Grateful Dead

Deercreek '89-'93 was climbing the venue charts the last few years they toured. Can't forget about Alpine Valley- always a pleasure, especially in '02 for the GD Family Reunion shows- great energy! Of course, anywhere in the Bay Area was always a treat too- Oakland Coliseum, etc.

Formerly the Astoria, this theatre was built in the 1930s with an insane magical fantasy Arabian Oasis theme. The whole interior was a trip in itself. With facades of adobe houses, palm trees and a blue ceiling pierced with the lights of a starry sky. Before shows and during intervals it was great just to look around the place. Host to 100's of extraordinary shows over the years from everyone who was anyone. I remember Little Feat, a whole series of heavy heavy roots reggae shows and of course the Dead. They were supposed to play there on their way home from Egypt (it would have been so appropriate given the decor), but pulled out very late on, apparently to complete work on Shakedown Street (bad deal all round, I'd say). Anyway they paid us back with a series of shows in March '81 (including my first show and on my birthday too) and another series in October too. Oh to revisit those crazy nights in that trippy theatre (or was it the other way round!) The Rainbow is now a church of some kind! But the owners have apparently lovingly restored the interior. Take a look inside http://tinyurl.com/37yfhm

It has to be the Scranton Masonic Center

West Anchorage High School

I would have to say I had a great experience in/around the Long Beach Arena. The back of the lobby was huge so you could dance and hang out or go inside to hear the band. Shakedown was right outside and you could camp minutes from the ocean (I know not like Ventura but still...) Gotta love Oakland arena(s) too (right Marye?) The outdoor places that come to mind is Shoreline (80s shows. Athough the traffic/security was improved later it became a hassle to get in and out of the area and you couldnt have much fun outside of the venue) I also liked Cal Expo for this reason too. From what I can tell Deer Creek and Alpine Valley had the same vibe. I would have enjoyed Burgettstown PA more with its surroundings but the band only had their one stop there and it was a logistics nightmare at this point as many venues had become in the 90s I have to mention the Fillmore. Such nice decor which rivals many little theatres and to be able to walk up from to the stage and then into the back for a beer at the bar is something I always enjoyed.

it was an unusually warm spring nigt in Hampton Virginia. the pre-show parking lot was exceptionally magical and it seemed that everyone was having schweet, positive mind experiences to get what was later proven to be a legendary evening. Hampton again prooved to groove with a melodic sound system which JG and the entire gang played off of each other and melted into/outof every tune. the second set opened with a scarlet>fire>estimated with every voice in the crowd singing every note as if we wrote it ourself. the set ended with every single person, boy, girl, old, young dancin to Good Luv'n then all together took a relaxing break to mellow down organize our minds and begin to anticipate what they could stir up and serve us for an encore? as we were trippin down, relaxing and smile'in as one... there was the faint sound of thunder and the flash of lightening through the small>blue>triangular> windows like crashing saphires that encircle the ceiling of the Hampton Coliseum. they eased us into a powerful U.S. Blues encore and when all wrapped up we left as one body as we left the building for the parking lot. We were fully expecting and anxiously awaiting to enjoy a warm, April thundershower. BUT THAT IS NOT WHAT HAPPENED, it was actually cold with no wind, no lightening, no rain, no sound....nothing! as i looked around all my brothers and sisters were doing one of two things (1) standing still looking up at the sky or (2) laying down looking up at the sky. Eventually, it seemed that all 20,000 of us were laying down and looking up at the sky as we were in the EYE of a very organized storm GoD and GD layed out just for us that night. we soaked in a perfect circle in the sky with the most brilliant stars of diamonds and pitch black around them with a brilliant and bright sunshine moon. we could see and faintly hear the lightening and thunder way off in the distance outside of our personal circle but that was of no concern to any of us at that moment. it took about 20 minutes for the storm center to pass over and we then enjoyed our belated, refreshing, spring thundershower. We were given a schweet and magical gift that night in Hampton-84 not to mention and never forget the MUSIC! that is how i remember it....anyone else remember that MAGICAL NIGHT? stay safe and feel good!

