The Grateful Dead‘s April 26, 1983 concert at The Spectrum in Philadelphia will be featured on Dave’s Picks Volume 39, the next installment of the band’s live archival audio series. A limited quantity of CDs go up for grabs starting this Friday, July 30 at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT via Dead.net.
Grateful Dead archivist and Dave’s Picks curator David Lemieux has been focusing the series on the band’s 1980s shows as of late. Dave’s Picks Volume 39 marks the third release recorded in the ’80s out of the last five volumes.
‘Dave’s Picks Volume 39’ Cover Art by Helen Kennedy
April 26, 1983 was the Dead’s second night of a two-show stand at The Spectrum. The sextet — which at the time featured guitarists Bob Weir and Jerry Garcia, bassist Phil Lesh, keyboardist Brent Mydland and drummers Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann — opened with “Shakedown Street.” Surprisingly, this will be the first version of “Shakedown Street” issued as part of a Dave’s Picks release.
The frame also includes the Mydland-penned “Maybe You Know,” which also makes its first Dave’s Picks appearance. Plus, Weir leads the group through “My Brother Esau,” a song debuted just two weeks prior in Rochester. The GD’s second set begins with a fierce “Help On The Way”/”Slipknot!”/”Franklin’s Tower” pairing and “Man Smart, Woman Smarter” before the evening’s “Drums”/”Space” excursion.
While the pre-“Drums” segment is shorter than usual, the post-“Space” portion is particularly meaty. “Truckin’” gives way to the rare “Nobody’s Fault But Mine.” The brief instrumental interlude also incorporates a taste of “Spoonful” before Garcia delivers an impassioned “Morning Dew.” Next, Weir fronts the seven-month-old “Throwing Stones” ahead of a set-closing “Not Fade Away.” The Dead capped the night with a “U.S. Blues” encore.
Setlist (via JerryGarcia.com)
Set One: Shakedown Street, New Minglewood Blues, They Love Each Other, Me And My Uncle, Mexicali Blues, Maybe You Know, West L.A. Fadeaway, My Brother Esau, It Must Have Been The Roses, Let It Grow
Set Two: Help On The Way > Slipknot > Franklin’s Tower, Man Smart, Woman Smarter > Drums > Space > Truckin’ > Nobody’s Fault But Mine Jam > Morning Dew > Throwing Stones > Not Fade Away
Encore: U.S. Blues
