Saturday Dead: 10.26.89

Words By Andy Zimmer

Grateful Dead Live at Miami Arena on October 26, 1989. <--- Direct Archive Link

I decided to pick this particular show this week as a counterpoint to anyone who thinks that, after the 60’s and early-70’s, the Dead could never really get into deep, psychedelic, far-out places with their old “jam standards” (Dark Star, Morning Dew, etc.) the October 26th show from Miami Arena was the tour closer from a very strong run in the Fall of ’89. Particularly, the second set really gets me going. Fans of “Blow Away” will really enjoy this exceptional version of Mydland-Dead. However, the “Dark Star”>”Space” segment is the crème de la crème for me. While it may be hard to top the 60’s “Dark Stars” in terms of how they broke open the mold of rock songs and allowed the Dead true freedom to bring in aspects of psychedelia, jazz, and anything else into the mix; the musicianship and jamming on this version are top-notch. The boys truly delve into dark, almost scary, alleys of the human psyche. If you don’t feel like diving off the deep end for a few hours, or are easily frightened, this may not be the show for you. But, for the bold, jump on in... Captain Trips still has a few tricks up his sleeve that he’d like to share with you.

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