Fans of the Grateful Dead – and of Dead & Company and all of the jam band’s incarnations – are celebrating all aspects of the legendary band’s famous lifestyle and lore this weekend in San Francisco.
Three days of concerts and festivities kicked off Friday to mark the 60th anniversary of the original Grateful Dead’s formation in their hometown. Original members Bob Weir and Mickey Hart will play Golden Gate Park’s Polo Field with an estimated 60,000 attendees each day.
In its original incarnation, the Grateful Dead played more than 2,000 concerts in 30 years. Over that span they first appeared in Arizona as far back as June of 1968 when they made their Grand Canyon State debut at Celebrity Theatre (then known as Travelodge Center). The Dead played here 17 times in all, capped by their March 6, 1994, show at Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre (then-Desert Sky Pavilion).
According to setlist.fm, the last song the Grateful Dead played in Arizona was their closer from that 1994 night, “Liberty,” a track off Dead lyricist Robert Hunter’s solo album of the same name.
Front man Jerry Garcia died the following year.
Of all the shows the original Grateful Dead lineup played in Arizona, one stands out – and is available in complete form in excellent quality on YouTube.
They played at the ASU Activity Center on Oct. 6, 1977, a year Dead Heads definitely appreciate for an important concert that same year.
The Dead’s May 8 show at Cornell University is widely regarded as one of the band’s greatest concerts ever and tops many lists as in fact their best performance ever recorded. Just before launching the tour the Grateful Dead were recording their ninth studio album, “Terrapin Station,” which came out that summer.
The lineup of Garcia, Weir, Hart, Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann, Donna Jean Godchaux, and Keith Godchaux had 40 shows under their belt by the time they rolled into Tempe to launch the southwest portion of their fall tour. The band was tight and in top form due to their tour chops as well as from rehearsals during the recording sessions.
“Estimated Prophet,” a big song off the new album that year, ended up being their most played song (50 times) in 1977 including in Tempe. Dead fans delight in the ever-changing setlists from one night to the next that lead to each show being unique and dynamic in its own way, and the Tempe show that Thursday night was no exception.
The night featured a rare turn of “Black Peter,” which the Dead played just six times that year. And closing the encore with the celebrated “Uncle John’s Band” was notable since the band wouldn’t play the song again until it resurfaced in December 1979.
The Dead that night in Tempe also bobbed and weaved through a 13-minute “Eyes Of The World” and a host of rock and roll covers, including “Good Lovin’” by The Olympics, the ever-present Grateful Dead cover of Buddy Holly & The Crickets’ “Not Fade Away,” and two Chuck Berry covers, “Around and Around” and the show’s opener, “Promised Land.”
Dead Heads would have to wait a bit to see the band again in Arizona. They’d be back, again in Tempe, at Compton Terrace on June 5, 1980.
The outdoor market, Shakedown Street, a deadhead tradition, is part of the Grateful Dead 60th anniversary celebrations at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco on Friday, Aug. 1, 2025.
(Gabrielle Lurie /San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
Steve Stockmar
News Editor | Sun Life Magazine & Arts & Entertainment
YourValley.net
sstockmar@iniusa.org
Meet Steve
Steve Stockmar joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2017, and has been an Arizona journalist for almost 30 years. He serves as editor of Sun Life Magazine and contributes to West Valley communities where he focuses mostly on arts & culture, education, and profiles of neighbors making a difference.
Community: Every season Steve serves as a “buddy” with the Miracle League of Arizona in Scottsdale, has volunteered his time with Family Promise in Glendale, and previously served on the Ghostlight Theatre board in Sun City West.
Education: Graduated from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff with a Journalism major and English minor.
Random Fact: Steve once won a 50-player live Texas Hold ’Em poker tournament.
Hobbies: Anguishing over his beloved Chicago Cubs and Bears; listening to Beatles and Grateful Dead music.
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