classics dished out with no-tomorrow energy, including opener “Althea”, a “Dark Star” > “El Paso” suite, and another strong “Eyes Of The World”. Following “Space”, the band dealt out the first uninterrupted “Scarlet Begonias” > “Fire On The Mountain” since the tour’s second show in Bristow back in August, and then follow it with a substantial “Morning Dew” to close the set. Enough classics for you? The only drawback was “Werewolves Of London” being cut from the encore because of the venue curfew, but by this point one could just blame it on the Dew and smile.

4 HONORABLE MENTIONS:

August 25th – Darien Lake, NY

This day started on a somber note for pretty much everyone who’s ever liked rock ‘n’ roll, as the sad news came from London that Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts had passed away the day before at the age of 80. The news wasn’t lost on the band, who debuted their version of the Stones’ classic “The Last Time” as the Grateful Dead’s Steal Your Face skull logo broadcast on the venue screens with the Rolling Stones’ tongue logo in place of the lightning bolt.

The overall vibe of the show also contained several nods to the time when the Rolling Stones were young men and the Grateful Dead were even younger: “Viola Lee Blues” and “Cold Rain and Snow” date back to the Dead’s earliest days when the Stones were a big influence, but they also didn’t shy away from playing “New Speedway Boogie”, the song that memorialized the one time the bands tried to play together, with disastrous results, at Altamont Speedway in December of 1969. All in all, it was the celebration of the backbeat of one of rock’s greatest bands while also acknowledging that same band’s dark and dangerous side. And, just being able to hear “Truckin’” in Buffalo again was a joyous little celebration all by itself. This show had the dark and the light in spades.

September 3rd – Mansfield, MA

Connecticut native and Berklee College of Music student John Mayer was excited and nostalgic about the trio of shows that took place in New England over Labor Day weekend (two at Great Woods in Massachusetts and one at Xfinity in Connecticut), and the second night of Great Woods would just barely outpace the other two in a strong weekend of shows. The first set featured no fewer than four songs with Mayer on lead vocals (“Cold Rain & Snow”, “Dire Wolf”, and “Sugaree” on his own, plus shared vocals with Weir on “Mississippi Half-Step”), followed by a second set that allowed numerous opportunities for Mayer to run wild as a player, including the big second set jam that started with “Truckin’” and ended over an hour later with “Morning Dew”. To wrap it up, Mayer would team up with Weir to belt out a perfectly-timed “U.S. Blues” encore to send everyone back out into the Massachusetts night.

September 13th – St. Louis, MO

The timing of this show ended up coinciding pretty closely with the announcement of the Grateful Dead’s Listen To The River box set, featuring seven complete shows played in St. Louis from 1971 to 1973. And setlist assembler Matt Busch made sure to take note of the location with “Big River” and “Black-Throated Wind” and their direct references to St. Louis making the first set, and St. Louis native Chuck Berry ’s signature song “Johnny B. Goode” would get its sole airing of the tour as the encore. In between, the second set had a decidedly late-1978 vibe to it, with a “Bertha” > “Good Lovin” opener, and a mid-set “Shakedown Street” before “Terrapin Station” begat “Drums”, with “Wharf Rat and “Sugar Magnolia” serving as the two post-“Space” set closers.

October 23rd – Denver, CO

Numerous shows on the tour were consistently strong from start to finish, but this final of the four shows in Colorado (and the fourth with Lane filling in for Kreutzmann) had that little something extra the whole way through that sets it apart. The first set nestled five classic 1970’s Garcia/Hunter songs (“Shakedown Street”, “Ship Of Fools”, “Brown-Eyed Women”, “Crazy Fingers”, and “Here Comes Sunshine”) in between two of the late Jerry Garcia’s most reliable Grateful Dead covers in “Iko Iko” and “Going Down The Road Feeling Bad”. Following that, the second set’s otherness came from the unusual turns in the jams in the opening “Truckin’” and the all-three-verse version of “Viola Lee Blues” that followed, with late-show highlights coming in the from of “Cumberland Blues” and a mesmerizing “Stella Blue”.

