To celebrate my birthday, I decided to end my day by watching the live stream of the Grateful Dead’s last of 5 final shows. While I haven’t listened to them all that much lately I did have a 5 year window in the mid-1990’s when I was a pretty big fan. I managed to see them live 4 times (Nassau, Portland x2 & Highgate) and still have very fond memories of the culture that surrounds the band. As a result, I was ready to curl up on my couch and take a trip down memory land.
I saw bits and pieces of the first 2 shows from California and overall, I thought they sounded pretty good. Trey Anastasio did a really good job filling in for Jerry but since I was watching the shows in passing, I wasn’t really getting into them. The Chicago show was different. Maybe it was because it was their final show or because I had invested quite a few hours into the whole event but about 4-5 songs into the first set I found myself seat dancing.
Thanks for the decades of great music, enjoy your semi-retirement.
P.S. Is it just me or does it feel like rock and roll in general is in a state of slow retirement?
Here’s the setlist from the show:
Set 1: China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider > Estimated Prophet > Built to Last > Samson and Delilah > Mountains of the Moon > Throwing Stones
Set 2: Truckin’ > Cassidy > Althea > Terrapin Station > Drums > Space > Unbroken Chain > Days Between > Not Fade Away
Encore: Touch of Grey
Encore 2: Attics of My Life
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