GRATEFUL DEAD / 1965–1995

The First. The Last. The Best.

Find a song’s first, last and best live versions, or look up any show.

DEAD HISTORY

December 31

The Grateful Dead played 20 shows on December 31, from 1969 to 1991. Every one is free to stream from the Internet Archive.

Shows on this date

  • 1969: Boston Tea Party in Boston, MA
  • 1970: Winterland Arena in San Francisco, CA
  • 1971: Winterland Arena in San Francisco, CA
  • 1972: Winterland Arena in San Francisco, CA
  • 1976: Cow Palace in Daly City, CA
  • 1977: Winterland Arena in San Francisco, CA
  • 1978: Winterland Arena in San Francisco, CA
  • 1979: Oakland Auditorium Arena in Oakland, CA
  • 1980: Oakland Auditorium Arena in Oakland, CA
  • 1981: Oakland Auditorium Arena in Oakland, CA
  • 1982: Oakland Auditorium Arena in Oakland, CA
  • 1983: San Francisco Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, CA
  • 1984: San Francisco Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, CA
  • 1985: Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in Oakland, CA
  • 1986: Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center in Oakland, CA
  • 1987: Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in Oakland, CA
  • 1988: Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in Oakland, CA
  • 1989: Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in Oakland, CA
  • 1990: Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in Oakland, CA
  • 1991: Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in Oakland, CA

First, Last and Best on this date

December 30 · January 1

READY WHEN YOU AREChoose a tape. Your player will appear here.
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About the picks

A NOTE FROM THE TAPE ROOM

What this site is

Pick a song and hear three tapes: its first known performance, its last, and the fan favorite.

Which songs are here

Over 100 songs fans love most, plus classic live sequences. It isn’t every song the Grateful Dead played. If one you love is missing, request it and it can be added. The list starts from Rolling Stone’s 100 Best Grateful Dead Songs playlist, and only performances by the original Grateful Dead are included.

First, Last, and Best

First and Last are the earliest and latest concerts where the song appears in The SetList Program. Early histories can be incomplete or disputed, so these are documented dates, not a guarantee of the true debut or final performance. A few entries rely on other references, such as JerryBase, Dead.net and a Dead Essays article, and each links to its source. A few entries have no verified date and are marked.

Best is the highest-voted version on that song’s HeadyVersion ranking. The card shows the vote count and the date we checked. It’s one community’s opinion, not the final word, and votes change over time, so this is a snapshot. If versions tie, the card says so and shows the first one listed. The live sequences use HeadyVersion’s separate sequence rankings.

Sorting

A–Z is alphabetical. Rolling Stone Top 101 follows that playlist’s order; its numbers are playlist positions, not fan votes, and songs and sequences that aren’t on that playlist come after them. Debut Date lists songs by when they were first played, earliest first.

The tapes

Audio streams from the Internet Archive. Some shows have no surviving tape, and some recordings are missing tracks, mislabeled, or temporarily unavailable. “No matched tape” means we couldn’t find a usable recording for that date. Play sequence plays a whole sequence from the same show, with a brief gap between files.

Spot a mistake?

Dates and tape matches can be wrong. Every song page has a “Report a mistake” link at the bottom, and corrections get made.

Each Best card shows the date its votes were checked. Independent fan project, not affiliated with or endorsed by the Grateful Dead, Rolling Stone, The SetList Program, HeadyVersion, or Internet Archive. All names belong to their owners.

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  2. Tap the Share button (a square with an arrow pointing up).
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