Dead & Company’s next shows take place from January 7th–10th and January 13th–16th, 2022 at the annual Playing In The Sand event in Cancun, Mexico. Get more information here .

'Crushed': Grateful Dead themed music fest canceled with no refunds 10 days before event

Deadheads are venting their anger about the last-minute cancelation with no refunds, calling the skull & roses festival in ventura, california, the new fyre fest..

Not only will you not be able to sing the lyrics to your favorite Grateful Dead songs alongside fellow Deadheads at the Skull & Roses festival, but you also probably won’t get a refund, either. 

Chris Mitrovich, founder of the annual Grateful Dead-themed music festival, said Tuesday that “SKULL & ROSES 6” was canceled, citing “financial devastation from the 2023 show.” The four-day festival was set to kick off on April 19 in Ventura, a city on the California coast just northwest of Los Angeles.

Mitrovich says the loss from last year’s festival, which has been held annually since 2017, “made it impossible to sustain the weight of the new production.” 

“We have maintained hope and exhausted every imaginable possibility, right up to this very moment," he said. "It has now become clear, however, that we have reached the end of the line. All the cards are down and there’s nothing left to see."

Here’s what we know. 

No refunds available, additional details will be shared later

Skull & Roses organizers noted that while they “sincerely wished” they could refund fans for all available purchases, they do not have the ability to do so. 

Tickets and hotels are not included in the “available purchases” they wish they could refund since they were “non-refundable.” 

“Additional information will be provided just as soon as it becomes available and will be posted through our socials and at www.SKULLANDROSES.com ,” according to the post. 

Single-day tickets began at $60 for general admission and $600 for VIP passes. Concert and hotel packages were going for upwards of $2,000, according to reporting by the San Francisco Chronicle ,

This isn’t the first time the Skull & Roses music festival has been canceled. That happened in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. But that time, organizers made a concerted effort to ensure refunds were available for all ticket holders, according to reporting by SF Gate. 

Deadheads express anger online, saying it was ‘Fyre Festival' all over again

Fans expressed their frustration with organizers in a Grateful Dead subreddit , saying that the cancellation would result in a number of lawsuits. 

“They just screwed over a lot of peoples time 10 days out of an event," @RowdydidWrong wrote. "All those bands that were booked, made travel arrangements, all the fans. The future doesn't hold anything if this is how that goes down. Who would ever book with these folks again?”

Another user, @dravenstone, wrote that they were absolutely “crushed” by the cancelation, writing: “We have house sitters locked down, time off of work set, a road trip planned, a hotel booked, the works - not to mention a long weekend of amazing music that is now, apparently much like the money we spent for the passes … Gone.” 

Another user wrote: “Credit card chargebacks, folks!” 

Other Deadheads confirmed that they got the same email, with @iam_santa, writing: “Was hoping it was some kind of scam, but it seems it's not. Really frickin' lame that we were notified 10 day before the show. The no refunds (expletive) is the real kicker.” 

A couple other users compared the situation to Fyre Festival , writing that “the world of festival promotion continues to get shadier and shadier. Everyone watched the Fyre Fest documentary and was like ‘Wait, it’s that easy?’" 

A Grateful Dead tribute festival was canceled last-minute, and organizers say they can’t issue refunds

If there’s anything that can harsh the mellow of “Dead Heads,” it’s probably this.

On Tuesday, the founder of Skull & Roses, a Grateful Dead tribute festival that was set to be held in Ventura next weekend, announced it had been canceled. In the same announcement, it was noted that those who purchased tickets won’t get their money back.

“With deep sorrow I must inform you that SKULL & ROSES 6 has been canceled,” a statement signed by festival founder Chris Mitrovich reads in part. “In all transparency, the financial devastation of the 2023 show has made it impossible to sustain the weight of the new production.”

