The Grateful Dead Vault: the Band's Most-Relived Concerts

The summer of 1973 is considered by many Deadheads to be the peak year of the band's improvisational development — the moment when their extended jams were most unpredictable and most coherent at the same time. This RFK Stadium show, downloaded over 1.26 million times, is one of the definitive documents of that period. The setlist is remarkable: "Morning Dew," "Playin' in the Band," "Eyes of the World," and the first set still moving at full velocity. Garcia's tone is extraordinary on this recording.

A February 1973 show in Madison, Wisconsin that captured the band during a remarkable run of Midwest dates and has been downloaded over 1.1 million times. The set list is a clinic in how to build a show: the first set establishing the evening with "Loose Lucy" and "Brown Eyed Women," the second escalating through "Jack Straw" into "China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider," the two-song sequence that represents the Dead's improvisational approach in its most distilled form.

The Dead of 1987 were a different band from 1973 — more polished, more commercially successful, with Brent Mydland's synthesizers adding a new texture — but on their best nights they still achieved something extraordinary. This Worcester show, downloaded nearly 790,000 times, is a strong argument for the later-period Dead: "Hell in a Bucket" opening into a dynamic first set, the second set finding Garcia in one of his peak late-period forms. Not 1973, but not trying to be.

The night before Cornell, the Dead played Boston Garden in what many Deadheads consider the better show of the legendary Cornell weekend — a more experimental first set and a second set that may have burned hotter, if not as cleanly, as the following evening. Downloaded nearly 788,000 times. Listening to these two consecutive nights back-to-back reveals how different each Dead performance was: same songs, same musicians, different outcomes, both extraordinary.

An early 1977 California show that shows the band hitting their stride before the legendary spring tour that produced Cornell. Downloaded over 767,000 times. The setlist includes an extraordinary "Terrapin Station" — the song that would anchor their 1977 studio album — played in a rawer, more exploratory form than it would take on the record, with Garcia's guitar finding melodic lines that the studio version would later resolve.

The third leg of the legendary Cornell weekend — the day after Cornell — was recorded with even better fidelity and has been downloaded over 755,000 times. "Help on the Way > Slipknot! > Franklin's Tower" opens the second set in the sequence that represents the Dead's compositional ambition at its height: three songs written to be played together, each one unlocking the next. Buffalo 5/9/77 is the argument for why the day after a legendary show can be just as good.

The early 1970s Dead were a band in flux — pianist Keith Godchaux had just joined, the "wall of sound" PA was still being developed, and the improvisations were longer and stranger than they would ever be again. This Hollywood Palladium show, downloaded over 576,000 times, captures that transitional period: "Truckin'" and "The Other One" in versions that sprawl across twenty-minute explorations, Garcia's guitar searching for resolutions it sometimes declines to find. This is the experimental Dead at full power.

The last great Grateful Dead show — the penultimate performance of Garcia's life, played two weeks before his death at Soldier Field in Chicago. Downloaded over 570,000 times. Knowing what is coming gives this recording an unbearable weight: "So Many Roads," performed with a yearning that feels valedictory, is one of the most emotionally overwhelming moments in the band's career. Every Deadhead knows this show. Many cannot listen to it without grief.

The Dead's 1975 concert at Winterland — one of relatively few shows they played that year, a period of studio concentration that produced "Blues for Allah" — was recorded in exceptional fidelity and has been downloaded over 528,000 times. The set is unusual: exploratory, searching, influenced by the jazz and electronic music the band had been absorbing in their sabbatical. Garcia sounds like a different guitarist from the 1977 Cornell recordings — less assured, more curious, willing to follow tangents into silence.

The summer of 1973 is considered by many Deadheads to be the peak year of the band's improvisational development — the moment when their extended jams were most unpredictable and most coherent at the same time. This RFK Stadium show, downloaded over 1.26 million times, is one of the definitive documents of that period. The setlist is remarkable: "Morning Dew," "Playin' in the Band," "Eyes of the World," and the first set still moving at full velocity. Garcia's tone is extraordinary on this recording.

A February 1973 show in Madison, Wisconsin that captured the band during a remarkable run of Midwest dates and has been downloaded over 1.1 million times. The set list is a clinic in how to build a show: the first set establishing the evening with "Loose Lucy" and "Brown Eyed Women," the second escalating through "Jack Straw" into "China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider," the two-song sequence that represents the Dead's improvisational approach in its most distilled form.

The Dead of 1987 were a different band from 1973 — more polished, more commercially successful, with Brent Mydland's synthesizers adding a new texture — but on their best nights they still achieved something extraordinary. This Worcester show, downloaded nearly 790,000 times, is a strong argument for the later-period Dead: "Hell in a Bucket" opening into a dynamic first set, the second set finding Garcia in one of his peak late-period forms. Not 1973, but not trying to be.

The night before Cornell, the Dead played Boston Garden in what many Deadheads consider the better show of the legendary Cornell weekend — a more experimental first set and a second set that may have burned hotter, if not as cleanly, as the following evening. Downloaded nearly 788,000 times. Listening to these two consecutive nights back-to-back reveals how different each Dead performance was: same songs, same musicians, different outcomes, both extraordinary.

An early 1977 California show that shows the band hitting their stride before the legendary spring tour that produced Cornell. Downloaded over 767,000 times. The setlist includes an extraordinary "Terrapin Station" — the song that would anchor their 1977 studio album — played in a rawer, more exploratory form than it would take on the record, with Garcia's guitar finding melodic lines that the studio version would later resolve.

The third leg of the legendary Cornell weekend — the day after Cornell — was recorded with even better fidelity and has been downloaded over 755,000 times. "Help on the Way > Slipknot! > Franklin's Tower" opens the second set in the sequence that represents the Dead's compositional ambition at its height: three songs written to be played together, each one unlocking the next. Buffalo 5/9/77 is the argument for why the day after a legendary show can be just as good.

The early 1970s Dead were a band in flux — pianist Keith Godchaux had just joined, the "wall of sound" PA was still being developed, and the improvisations were longer and stranger than they would ever be again. This Hollywood Palladium show, downloaded over 576,000 times, captures that transitional period: "Truckin'" and "The Other One" in versions that sprawl across twenty-minute explorations, Garcia's guitar searching for resolutions it sometimes declines to find. This is the experimental Dead at full power.

The last great Grateful Dead show — the penultimate performance of Garcia's life, played two weeks before his death at Soldier Field in Chicago. Downloaded over 570,000 times. Knowing what is coming gives this recording an unbearable weight: "So Many Roads," performed with a yearning that feels valedictory, is one of the most emotionally overwhelming moments in the band's career. Every Deadhead knows this show. Many cannot listen to it without grief.

The Dead's 1975 concert at Winterland — one of relatively few shows they played that year, a period of studio concentration that produced "Blues for Allah" — was recorded in exceptional fidelity and has been downloaded over 528,000 times. The set is unusual: exploratory, searching, influenced by the jazz and electronic music the band had been absorbing in their sabbatical. Garcia sounds like a different guitarist from the 1977 Cornell recordings — less assured, more curious, willing to follow tangents into silence.