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.
THE GRATEFUL DEAD
On The Road Again
The first, last and best live versions of On The Road Again by the Grateful Dead, with free recordings from the Internet Archive. It appears in 42 concert listings in The SetList Program, 1966 to 1984.
Who wrote it
On The Road Again was written by Traditional, Will Shade. It was first released on Reckoning, 1981.
First time played
The Grateful Dead first played On The Road Again live on January 7, 1966 at The Matrix in San Francisco, CA.
Last time played
The last time they played it was October 12, 1984 at Augusta Civic Center in Augusta, ME.
Best version
The top-voted version on HeadyVersion is August 7, 1982 at Alpine Valley Music Theater in East Troy, WI, with 25 votes (as of November 2026). Next in the voting: 10/12/84 (19 votes) and 8/10/82 (16 votes).
Lyrics
Read the lyrics to On The Road Again on dead.net, the band’s official site.
Every time they played it
In the setlists on this site, the Grateful Dead played On The Road Again 44 times, from 1966 to 1989. They played it most in 1980 (22 times).
1966 (3): 1/7/66, 2/25/66, 12/1/66
1980 (22): 9/26/80, 9/27/80, 9/29/80, 9/30/80, 10/2/80, 10/3/80, 10/4/80, 10/6/80, 10/9/80, 10/10/80, 10/13/80, 10/18/80, 10/19/80, 10/22/80, 10/23/80, 10/26/80, 10/27/80, 10/29/80, 10/30/80, 11/26/80, 12/6/80, 12/31/80
1981 (9): 2/17/81, 3/4/81, 4/25/81, 5/22/81, 8/14/81, 9/26/81, 10/11/81, 10/16/81, 12/30/81
1982 (7): 2/17/82, 4/19/82, 7/27/82, 8/7/82, 8/10/82, 10/9/82, 12/28/82
1983 (1): 4/19/83
1984 (1): 10/12/84
1989 (1): 9/27/89