After dealing with fatigue of non-stop touring since 1969, along with the headaches and expense of carting around the massive Wall of Sound, the Grateful Dead announced a hiatus from touring/possible permanent retirement in September 1974. After returning from a short European tour, the band scheduled a final five-night run on their home turf, San Francisco’s Winterland ballroom, on October 16-20.
I was in my senior year at UCSC with a heavy course load, so elected to only get tickets for the final three weekend shows. In contrast to the heavy demand for tickets today, my friends and I were all able to easily score tickets for all shows at the Sears store in nearby Capitola.
As the shows approached, it was announced that the shows would be filmed for a feature-length movie. Up to that point, little film of the Grateful Dead was available. Robert Nelson had produced a short movie starring the Dead, but they were cavorting in front of the camera behind recorded music rather than performing live. That same year, Richard Lester released the dramatic movie Petulia, which was filmed in San Francisco and included footage of the Dead performing Viola Lee Blues and also found them acting in a scene where star Julie Christie was being loaded into an ambulance. There were several TV performances of the Dead that were broadcast from 1969-1972 including the infamous 2/69 appearance on Playboy after Dark, a February 1970 show filmed for a PBS release called a Night at the Family Dog, late 1970 Quad simulcasts from KQED studios (Calebration - 8/30/70) and Winterland (10/4/70 and 12/31/70), and some overseas broadcasts during the Europe 72 tour. However, none of these were commercially available with the exception of the Family Dog show and one clip from the 4/21/72 Beat Club broadcast. Thus Garcia decided that these possibly final shows should be filmed in high quality for posterity.
Arriving at Winterland on Friday night, the impact of the film crew became immediately evident. To the right of Keith Godchaux’s piano was a large rotating rig for a film camera. Although most of the Wall of Sound was in place for the February 1974 Winterland shows, the complete system formed an imposing edifice within the relatively intimate confines of the old ice rink. The audience energy was high, but not that different than the shows earlier that year, and the stadium was not oversold, as the footage from the Grateful Dead movie shows.
At this point, I did not have ready access to a darkroom, so I chose to shoot some slide film for the Friday show. Thanks to the lights required for the film crew, the band members were better illuminated than was usually the case at indoor bay area shows. A couple of pictures are included here. You can also access video of this much of this show in the Grateful Dead Movie. Songs included in the film are indicated by an asterisk.
All of the retirement shows were generous in length and included a broad variety of material, including things that they had not played for many years. Contrary to the Dead’s tradition of having problems with landmark shows like Woodstock and Monterey Pop, the band played flawlessly the entire weekend, perhaps knowing that this run and the ensuing film might be their legacy.
Friday opened in a relatively low-key fashion with “Around and Around” followed by a long, languid version of Sugaree*. The rest of the first set was pretty typical for the era: Mexicali Blues, Peggy-O, Beat It On Down the Line, Brown Eyed Women, Cumberland Blues, El Paso, Tennessee Jed, Jack Straw, Row Jimmy, closing with a dazzling run through the last Grateful Dead version of the entire Weather Report Suite*
Shortly after the band started their first set break, ominous electronic sounds started emanating from the stage, where Ned Lagin could be found crouched behind a wall of keyboards and synthesizers. Although Ned and Phil Lesh had been performing Lagin’s experimental electronic compositions between sets at Grateful Dead shows since late June, these were the first local Dead shows where they were featured. Electronic drones, whistles, and bleats from Lagin merged with thundering bass notes from Lesh for nearly a half hour, with Garcia joining the proceedings about halfway in, first with scratchy guitar and later with more melodic leads. As the other members of the band ambled out, things shifted to something more like a typical ‘space’ jam with Garcia becoming more dominant over Kreutzmann’s aggressive drumming. What was relatively freeform improvisation in the key of A methodically led into “Dark Star*” – one of the best versions of the era and the only one played during the retirement shows. The tune opened into the first verse about 10 minutes in (Typically for that era, only the first verse was sung). At around the 13 minute mark, the chord progression for Dark Star went out the window as Garcia and Keith Godchaux moved more into an open improvisational mode, with Weir providing little arpeggios while Kreutzmann and Lesh provided a nimble rhythmic foundation. Things settled back into the cadence and melody of “Dark Star” near the 23 minute mark, with Kreutzmann and Lesh providing a drums-and-bass break while Garcia makes scratchy space noises with his guitar. As anarchy threatens to rule once again, things quiet down as Garcia strums his guitar quietly to lead the band into a gorgeous, take-no-prisoners version of “Morning Dew,” replete with bass bombs from Lesh and some majestic gospel piano from Godchaux. Dew continued to build in intensity until Garcia brought the energy back down to sing the plaintive last line of the chorus.
As the band left the stage, most of us assumed the main show was over, and the Dead returned to deliver a crackerjack version of “Promised Land” that seemed to be the encore. Instead, the Chuck Berry chestnut was merely the opening salvo for a third set that continued through the familiar pairing of Promised Land> Bertha>Greatest Story Ever Told. Next up was another Garcia ballad, the run’s only version of “Ship of Fools,” followed by Not Fade Away>Goin’ Down the Road Feelin’ Bad and climaxing with “One More Saturday Night.” With three sets under their belt, the Dead were coaxed back with what may be the definitive live version of “US Blues*” to close out the evening. This was the version used to open up the Grateful Dead Movie.
The next night in some ways was a more ‘typical” two-set Dead show, but it had its share of surprises and more superb playing. Opening with “Half Step Mississippi Uptown Toodeloo,” the initial part of the first set continued with “Me and My Uncle,” Friend of the Devil, BIODTL. Roses, El Paso, Loose Lucy, Black Throated Wind, and a stellar “Scarlet Begonias*” followed by ”To Lay Me Down.” Then things got interesting, with the first version of “Mama Tried” since 1971. A short pause occurred as Kreutzmann accepted a “Dead” license plate from a guy in the audience and mounted it on his drums. Next up was a unique first set medley of “Eyes of the World*” into “China Doll” The first set wrapped up with “Big River.”
In contrast to the previous night, Ned Lagin and Phil Lesh’s set between Dead sets featured just those two musicians, and did not lead directly into the band’s second set. It featured a bit more brittle static-sounding interludes and concluded dramatically with a blast of white noise.
The second set began with a generous helping of shorter songs, beginning with a stellar “Uncle John’s Band*” followed by “Big Railroad Blues.” A country segment included the last version of “The Race is On” until the 1980 acoustic sets a rare Garcia and Donna Godchaux duet on Dolly Parton’s“Tomorrow is Forever, and the perennial country saga “Mexicali Blues.” Those tunes were preceded by a rare“Big Railroad Blues” and followed by the last version of “Dire Wolf” played until the fall of 1977. The big medley opened with a ripping “Sugar Magnolia*” concluding with Garcia soloing furiously over the “Sunshine Daydream” chord progression before dropping down into a lush “He’s Gone” with Keith’s gospel piano prominent in the mix. After the extended acapella chorus, the Dead shift gears again into a couple of minutes of the opening riffs of “Truckin.” Before the vocal section begins, they transition smoothly into an instrumental version of “Caution,” with Garcia, Lesh,Weir, and Keith Godchaux all on fire. A brief drum break follows, after which Lesh and Garcia undertook a gentle improvisation with Kreutzmann that amped up into a wah-wah pedal tirade when Weir joined in. The jam then transitions into an almost ambient segment before Keith joins on electric piano for a more shuffle-like jam that led into the meat of “Truckin*,” with the pianist shifting back onto his grand piano, dueling with Weir’s rippling arpeggios and Garcia’s aggressive leads. As the song reached its powerful instrumental climax, the band’s intensity gradually dials down once more into the obligatory ballad, in this case a soulful “Black Peter.” The set closed strong by circling back to a driving “Sunshine Daydream,” highlighted by Weir and Donna’s harmonies and Garcia’s ripping leads. Given the day of the week, “One More Saturday Night” was no surprise as the first encore, with Weir substituting “Skating Rink” for “Armory in the second verse. After much insistence from the crowd, the band was coaxed back one more time to wind the show up with another strong version of “U.S. Blues.”
