Concerts 1980-1981
Not many people will remember this show, with a member of the Grateful Dead playing at the long-gone-but-not-forgetten Ritz in NYC. I went to see Bill Kreutzman’s band at the Ritz, where I saw some other great shows in its day.
The date is uncertain, and I could find nothing online about the tour or tour dates. They hand-wrote the band name on a generic Ritz stub for this event.
In an excited state on the day of this show I sprained my ankle running down the stairs of my friend’s dorm. Later I hobbled into the Landmark Theatre with an ace bandage on my ankle after driving up from Ithaca.
The cover of the Program from the show has a nice illustration by Bob Zanmarchi.
I don’t know if there are any tapes of this, it would be cool to check it out.
Robert Hunter opened.
(From local newspaper coverage.)
From the time the album was released and the shows announced, everything involving The Wall had that aura of rock history in the making. And at the concerts, it felt that way from the start of the shows. These shows were among the few actual live performances of The Wall by Pink Floyd in early 1980 shortly after the album was released. Due to the complexity of the stage props (which included giant puppets and mechanical arms adding bricks to the Wall as the concert progressed), the American shows involved only two venues, with a run of shows in LA and then in NY. (The first London performance took place later that year.) This was the first NY performance, on a Saturday night.
I was lucky to have excellent floor seats for N1. A friend managed to get a home movie camera in on some nights, and took some good footage of the performances, including the infamous flower sequence.
A fan video of this entire show, with both video and audio recordings from the audience, recently surfaced and although it is of somewhat dubious quality in spots, it is very amazing to see and hear so much of the actual show, in sequence. There’s also a fairly high quality version of the London (Earl’s Court) shows that came later, which are very cool to see.
There were a number of theatrical aspects of the show, starting with the voice of an MC who came on before the show, which played into the themes of the album and the delusional state of the main character. During the performance, a "surrogate band" appeared during certain parts of the show (following the storyline of the album), sometimes playing alongside with the members of Pink Floyd. The Wall was constructed, brick by brick on an ongoing basis, from the song "Another Brick in the Wall" onward, during the first set.
During the intermission and when the performance continued with side 3 of the album, the Wall stood in its entirety, in between the stage and the audience. During "Hey You" we could see the stage lights flashing above and behind the wall, but that's all. The sequence of songs from side 3 of the original album culminated in Comfortably Numb with Gilmour playing a classic guitar solo while standing on a platform high above the wall, with Waters playing Doctor while he sang in a white coat way below.
These live performances contained a song that was omitted from the album, but which can be heard on the bootlegs and in the movie version, as discussed in this wikipedia page. The animated "flower sequence" discussed in the aforementioned article appeared on the round screen used for years for Floyd’s video sequences. During the performance of "Young Lust," Waters joined Gilmour at his mic to sing vocals together, rock and roll style a la Mick and Keith.
During "Nobody Home," Waters sat in a chair with a television on, in what looked like a college dorm room, carved out of one area of the wall. He flipped channels and, as far as it appeared, he was actually viewing live television.
At the conclusion, after the wall came down, the band members came out and played the final tune with acoustic instruments, Rick Wright playing the accordian.
The fact that the shows were only done this way by Pink Floyd several times, as limited-run, big multi-media performances, made it a real tragedy that the films of the shows were destroyed. I could barely watch The Wall movie when it came out, remembering the shows I saw and knowing all the while that the concerts themselves were supposed to serve as the raw material for the movie.
With the previous album, Animals (see my posts about the two 1977 shows at which Pink Floyd played that album in its entirety), this album pushed further into existentialism, and also the psychology of war, and totalitarianism. In the fan video of this show you can see Waters refer to the giant Piggy, which made a renewed appearance at the Wall shows, and he makes a similar introduction as he did in 1977, noting that there’s sometimes more to a Piggy than meets the eye. True, no?
Below: Publicity for the film’s release.