Saratoga was always bizarre; the pilgrimage over the ravine, the stage area which looked to be the Mothership readying to take flight and the top of the hill with it's Greco Roman pillars and buildings that gave the impression that some Illuminati were secreted inside watching the proceedings....not to mention the man who danced there after reportedly losing his soul at a Dead show there some years before which came back to him during the last Fire on the Mountain the Grateful Dead played at the SPAC.

Penn's Peak in Jim Thrope ,Pa That place is awesome. A huge barn, very cool :)

Alpine Valley is and will always be the BEST venue to see the Dead at!! I lost my virginity at the last night of the summer 88 run during Blackbird!

do you have that show?????? my hometown dude!!!! nothing left to do but smile, smile, smile

Cosmicbadger, I think you and I are on the same wavelength. Not only the common love of the Dead, but Emmy, now the Rainbow and your reference to Little Feat (the other BIG band in my life) and the many great reggae gigs there too. I can't add to or improve on your description of the Rainbow, which was THE temple for the best London gigs of the 70's. My ultimate gig of alltime was Little Feat opening for the Doobies on the Warners Tour in 1975. The only time I have ever seen an audience shout down the house lights and force an opening act to do a third encore.

Amsterhammer - I think lots of us here are on this wavelength.Welcome back to the tribe. If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is, infinite. Wiliam Blake

Baba Olatunji leading a processional through the town after the show.Some of the band belling up at the local saloon... Amazing!

The Uptown Theater was way cool too!

The Ones that stick in my mind are still,Winterland,and the Warfield and of course the new 'home' ,H.J. Kaiser.for some indoor venues(the Swing in San Berdoo was a trip too). As far as outdoors I agree-Red Rocks was hard to beat. But the Greek was host to many a great trip and lest we pass by Frost in Palo Alto as well. This just brings back so many fond memories! Never had such a good time...........

one of the hottest shows i saw was the fall 83 stephen show at msg...my wife was even there with her brother for her first show...we met some 11 or so years later!

I think that outdoor shows really take it on this one. I enjoyed the band much more out in natural setting. But for an indoor venue for me (west coaster) the Kaiser was a real fun place. It was smaller than the coliseum which maybe gave it a more intimate feeling. Even the outside was cool to hangout around. It was an old building with big pillars and a great wall to sit on and wait in line, many, many great memories there. It could also transform itself into a space ship - hence the cosmic chart topper. Thanlks for the previous post about this venue, I'm breaking out the Nov.87 run for a listen (it's been a while too).......Cheers

I was at the Doobies and Little Feat gig also The Rainbow was an amazing Venue - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Spanish Jam

The first time i saqw Emmy Lou was at the Dome in Brighton. The Dome is as it's name suggests Dome shaped and used to be the Stables for the Royal Pavilion in Brighton. The acoustics were prbababy the best i have ever heard, i would have loved to have seen the Dead There I have seen hundreds of shows ther over the years, Hendrix, Floyd, emmy Lou, Ry Cooder, Steve Miller, Canned Heat the list is endless Bob - - - - - - - - - - - - - Spanish Jam

One amazing show i saw Had Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd and Cream on the same bill, with i think The Move don't get that sort of thing anymore Bob - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Spanish Jam

What a place. Do they still do shows there? first time I went there was bunking off school in 1974 to see Golden Earring's support act: Lynyrd Skynyrd!!

Has had a complete refit in the last few years, but unfortunately i haven't been to see a concert there since i left Brighton Bob - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Spanish Jam

i have done that a few times, i went to see Tom Petty as a support act there, i saw LS there so probably the same show the worst one i went to was at Brighton Centre, was to see an Australian band called The Church who were support for Duran Duran I think i was the oldest person there by years Bob - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Spanish Jam

I always thought the boys played great at Merriweather and Hampton. Philly seemed to always be groovy but my favorite shows were at The Palace of Auburn hills.. They never left me disappointed. Still remember the second set opener of Truckin' in 1993 and my wife grabbing me by the shirt screaming in my ear.I listen to that show from time to time and remember that she was pretty special and she is sitting with Garcia "calling the tune."

