Grateful Dead - 1979-09-06 - Madison Square Garden, New York, NY (SBD)

Grateful Dead

1979-09-06

Madison Square Garden

New York, NY

Soundboard Matrix Recording

320 kbps

Artwork Included

1st Set

01. New Minglewood Blues

02. Dire Wolf

03. El Paso

04. Brown Eyed Women

05. It's All Over Now

06. Don't Ease Me In

07. Looks Like Rain

08. Althea

09. Lost Sailor >

10. Saint of Circumstance

2nd Set

01. China Cat Sunflower >

02. I Know You Rider

03. Easy To Love You

04. Ramble On Rose

05. Terrapin Station >

06. Playin'In The Band >

07. Drums>

08. Space>

09. Not Fade Away >

10. Stella Blue >

11. Sugar Magnolia

Encore

01. Johnny B. Goode  

Grateful Dead - 1979-09-06 - Madison Square Garden, New York, NY (SBD)

Grateful Dead 1979 - Back To Back To Back - #3:  As promised yesterday, here's the final show in our Back to Back to Back set featuring the Grateful Dead at Madison Square Garden in the fall of 1979. This one is a soundboard recording from September 6, 1979, 41 years ago today. I had interesting seats for this one, sitting in a section where reporters would have sat for a hockey or basketball game. More interesting than my seats was that the house lights were on for most of the first set. I found out later that the lights were on for security reasons as Jerry had received a death threat. Of course, Garcia responded by singing Dire Wolf, with the line "don't murder me", which broke the tension and the lights finally were turned off! 

Grateful Dead - 1979-09-05 - Madison Square Garden, New York, NY (SBD)

Grateful Dead
1979-09-05
Madison Square Garden
New York, NY
Soundboard Recording
320 kbps
Artwork Included

1st Set:
01. Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo >
02. Franklin's Tower
03. Mama Tried >
04. Mexicali Blues
05. Peggy-O
06. Cassidy
07. Loser
08. The Promised Land

2nd Set:
01. Tuning
02. Scarlet Begonias >
03. Fire On The Mountain
04. Estimated Prophet >
05. Eyes Of The World >
06. Drums >
07. Space >
08. Black Peter >
09. I Need A Miracle >
10. Bertha >
11. Good Lovin'

Encore:
01. U.S. Blues

Grateful Dead - 1979-09-05 - Madison Square Garden, New York, NY (SBD)

Grateful Dead 1979 - Back To Back To Back - #2:  As promised yesterday, here's the middle show in our Back to Back to Back set featuring the Grateful Dead at Madison Square Garden in the fall of 1979. This one is a soundboard recording from September 5, 1979, 41 years ago today.  Download this one, then come back tomorrow for the final show in this Back to Back To Back set. 

Grateful Dead - 1979-09-04 - Madison Square Garden, New York, NY (SBD)

Grateful Dead

1979-09-04

Madison Square Garden

New York, NY

Soundboard Recording

320 kbps

Artwork Included

1st Set:

01. Jack Straw

02. Sugaree

03. Me And My Uncle >

04. Big River

05. Candyman

06. New Minglewood Blues

07. Tennessee Jed

08. Lost Sailor >

09. Saint Of Circumstance >

10. Deal

2nd Set:

01. Tuning

02. China Cat Sunflower >

03. I Know You Rider

04. Looks Like Rain

05. He's Gone >

06. Drums >

07. Space >

08. Wharf Rat >

09. Around And Around

Encore:

01. Shakedown Street

Grateful Dead - 1979-09-04 - Madison Square Garden, New York, NY (SBD)

Grateful Dead 1979 - Back To Back To Back - #1: After 14 years as a band, in 1979 the Grateful Dead did something for the first time - they played Madison Square Garden in New York City.  In some ways, that's hard to believe. Here's a band that played at Monterrey Pop, Woodstock, and Watkins Glenn (the only band to play that trifecta!) and performed in front over over a 150,000 fans at Englishtown, the largest concert crowd in NJ history, yet they hadn't yet played at the "World's Most Famous Arena". Given the Dead's penchant for following their own path, however, perhaps not debuting at the Garden until almost a decade and a half as band isn't all that surprising.  In any event, the Dead played 5 concerts at MSG in 1979 - 2 in January on the 7th and 8th and then 3 in September on the 4th, 5th and 6th,  I was at both the January 8 and the September 6 performances. At the January shows, Keith & Donna Jean Godchaux were both still part of the Grateful Dead,  Come the September run, they were long gone and Brent Mydland had stepped in on keyboards and backing vocals.  So, the September shows saw a band working on establishing a new sound and tone. This soundboard recording captures the first of the 3 fall shows, on September 4, 1979, 41 years ago today.  Download this one, then come back tomorrow and the next day for parts 2 and 3 of this Back to Back To Back set. 