During the Nassau run, I saw two shows; these were among the few actual live performances of The Wall by Pink Floyd, soon after the album was released. See the previous post for 2/24/80.
Below: Early 1980 Grateful Dead newsletter mentioning the upcoming release of “Go To Heaven.”
This was the first of two Grateful Dead shows that I saw at Cornell while I attended Ithaca College. The concept of springtime tours through smaller cities and college towns - especially on the east coast - seemed a big part of what the Grateful Dead was to us in those days. Ithaca College had a community of serious Dead fans and as soon as school started I met several. A depth and variety of music permeated that community of people.
As it was the year before, there were some Grateful Dead shows we could get to at both the beginning and end of the school year, but the Dead were coming right to us this time in the Spring. Even for IC students, (Cornell's) Collegetown was a fun place to eat and drink, see some live bands and even buy some records at Collegetown Records. We often went to the Chariot and the Nines for drinks and for live music (and, according to my discriminating Brooklyn friend, for the “best pizza anywhere”. Sadly, the Nines closed in 2018.) Barton Hall is just a few blocks from there. It was really nice to have that feeling that the Dead and all things emanating therefrom were right there in your own small college town. Jerry even noodled around with the Cornell song on this night.
When I started school in the fall of 1978, “Shakedown Street” was the new Grateful Dead album…. and now "Go to Heaven" had just been released and for a couple of weeks we listened to it in the dorm. We scrawled “Sure Don’t Know What I’m Going For…” in chalk inside the stairway of the dorm; we imagined what Saint of Circumstance would sound like live with the big Timpanis. The Go to Heaven material would indeed fall heavily into the rotation for this year and the next. Feel Like a Stranger - all laid back and funky, with Brent’s new keyboard sounds, was played in classic form at both Ithaca shows, in addition to really classic Shakedowns and Altheas at both shows.
On the afternoon of this show I drove up and headed over to catch the soundcheck. As I sat there on the lawn outside Barton Hall the Dead ran through Playin' in the Band with some starts and stops, and strangely, in that song, I heard the lyrics being altered by Weir to "Playin in the Barn." They played it in the second set that night, and he went ahead and sang it that way at one point. Years later, some of the comments on archive.org may have misunderstood his reference.... Barton Hall is the Cornell campus' old track and field building - and it has a long rectangular shape with a ceiling that made it look like a gigantic barn inside. "Playin’ in the Barn" ... just hearing that outside made it seem like the Dead felt at home at this place.
This show was three years and one day after the first time they played in the same building, a show that would be chosen as the favorite concert tape among fans (as polled by "Deadbase") from all of the Dead's shows, first on cassette and then digitally, although the Deadbase reviews by the serious tapers talk about how the show is actually overrated, an inevitable conclusion for anyone that knows the overall catalog of Grateful Dead performances and appreciates the band’s long history. In addition, due weight must be given to Bob Weir’s more recent disclosure that the 1977 show never actually took place.
In 1980, and for some time thereafter, that now-famous 1977 show wasn't famous at all - as many fans know, the original tapes of that show were among the ones recorded by Betty Cantor and left in a storage locker until the late 1980s. Its just funny because in retrospect I can say pretty confidently that at this show in 1980, most of us knew nothing at all about that 1977 show … In those days, setlists of previous shows weren't even available in any medium, and the only 1977 shows in most of our tape collections at the time consisted of the Chicago, Capitol Theatre (NJ) and Englishtown shows - all shows that had been broadcast over the radio.
Some fine soundboard tapes of the 1980 and '81 Ithaca shows surfaced in later years and forever confirm how good these shows were.... both are among the strongest sets played in two of the most productive years for the band. This 1980 performance would showcase them in fine form, playing funky, bluesy, spacey and all things in between, earning its release as part of the Road Trips collection of Grateful Dead live shows.
Take note, Senator Al Franken (since you have such a keen interest in comparing versions), that two beautiful Altheas were played here in Ithaca, and this one is worth your consideration, for sure. (A week later I would see the Dead play the Honorable Senator’s favorite version in Nassau.)
