A poster advertising The Grateful Dead’s 1973 shows at Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City.
The four living original members of the Grateful Dead — Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart — play their last show together tonight, in Chicago. The band of course, performed frequently in New Jersey from the 1970s until Jerry Garcia died in 1995, with many stops at the Capitol Theatre in Passaic and the Brendan Byrne Arena and Giants Stadium in East Rutherford. But before then, a favorite stop was Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City. According to deadlists.com, the band played there six times between 1972 and 1976.
To the right is a poster advertising the band’s 1973 shows there, with The Band. And below is a clip from the Aug. 4, 1976 concert, of the band (including keyboardist Keith Godchaux and singer Donna Jean Godchaux) performing one of its signature songs, “Scarlet Begonias.” This song was still fairly new then, having debuted in concert in March 1974, preceding its release on the band’s June 1974 album From the Mars Hotel.
Enjoy!
New Jersey celebrated its 350th birthday in 2014. And in the 350 Jersey Songs series, we marked the occasion by posting 350 songs — one a day, from September 2014 to September 2015 — that have something to do with the state, its musical history, or both. To see the entire list, click here.
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