Set Lists

Dead Ahead DVD

Download Series 7
9/3/1980 - Springfield, MA - Set 1 and 2
9/4/1980 - Providence, RI - Set 2

Download Series Vol. 7's featured show from September 3, 1980, in Springfield, MA and is included in its entirety on the first two discs. It features five tracks from the record the released that year, Go To Heaven. Also included is a third disc, which comprises most of the second set from the following evening. 

Overall, the first set includes standard performances (each version can't be the best). The highlights include inspired performances of "Mama Tried" > "Mexicali Blues." The transition to them from a solid "Franklin's Tower" is well executed. Garcia's solos during "Mexicali Blues" emphasize some excellent guitar runs. If I was guitarist I'd want to master this style of playing. Following is an excellent rendition of "Althea" that features nice musical interplay as well as Jerry in fine vocal form. Kudos to Bobby throughout the set as he pushes the band, is energized, and seems to be in all the right places. 

The second set begins on disc one with a strong showing of "Feels Like a Stranger." I think of this as Bobby's answer to Jerry's song "Shakedown Street;" the Grateful Dead's two songs with the most funk. The jam that follows "Saint of Circumstance" adds some interest. 

After space is "He's Gone," which was hinted at during the pre-drums "jam." That is the beginning of a generous helping of music that is generally upbeat, with a sweet ballad, "Black Peter" in the middle. The Chuck Berry numbers to close the set are highly jubilant. 

The third disc has music that was performed on 09/04/80, at the Providence Civic Center in Providence, RI, and it is exceptional! A few "warm-up" songs are missing that start the set. The music begins with an electrifying "Supplication Jam" that melts into a great "Estimated Prophet." The ending jam of it features Jerry peeling the most fluid notes one can imagine off of his guitar strings. The "Eyes of the World" is rapid, but good jams are abundant so whose to complain. Because of the missing songs, "Drums" arrive quicker than expected. Believe it or not, the post drums material is just as scrumptious as the music that precedes it. A tight performance by all accounts, with Jerry being particularly on fire. The jams in "Wharf Rat", "GDTRFB," and "Good Lovin'" are all superb. This is worth repeated, this disc is exceptional. 

Download Series Vol. 7 sure packs a lot of music onto its three discs. The sound quality is nice and the fact that 1980 soundboards are not as abundant as other years further adds to its appeal. This CD is further proof that Jerry's playing in 1980 is exceptional, whether with the Grateful Dead or with the Jerry Garcia Band that is documented nicely on After Midnight. 
by Barry Small
Grade A-

Note: Dick's Picks 21 includes the some great (assuming you like "Morning Dew") filler from the 9/2/80 show. The cd states that this is all that exists in the vault from this show.

9/3/1980 - Springfield, MA
9/4/1980 - Providence, RI

Disc One
9/3/80 Springfield, MA
1 Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo> (Garcia,
Hunter)
2 Franklin's Tower> (Garcia, Kreutzmann, Hunter)
3 Mama Tried> (Haggard)
4 Mexicali Blues (Weir, Barlow)
5 Althea> (Garcia, Hunter)
6 Little Red Rooster (Dixon)
7 Candyman (Garcia, Hunter)
8 Easy To Love You (Mydland, Barlow)
9 Let It Grow> (Weir, Barlow)
10 Deal (Garcia, Hunter)
start set 2:
11 Feel Like A Stranger (Weir, Barlow)

Disc Two
1 High Time (Garcia, Hunter)
2 Lost Sailor> (Weir, Barlow)
3 Saint Of Circumstance > (Weir, Barlow)
4 Jam > (Grateful Dead)
5 Drums with Brent > (Hart, Kreutzmann, Mydland)
6 Rhythm Devils > (Hart, Kreutzmann)
7 Space > (Garcia, Lesh, Weir)
8 He's Gone > (Garcia, Hunter)
9 Truckin' > (Garcia, Lesh, Weir, Hunter)
10 Black Peter > (Garcia, Hunter)
11 Around and Around > (Berry)
12 Johnny B. Goode (Berry)
13 Brokedown Palace (Garcia, Hunter)

Disc Three
9/4/80 Providence, RI (set 2)
1 Supplication Jam > (Weir, Barlow)
2 Estimated Prophet > (Weir, Barlow)
3 Eyes Of The World > (Garcia, Hunter)
4 Rhythm Devils > (Hart, Kreutzmann)
5 Space > (Garcia, Lesh, Weir)
6 The Other One > (Weir, Kreutzmann)
7 Wharf Rat > (Garcia, Hunter)
8 Goin' Down The Road Feeling Bad > (Trad. Arr. By
Grateful Dead)
9 Good Lovin' (Resnick, Clark)
10 US Blues (Garcia, Hunter)

Released - Nov. 2005
Grateful Dead Download Series
Recording by Dan Healy
Mastering by Jeffrey Norman

From the Grateful Dead website

Grateful Dead Download Series Volume 7 - 9/3 & 4/80
Download Series Vol. 7 came about while working on the
new "Dead Ahead" DVD. We found ourselves immersed in
1980, one of the Grateful Dead's most under-appreciated years. Although some of the many great shows of the year are missing from the vault (including the bookends of Download Vol. 7, 9/2/80 in Rochester and 9/6/80 in Lewiston), we were thrilled to
find the master soundboard tapes for the entirety of the 9/3 show from Springfield and the second set of the Providence show from 9/4. Unfortunately, there's no sign of the missing first set from 9/4.

The music on Download Vol. 7 is typical of 1980:
precise, inspired, energetic and downright outrageous
at times. From the opening "Mississippi
Half-Step>Franklin's Tower" combo (finally seeing its
first live release) to the closing "U.S. Blues," these
three CDs worth of music contain everything you could
ask for from 1980: tender Garcia ballads masterfully
played ("Althea," "Candyman," High Time," "He's Gone,"
"Black Peter," "Brokedown Palace" and "Wharf Rat,"),
the new songs from Go To Heaven ("Easy To Love You,"
"Feel Like A Stranger" and "Lost Sailor>Saint Of
Circumstance") and a whole pile of classic-era
Grateful Dead songs, including "Let It Grow,"
Truckin'," "Eyes Of The World," "The Other One" and
"Goin' Down The Road Feeling Bad."