The June 1976 Vinyl Breakouts, Boston Music Hall 6/11/76

✦ Boston Music Hall · 6/11/76 ✦ 5-LP · 180-Gram ✦ Record Store Day 2026 ✦ Limited to 7,600 Copies ✦
The Grateful Dead Live · On Vinyl

Boston Music Hall 6/11/76

The June 1976 Vinyl Breakouts

One of the standout nights from the Grateful Dead’s limited-edition June 1976 box set has its own 5-LP vinyl edition, pressed on 180-gram vinyl in a run of just 7,600 copies.

From Box Set to Breakout

A Vault Series on Wax

In 2020, Rhino released June 1976, a 15-CD box limited to 12,000 copies. It holds five complete shows from the band’s comeback tour: two nights at the Boston Music Hall, two at New York’s Beacon Theatre, and the Capitol Theatre in Passaic, NJ.

Since then, those shows have been coming out one at a time as standalone 5-LP sets for Record Store Day. Beacon Theatre 6/14/76 arrived for RSD 2025 in a run of 5,500 copies. Boston Music Hall 6/11/76 followed on Record Store Day, April 18, 2026, timed to the show’s 50th anniversary.

Why This Show

“A New Grateful Dead”

The Dead stopped touring in October 1974 and played only a handful of one-off Bay Area shows in 1975. When they came back in June 1976, the band had changed: the Wall of Sound was gone, the tour played intimate theaters instead of arenas, and Mickey Hart was back full-time, so the band reworked its arrangements for two drummers.

Without the Wall, archivist David Lemieux notes, Donna Jean Godchaux could finally hear herself, and her voice became “essential” to the blend.

“It’s a new Grateful Dead, and it sounds phenomenal.” — David Lemieux

Ten Sides

The Setlist

The show is packed with highlights: a “St. Stephen > Dancing in the Street,” Bob Weir’s then-new “Lazy Lightning > Supplication,” and a second-set run of “Sugar Magnolia > Eyes of the World > Stella Blue” that comes back around to “Sunshine Daydream” out of nowhere.

LP 1: Might as Well · Mama Tried · Tennessee Jed · Cassidy · Candyman · Big River
LP 2: Scarlet Begonias > Looks Like Rain · It Must Have Been the Roses · Lazy Lightning > Supplication
LP 3: Brown-Eyed Women · Promised Land · St. Stephen > Dancing in the Street
LP 4: The Music Never Stopped · Ship of Fools · Samson and Delilah · Sugaree
LP 5: Sugar Magnolia > Eyes of the World · Stella Blue · Sunshine Daydream · Johnny B. Goode
Behind the Sound

From Betty’s Tapes to Your Turntable

Recorded by Betty Cantor-Jackson

The legendary “Betty Boards” engineer captured the show from the soundboard.

Plangent Processes Restoration

For the June 1976 box, Jamie Howarth and John Chester of Plangent Processes restored the tapes and corrected their speed, removing the wow and flutter of the original reels for steadier pitch and clearer detail.

Mastered by Jeffrey Norman

The Dead’s longtime engineer mastered the June 1976 recordings. David Lemieux produced the release.

Dig Through the Crates

Limited to 7,600 copies, so check your local record store while copies last.

Find the 5-LP Set

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