Grateful Dead

This show created a Deadhead for life. Does anyone have a stub or something that called the venue the Alligator Alley Gym? Alligator Alley is a road running across the southern part of Florida. This place was called The Florida Gym.

deadlists.com calls it Alligator Alley Gym as well, although it specifically notes that the gig was at UF in Gainesville. Same story at deadbase.com. So either that's what it is (or was) called, or one inaccuracy has planted its flag all over the Interweb. All of that aside, G'ville is of course nowhere close to the above-referenced stretch of highway that crosses the Everglades --speaking as one who's spent a grand total of three days in Florida (for the St. Pete gigs in October of '88), even I know that lol.

I've been living in Gainesville for over 30 years (damn I'm gettin' old). I remember the show at the gym. It was my second dead show and It's the only concert I ever went to at the old gym.I asked a couple of basketball fans, just to confirm my memory that they used to call the gym "Alligator Alley". It was just a nick name, same way they call the football stadium (Ben Hill Griffen Stadium) "The Swamp".

This was my 3rd show, we were following the band through Florida and into Atlanta. I saw many shows after this one, all through the 80's and into the 90's and even the Fare Thee Well shows in Chicago and this show in Gainesville still stands out as the best show I ever saw. The Shakedown>Franlkin's>Estimated 2nd set opener jam just blew me away. The jam out of space into The Other One, WOW! Maybe the best Other One I ever saw. My buddy taped the show, so I have been able to listen to it over and over for 38 years now.