It was not immediately clear what the “financial devastation” relating to last year’s show was, but the 2024 show was canceled just 10 days before the first day was set to kick off. The festival had been held at the Ventura County Fairgrounds each year since it began in 2017.

While the news of the cancelation was likely bad enough for fans, the statement also informed ticket holders that they won’t be receiving refunds.

“While tickets and hotels were sold on a non-refundable basis, we sincerely wish that funds were available to refund all purchases,” the statement says. “Unfortunately, this is simply not the case at this time.”

According to the San Francisco Chronicle , tickets started at $60 for a single-day general admission pass and $600 for VIP.

Reddit users on the Grateful Dead subreddit report that they’ve been able to successfully refund tickets purchased through Eventbrite , a ticket sales website.

The three-day festival was set to include Grateful Dead-adjacent acts like Golden Gate Wingmen, Sage & Spirits and Dark Star Orchestra. It was not immediately clear if the scheduled acts would still be compensated.

Mitrovich said the future of the festival beyond 2024 was unclear.

While comments were turned off for the Instagram announcement of the cancellation, some Dead Heads on the Facebook post had strong words.

“So you sold tickets that you knew in advance you couldn’t honor. Why? So you could pay for last year,” said Jeff Cable. “Liars. Thieves.”

With the festival being a travel destination for some, the lost costs go further than just the price of tickets.

“So, what’s happening in Ventura that weekend,” said Stephen A. Collins Jr. “I still have a (non-refundable) plane ticket.”

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.

Screen Rant

Is the martin scorsese-jonah hill grateful dead biopic still happening: cast & everything we know.

AppleTV+ announced a Grateful Dead biopic directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Jonah Hill over two years ago, but why hasn't there been more news?

• Scorsese's anticipated Grateful Dead biopic with Jonah Hill remains uncertain, overshadowed by Hill's recent controversies and Scorsese's other projects.
• Despite the lack of updates, Hill's potential portrayal of Jerry Garcia and the film's exploration of the band's impact adds intrigue to the biopic's potential.
• Scorsese's fascination with human nature and societal underbellies, along with Hill's evolving talent, could make their collaboration on the Grateful Dead movie a compelling and multi-dimensional experience.

In 2021, AppleTV+ announced a Martin Scorsese -directed Grateful Dead biopic starring Jonah Hill, but there have been few updates since. Scorsese has long enthralled audiences with a filmography that reads like a guide to cinema's most impactful narratives. From the gritty streets of New York in Taxi Driver to the psychological labyrinths of Shutter Island , Scorsese's best movies weave complex characters and intricate plots, cementing his status as one of the all-time greats. His 2023 venture, Killers of the Flower Moon , showcases his enduring prowess in harnessing the medium's power to explore the depths of human nature and society's underbelly.

Jonah Hill, whose career trajectory has seen a remarkable evolution from comedy to compelling drama, notably in his role as Donnie Azoff in Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street , has demonstrated an uncanny ability to inhabit and bring to life complex characters. This role, among others, has solidified his place as a formidable talent in the industry, adept at navigating both the light-hearted and the profound. It's this versatility and depth that makes the prospect of Hill's collaboration with Scorsese a tantalizing proposition for both Grateful Dead fans and cinephiles alike.

This Canceled Movie Could've Been Scorsese & DiCaprio's Most Messed-Up Project Yet

The grateful dead biopic latest news, hill & scorsese were scene dining together in october 2023.

In a recent sighting in October 2023, Scorsese and Hill were observed dining together in Brentwood (via Daily Mail ), sparking speculation among fans and media alike about the nature of their discussion. However, while it could pertain to the anticipated Grateful Dead movie, the lack of concrete updates leaves room for conjecture on whether it was a different project or a casual meeting between two collaborators. Scorsese could have offered him a role in The Wager or even his movie about Jesus.