I admit I do have a historical bias for shows in May of any given year ( especially in the peak eras, like the spring tours during 1972 and 1977). I also love listening to the 1977 Barton show, especially after seeing the band in that building twice. But I do have to cringe every time I read or hear the silliness about how the 1977 Ithaca show was “the greatest” GD concert. I appreciate it as part of ‘the trilogy,” comprised by Betty Cantor’s great tapes of that 3 night run on the road in Boston, Ithaca and then Buffalo. From the time I had first heard the Betty Boards of those 3 shows, it was pretty much a game changer all the way around - for me, none is head and shoulders above the rest (but the Buffalo show satisfies me just fine as the closer, with its perfect renditions of so many great tunes, and with Come a Time in set 2 and then the Uncle John’s encore). The Deadbase reviews (published in the 90s) had cut Buffalo down a notch but raised up the Boston show a notch.
I think that one reason the 5/8/77 got such rave reviews from cassette traders was there was something special about the sound on that particular tape from Betty - not just punchy and clear but it sounded like a matrix recording at a time before people created those. And perhaps the reason for the quality of the sound on those tapes had to do with Barton Hall's acoustics and the kind of hall reverb that was present when the Dead were "Playin' in the Barn."
The 1981 Barton Hall show would bear some interesting similarities to this one and would take it all a step further.
Below: From a 1981 Relix magazine - a nice article on Betty.
Grateful Dead at Nassau Coliseum, May 14, 1980
Three months after seeing Pink Floyd play The Wall at Nassau Coliseum, and a week after the Ithaca GD show, I was there when the Dead rolled back into the Coliseum. These ended up being considered classic shows in that time period, a great one for the Dead. Selections were played on the radio (King Biscuit) and taped by fans like moi. The "Feel Like a Stranger" on that tape was a favorite.
I was really glad to hear Comes a Time. This one was a beautiful version, and incredibly great soundboard tapes now are available.
I had my telephoto in at these shows and got some nice shots right from the seats.
Jerry playing the Tiger guitar at Nassau Coliseum, May 1980
These were classic shows in that time period - and this one smoked from the great Jack Straw opener right through. Also see my post for the night before.
This night and the following are memorilaized on the Dead’s “Go to Nassau” CD release, and excellent alternative recordings are available on archive.org, such as Matthew Vernon’s matrix sound version of this show. https://archive.org/details/gd1980-05-15.126692.mtx.dusborne.flac16/gd80-05-15s1t03.flac
I had floor seats this night, everyone stood on their chairs. I walked up to the front section of the floor towards the end and took some shots of Jerry.
Jerry and Bob, Rochester War Memorial, 9/2/1980
Bobby flanked by the drummers
Slideshow below.
Another school year for me upstate began with a Rochester show by the Grateful Dead during the first week of September, this one downtown at the War Memorial, a big general admission arena. In the back of the arena there were some plaques and memorials. I guess being able to get in to the Nassau Coliseum shows with my camera and telephoto lense back in the Spring gave me the idea I could do it here again. I had a hard time shooting over the crowd but managed to get right up close to to the stage for a while. I remember being right up there for “Lost Sailor,” when it was a little quieter for awhile. The song was played at all three of the Rochester shows I attended.
Some of the photos I took are above; I picked one with Jerry and Bob from a few rows back, and other samples of the ones I took from up close are in the slideshow.
Like some of my other Dead shows, this performance was later the subject of a soundboard release by Charlie Miller, who seems to pick the same shows I like the most (although that’s many hundreds of shows). The second set packs in so many tunes, plus interesting and beautifully melodic jams with string synths in the Space section, a fine Morning Dew and a rockin Sugar Magnolia set closer.
Another example of the Dead playing with great energy at a really high level and another top notch show in this era. In the following month they would do the classic acoustic shows in NY and SF.
There was so much great music to listen to in 1980 and the new Bob Marley album, Uprising!, was high among our favorite choices.
