Grateful Dead and Bob Dylan July 12 1987 (full concert)

The Bob Dylan and the Grateful Dead 1987 Tour was a concert tour by Bob Dylan and the Grateful Dead taking place in the summer of 1987 and consisting of six concerts. Each concert began with a lengthy set by the Grateful Dead of their own material (sometime broken into a first and second set, per the Dead’s own practice), followed by a roughly 90 minute set of the Dead acting as Dylan’s backup band. The Dead had long performed many Dylan songs in their own concerts, so they were well-versed in Dylan’s repertoire.

 “Dylan repainted his masterpieces. “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” and “Ballad of a Thin Man” sputtered at first, but when Dylan and the Dead found the groove, the music soared. Whether prompted by a swirl from Brent’s organ, a bomb from Phil’s bass, or Bob Weir’s physical exuberance, Dylan found new paths to the soul of his creations. Watching the legends teeter towards disaster without a safety net made the ensuing crescendos more exhilarating.”
– Howard Weiner (Live for Live music)

Audio files for download or listening are over at The Internet Archive.

Reviewer, “ing” at The Internet Archive:
“I was there and…
… listening back to this I think it is even better than I remember! The crowd was amped up. No doubt it was a lot of the newbie Touch of Grey fanbase there but it was an event and the energy fo the event was palpable (heh, running in from the gate, I tripped and fell and for a moment I looked up at the stampeding herd coming toward me and envisioned another Cleveland (The Who) happening (with me as the victim!)so I got up SO quick and hobbled toward the stage with my twisted ankle still smarting and laces still untied… but ultimately getting a fairly good spot not too far from the stage.

But LISTEN to this show… the band is pretty well on and the drums are particularly quite tight, something that I found annoying in many of the mid 80s shows (the loose drumming thing the guys seemed into most of the time). Jerry is singing pretty well and quite passionately, even getting some good crowd response (check out the Dew!). Jerry’s playing is really sweet. And: Pedal Steel! Need I say more? As to them playing rushed as some have said, I think it is more that they are playing tight… they aren’t as wasted… maybe they had to keep their heads together given the size of the crowd but I didn’t get the sense the show was rushed… it was a fun day.

And for the record, i have to say that I disagree with most people about not liking the whole Dylan and the Dead combo. I thought it was a great concept. Sure, it was a little thrown together due to their schedules and various habits said powers-that-be may have been battling at the time… But — hey that was part of what they were doing then and ultimately it was all about a sense of spontaneity and lighthearted fun and just putting it out there…”

Setlist (Missing first three songs):

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