By the way, the Dead most certainly made up for lost time at MSG - they would play 47 more shows at the venue from 1981 to 1994, making for a total of 52, which at the time was the record for the most by any band at The Garden (that record has since been surpassed by Billy Joel, Elton John and Phish).  Of those 47, 2 were in March 1981, and the rest were in the fall  - 2 in September 1982, 2 in October 1983, 5 in September 1987, 9 in September 1988, 6 in September 1990, 9 in September 1991, 6 in September 1993 and 6 in October 1994 (The 9 shows runs by the way,were also a record at the time, later surpassed by Bruce Springsteen with 10, Billy Joel with 12 and Phish with 13). One part of being a Dead Head of the East Coast was that the sadness you felt about as Summer turned to Fall, was offset by the excitement in knowing that it was time for the band to be back in town. I made the most of those opportunities, attending 29 shows at MSG, 27 of which were during those legendary fall runs.  And the count at Garden (and my total as well) would have been higher except for some very unfortunate circumstances. In 1992, they were forced to cancel 6 shows at the Worlds Most Famous Arena due to Garcia's 2nd major illness (go here to see all fall tour dates that were cancelled). And, in 1995, when the long strange trip came to an end with Garcia's passing in August, another 6 MSG shows were cancelled (go here for the fall 1995 tour that never was). For the San Francisco based Dead, New York, and especially Madison Square Garden, was like a home away from home.

Bob Weir & Ratdog - 1995-09-03 - Laytonville CA (SBD)

Bob Weir & Ratdog

1995-09-03

Black Oak Ranch

Laytonville, CA

Soundboard Recording

320 kbps

Artwork Included

01. Intro

02. Twilight Time

03. Blackbird

04. City Girls >

05. Fever

06. Bombs Away >

07. Take Me to the River

08. Juke

09. Good Morning Little Schoolgirl

10. It's A Man's World

11. Little Red Rooster

12. Eternity

13. This Time Forever >

14. Shade of Grey >

15. The Winners >

16. Easy to Slip >

17. Bass >

18. Drums >

19. Josephine

Encore:

01. Knockin on Heaven's Door

Bob Weir & Ratdog - 1995-09-03 - Laytonville CA (SBD)

Ratdog 1995 - Back to Back To Back - #3:  As promised, here's the 3rd and final post in our Back to Back to Back set featuring Bob Weir & Ratdog in 1995, just about a month after the death of Jerry Garcia.  This soundboard  recording captures Ratdog in Laytonville on September 3, 1995, 25 years ago today.  Download this one, then come back tomorrow for the lat show in this set.

Bob Weir & Ratdog - 1995-09-02 - San Francisco CA (SBD + Ex Aud)

Bob Weir & Ratdog

1995-09-02

Warfield Theater  

San Francisco, CA 

Soundboard + Excellent Audience Recording

320 kbps

Artwork Included

01. intro/tuning*

02. Walking Blues*

03. Take Me to the River*

04. Juke*

05. Little Red Rooster

06. Every Little Light

07. Twilight Time

08. KC Moan

09. Maggie's Farm*

10. It Should Have Been Me*

11. Fever*

12. Youngblood*

13. Eternity >

14. The Winners >

15. Heaven Help The Fool >

16. Drums>

17. Bass Solo >

18. Victim Or The Crime >

19. Throwing Stones

Encore:

01. Its A Man's World#

02. Wang Dang Doodle#

03. Knockin' on Heaven's Door*

*excellent Audience Source

# with Henry Kaiser on guitar

Bob Weir & Ratdog - 1995-09-02 - San Francisco CA (SBD + Ex Aud)

Ratdog 1995 - Back to Back To Back - #2:  As promised, here's the 2nd  post in our Back to Back to Back set featuring Bob Weir & Ratdog in 1995, just about a month after the death of Jerry Garcia. This soundboard and excellent audience recording captures Ratdog in San Francisco on September 2, 1995, 25 years ago today.  Download this one, then come back tomorrow for the lat show in this set.

ON SALE - SEPTEMBER 2 to 4 - TEN RULES OF THE ROAD I LEARNED AT MY FIRST CONCERT AN ORDINARY GUY'S LIFETIME OF LIVE ROCK & ROLL

Pre-Labor Day Sale - buy to read at the beach on the last weekend of Summer!

