Tootfinder

40 years ago tonight, the #GratefulDead open their 20th anniversary fall tour, their 1st trip to #florida in 3 years & final visit to @thoughtsonGD@twitter.com’s beloved hollywood sportatorium.
soundboard:

#NowPlaying - test driving the new old turntable with an album i couldn't possibly be more familiar with at the moment. @…

pals, i'm going to be on tales from the golden road on the siriusXM grateful dead channel this very afternoon at 4ish ET, yapping about the deadcast's "blues for allah" season finale with @… & gary lambert. https:…

Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay,
who spent the Seventies singing with the Grateful Dead,
sang back-up on several classic Sixties hits,
and fronted her own bands,
has died. -- She was 78
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-n

Grateful Dead Singer Donna Jean Godchaux Dead at 78
Donna Jean Godchaux, who spent the Seventies singing with the Grateful Dead and provided vocals on an Elvis Presley hit, has died at the age of 78.

50 years ago tonight, the final seastones show, in encinitas, & ned lagin’s last public appearance as a musician. also the only lagin/lesh duo set recorded outside a dead show. audience tape of the early show only: https://archive.org/details/paf1975-11-22.early.124127.aud.fl…

60 years ago tonight, the big beat acid test, on the grateful dead’s home turf in palo alto, at a soon-to-open go-go club on the outskirts of town. full chaos, with the dead & prankster band playing at the same time. local historian @… on the big beat:

40 years ago tonight, the #GratefulDead in #oakland, concluding their fall gigging with the last of 3 nights at the kaiser auditorium. fall ’85, show #18. excellent soundboard, now on “enjoying the ride”:

#SanJose Commemorates Warlocks #AcidTest Anniversary Held On City Hall Site 6 Decades Earlier !
https://www.

San Jose City Hall goes psychedelic to honor Grateful Dead concert
The legendary band’s first gig under that name was at an “acid test” held at a downtown San Jose home on Dec. 4, 1965.

40 years ago tonight, the #GratefulDead in #oakland, opening their 3rd series of the year at the reopened kaiser auditorium, 3 show thanksgiving run billed as “dancing under the harvest moon”. fall ’85, show #16, now on “enjoying the ride.”
soundboard:

60 years ago today (maybe), the muir beach acid test, during which the grateful dead & owsley stanley encounter one another for the very first time & owsley promptly freaks out & drives his car into a ditch. muir beach photo from later in the '60s. (sometimes the palo alto acid test is placed on 12/11 & muir beach on 12/18, but rosie mcgee says she met phil lesh for the 1st time on 12/11 & attended palo alto the following week, which seems to settle the matter.) [1/4]…

60 years ago tonight, the merry pranksters' first informal acid test, held at ken babbs's place outside santa cruz, where the grateful dead did not play (& all purported flyers are almost certainly fake). below text from dennis mcnally's bio & i wrote about it for the 50th.

40 years ago tonight, the #GratefulDead close their east coast touring for the year in #NewJersey, the 2nd of 2 nights at the meadowlands. fall ’85, show #13.
soundboard:

40 years ago tonight, the #GratefulDead close their touring year in long beach. fall ’85, show #15.
soundboard: https://archive.org/details/gd85-11-17.sbd.barbella.12360.s…

40 years ago today, the #GratefulDead in long beach, opening 2 nights. fall ’85, show #14.
soundboard: https://archive.org/details/gd85-11-16.sbd.18374.sbeok.shnf
b…

40 years ago today, the grateful dead in richmond, a bad cop scene that turns ugly the next night. fall ’85, show #6. a letdown after the wild halloween & a baffling-to-me choice for release, but now “dick’s picks 21”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FyUeuNKwc

do you teach public school in nyc? very excited to be on a panel at this day-long event for educators about using the grateful dead as a primary source, next friday, 11/7 at brooklyn bowl. (think it's only open to nyc teachers.) https://nycdoesocialstudies.eventsmart

60 years ago tonight, the #SanJose acid test, the grateful dead’s 1st gig under the name “grateful dead,” in a residential house downtown after a rolling stones show. several hand drawn flyers showed up this year, as described in tom wolfe’s electric kool aid acid test, but with seemingly the wrong address on them. [1/4]

🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on #KEXP's #MiddayShow
Grateful Dead:
🎵 From the Heart of Me
#GratefulDead
https://open.spotify.com/track/2PDB5ljtT7BU9Cm7ZzUrz7

40 years ago tonight, the #GratefulDead at the meadowlands in #NewJersey. chaos onstage & off, including another mass gate crashing. many scene reports below. fall ’85, show #12.
soundboard:

deep new project by john brackett, @…, examining documents from the #GratefulDead business archive at UC santa cruz. he's got a new scholarly book out in the spring about "touch of grey" (!!). his last was…

"Hauling items for the mob": "Independent promotion companies," payola, and "Touch of Grey" (1987)
This is a document that I examine in my forthcoming book, Touch of Grey, or, How the Grateful Dead Became Pop Stars (forthcoming spring 2026 from Duke University Press).

40 years ago tonight, the #GratefulDead’s last trip to the #rochester war memorial, their local home since ’73. a show for weir lovers. dude’s really on one. fall ’85, show #11.
soundboard:

60 years ago today, the earliest known grateful dead tape, the so-called emergency crew demo, just after abandoning “the warlocks” but before renaming themselves. recorded for autumn records, though not by sly stone, just the house engineer. 6 songs from their early repertoire, including folk arrangements, ambitious originals, & one knockoff jam that became a centerpiece.
tape:

40 years ago tonight, the #GratefulDead in richmond. a pretty fun evening with an obnoxious cop scene (& perhaps even police riot) & bad gatecrashing that makes it all the way to the AP news wire. fall ’85, show #7.
soundboard: h…

40 years ago tonight, the grateful dead at the sun dome in #tampa, less than half full by some reports. fall ’85, show #2.
soundboard: https://archive.org/details/gd1985-10-26.…

40 years ago tonight, the #GratefulDead in #atlanta, opening their last stand at the fox theater, marking (almost) the permanent end of the small venue era, with a world series-themed debut. fall ’85, show #3.
soundboard:

40 years ago today, the #GratefulDead in worcester, with the band singing happy birthday to bill walton, plus a few stage-crashers. fall ’85, show #9.
soundboard: https://archive.org/details/gd85-11-05

40 years ago tonight, the #GratefulDead in worcester. bill walton (on the eve of his 33rd) spotted onstage with celtics teammates kevin mchale & larry bird. fall ’85, show #8.
big-sounding soundboard: https://

for all your solo robert hunter setlist & tape needs, douglas aldridge just updated/relaunched his long-dormant hunterbase. http://stillunsung.com

Robert Hunter Performance Archive
Comprehensive documentation of 600+ Robert Hunter performances spanning his complete musical career. Search setlists, venues, and recordings from the Grateful Dead lyricist's solo work and collaborations.

@… https://gratefuldocuments.substack.com/

Grateful Documents | John Brackett | Substack
Exploring historical documents from the Grateful Dead Archive. Click to read Grateful Documents, by John Brackett, a Substack publication. Launched 24 days ago.

40 halloweens ago tonight, the #GratefulDead's only trip to #SouthCarolina, with an unusually melted 2nd set featuring a rare ‘80s quintet dead jam. fall ’85, show #5.
soundboard:

40 years ago tonight, the #GratefulDead in #atlanta, their final show at the fox. nice soundboard mix makes for a good listen. fall ’85, show #4.
soundboard: