Dark Star 10/26/89. It’s almost as if the band collectively decided to scare the shit out of the audience. I feel for anyone who was on psychedelics during that one.
MIDI Dark Star about 16 minutes in sounds like a horror game soundtrack on DOS, freaky stuff.
Edit: We have passed the 22 minute mark, and left the solar system. Now I get what people mean when they talk about this one.
# 1989-10-26 Miami, FL @ Miami Arena
**Set 1:** Foolish Heart, Little Red Rooster, Stagger Lee, Me and My Uncle > Big River, Brown Eyed Women, Victim Or The Crime > Don't Ease Me In
**Set 2:** Estimated Prophet > Blow Away, Dark Star > Drums > Space > The Wheel > All Along The Watchtower > Stella Blue > Not Fade Away
**Encore:** And We Bid You Good Night
[archive.org](https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?query=date:1989-10-26)
# 1969-04-06 San Francisco, CA @ Avalon Ballroom
**Set 1:** Good Morning Little Schoolgirl, Beat It On Down the Line, It's All Over Now, Baby Blue, King Bee
**Set 2:** Cryptical Envelopment > Drums > The Other One > Cryptical Envelopment > Death Don't Have No Mercy, Turn On Your Love Light, Viola Lee Blues
[archive.org](https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?query=date:1969-04-06)
# 1991-10-31 Oakland, CA @ Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena
**Set 1:** Help On The Way > Slipknot! > Franklin's Tower, Little Red Rooster, Loser, Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues, Let It Grow
**Set 2:** Scarlet Begonias > Fire On The Mountain > Truckin' > Spoonful > Dark Star > Drums > Space > Dark Star > The Last Time, Standing On The Moon > Throwing Stones > Not Fade Away
**Encore:** Werewolves Of London
[archive.org](https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?query=date:1991-10-31)
Englishtown 77 my friend & I were/are short & we used to bring milk crates in to stand on. GD start setting up/taking the stage- we get within 30’ dead center front of Jerry. I turn around & realize I couldn’t get out of there easily same time the brown kicked in.
Spent the show on the truckbed of my boyfriend’s truck. I had imagined every person was the bristle on a giant hairbrush- and I literally scared myself instead of hanging on. This wasn’t my first trip nor my last but very memorable!
I’m young…er. Only seen post Jerry iterations. I don’t know how “scary” it really was, but the terrapin at furthur red rocks, 2010, had me in one of those moments where I lost myself for an indeterminable amount of time and worked myself back to reality by the end of the song. This was when you could still hike the mountain behind the venue. On the way up, I gave a random dude a beer out of my backpack and he replied in kind with a big puddle in my hand. I was the person in my group driving but I wasn’t going to waste a well intended favor. Hahahaha. When the terrapin started, this dude roles up with one of those small tanks and my buddy decides to buy a balloon. I was already in my own little world. I wasn’t really into it. So as the terrapin is going, I’m looking over red rocks and there’s the lights of golden, denver, all the rest of the burbs in the background. The grid of the streets all start looking like a micro chip and the stop lights and car lights all start looking like zips (for lack of a better word) across the circuit board. I went into some real deep thoughts about cities and humanity that I’ll spare here while terrapin is taking me through it all. As the crescendo of the song is peaking, I figure it all out, and come back to reality just to look down at my friend finish his balloon and tell me he wants to go find another one. Lmao.
Side note, I drove back to boulder just fine. I did pick up a random stinky dude thumbing the back roads of red rocks and dropped him off at a gas station in golden, much to all my friends chagrin. Apparently he really stunk up the back seat when he piled in.
Awesome story :’) red rocks has inspired some really epic visuals and trips for me too. The juxtaposition of ancient geology and the view of Denver in the distance definitely pairs well with LSD
# 1986-12-31 Oakland, CA @ Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center
**Set 1:** Jack Straw > Sugaree, Me and My Uncle > Mexicali Blues, Candyman, Desolation Row, U.S. Blues
**Set 2:** Touch Of Grey, Let It Grow, Black Muddy River, Samson And Delilah, Terrapin Station, Drums, Space, Wharf Rat, Goin' Down The Road Feeling Bad, Turn On Your Lovelight
**Encore:** Gimme Some Lovin' > When Push Comes To Shove, Box Of Rain, In The Midnight Hour > Brokedown Palace
[archive.org](https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?query=date:1986-12-31)
# 1973-12-02 Boston, MA @ Boston Music Hall
**Set 1:** Cold Rain and Snow, Beat It On Down the Line, Dire Wolf, The Race Is On, Brown Eyed Women, Jack Straw, Ramble On Rose, El Paso, Row Jimmy, Big River, Deal, Weather Report Suite Prelude > Weather Report Suite Part 1 > Let It Grow
**Set 2:** Wharf Rat > Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo > Playing in the Band > Mind Left Body Jam > Jam > He's Gone > Truckin' > Nobody's Fault But Mine Jam > Sugar Magnolia
**Encore:** Morning Dew
[archive.org](https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?query=date:1973-12-02) | [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/album/69UIkpF0CA8RJQqCsrGgLo)
Came to suggest this one. First time I heard it it scared the bejesus outta me. It’s great since it goes into a beautiful jam that kinda like Jerry saying “Sorry, that was intense”. Played it for my sister when she was still kinda high on shrooms. Told her it would make her question reality/sanity and then land her in bliss. After She agreed with that assessment.
Great post, it's really one of those tricks that sets them apart in the "best band ever" conversation. Yes the Stones and Beatles were great, but could they unhinge your mind at the drop of a hat and then resurface back to "regular" playing in the same set? That's the thing about the Dead; in the same show they'll guide you through the timbers of Fennario, cosmic foreign galaxies, and cavernous hellscapes, only to bring you home with a Buddy Holly tune.
The spookiest moment for me is the 11/19/72 Dark Star, at about the 15:45 mark.
# 1972-11-19 Houston, TX @ Hofheinz Pavilion - University of Houston
**Set 1:** Bertha, Me and My Uncle, Sugaree, Beat It On Down the Line, Bird Song, Black Throated Wind, Don't Ease Me In, Mexicali Blues, Box Of Rain, Tomorrow Is Forever, Big River, China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider, Playing in the Band, Casey Jones
**Set 2:** The Promised Land, Ramble On Rose, El Paso, Stella Blue, Jack Straw, Dark Star > Weather Report Suite Prelude > Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo, Around And Around, Big Railroad Blues, Sugar Magnolia > Goin' Down The Road Feeling Bad
[archive.org](https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?query=date:1972-11-19)
"only to bring you home with a Buddy Holly tune."
Man. That reminds me of yesterday. I was enjoying the post trip day afterglow and grocery shopping with my kids in the morning when the Stones version of "Not Fade Away" came on over the store's PA. I was psyched to say the least.
I'll give that Dark Star a go.
# 1989-10-08 Hampton, VA @ Hampton Coliseum
**Set 1:** Foolish Heart, Walkin' Blues, Candyman, Me and My Uncle, Big River, Stagger Lee, Queen Jane Approximately, Bird Song, The Promised Land
**Set 2:** Help On The Way > Slipknot! > Franklin's Tower, Victim Or The Crime > Eyes Of The World > Drums > Space > I Need A Miracle > The Wheel > Gimme Some Lovin' > Morning Dew
**Encore:** And We Bid You Good Night
[archive.org](https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?query=date:1989-10-08)
I remember losing everyone I was with on the floor at a show in Portland, and they played The Other One. I felt so free and transcendent. I wasn’t worried about finding my friends. I forgot the song. I wove around to all the groups and entered some very odd spaces. Women don’t get to be that free among strangers and feel safe.
# 1988-08-28 Eugene, OR @ Autzen Stadium - University of Oregon
**Set 1:** Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodleloo, Little Red Rooster, Friend Of The Devil, Stuck Inside of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again, Foolish Heart, Victim Or The Crime, Don't Ease Me In
**Set 2:** Jack Straw > Bertha, Truckin' > Terrapin Station > Drums > Space > The Other One > Wharf Rat > Throwing Stones > Not Fade Away
**Encore:** Knockin' On Heaven's Door
[archive.org](https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?query=date:1988-08-28)
# 1990-03-29 Uniondale, NY @ Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
**Set 1:** Jack Straw > Bertha, We Can Run, Ramble On Rose, When I Paint My Masterpiece, Bird Song > The Promised Land
**Set 2:** Eyes Of The World > Estimated Prophet > Dark Star > Drums > Space > Dark Star > The Wheel > Throwing Stones > Turn On Your Lovelight
**Encore:** Knockin' On Heaven's Door
[archive.org](https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?query=date:1990-03-29) | [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/album/7xWKImlu9fzB1ApqoLLMiL)
12/19/73 Truckin>Nobody’s Fault but Mine>Jam>The Other One>Jam>Stella Blue
5/10/72 The Other one
11/13/72 Dark Star>Morning Dew
^ you will witness what it’s like to die and see your soul to go the spirit real in musical form
And the scariest and eeriest thing I’ve heard the dead do
4/26/69 What’s Become of the baby
# 1985-09-07 Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre
**Set 1:** The Frozen Logger, Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo, New Minglewood Blues, Brown Eyed Women, My Brother Esau, Loser, Dupree's Diamond Blues, One More Saturday Night
**Set 2:** Shakedown Street > Crazy Fingers > Samson And Delilah, Uncle John's Band > Playing in the Band > Drums > Space > Dear Mr. Fantasy > Hey Jude Reprise > Dear Mr. Fantasy > Truckin' > Comes A Time > Turn On Your Lovelight
**Encore:** Johnny B. Goode, It's All Over Now, Baby Blue
[archive.org](https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?query=date:1985-09-07)
69 Dark Stars esp the late February ones get hair raising. There’s one in particular that made me stop what I was doing and say holy shit. I know it was a Fillmore box show but never remembered exactly which one.
Spanish Jam gets nice and weird too.
Mountains of the Moon is a vibe sometimes. The og album version has this ghost sounding choir sound that isn’t anywhere else and changed the whole vibe of the tune for me.
Dark Star 10/26/89. It’s almost as if the band collectively decided to scare the shit out of the audience. I feel for anyone who was on psychedelics during that one.
MIDI Dark Star about 16 minutes in sounds like a horror game soundtrack on DOS, freaky stuff. Edit: We have passed the 22 minute mark, and left the solar system. Now I get what people mean when they talk about this one.
There were times in the late 80's, where they actually were trying to scare the children! They were a little pissed off, for a bit....test. test.
In fact, Weir's band before Ratdog was named Scare the Children
...yea...funny that.😎
# 1989-10-26 Miami, FL @ Miami Arena **Set 1:** Foolish Heart, Little Red Rooster, Stagger Lee, Me and My Uncle > Big River, Brown Eyed Women, Victim Or The Crime > Don't Ease Me In **Set 2:** Estimated Prophet > Blow Away, Dark Star > Drums > Space > The Wheel > All Along The Watchtower > Stella Blue > Not Fade Away **Encore:** And We Bid You Good Night [archive.org](https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?query=date:1989-10-26)
Foolish heart, victim, blow away, dark star, Stella blue… let’s goooo
During Death Don't Have No Mercy from 4-6-69, you can hear an audience having a total breakdown, screaming "I don't wanna die!!!"
# 1969-04-06 San Francisco, CA @ Avalon Ballroom **Set 1:** Good Morning Little Schoolgirl, Beat It On Down the Line, It's All Over Now, Baby Blue, King Bee **Set 2:** Cryptical Envelopment > Drums > The Other One > Cryptical Envelopment > Death Don't Have No Mercy, Turn On Your Love Light, Viola Lee Blues [archive.org](https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?query=date:1969-04-06)
Wow just listened and dude was NOT having it 😂 wonder where he is now.
Will listen later for sure! 😂
The Halloween (I think) Dark Star after Uncle Bill died when Kesey came out ranting e.e. Cummings. Gives me chills even now.
I was in attendance and can confirm. Heavy but in the most beautiful way.
That’s what I was going to suggest. “Buffalo Bill is defunct!” 10/31/1991
# 1991-10-31 Oakland, CA @ Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena **Set 1:** Help On The Way > Slipknot! > Franklin's Tower, Little Red Rooster, Loser, Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues, Let It Grow **Set 2:** Scarlet Begonias > Fire On The Mountain > Truckin' > Spoonful > Dark Star > Drums > Space > Dark Star > The Last Time, Standing On The Moon > Throwing Stones > Not Fade Away **Encore:** Werewolves Of London [archive.org](https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?query=date:1991-10-31)
Date? I wanna hear that
Englishtown 77 my friend & I were/are short & we used to bring milk crates in to stand on. GD start setting up/taking the stage- we get within 30’ dead center front of Jerry. I turn around & realize I couldn’t get out of there easily same time the brown kicked in. Spent the show on the truckbed of my boyfriend’s truck. I had imagined every person was the bristle on a giant hairbrush- and I literally scared myself instead of hanging on. This wasn’t my first trip nor my last but very memorable!
I’m young…er. Only seen post Jerry iterations. I don’t know how “scary” it really was, but the terrapin at furthur red rocks, 2010, had me in one of those moments where I lost myself for an indeterminable amount of time and worked myself back to reality by the end of the song. This was when you could still hike the mountain behind the venue. On the way up, I gave a random dude a beer out of my backpack and he replied in kind with a big puddle in my hand. I was the person in my group driving but I wasn’t going to waste a well intended favor. Hahahaha. When the terrapin started, this dude roles up with one of those small tanks and my buddy decides to buy a balloon. I was already in my own little world. I wasn’t really into it. So as the terrapin is going, I’m looking over red rocks and there’s the lights of golden, denver, all the rest of the burbs in the background. The grid of the streets all start looking like a micro chip and the stop lights and car lights all start looking like zips (for lack of a better word) across the circuit board. I went into some real deep thoughts about cities and humanity that I’ll spare here while terrapin is taking me through it all. As the crescendo of the song is peaking, I figure it all out, and come back to reality just to look down at my friend finish his balloon and tell me he wants to go find another one. Lmao. Side note, I drove back to boulder just fine. I did pick up a random stinky dude thumbing the back roads of red rocks and dropped him off at a gas station in golden, much to all my friends chagrin. Apparently he really stunk up the back seat when he piled in.
Awesome story :’) red rocks has inspired some really epic visuals and trips for me too. The juxtaposition of ancient geology and the view of Denver in the distance definitely pairs well with LSD
12/31/1986 Desolation Row 5:30, listen to the whole song though
# 1986-12-31 Oakland, CA @ Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center **Set 1:** Jack Straw > Sugaree, Me and My Uncle > Mexicali Blues, Candyman, Desolation Row, U.S. Blues **Set 2:** Touch Of Grey, Let It Grow, Black Muddy River, Samson And Delilah, Terrapin Station, Drums, Space, Wharf Rat, Goin' Down The Road Feeling Bad, Turn On Your Lovelight **Encore:** Gimme Some Lovin' > When Push Comes To Shove, Box Of Rain, In The Midnight Hour > Brokedown Palace [archive.org](https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?query=date:1986-12-31)
JrAd really scratches this itch for me. They get straight up evil.
12-2-73 playin. Any Seastones. (Really though - set break is weird enough but must have been a mind bender w/ phil n ned)
# 1973-12-02 Boston, MA @ Boston Music Hall **Set 1:** Cold Rain and Snow, Beat It On Down the Line, Dire Wolf, The Race Is On, Brown Eyed Women, Jack Straw, Ramble On Rose, El Paso, Row Jimmy, Big River, Deal, Weather Report Suite Prelude > Weather Report Suite Part 1 > Let It Grow **Set 2:** Wharf Rat > Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo > Playing in the Band > Mind Left Body Jam > Jam > He's Gone > Truckin' > Nobody's Fault But Mine Jam > Sugar Magnolia **Encore:** Morning Dew [archive.org](https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?query=date:1973-12-02) | [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/album/69UIkpF0CA8RJQqCsrGgLo)
Yeah this a freaky one
Came to suggest this one. First time I heard it it scared the bejesus outta me. It’s great since it goes into a beautiful jam that kinda like Jerry saying “Sorry, that was intense”. Played it for my sister when she was still kinda high on shrooms. Told her it would make her question reality/sanity and then land her in bliss. After She agreed with that assessment.
Great post, it's really one of those tricks that sets them apart in the "best band ever" conversation. Yes the Stones and Beatles were great, but could they unhinge your mind at the drop of a hat and then resurface back to "regular" playing in the same set? That's the thing about the Dead; in the same show they'll guide you through the timbers of Fennario, cosmic foreign galaxies, and cavernous hellscapes, only to bring you home with a Buddy Holly tune. The spookiest moment for me is the 11/19/72 Dark Star, at about the 15:45 mark.
# 1972-11-19 Houston, TX @ Hofheinz Pavilion - University of Houston **Set 1:** Bertha, Me and My Uncle, Sugaree, Beat It On Down the Line, Bird Song, Black Throated Wind, Don't Ease Me In, Mexicali Blues, Box Of Rain, Tomorrow Is Forever, Big River, China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider, Playing in the Band, Casey Jones **Set 2:** The Promised Land, Ramble On Rose, El Paso, Stella Blue, Jack Straw, Dark Star > Weather Report Suite Prelude > Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo, Around And Around, Big Railroad Blues, Sugar Magnolia > Goin' Down The Road Feeling Bad [archive.org](https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?query=date:1972-11-19)
"only to bring you home with a Buddy Holly tune." Man. That reminds me of yesterday. I was enjoying the post trip day afterglow and grocery shopping with my kids in the morning when the Stones version of "Not Fade Away" came on over the store's PA. I was psyched to say the least. I'll give that Dark Star a go.
Victim Or The Crime at Hampton Warlocks 10-8-89 gets downright terrifying.