The Sunday show, thought at the time to possibly be the Dead’s swan song, was one of the toughest tickets of that era. Our group had an extra ticket, and it was fun to give it at face value to an obviously desperate deadhead a few blocks from Winterland. Inside the old skating rink, the crowd energy was intense and palpable. Although emotions had run high the entire weekend, both anticipation of what might transpire and a sense of mourning gave a different vibe to the audience on the closing night of the run.
The show opened, as had so many before it, with a solid “Cold Rain and Snow.” Next, Weir reprised “Mama Tried,” followed by a run of ear-friendly first set tunes: “Deal”, “Beat It On Down the Line,” “Loser,” “Jack Straw,” Tennessee Jed,” and “El Paso”. An emotional “Brokedown Palace” appeared in an unusual position in the middle of the opening set, and what would often be a set closing “China Cat Sunflower” > “I Know You Rider” was followed by “Around and Around” to cap off the opening set.
Once again, Seastones was presented as a stand-alone performance just before the second set. This was the longest Seastones set of the run, and again featured Garcia on processed guitar in roughly the last half of the performance.
During another longish break, a second drum kit was assembled on stage by the crew, and anticipation built as it became evident that Mickey Hart was about to join the band onstage for the first time since February 1971. Although the crowd was excited, founding drummer Bill Kreutzmann was not. As he noted in his 2015 autobiography Deal: “I enjoyed being the only drummer and didn’t want that to change. I got territorial about it. Mickey didn’t know the new material and we hadn’t rehearsed or played with him for years, so I didn’t think it could possibly be good – and it wasn’t, that night.” The second Grateful Dead set was a big Playing in the Band sandwich, with two drum breaks before and after a somewhat shambolic “Not Fade Away.” Although seeing two drummers onstage again was thrilling at the time, the lack of synchronicity between the two percussionists is evident on the tapes of the gig, with Hart sounding somewhat heavy-handed compared to Kreutzmann’s effortless mastery during the other sets of the run. Probably unexpected given that the two hadn’t worked together for 3 ½ years and had no rehearsal. At the end of the second drum segment, Lesh led the band into “The Other One,” which had been teased prior to the percussion break. After 11 minutes of meandering, “The Other One” morphed into a long, languid version of “Wharf Rat” with prominent electric piano motifs by Ned Lagin, who sat in for the whole second set. “Rat” devolved into more group improvisation that gradually circled around to the “Playing in the Band” reprise to wind up the set.
The third set was kind of a hodge-podge, with just the core band back onstage, opening with the first version of “Good Lovin’” since Pigpen had to stop touring with the Band in 1972. Unfortunately, sort of a lethargic version with a limpid jam in the middle. Next were a couple of short songs, “It Must’ve Been the Roses” followed by what could have been a set closing “Promised Land.” Following a few minutes of technical tinkering with the piano, the set continued with “Eyes of the World,” , with the last of the proto-“Slipknot” outtros that were standard for much of 1973 and 1974, which dissolved into another Garcia-Hunter ballad, “Stella Blue.” With Hart back onstage again, the band wrapped up their final set of the run with – what else? – “Sugar Magnolia.” At this point, it was very late, and the band was doubtless exhausted from playing three sets after four long shows the preceding days, and they chose “Johnny B. Goode” as a short encore after Bill Graham called up the Dead crew and gave a shout out to Hart. The audience wasn’t ready to leave, and sustained noise from the crowd brought the band back for a curious encore, a reprise of “Mississippi Half-Step Toodeloo” from the previous night before they brought themselves and the audience down gently with a ragged but soulful “And We Bid You Goodnight.” As we groggily made our way out towards Steiner Street, each audience member was gifted one of the Ticketron tickets stamped “The Last One.” For all we knew, that was the end, but of course the band toured for another 19 years after a hiatus, and the journey of the Grateful Dead’s music continues, even as the original band leaders leave the planet one by one.