Complicating matters, Jonah Hill's recent controversies, including accusations of emotional abuse and inappropriate behavior (via Forbes ), have cast a shadow over the Grateful Dead biopic. The industry's response to such allegations, emphasizing the importance of ethical conduct and respect, could potentially influence the development and casting decisions for high-profile projects like the biopic. Such allegations could even end a movie's development.

The Grateful Dead Biopic Is Confirmed (But It’s On The Backburner)

Scorsese will direct the wager & a movie about jesus first.

Officially announced in November 2021, the Grateful Dead biopic, set to unite Martin Scorsese and Jonah Hill once more, has stirred considerable excitement. However, details have since been sparse, and the project appears not to be Scorsese's immediate focus. Instead, the esteemed director's attention is turned towards the Leonardo DiCaprio-starring The Wager , which is about a British Royal Navy Ship that wrecked in the 1700s.

Beyond this, Scorsese has hinted at a keen interest in developing a film about Jesus , much in the vein of his previous work on religious and existential dilemmas, and suggesting a continued exploration of themes that have pervaded his oeuvre. Given that Scorsese has spoken about the movie more passionately and more recently than the Grateful Dead project, the biopic is likely on hold, awaiting its turn in Scorsese's packed schedule of ambitious undertakings.

There is currently no official Grateful Dead biopic release date.

Every Leonardo DiCaprio Character In A Martin Scorsese Movie, Ranked

10 martin scorsese projects that never got made, the grateful dead biopic cast, jonah hill will play frontman jerry garcia.

If the Grateful Dead movie enters development, Jonah Hill is set to portray Jerry Garcia , the Grateful Dead's iconic frontman, in a casting choice that speaks volumes about the film's direction. Garcia, known for his distinctive guitar skills and philosophical approach to music and life, remains a figure of immense influence and admiration. Hill's demonstrated range and depth as an actor suggest he could capture the essence of Garcia's complex personality and even bring a slight comedic edge to Garcia's sometimes eccentric personality.

10 Best Jonah Hill Movies, According to Letterboxd

The grateful dead biopic story, the story could focus on a specific epoch of the band's history.

The scope of the Grateful Dead biopic remains a subject of speculation , but the band's history is rich with moments of musical innovation, cultural significance, and personal drama. Whether the film will focus on a specific epoch in the band's journey, such as their formation in the 1960s and the counterculture movement they helped define, or attempt a more comprehensive, decades-spanning narrative akin to recent biopics like Elvis and Bohemian Rhapsody , remains to be seen.

A Grateful Dead biopic could weave through the tapestry of American culture, exploring not just the band's musical journey but also its indelible impact on society, art, and the collective consciousness of multiple generations.

Martin Scorsese's Grateful Dead biopic could weave through the tapestry of American culture, exploring not just the band's musical journey but also their indelible impact on society, art, and the collective consciousness of multiple generations. The Grateful Dead, more than just a band, embodied a lifestyle, and a philosophical stance towards life and freedom that resonated with the counterculture movement of the 1960s and beyond.

Sources: Daily Mail , Forbes

• Moscow Tours
• Customized tours
• Moscow for kids
• Evening activities
• Moscow evening activities
• St Petersburg evening activities
• Day trips out of Moscow
• Golden Ring tours
• St Petersburg tours
• Russian tour destinations
• Package tours
• Moscow highlights
• Travel Tips
• Upcoming group tours
• Moscow events

The wonders of Moscow metro

Request form

We use cookies to improve your experience on our website, and to facilitate providing you with services available through our website. By continuing to use our website, you accept our use of cookies, the terms of our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service . I agree

World's Oldest Conjoined Twins Lori and George Schappell Dead at 62

Famous Besties At Coachella ... Desert Vibes Only!!!

Bill Maher Drills Down on 'Star Trek's Controversial Interracial Kiss

What's The Big Frigin' Difference?!

