Don’s Pick: February 14, 1988 Kaiser Auditorium, Oakland — A Valentine’s Day Show
DJ Don Edwards
The Grateful Dead Live — Tonight on Don’s Pick: February 14, 1988 – Kaiser Auditorium, Oakland — a Valentine’s Day show with lift, bite, and a second set that keeps climbing.
The Grateful Dead Live is built on one rule that never bends:
every song played is the live version.
No studio tracks.
No remasters slipped into rotation.
No recreated “tributes” dressed up as originals.
If you’re listening to The Grateful Dead Live, you’re hearing the band the way it was meant to be heard—in the moment, in the room, on the night it happened.
That’s why tonight’s Don’s Pick matters.
Each Saturday night, Don chooses one complete live performance and presents it as a full, flowing listening experience—songs in sequence, momentum intact, and the story of the night preserved from first note to encore.
Tonight on Don’s Pick:
February 14, 1988 — Kaiser Auditorium, Oakland, California
A late-’80s Dead show with an uneven start, an increasingly confident first set, and a second set that delivers what Deadheads chase: multiple peaks, real movement, and that unmistakable feeling of the band locking in and lifting the room.
And yes—on The Grateful Dead Live, every song you hear tonight is live.
Don’s Pick: what makes it different
Don’s Pick isn’t just “a good show.” It’s an intentional weekly feature built around how the Grateful Dead actually worked:
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themes emerge across sets
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songs gain meaning through placement
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and transitions create the emotional map of the night
That’s why Don’s Pick spotlights full concerts, not isolated tracks. The Grateful Dead weren’t built for shuffle—they were built for narrative.
Don’s Pick airs every Saturday night, and it’s one of the purest expressions of what The Grateful Dead Live stands for: a station that only plays live versions, 24 hours a day.
The setting: Valentine’s Day 1988 at Kaiser Auditorium
Kaiser Auditorium holds a special place in the Bay Area concert story, and it’s the kind of venue where the Grateful Dead could feel simultaneously enormous and close enough to touch.
By early 1988, the band was balancing a few realities at once:
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newer material and late-’80s setlist habits
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the big sing-along energy of “Touch of Grey” era popularity
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and the enduring need to stretch out, improvise, and find the unexpected
This show captures that push-pull perfectly. It doesn’t pretend to be flawless. Instead, it feels alive—and that’s exactly what we want on The Grateful Dead Live.
First set: finding dimension as it goes
The opening stretch is a mixed bag on paper, but it tells an honest story: the band searching for the right gear, then gradually settling into it.
Set One (Live)
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Touch of Grey
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Feel Like a Stranger
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Franklin’s Tower
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Walkin’ Blues
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When Push Comes to Shove
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Cassidy
“Touch of Grey” arrives with ambition, but it doesn’t land cleanly from start to finish. Still, there’s something valuable in hearing the band go for dynamics instead of autopilot—especially in an era when the “hit” could have easily become routine.
“Feel Like a Stranger” keeps the room moving and functions as a familiar early-set anchor. The groove is there even when the edges are a bit rough.
Then “Franklin’s Tower” becomes one of the first moments where the show takes on color. The late-’80s sound palette can be polarizing, but this is exactly where it helps: Brent Mydland’s textures—hushed synth shading and bright keyboard filigree—add warmth and a kind of shimmering lift that pushes the song beyond “standard.”
“Walkin’ Blues” does its job—tight, sturdy, functional—before the set dips briefly into a section that many listeners treat as a skip.
But the closing “Cassidy” changes the temperature.
This version doesn’t just pass by—it opens up. It’s the first time all night the performance feels like it has real dimension: the band listening closely, stretching the internal conversation, and building energy in a way that suggests the second set might be where the real action lives.
Spoiler: it is.
Second set: rolling fun, multiple peaks, and a strong finish
This is the set that makes February 14, 1988 worth putting in the Don’s Pick spotlight.
Set Two (Live)
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China Cat Sunflower →
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I Know You Rider
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Samson & Delilah
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Terrapin Station
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Drums →
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Space →
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I Need a Miracle →
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Stella Blue
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Throwing Stones
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Turn On Your Love Light
Encore: The Mighty Quinn
The launch pad is classic: “China Cat Sunflower → I Know You Rider.” The transition carries that unmistakable lift—the kind of sequence that can flip an entire room from attentive to ecstatic in a matter of minutes. It’s not just nostalgia; it’s structural brilliance. “China Cat” sets the kinetic pulse, “Rider” releases it into full-throated celebration.
“Samson & Delilah” keeps the pace charging forward—one of those songs that, when it’s hitting, feels like a marching band disguised as rock and roll.
Then comes “Terrapin Station.” This performance is a vital effort: committed vocals, a clear sense of shape, and an emotional center that makes it feel like more than “the slot in the set where Terrapin goes.” It may not be the most transcendent Terrapin of the era, but it has urgency—and in 1988, urgency matters.
“Drums → Space” continues the nightly ritual. Not every night becomes a cosmic masterpiece, but even the “standard” Drums/Space has an essential role: it clears the air, resets the stage, and makes the post-space landing feel like a real return.
The landing sequence—“I Need a Miracle → Stella Blue”—is a classic emotional pivot. “Miracle” brings the energy back, but the heart of this pairing is “Stella Blue.” Even an “okay” Stella is worth hearing, because the song itself is built to deliver gravity. It turns the room inward before the closing push.
And that push is there.
“Throwing Stones” climbs steadily to a satisfying crescendo—one of the better late-set builds of the night—before “Turn On Your Love Light” brings the party back with swagger, bounce, and that loose, skiffle-style joy the Dead could summon when they wanted to remind everyone this is supposed to be fun.
Finally, the encore: “The Mighty Quinn.”
This is where Brent’s colors really matter again—his phrasing and tone complement Jerry’s vocal delivery and give the ending a buoyant, communal finish.
Why this show fits The Grateful Dead Live mission
The Grateful Dead Live isn’t about perfection. It’s about presence—the truth of what happened that night, played in the order it unfolded, with all the human texture intact.
February 14, 1988 at Kaiser Auditorium is a great Don’s Pick because it contains the full Grateful Dead experience in one performance:
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a first set that finds itself in real time
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a second set that builds and pays off with multiple climaxes
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the ritual of Drums/Space resetting the narrative
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and a finale that leaves the room smiling
Most importantly, it’s a show that reminds you why the band is still studied, collected, and followed: when they catch fire, the music becomes a living thing.
And on The Grateful Dead Live, every song played is the live version—including every note you’ll hear on tonight’s Don’s Pick.
Tonight on The Grateful Dead Live: Don’s Pick
Don’s Pick — February 14, 1988
Kaiser Auditorium — Oakland, CA
Every Saturday night
Listen now, turn it up, and let the night unfold the way it was meant to: live.
