Phil Lesh's 30th anniversary as a member of the Grateful Dead - final "Stagger Lee" - final "Deal" - final "Spanish Jam" - Bob Dylan opened
setlist
Stranger>
BerthaSame ThingStagger Lee
Eternity@
Deal
China Cat>
I Know You Rider
Way To Go
Samson
Eyes>
Drumz>
Spanish Jam>
Miracle>
Wharf Rat>
NFA
Lucy In The Sky
BerthaSame ThingStagger Lee
Eternity@
Deal
China Cat>
I Know You Rider
Way To Go
Samson
Eyes>
Drumz>
Spanish Jam>
Miracle>
Wharf Rat>
NFA
Lucy In The Sky
show date
Venue
dead comment
Could have done without the Stones.
Saw this show from right up front but was suffering from kidney stones. Great show and the perks helped. I had great seats for the next night but found myself in the hospital. I left the tickets in my glove compartment for Matt.
Egads
Have to disagree with this being a "great show." the band was not in synch at all, lots of flubs, horrible sound, gate-crashers (Phil made an announcement asking people to cool it, IIRC, and bad vibes all around. The Wharf Rat was trecherous, with Garcia not even remembering how to play it for the first minute or two.
I handed my ticket away for the next night upon exiting the show that night. I was totally bummed at what state the band was in at this point. It was my last show.
That Grow So Incredilby High.....
I agree with you, Bozo Bus. A very rough show for the band. JG almost forgot how to start Wharf Rat. This was my last show too. I had seats up front on the "floor".
i remember feeling pretty
i remember feeling pretty good after the first set, they really stretched the songs out more than a usual first. but the second set was a real bummer
Last Time
Last Show for me. Shoulda been at Soldier Field, but opted to be in N 'Orleans on business. If I only knew. Saw Dylan and the Dead a couple of times b4 and never really cared for them together. But, they were pretty good this night. Always loved Spanish Jam and, though my cousin, who was at this, and So Many Shows, with me, hated it, Stagger Lee. Being a bit older and a fan of the '50's, I knew the hit version (Ray Price?) of this tune and appreciated the Americana in its Hunter's talesmanship. Loved Dead Covers, so Lucy was nice 4 me.
wharf rat
jerry didn't know what arena he was playing in let alone what song it was
two minutes? the entire song was totally screwed up -- worst in history for me
it was horrible to watch garcia jam badly off key to wharf rat when he needed to join wharf rats as his heroin addiction was full tilt
In Jerrys defence
Jerry had death threats before these shows. He said "It was the first time I was nerves about going on stage." killer Stagger Lee. It was like he didnt want the song to end. Weirdest Warf rat ever.
This was my first and only
This was my first and only Grateful dead show. For those of you lucky enough to see the "prime" Jerry years, you're lucky.This show had me hooked and Garcia was a mess!!
There have been many OtherOnes, Phil and Phriends, Ratdog, and Phish shows over the years, but there is NOTHING like a Grateful Dead concert.
Wharf Rat
I had fun at this show and remember dancing down the spirals to the exits as they encored Lucy in the Sky w/ Diamonds. The glowstick "unboken chain" almost made it around the huge stadium but not quite! However, this really was the worst Wharf Rat ever. I remember wondering if they were trying a different timing/arrangement of the song, but it was just off, way off.
Birth of a 'Head...