Shakira Announces World Tour During Surprise Coachella Performance

The world-renowned Coachella Valley Music Festival kicked off in the desert this weekend, and you can bet your bottom dollar on these Hollywood Hotties to turn up with their sidekicks for music's trendiest festival!

Riding into the desert HOT, David Dobrik and Noah Beck stopped for a classic Coachella Ferris Wheel selfie, Lele Pons and Hannah Stocking brought their Bestie Game in matching metallic drip crop tops, and "Vanderpump Rules" star Ariana Madix planted a friendly smooch on her sidekick Dayna Kathan !

Check out our Coachella gallery and see all the famous besties livin' their best desert dreams and music scenes through the years!

• Share on Facebook

related articles

Ballin' Celeb Hot Shots ... March Madness!!!

Celebs Vacaying In Aspen ... Say It Ain't Snow!

Old news is old news be first.

• Entertainment
• Celebrities
• Ticket Sales
• Promoted: What to Watch on Prime Video

trending now

Clint Eastwood, 93, spotted in rare appearance with Jane Goodall...

Dad of Florida cruise passenger, 20, who jumped off cruise ship...

Jersey Shore teacher charged with having sex with her student in...

Porsche-driving LI squatters evicted by sheriff's deputies who...

Mom killed in Sydney mall stabbing spree threw wounded infant to...

Michael Strahan's daughter Isabella undergoes third brain...

Teen mom who left newborn daughter to die in NJ park seeks...

Gordon Ramsay's $16.1M London pub taken over by squatters:...

We found cheap tickets to see maroon 5 with maren morris this summer.

• View Author Archive
• Get author RSS feed

Thanks for contacting us. We've received your submission.

A Las Vegas residency and a handful of festival headlining gigs wasn’t enough for Maroon 5 this year.

From June 21 through July 3 — sandwiched in between residency and festival dates — Adam Levine and co. are striking out on a mini seven-concert tour with special guest Maren Morris .

Along the way, the “Moves Like Jagger” group are slated to stop into Holmdel, NJ’s PNC Bank Arts Center on Saturday, June 29 and Wantagh, NY’s Jones Beach Theater on Wednesday, July 3.

As of Friday, April 12, tickets are available for all recently announced East Coast shows.

Some are quite affordable, too.

At the time of publication, we found seats going for as low as $51 before fees on Vivid Seats.

Other East Coast concerts start anywhere from $52 to $98 before fees.

Want to catch Maroon 5 in Las Vegas, the East Coast or at a festival this year?

We’ve got everything you need to know and more about Maroon 5 live shows in 2024 below.

All prices listed above are subject to fluctuation.

Maroon 5 ticket prices 2024

A complete calendar of all Maroon 5 residency, tour and festival dates along with venues and lowest ticket prices can be found here:

(Note: The New York Post confirmed all above prices at the publication time. All prices are in US dollars, subject to fluctuation and include additional fees at checkout .)

Vivid Seats is a verified secondary market ticketing platform, and prices may be higher or lower than face value, depending on demand. 

They offer a 100% buyer guarantee that states your transaction will be safe and secure and your tickets will be delivered prior to the event.

Maroon 5 festival appearances 2024

As noted earlier, Maroon 5 is lending their talents to a number of high-profile multi-day musical extravaganzas.

Here’s everything you need to know about each festival on their 2024 itinerary:

Maroon 5 Las Vegas residency

On and off from May through October, Maroon 5 will bring their ‘M5LV The Residency’ to Las Vegas’ Dolby Live at Park MGM.

“I’m really looking forward to doing it again and honestly could never have told you that before we started,” Levine, 44, told  People . “I went into it with an open mind and a good attitude, but I was actually shocked at how much I enjoyed it.”

Maren Morris solo tour 2024

In addition to the brief jaunt with Maroon 5, Maren Morris is striking out on a tour of her own as well this year.

The popular country star has gigs lined up all over North America from May through July.

