In honour of the 25th anniversary of the death of Jerry Garcia, Rolling Stone has published a list of 20 essential Grateful Dead shows. The list was compiled by David Fricke and first appeared in Rolling Stone's publication, Grateful Dead: The Ultimate Guide.
Speaking as a lifelong Deadhead, I think it's a good and representative list that covers shows from 1966 to 1991. There are some obvious choices and some more obscure ones, but overall this is a stellar overview of the Grateful Dead's long strange trip through a variety of musical landscapes.
Choosing and justifying a list of essential Grateful Dead shows — 20, 200, or even 2,000 — is treacherous work. Passionate challenge from fans, especially hardcore Deadheads and veteran tape traders, is guaranteed. Endless debate over set-list minutiae is inevitable. In fact, there is only one definitive list of the Dead’s greatest concerts — and it includes every show they played, in every lineup, from their pizza-parlor-gig days as the Warlocks in 1965 until guitarist Jerry Garcia‘s death in 1995.
That long, strange trip was a continually unfolding tale of highs and trials, dedicated evolution and surrender to the moment, often caught vividly in the recording studio but told most immediately each night (or day) onstage. This list jumps and dances through the story, but it’s not a bad place to start, if you’re not in deep already: more than 40 hours of performance from key runs and one-nighters in every decade, drawn from archival releases, the vast amount of circulating recordings and my own good times with the music.
These 20 shows are genuinely essential in at least one way: If I had no other live Dead in my collection, I would be happy and fulfilled with this. Luckily, there is more. I already have lots of it. I will never have enough.
Most of the shows in the article are linked to YouTube videos of either the full show or representative songs. Fricke's comments put the shows in context and help to illuminate key performances.
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