My First & Only Garcia Dead show. Overall, yes it was BAD. However, there were some high points: The Stagger, Deal & Samson really kicked ass, as much as '95 versions could (catching the final Deal was nice), and The China>Rider, while not really inspired, was a lot of fun. As it was my first, I vowed to see ALL of the show. The Drumz was actually pretty good, and Spanish Jam was a lovely surprise (well played, too!). Eyes was rough, but I was psyched just to hear it at all, and the Wharf Rat was SO bad, I couldn't listen to any other version for years! Happy to be able to reflect my love to the boys during NFA, and, no offense to anyone, but Lucy has to be my LEAST-favorite cover/encore of all time. I wish I had gone to the next night, but my thinking at the time was that the stadium sucked on sound and I'd catch a few Fall MSG shows...not to be however. I DID feel Jerry with us at MSG with 'The Dead' in April '09 though...! Certainly bummed it was my one & only, but it was a night that has had me ever since absorbed with the Dead's and similar bands' music. I'll always remember it as the beginning of my 'Long Starnge Trip'...Cheers all! PS-You still couldn't beat the Giant's Stadium parking lot scene-CRAZY good times!!
the whart rat
Given half the chance and the right mind set and setting (no, not necessarily ON something), this is a touching Wharf Rat. Sure, the noodling at the beginning could be mistaken for Jerry not knowing where the hell he was - but the trickster that he was, who's to say he's not just teasing Throwing Stones or Cosmic Charlie. I don't know, and you don't either. No one knows and nor will they ever. Sure, it can be said the band was helping to prop Jerry up a little 'cause he was behind the beat. He needed a nudge forward, a push to keep up, but that's what brothers-in-arms do. This one has soul and it's a total band effort. I only was able to get to one show, 7-9-95, but I sure as hell wish I could've seen just 1 Wharf Rat. Yes, even like this. There it is, my 2 cents. Cut me down if you like, I don't care. By the way, the last 2 minutes or so of Spanish Jam is sweet too. Jerry pulls out the Alien Tone. Peace and love through music.
oh i wish
Oh I can not believe what i am reading. Death Threats to Jerry, what kind a son o b would do that. I am hearing good jams and seeing good footage of Jerry in Late 80 early to mid 90 but it sure was hit or miss. Poor man, couldn't keep the junk in the trunk, monkey in the cage Jerry u just a little misbehaved.I wish that a movie, not a fakie movie but a real movie would come out with all this dead history. I mean they could do a triology like the Ring movies only with the dead story. It is amazing really, the acutal reality of what this musical gift has taken from this band is really somethng. Brent especially is a sad tale but he deserves to be honored for what he gave too.
Wow, hearing the tales of this show...
just makes me want to cry the day after Jer's 70th b'day. Yeah man, couldn't get it together for Wharf Rat. Well, what can you say? It was a life committed, as Jer said, for a good thing. Be happy and grateful for the thing you had, for it surely is "All Over Now"...
Campin' in the weeds...
I remember many heads camping in the weeds quite far from the lot just to avoid being harrassed by the overzealous cops and security, Giants in '95 was getting to be a hassle...should have been a field in bethel or something like that, either way though-i'm glad to have seen the boys on ANY night, any where.
MY LAST DEAD SHOW !!! 1972-1995
The only show that I EVER left early ! Jerry was out of synch, obviously picked up again. Bob Weir was getting visibly pissed as Jerry missed licks, versus... It was a sad ending BUT I did get a "SHOW SHIRT !! FAREWELL MY FRIEND. First show in 1972
Nearing the End 1979-1995
This and the following night were Mrs. KBear's and my last GD shows and it was obvious that Jerry was running on fumes, if not running on empty. Both nights I had the eerie feeling, when he was not so low in the mix as not to be heard, that he was playing counterpoint to someone not on the stage; that perhaps he was hearing the angels and playing with them instead of the band. He looked so frail and white, like Gandalf after his fight with the Balrog and fall from the Bridge of Khazad-dûm, only minus the energy. He just looked so forlorn and beaten that the image stays with me to this day.
As if to compensate the band was as tight as we'd ever seen or heard them, making Jerry's struggles all the more pitiful. He did manage to rouse himself a few times and deliver a heart-felt lyric or ringing guitar lead but, overall, the man simply wasn't there and in order to mask the fact his guitar was often turned down to virtually nothing in the mix.
It was a very sad ending to an otherwise brilliantly diverse career and we still miss him terribly much.