Want to see if she’s headed to a venue near you?

You can find Maren Morris’ summer 2024 tour schedule here .

Maroon 5 set list

Although we can’t guarantee what the band will play this year, our team found what Maroon 5 performed at their final 2023 show at Park MGM’s Dolby Live.

Here are the 21 cuts they took to the stage that night, courtesy of  Set List FM .

01.) “Animals” 02.) “One More Night” 03.) “This Love” 04.) “Stereo Hearts” (Gym Class Heroes cover) 05.) “Harder to Breathe” 06.) “Lucky Strike” 07.) “Sunday Morning” 08.) “Payphone” 09.) “What Lovers Do” 10.) “Makes Me Wonder” 11.) “I Wanna Be Your Lover” (Prince cover) 12.) “Heavy” (PJ Morton song) 13.) “Maps” 14.) “Memories” 15.) “Don’t Wanna Know” 16.) “Love Somebody” 17.) “Moves Like Jagger” 18.) “Stayin’ Alive” (Bee Gees cover)

19.) “She Will Be Loved” 20.) “Girls Like You” 21.) “Sugar”

Maroon 5 new music

In 2023, Maroon 5 dropped just one single.

“Middle Ground,” an earnest ballad, can be heard  here .

As for their next album, Levine said it’s on the way.

“We’re always working on music, but there’s some stuff we’re working on now that we’re absolutely in love with,” he shared with People. “At this point, we don’t want to release anything until we’re happy.”

How to get to Las Vegas to see Maroon 5

In the event you’re now planning a Vegas trip around catching Adam Levine, Jesse Carmichael, James Valentine, Matt Flynn, PJ Morton and Sam Farrar live at the Dolby Theater next year, we recommend securing your flights and hotel plans via  Expedia .

If you want to snoop around the web and check out other room and board alternatives,  Hotels.com  might be the way to see what else the market has to offer.

Huge stars on tour in 2024

Maroon 5 not headed to a venue near you in the near future?

We recommend checking out these five acts similar to Maroon 5 that are on the road this year.

•  Justin Timberlake

•  AJR

• Jason Mraz

•  Ben Folds

•  Niall Horan

Who else is on tour? Check out our list of the 50 biggest concert tours in 2024 to find out.

Why Trust Post Wanted by the New York Post

This article was written by Matt Levy, New York Post live events reporter. Levy stays up-to-date on all the latest tour announcements for your favorite musical artists and comedians, as well as Broadway openings, sporting events and more live shows – and finds great ticket prices online. Since he started his tenure at the Post in 2022, Levy has reviewed Bruce Springsteen and interviewed Melissa Villaseñor of SNL fame, to name a few. Please note that deals can expire, and all prices are subject to change.

Share this article:

Moscow Metro Tour

• Page active

Description

Moscow metro private tours.

• 2-hour tour $87:  10 Must-See Moscow Metro stations with hotel pick-up and drop-off
• 3-hour tour $137:  20 Must-See Moscow Metro stations with Russian lunch in beautifully-decorated Metro Diner + hotel pick-up and drop off. 
• Metro pass is included in the price of both tours.

Highlight of Metro Tour

• Visit 10 must-see stations of Moscow metro on 2-hr tour and 20 Metro stations on 3-hr tour, including grand Komsomolskaya station with its distinctive Baroque décor, aristocratic Mayakovskaya station with Soviet mosaics, legendary Revolution Square station with 72 bronze sculptures and more!
• Explore Museum of Moscow Metro and learn a ton of technical and historical facts;
• Listen to the secrets about the Metro-2, a secret line supposedly used by the government and KGB;
• Experience a selection of most striking features of Moscow Metro hidden from most tourists and even locals;
• Discover the underground treasure of Russian Soviet past – from mosaics to bronzes, paintings, marble arches, stained glass and even paleontological elements;
• Learn fun stories and myths about Coffee Ring, Zodiac signs of Moscow Metro and more;
• Admire Soviet-era architecture of pre- and post- World War II perious;
• Enjoy panoramic views of Sparrow Hills from Luzhniki Metro Bridge – MetroMost, the only station of Moscow Metro located over water and the highest station above ground level;
• If lucky, catch a unique «Aquarelle Train» – a wheeled picture gallery, brightly painted with images of peony, chrysanthemums, daisies, sunflowers and each car unit is unique;
• Become an expert at navigating the legendary Moscow Metro system;
• Have fun time with a very friendly local;
• + Atmospheric Metro lunch in Moscow’s the only Metro Diner (included in a 3-hr tour)