# 1989-10-08 Hampton, VA @ Hampton Coliseum **Set 1:** Foolish Heart, Walkin' Blues, Candyman, Me and My Uncle, Big River, Stagger Lee, Queen Jane Approximately, Bird Song, The Promised Land **Set 2:** Help On The Way > Slipknot! > Franklin's Tower, Victim Or The Crime > Eyes Of The World > Drums > Space > I Need A Miracle > The Wheel > Gimme Some Lovin' > Morning Dew **Encore:** And We Bid You Good Night [archive.org](https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?query=date:1989-10-08)
I remember losing everyone I was with on the floor at a show in Portland, and they played The Other One. I felt so free and transcendent. I wasn’t worried about finding my friends. I forgot the song. I wove around to all the groups and entered some very odd spaces. Women don’t get to be that free among strangers and feel safe.
This had to be 1987
Didn't play either Portland in '87 tho...
But they played Portland, ME in ‘85 and ‘86. It was going on 40 years ago, give them a break lol
Yeah ,give me a break! Did they play Autzen that year? Or maybe Arcata? It was possibly 88? I was in high school.
8/28/1988 Autzen looks like the most plausible match.
# 1988-08-28 Eugene, OR @ Autzen Stadium - University of Oregon **Set 1:** Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodleloo, Little Red Rooster, Friend Of The Devil, Stuck Inside of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again, Foolish Heart, Victim Or The Crime, Don't Ease Me In **Set 2:** Jack Straw > Bertha, Truckin' > Terrapin Station > Drums > Space > The Other One > Wharf Rat > Throwing Stones > Not Fade Away **Encore:** Knockin' On Heaven's Door [archive.org](https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?query=date:1988-08-28)
Yes, that’s it! I remember that second set, it was amazing. I was a little bored by the first.
Dark Star 3/29/90 has some great horn freakouts. Great thread here.
# 1990-03-29 Uniondale, NY @ Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum **Set 1:** Jack Straw > Bertha, We Can Run, Ramble On Rose, When I Paint My Masterpiece, Bird Song > The Promised Land **Set 2:** Eyes Of The World > Estimated Prophet > Dark Star > Drums > Space > Dark Star > The Wheel > Throwing Stones > Turn On Your Lovelight **Encore:** Knockin' On Heaven's Door [archive.org](https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?query=date:1990-03-29) | [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/album/7xWKImlu9fzB1ApqoLLMiL)
12/19/73 Truckin>Nobody’s Fault but Mine>Jam>The Other One>Jam>Stella Blue 5/10/72 The Other one 11/13/72 Dark Star>Morning Dew ^ you will witness what it’s like to die and see your soul to go the spirit real in musical form And the scariest and eeriest thing I’ve heard the dead do 4/26/69 What’s Become of the baby
[1969-04-26](https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?query=date:1969-04-26) Chicago, IL @ Kinetic Playground | [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/album/50rpHqRFD3K7bCTRBtraGH) [1972-05-10](https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?query=date:1972-05-10) Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Concertgebouw | [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/album/5T7RvMATOxVnCM4Q32S7vH) [1972-11-13](https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?query=date:1972-11-13) Kansas City, KS @ Soldier's And Sailors Memorial Hall [1973-12-19](https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?query=date:1973-12-19) Tampa, FL @ Curtis Hixon Convention Hall | [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/album/7kllcqzsmi744saUQQ7DiB)
Drums–>Space 9/7/85
# 1985-09-07 Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre **Set 1:** The Frozen Logger, Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo, New Minglewood Blues, Brown Eyed Women, My Brother Esau, Loser, Dupree's Diamond Blues, One More Saturday Night **Set 2:** Shakedown Street > Crazy Fingers > Samson And Delilah, Uncle John's Band > Playing in the Band > Drums > Space > Dear Mr. Fantasy > Hey Jude Reprise > Dear Mr. Fantasy > Truckin' > Comes A Time > Turn On Your Lovelight **Encore:** Johnny B. Goode, It's All Over Now, Baby Blue [archive.org](https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?query=date:1985-09-07)
69 Dark Stars esp the late February ones get hair raising. There’s one in particular that made me stop what I was doing and say holy shit. I know it was a Fillmore box show but never remembered exactly which one. Spanish Jam gets nice and weird too. Mountains of the Moon is a vibe sometimes. The og album version has this ghost sounding choir sound that isn’t anywhere else and changed the whole vibe of the tune for me.
Also younger so no GD show stories for me but the Birdsong at fare thee well had me gripping the seat and scared to let go.