Never had such a good time! DVD'S of these runs need to be released!!!

The place was definitely a dump, but there was a certain something about it. Winterland had that bizzare, dangerous energy. Maybe it was the black lights washing over everything or the karma generated by all the great music that was played there or the decades of heavy tripping that went on in that building . Who knows.

too, thndrbill!! But I think that you are right about that place being saturated to the gills with all those many bands that played music (and all of us that played there) and it just oozed out of the pores of the Winterland. The actual (and contact) highs resulting from chemistry and/or that musical transportation, the collective cathartic relief manifested during that reality-stretching, joyous, tribal stomp. Oh, to go back and dip a toe into the time-space-continuum and feel that old venue shake and creak with Philbombs, Jerry's casscading and ethereal leads, Bobby chunk-a-chunk switching to brilliant shimmering rhythms, Keith hunched over the keys, honkytonking-jazz-boggie woogie-rocking, and then Donna with a tasty harmony or erupting in a gut-piercing wail. And Billy's frenized eyes rolled-into-the-back-of-his-head wildly drumming and then Mickey grinning in glee as he hunkered down one moment to parry Billy with a counter rhythm, but then dashing to stroke the tar, or to attack that 'thunder machine' contraption. And then Billy would join him there as their percussive tornado would coil and soar. YESSS!!! Er, a, sorry, lost a grip on 'now' for a second. What wild times-those Winterland daze. A playground if there ever was one.

Oroboros,I think you just channeled Whitman, Kerouac, Ginsberg, Hunter Thompson, every Deadhead ever, all the shows and members of the band in the short time period that you spieled that last posting. Fantastic. Congratulations. And then it is gone. But the collective memory remains. And the shows from the tapes. If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is, infinite. William Blake

While we are on the subject of Winterland, 12/31/72 has some truly transcendental jamming in the spaces between Truckin' and what comes after. It's also hilarious to hear the KSAN dj, who was obviously dosed, describing Bill Graham mastering the art of the three-dimensional hologram and so forth. I was there, and it seemed like that old building was about to blast off of its foundation. On the way home we got pulled over on the freeway for a speed violation-we were going eight-miles-an-hour --but that's another story.

I missed the Oops shows in 81 but did see Ratdog here in 2002. What a hassle-free venue. The Rainbow was a great venue too, those 81 shows were spectacular. It was the first time I managed to see multiple shows. Mark

Winterland SF... Especially Winterland closing. It was such a magical night!!!!

There were a few that fit this description quite well.... Fillmore East - NYC Orpheum Theatre - Boston, MA Music Hall -Boston Ma Red Rocks, CO Marin Civic Center -San Rafael, CA Fillmore West - San Francisco Seeing dead shows since 1970, and remember many as if it was yesterday. Peace -EW

before ft ord was decommissioned...and there were explosions on the horizon...or should I say, "I don't know it must have been the do@#s"?...gotta love the big grassy hillside, with little sub -celebrations going on here and there... Alpine Valley was pretty kind too though...

The fairgrounds at Ventura bring back many "cosmic" memories. Nothing like camping at the shows, with the sounds and smells and visions of the ocean right next to you. I always wondered how it must have looked to the band, standing on that stage playing, with all of us dancing in the sun with the Pacific ocean as our backdrop. I'll always remember being "puddled" by some dude that said "trust me brother, it's all in love", as he squirted a puddle into my mouth, instead of the one drop that I had requested. Stayed up all weekend having the time of my life. Remember the time they announced over PA system that we had set a record for the most people ever being in the town of Ventura at that time, think it was '87 or '88. Remember the band playing my favorite Dylan tune, Masterpiece. I remember being in line waiting for another great Ventura experience when it was announced that Jerry had lapsed into a coma and the shows were cancelled. The Grateful Dead threw the best beach parties there ever were, guaranteed !!

Gotta Be Veneta and the Polo Fields , YEEEEES!

Not necessarly in any order: 1. The Frost 2. Cumberland County Civic Center 3. Alpine Valley 4. Henry J. Kaiser 5. The Spectrum 6. Irvine Meadows 7. Merriweather Post Pavillion 8. The Centrum (Worcester, MA) 9. Riverbend 10. The Rubber Bowl!

The dead's deceased archives guy aka Dick Latvella once had a postcard included in with a CD, requesting our favorite"top ten" shows of all-time. I mailed him that and a five page letter explaining how I went out of my way to get tickets to just about every show the Dead played the NYC area [especially Fillmore East] from 1970-71. Fortunately, I had a very hot college girlfriend who lived only 2-blocks from that venue. My 1st "score" was the biggest of all. 4, first row center-balcony seats to the concert referred to in a book as the: "show of shows", including the 2nd time the Allman Bros. Band played there and a fantastic underground LA folk-rock act, Love [with Arthur Lee]. Those series of shows miked and mixed by Owsley aka the "Bear", [by-the-way, that's where the whole "dancing bear" thing started] , especially the last night 2/13-14/70, I attended with a heavily"dosed" audience and band alike. If you've listened to those tapes or legitimate CD release [Dick's Picks #4], that last night particularly, was, in my opinion the equivelant of a West Coast "Acid Test". I couln't move for almost 7-hours except to dance for Pigpens "Lovelight Finale. ". The only time I saw an audience as or more "wasted" on psychadelics, was a year and 1/2 later at the Yale Bowl in New Haven Conn.. Let's put it this way, the 2nd song, in the 1st set was Dark Star and it was about as close to the 1969 "intense" version on Live Dead, I've ever heard. I'm glad to see that some of this first being released on the new "Roadtrips" series. They put the Hollywood Pallladium 6/71 version of Hard to Handle on one of these CD's but that night, they played it nearly as well, because the audience was really into it. I saw so many great shows, those 2-yrs., It's almost like a fuzzy "Purple Haze" to me now, in these later stages of life. SPECIAL NOTE; On 2/11-12/70 the Dead jammed with the Allman Brothers and others. The mix was done on the Fillmore East recording gear in the Basement and once they got the levels set correctly, MAGIC was recorded. I've got only 45 minutes of it on cassette, but with headphones on, my brain feels like it's gonna explode...WOW,is all I can say.

OK, it was before my time, but it seems like the feel there was what they were going through at Yasgur's farm. I was 16. First Dead show. New Riders, Marshall Tucker and the Dead. A sea of 100,000. September 3rd, 1977. Raceway Park, Englishtown NJ. I have to admit, Red Rocks is probably the most spectacular concert venue I have ever seen. Lived in Colorado for almost 10 years and got a chance to catch a bunch of shows there.

... And where ya been. I was never at Red Rocks, but here's my Top 10 that are pretty cosmic to me:The Fillmore Auditorium- The Avalon Ballroom- The Family Dog at the Beach- The Greek Theater- The Frost Amphitheater- The Carousel Ballroom- The Orpheum Theater- Winterland Arena, and The Polo Fields in Golden Gate Park because of the utter significance of the shows there, such as the Human Be-In, Laughter, Love, and Music for Bill Graham, and the ceremony for Jerry. Last but not least is Cal-Expo in Sacramento, with the Henry J as a close runner-up. As far as the least cosmic: I'd have to say the Cow Palace, Kezar Stadium, The Oakland Coliseum Arena, and any other football or basketball stadium this side of Lodi.

in terms of places where I saw Grateful Dead shows myself, I'd have to say Cal Expo was right up there....Compton Terrace in Arizona and Sandstone in Bonner Springs, KS were pretty cool as well. The best Jerry Garcia Band show I ever saw was at the San Francisco Civic Auditorium (12/22/90), and I love the Greek Theatre in Berkeley, though must admit I only saw Phil and Friends there and not the GD. ...should note the caveat, though, that I was a late-comer to the scene (heck, you can't control when you're born!!) so I missed out on a lot of the older classic venues discussed earlier on this thread. In terms of larger indoor arenas where I saw the Dead, I'd say the Omni in Atlanta and the Philly Spectrum were up there. peace, everyone. rock on.