• US Kindle edition for only $5.99 on September 2! - Save $2.00 (26% off)

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Buy early to get the best deal!

Go HERE to purchase it in US.  

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Ten Rules Of The Road That I Learned At My First Concert is one ordinary guy's saga of 160 concerts over the last 44 years:

"From scalping tickets to catch Captain Fantastic at the height of his success to missing the opportunity to see Sir Paul close down Shea Stadium; from meeting one band in the middle of 43rd street to watching another play in a parking lot; from seeing a crowd throw objects at an amateur lead-in band to hearing two legends, Macca and Bruce, play "I Saw Her Standing There" - twice; from never seeing Van Morrison play "Someone Like You" to having him surprise us all with a rendition of "Send In The Clowns"; from attending a concert that never started to being at a show that we wouldn’t let end; the “Ten Rules Of The Road” have marked the moments of my journey from August 15, 1976 right through today."

EN RULES OF THE ROAD I LEARNED AT MY FIRST CONCERT

An Ordinary Guy’s Lifetime Of Live Rock & Roll

Table of Contents

Dedications

Before The Rules

• Back When It All Began

The Ten Rules

• Introduction
• Rule #1: You Can’t Get Good Seats, But The Scalpers Can
• Rule #2: Expect The Unexpected On The Way To Or From The Show
• Rule #3: No Concert Ever Starts On Time
• Rule #4: Rejoice - There Is No Opening Act
• Rule #5: Rock Concerts Are Rarely Played At A Venue Meant For Music
• Rule #6: Enjoy The Special Guests - They’re a Rare Event
• Rule #7: The Set List - The Bad News - The Band Will Never Play Everything You Want To Hear
• Rule #8: The Set List - The Good News - The Band Will Always Play An Unanticipated Tune You’ll Never Forget
• Rule #9: Elvis Has Left The Building - Once The Houselights Come On, The Show Is Over
• Rule #10: Don’t Miss The Moment - Go To Every Show You Can

Outside The Rules

• Introduction

• On The Grateful Dead
• There’s Nothing Like A Grateful Dead Concert
• Jerry Garcia Vs. The Grateful Dead

• On The Business Of Concerts
• Concert Ticket Prices Over The Years
• The Omnipresent John Scher

• On Concert Song Selections
• Ten Memorable Cover Songs - Grateful Dead Edition
• Ten Memorable Cover Songs - Non-Grateful Dead Edition
• Same Song, Different Band 

• On Concerts And Life
• The Summer Of Love And My Lifetime Of Live Rock & Roll
• Passing The Torch
• Farewell Yellow Brick Road - The End of An Era?

The Concerts

• Introduction
• Concerts Summaries: 1976 - 2019

The Lists

• Introduction - Baseball, Relix, Deadbase And My Obsession With Concert Statistics
• Concert Statistics: 1976 - 2019
• Selected Set Lists

Conclusion

• A Long And Difficult Set Break

Bob Weir & Ratdog - 1995-09-01 - San Francisco CA (Ex Aud)

Bob Weir & Ratdog 
1995-09-01
The Warfield Theater
San Francisco, CA
Excellent Audience recording
320 kbps
Artwork Included

01. tuning
02. Bombs Away >
03. Take Me To The River
04. Blackbird
05. KC Moan
06. City Girls >
07. Fever >
08. When I Paint My Masterpiece
09. Good Morning Little Schoolgirl
10. Shade Of Grey
11. He Travels The Fastest >
12. Easy To Slip >
13. Drums >
14. Wasserman Solo
15. Easy Answers >
16. Rock And Roll With You

Encore:
01. tuning
02. It's All Too Much* >
02. Knockin' on Heaven's Door*

* with Henry Kaiser on guitar

Bob Weir & Ratdog - 1995-09-01 - San Francisco CA (Ex Aud)

Ratdog 1995 - Back to Back To Back - #1: Bob Weir, Rob Wasserman, Matthew Keyy and Jay Lane played their first gig officially billed as Ratdog on August 8, 1995 in New York's Central Park.  The next night, their 2nd gig , was the fateful evening Jerry Garcia passed away, an emotional performance, both simultaneously uplifting and heartbreaking, that we brought you last month. Ratdog returned to California for 3 shows in early September 1995, Weir's first performances on his home turf since the passing of his band mate and brother in music.  This excellent audience recording captures the first of those 3shows, on September 1, 1995, 25 years ago today.  Bob clearly still had Jerry in his heart and on his mind, as not only this show, but also the next two concerts, which will bring you tomorrow and the enxt day, end with an emotional version of Knockin On Heaven's Door.