Dead of the Day: 03-25-1983
Compton Terrace Amphitheater
Tempe, Arizona
The show certainly has its highlights, including a frantic Let It Grow that morphs into a thing of pure, face-melting beauty the further along it gets. But the real significance of the night – and why it is our Dead of the Day – is the breakout of Help> Slip> Franklin’s. The suite was last played on October 11, 1977, so it was quite a hiatus for this seminal piece of Dead magic. Of course, Franklin’s itself had been played nearly a hundred times in the interregnum. When the first bars of Help on the Way pour forth, the crowd goes nuts. They roar with approval once again when the band transitions into Franklin’s, ensuring that the reunion was really happening. For having sat on the shelf so long, the boys did an admirable job bringing the songs back together; particularly noteworthy is the jam out of Help and into Slipknot. However, they had practiced the whole thing back in the studio on March 14, 1983, which is worth a listen in itself (They also rehearsed Brother Esau then as well, which gets its first live performance on this night.).
Cold Rain & Snow, Minglewood Blues, Dire Wolf, My Brother Esau, Big Railroad Blues, Me & My Uncle-> Big River, Tennessee Jed-> Let It Grow
Set 2
Help On The Way-> Slipknot!-> Franklin’s Tower-> Playin’ In The Band-> Drums-> Throwing Stones-> Not Fade Away-> Black Peter-> Sugar Magnolia, E: Don’t Ease Me In
This was the first show of 1983, and the Dead show some signs of rust over the course of the evening. Jerry seems particularly out of it at times, but each member of the band has their issues now and then during the show, including a few moments when the whole group is out of sync and seemingly confused.
The Cold Rain and Snow gives us some indication that the conditions were less than favorable, and perhaps the weather also played a role in the unevenness of the show. Throughout the night it was cold and threatening to rain, both of which are, obviously, out of the ordinary for Phoenix. It did eventually start to rain during Let It Grow and through the set break, before subsiding shortly before the second set.
Despite starting out a little uneven, 1983 would go on to have some great shows with the Dead delivering top-notch performances night after night from the West Coast swing of the summer tour through the fall East Coast run.
Yesterday’s Dead of the Day:
Other March 25th Shows and Recordings:
- 1966 – Trouper's Hall – Los Angeles, California
- 1972 – Academy of Music – New York, New York
- 1985 – Springfield Civic Center – Springfield, Massachusetts
- 1986 – The Spectrum – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- 1990 – Knickerbocker Arena – Albany, New York
- 1991 – Knickerbocker Arena – Albany, New York
- 1993 – Dean Smith Center – Chapel Hill, North Carolina
- 1994 – Nassau Coliseum – Uniondale, New York
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