The show listed here was to have been been part of the balance of the 1980 tour, which was cancelled after the Pittsburgh show when Bob Marley fell ill. It was of course a huge disappointment at the time, but not nearly as much of a disappointment as when we learned how sick he was, and ultimately in the following year, when we learned of his passing.
Uprising! remains a timeless reggae classic.
36 years later, I visited Nine Miles, JA, Bob's childhood home and his final resting place.... photos in the gallery below show the school built by Bob’s Mother there, a window on the outside of the Mausoleum, Bob’s childhood home. It was interesting to see the area after reading about it and seeing photos of the funeral procession and the Nine Miles area, e.g. in the Marley books “Catch a Fire” and “Reggae King of the World”.
Bob Marley’s framed gold record for the 1980 album Uprising!, on display in Nine Miles, JA
This was a live Simulcast of the Radio City Halloween show that included Al Franken and Tom Davis as MCs. Ticket demand for the shows far outpaced available seats, thus the idea of a simulcast from Radio City where fans could see and hear the show in real time. Its included here because I have the ticket stub (and because they did it at at the Calderone, where I and am sure a few others had seen both Jerry and Bob play in 1976).
In November of 1980 I went to see the New Riders in downtown Ithaca. I liked NRPS a lot, even as a separate entity from the Dead. Until then I had seen the NRPS only as openers for the Dead.
This show and six of the next bunch of shows I would see over the following twelve months took place at the old Strand Theatre in downtown Ithaca. Unfortunately, it closed and was demolished shortly after I graduated from school, which is a real shame. Later on the old State Theater was revived as a concert venue, however, as an effort at remedying the situation, and recently bands like Hot Tuna have played there...
In the Spring of 1981, the Cornell Daily Sun published an article about the prospects for the Strand, which turned out to be too optimistic. But in a stretch of only one year starting here, I would get to see not only NRPS, but David Bromberg, BB King, Taj Mahal, Muddy Waters, and Peter Tosh in that old building. There’s a photo of the Strand in the article below.
Bob Marley fell ill in 1980 but reggae music was about to reach its apex, with a lot of great music coming out. High on the list of the greatest reggae artists of all time stand both of these bands. Both were huge influences on me, and on so much of the other music around then.
Although only Third World is on the stub, Jimmy Cliff performed after Third World at this show. I believe this was the only time I saw Third World in their original form, and they blew me away that night. I drove a bunch of friends up from Ithaca and we sat close up in the balcony, comfortable seats with a perfect sight line to everything happening on stage.
I appreciate seeing great multi-instrument keyboard players, and taking in Michael "Ibo" Cooper's performance with Third World that night left me with my jaw wide open. According to wikipedia he currently teaches full-time as head of the Caribbean, Latin American and jazz department (Popular Music Studies) at the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts in Kingston, Jamaica.
The stage set was changed during the intermission to include a center riser on which Cliff moved about during the performance. Jimmy Cliff gave a classic performance highlighting his earlier material.
This must have been the first time I saw Bromberg. Tapes of the WLIR broadcasts of the shows from the Bottom Line were popular among friends in Ithaca. This one is part of a run of great shows I saw in 1981 at the Strand Theater in downtown Ithaca, one of the finest old theaters around, and right in downtown Ithaca. See the post for 11/22/1980, where I show an old news clippings from Cornell that tell more of the story. Here is what it looked like:
The Strand is not to be confused with the State Theater on the other side of the pedestrian mall. The State today is operating with some good shows during the school season (Hot Tuna is appearing in 2018).
A lot of people were into Blues music. ICB-FM had a weekly radio show dedicated to spinning old fashioned blues records from Ithaca College’s collection. A couple of friends would become the host jockeys for that show over the next couple of years.