Hotel Pick-up

Metro stations:.

Komsomolskaya

Novoslobodskaya

Prospekt Mira

Belorusskaya

Mayakovskaya

Novokuznetskaya

Revolution Square

Sparrow Hills

+ for 3-hour tour

Victory Park

Slavic Boulevard

Vystavochnaya

Dostoevskaya

Elektrozavodskaya

Partizanskaya

Museum of Moscow Metro

• Drop-off  at your hotel, Novodevichy Convent, Sparrow Hills or any place you wish
• + Russian lunch  in Metro Diner with artistic metro-style interior for 3-hour tour

Fun facts from our Moscow Metro Tours:

From the very first days of its existence, the Moscow Metro was the object of civil defense, used as a bomb shelter, and designed as a defense for a possible attack on the Soviet Union.

At a depth of 50 to 120 meters lies the second, the coded system of Metro-2 of Moscow subway, which is equipped with everything you need, from food storage to the nuclear button.

According to some sources, the total length of Metro-2 reaches over 150 kilometers.

The Museum was opened on Sportivnaya metro station on November 6, 1967. It features the most interesting models of trains and stations.

Coffee Ring

The first scheme of Moscow Metro looked like a bunch of separate lines. Listen to a myth about Joseph Stalin and the main brown line of Moscow Metro.

Zodiac Metro

According to some astrologers, each of the 12 stops of the Moscow Ring Line corresponds to a particular sign of the zodiac and divides the city into astrological sector.

Astrologers believe that being in a particular zadiac sector of Moscow for a long time, you attract certain energy and events into your life.

Paleontological finds 

Red marble walls of some of the Metro stations hide in themselves petrified inhabitants of ancient seas. Try and find some!

• Every day each car in  Moscow metro passes  more than 600 km, which is the distance from Moscow to St. Petersburg.
• Moscow subway system is the  5th in the intensity  of use (after the subways of Beijing, Tokyo, Seoul and Shanghai).
• The interval in the movement of trains in rush hour is  90 seconds .

What you get:

• + A friend in Moscow.
• + Private & customized Moscow tour.
• + An exciting pastime, not just boring history lessons.
• + An authentic experience of local life.
• + Flexibility during the walking tour: changes can be made at any time to suit individual preferences.
• + Amazing deals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner in the very best cafes & restaurants. Discounts on weekdays (Mon-Fri).
• + A photo session amongst spectacular Moscow scenery that can be treasured for a lifetime.
• + Good value for souvenirs, taxis, and hotels.
• + Expert advice on what to do, where to go, and how to make the most of your time in Moscow.

Write your review

Claudia Looi

Touring the Top 10 Moscow Metro Stations

By Claudia Looi 2 Comments

Komsomolskaya metro station looks like a museum. It has vaulted ceilings and baroque decor.

Hidden underground, in the heart of Moscow, are historical and architectural treasures of Russia. These are Soviet-era creations – the metro stations of Moscow.

Our guide Maria introduced these elaborate metro stations as “the palaces for the people.” Built between 1937 and 1955, each station holds its own history and stories. Stalin had the idea of building beautiful underground spaces that the masses could enjoy. They would look like museums, art centers, concert halls, palaces and churches. Each would have a different theme. None would be alike.

