My First Show from The Spectrum · Philadelphia, PA Monday · November 5, 1979

/ The Grateful Dead Live / By
✦ My First Show ✦ The Spectrum · Philadelphia ✦ November 5, 1979 ✦ 47 Years Ago Today ✦ China Cat > Rider ✦ A 23-Minute Eyes of the World ✦ Casey Jones Encore ✦
The Grateful Dead Live · Personal History

My First Show

Grateful Dead · The Spectrum · Philadelphia, PA
Admit OneMonday · November 5, 1979
47 Years Ago Today

Where It All Began

Forty-seven years ago tonight, I walked into the Spectrum in Philadelphia and saw the Grateful Dead for the very first time. Everything that followed, every show, every tape and every night of this radio station, traces back to that one.

Two songs from that night became bookends for me. That was the only time I ever heard them play “Passenger,” and the only time I ever saw “Casey Jones.” I didn’t know it then, but the first show handed me a couple of songs I’d never catch again.

The Night

A Strong Show, Start to Finish

The Dead opened with “China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider” and never let up. The heart of the night came in the second set, where a 23-minute “Eyes of the World”, one of the longest the band ever played, flowed into “Estimated Prophet” and “Franklin’s Tower.” That three-song run alone stretched past 55 minutes before Drums.

It was also the band’s first fall tour with Brent Mydland on keyboards, and you can hear him settling in on “Easy to Love You,” his own tune, early in the second set.

Jerry Garcia · guitar, vocalsBob Weir · guitar, vocalsPhil Lesh · bass, vocalsBrent Mydland · keyboards, vocalsBill Kreutzmann · drumsMickey Hart · drums
Setlist

What They Played

Set One

  1. China Cat Sunflower >
  2. I Know You Rider
  3. Cassidy
  4. Friend of the Devil
  5. El Paso
  6. Stagger Lee
  7. Passenger My only one
  8. Peggy-O
  9. The Music Never Stopped

Set Two

  1. Althea
  2. Easy to Love You
  3. Eyes of the World >
  4. Estimated Prophet >
  5. Franklin’s Tower >
  6. Jam > Drums > Space >
  7. Lost Sailor >
  8. Saint of Circumstance >
  9. Sugar Magnolia

Encore

  1. Casey Jones My only one
Hear It Yourself

The Official Release

Road Trips Full Show: Spectrum 11/5/79

The complete concert came out officially on September 10, 2008, as a digital download. It was a companion to Road Trips Vol. 1 No. 1, the first entry in the Road Trips series, which had gathered highlights from the fall 1979 tour. That compilation only excerpted this night, so the full show was issued on its own, alongside the complete November 6 Spectrum show from the next night.

▶ Stream the Soundboard About the Release

Thanks for Being Part of the Trip

What was your first show? Tell us. And keep the music playing on The Grateful Dead Live.

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