Winterland was home (dump as posted by a prior page-it was not-just the neighborhood) Well, ok, the building was old-my folks skated there in the 1940's when it was a public ice rink......& the building DEFINITELY felt like it was flying off into the cosmos @ times...(ya think it was the visine bottles?) duh.......Anchorage & Telluride-more cosmic-too long of stories..........xoxo Gypsy Cowgirl

one hundred percent,,, bout the To hell u ride,, venue at the town park,, was too lil for winterland although the music speaks for itself,,and the high school auditorium,,,in alaska,,,the music speaks for itself,, but for me,,, the most cosmic venue ever,,, ( well it depends on the mood i'm in ) but actually,, its THE SWEETWATER god rest her soul, in mill valley, never saw the whole band there ,, but loads of bits n pieces Peace if Free if you want!!TG

after flying through Monument Valley on about a 20 person plane, wishing I had had the video camera, then circling the landing strip @ Telluride (a tee-pee nearby) & what looked to be a cliff @ the end of it, everyone yelling OK-we can stop now! It had to have been my wildest plane ride............memoirs of the Gypsy Cowgirlps. tommygutt- I took my son to Winterland the 1st time he was 2 where we both grew up a bit (tried to save his ears the 1st 2) .......well, there was another plane ride down the Columbia River Gorge from Portland to Pendleton, Or.....that was about a 7 seater-not going to a gig-just the Pendleton Round-up...."Let 'er Buck" as they say up yonder.......

Hampton had something special about it. I KNOW the Dead saw something there as they decided to bring back the Warlocks there, another sneak show after the Omni in 91 I believe and in all the shows I saw there, only 1 or 2 were ok, the rest were really great shows. I too like Merriweather although I never got to see the GD there I go to see The Dead there.

Many places I've been but the Closing of WinterLand was just amazing!!! Danced for 13 hrs straight... couldn't stop if I tried anyway... :op

Campus Stadium UCSB.........Hollywood Bowl.........Orpheum Theater......Anywhere the Grateful Dead Played.......The Oak trees and cow paddies at the Calaveras County Fairgrounds......Oh yeah...... the Swing Auditorium......{ Somthin' about the Swing }....Anywhere Jerry played.......The Wiltern.......Leigon of Mary at the Granada Theater in Santa Barbara...... etc......etc.........Anywhere my tribe is at.............My latest favorite.........................The Bryce Jordan Center Gone are the days we stopped to decide........where we should go......we just ride.

I cut my teeth at Red Rocks, but I have a few other faves. First, I wanna say that the most "cosmic venue" has as much to do with the head as the space. For example, McNichols and the Civic Center at CU sucked, but I saw some great shows there, and one of my most cosmic moments ever at the Civic Center. That said, I loved Ventura. Like our buddy above said about the beach parties - I actually lost my clothes there while swimming after a show. I found them eventually, but it took awhile. Watch those currents. And sleeping in the sand, waking to find a dead sea lion not thirty feet away. Odd stuff. And though the Telluride shows weren't actually blistering, I know some folks there who were! Awesome place. Loved the Greek, too. The Kaiser. Yow. Loved pouring out into the park at daybreak.

.......the Dead play. Must agree with Spindancer concerning the Head & the Space. So in that light I got to say the GD brought their magic to any venue they played. Then it was up to the rest of us....... One could say I was awakened at Alpine Valley. Appreciated the kind scene at Autzen Stadium. Other Cosmic moments of note at Oakland Coliseum, Seattle Memorial Stadium & the Palace.......