The two-hour private tour was with a former Intourist tour guide named Maria. Maria lived in Moscow all her life and through the communist era of 60s to 90s. She has been a tour guide for more than 30 years. Being in her 60s, she moved rather quickly for her age. We traveled and crammed with Maria and other Muscovites on the metro to visit 10 different metro stations.

Arrow showing the direction of metro line 1 and 2

Moscow subways are very clean

To Maria, every street, metro and building told a story. I couldn’t keep up with her stories. I don’t remember most of what she said because I was just thrilled being in Moscow.   Added to that, she spilled out so many Russian words and names, which to one who can’t read Cyrillic, sounded so foreign and could be easily forgotten.

The metro tour was the first part of our all day tour of Moscow with Maria. Here are the stations we visited:

1. Komsomolskaya Metro Station  is the most beautiful of them all. Painted yellow and decorated with chandeliers, gold leaves and semi precious stones, the station looks like a stately museum. And possibly decorated like a palace. I saw Komsomolskaya first, before the rest of the stations upon arrival in Moscow by train from St. Petersburg.

2. Revolution Square Metro Station (Ploshchad Revolyutsii) has marble arches and 72 bronze sculptures designed by Alexey Dushkin. The marble arches are flanked by the bronze sculptures. If you look closely you will see passersby touching the bronze dog's nose. Legend has it that good luck comes to those who touch the dog's nose.

Touch the dog's nose for good luck. At the Revolution Square station

Revolution Square Metro Station

3. Arbatskaya Metro Station served as a shelter during the Soviet-era. It is one of the largest and the deepest metro stations in Moscow.

Arbatskaya Metro Station

4. Biblioteka Imeni Lenina Metro Station was built in 1935 and named after the Russian State Library. It is located near the library and has a big mosaic portrait of Lenin and yellow ceramic tiles on the track walls.

Lenin's portrait at the Biblioteka Imeni Lenina Metro Station

5. Kievskaya Metro Station was one of the first to be completed in Moscow. Named after the capital city of Ukraine by Kiev-born, Nikita Khruschev, Stalin's successor.

Kievskaya Metro Station

6. Novoslobodskaya Metro Station  was built in 1952. It has 32 stained glass murals with brass borders.

Novoslobodskaya metro station

7. Kurskaya Metro Station was one of the first few to be built in Moscow in 1938. It has ceiling panels and artwork showing Soviet leadership, Soviet lifestyle and political power. It has a dome with patriotic slogans decorated with red stars representing the Soviet's World War II Hall of Fame. Kurskaya Metro Station is a must-visit station in Moscow.

Ceiling panel and artworks at Kurskaya Metro Station

8. Mayakovskaya Metro Station built in 1938. It was named after Russian poet Vladmir Mayakovsky. This is one of the most beautiful metro stations in the world with 34 mosaics painted by Alexander Deyneka.

Mayakovskaya station

One of the over 30 ceiling mosaics in Mayakovskaya metro station

9. Belorusskaya Metro Station is named after the people of Belarus. In the picture below, there are statues of 3 members of the Partisan Resistance in Belarus during World War II. The statues were sculpted by Sergei Orlov, S. Rabinovich and I. Slonim.

10. Teatralnaya Metro Station (Theatre Metro Station) is located near the Bolshoi Theatre.

Teatralnaya Metro Station decorated with porcelain figures .

Taking the metro's escalator at the end of the tour with Maria the tour guide.

Have you visited the Moscow Metro? Leave your comment below.

January 15, 2017 at 8:17 am

An excellent read! Thanks for much for sharing the Russian metro system with us. We're heading to Moscow in April and exploring the metro stations were on our list and after reading your post, I'm even more excited to go visit them. Thanks again 🙂

December 6, 2017 at 10:45 pm

Hi, do you remember which tour company you contacted for this tour?

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Please go to the Instagram Feed settings page to create a feed.