It was great to see BB in classic form, of course. Around this time he recorded a live album with the Crusaders and The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra that has long been one of my favorite esoteric albums. I have an old copy on vinyl and for a long time never saw it on CD or through a music service, although that may have changed. https://www.allmusic.com/album/royal-jam-mw0000191669
We liked all things Blues and Taj Mahal was one of them. I would also catch up with him in later years at one of the jazz festivals. Another show at the Stand, please see earlier posts about the Strand Theatre and the photo below from Cornell Daily Sun.
A short time after BB King, Muddy Waters came to the Strand. Please see previous posts about Strand Theatre and the photo below from Cornell Daily Sun.
Echoing John W. Scott's Deadbase review of this show, the Dead were very much ON here. Perhaps it was my favorite concert experience ever - certainly one very fun Saturday night in my then-home town of Ithaca.
This show was available only as an audience recording for years and suddenly a beautiful soundboard appeared that Charlie Miller graced with his sonic talents, revealing the stunning greatness of this performance if there had been any doubt. The sound of everything, especially Brent's keyboards, in the opener and throughout is just incredible, and having a great quality soundboard now makes it possible for me to relive the thrill of being at this show. Near the end, as the beautiful Stella Blue starts, the soundboard cuts out and the old FOB audience tape is still used as a patch, in which you can really hear the hall sound of Barton Hall for the rest of the show.
The show had an interesting resemblance in some ways to the previous year’s Ithaca show, with some of the same classics of that time period. Both times the second set started with Shakedown followed by Bertha. But in 1981 the Dead would harken back to earlier periods more, with renditions of Spanish Jam and Nobody’s Fault Jam and other classics in the second set, the latter preceded by a Truckin with one of of Bobby’s notorious changes to the lyrics.
Let it flow, let it grow.
Ithaca is a magical place of falling and flowing waters and the waters of Cascadilla gorge fall rapidly not too far from where this show took place. Musically, everything just flows on this one. As the first set wound down, beautiful renditions of High Time and Let it Grow made their way through the Hall. Brent drives the set home with his rocking organ before a super jammed-out Shakedown starts the next set, an all-time fan-favorite version.
When I started school in Ithaca, Shakedown Street was the new album, and by now the Dead had played Shakedown twice for us in Ithaca.
By the end it was one great, great setlist loaded with musical treats.. Brent’s intensity and precision is just mind blowing throughout, he kills it on every song right along with Jerry. Heck, even Weir’s slide solo sounds amazing. Best of all, now you can hear (almost) all in truly sparkling soundboard quality.
At the end of the Charlie Miller version, the audience recording makes you feel like you’re in the middle of Barton Hall for the Saturday Night and then a stellar Uncle John’s Band as an encore. They take their time, playing the D minor jam section over, seemingly trying to leave as much of their magic there in the Hall as possible. This would end up being the last Grateful Dead show in the beautiful city of Ithaca, NY., and in my mind the end of an era.
We headed up to Syracuse for show on the night following the Ithaca show. The Band we saw on this night, called “Grateful Dead” on the ticket stub, was almost as good as the one we saw the night before, called “The Grateful Dead” on the Barton Hall ticket stub.
I went to this show with my friend who helped me become a big Reggae fan back in High School, which meant Toots, Sly and Robbie and other great artists.
Toots and The Maytals featured the original lineup as they appeared in the Harder They Come film. This was my first of a bunch of special performances by Toots over the years.
This is one of my favorite stubs; note the tattooed faces of Mick and Keith on the sides of the ticket from the album jacket artwork.
I purchased tickets for the previous show - the Philadelphia tour opener - but an old car broke down and did not get me there. I had the car fixed and drove straight to Buffalo, withstanding a strong thunderstorm that hit the thruway in upstate NY in the afternoon. I met up with my Ithaca buddies at the show, including one JH who had already seen the Dead over fifty times, but not the Stones yet. The colorful stage setup loomed large at one end of the stadium, and “Take the A Train” was played before the Band hit the stage. A lively and impressive site to behold.
The setlist included the songs "Tops" and "Down the Road Apiece," which I believe were dropped from the setlist and infrequently played after this show.
