Tonite we're gonna pitch a ball... on the other side of the Hudson, yo

100 Days of the Dead Day 21

14 Years Ago Tonight...

Grateful Dead ~ October 13, 1994
Madison Square Garden ~ New York City

1st Set: Touch Of Grey, Wang Dang Doodle, Loser, Mama Tried-> Mexicali Blues,
Dupree's Diamond Blues*, When I Paint My Masterpiece, Loose Lucy, Let It Grow

2nd Set: Foolish Heart, Playing In The Band-> Uncle John's Band-> Jam->
Drums-> Space-> The Other One-> Wharf Rat-> Johnny B. Goode

Encore: It's All Over Now, Baby Blue

* Final Time Played and First (by GD) in 4½ years! (since 3/26/90)

Ahhh, New York City. Home. Sort of. I'm from right across the river, Springsteen's side, the Jersey side... but NYC is like home for me. A couple months earlier, on Summer Tour, I had been to the Giants Stadium shows and the skyline, the city, it was right there... but me and The Big Apple, we were still apart. From Jersey, yeah, but I became a Rocky Mountain Deadhead, catching most of my shows out west -- Vegas, L.A., Oakland. My last Fall Tour was in '91. But this October in '94, NYC and me wouldn't me apart much longer.

I hit the last two of three shows in Landover (Maryland.) After the 3rd night, my friend Sean and I cruised up I-95 to where he lived in some little place called Bear, Delaware. The next morning we made our way into South Jersey, meandering east and north, east and north, taking backroads all the way. Eventually we found the causeway for Long Beach Island. Paradise. Maybe not. Not really. To me it sort of was (and still is.)

We had no place to be that day off between Landover and MSG, so we made the ocean a destination on the way north. LBI, a Resortland in the Summertime, was nearly abandoned. I don't recall staying long, just a short while to take in the beautiful salt air and admire the waves of the Atlantic crashing on the chilly Autumn shore.

Late afternoon had us once again on our way towards the congested mayhem that is North Jersey. First a stop for the night at a State Park. Where exactly I have no clue. My trusty Rand McNally Road Atlas showed us the way to a spot in the woods a few miles off of the Garden State Parkway. Twas a mellow, quiet night complete with hot dogs over a campfire, a constantly packed pipe, and some tapes playing to help pass the time. Deadheads were here and there, fellow travelers on their way, headed the same place we were. A more perfect night between shows there couldn't have been.

With not far left to travel, eventually we hit the highway again sometime late the next morning. Through the Lincoln Tunnel under the Hudson River we went. What a whole new world it is, midtown Manhattan. So close now. So, so close.

While getting around NYC is easy for me, I had NO idea where to go to park. I shoulda just stayed at a garage in Hoboken and we coulda taken the subway. Eventually we found Shangri-La in the form of a 4 or 5-story parking garage not more than a couple blocks from The Garden. We had arrived!

Since I had a mailorder ticket in hand, I was free to enjoy the rest of the afternoon and evening without worrying about scoring entry into the show. New York City... Deadheads... the traffic, the noise, Deadheads, nitrous, fast food joints galore, Deadheads, New York City.... ahhhhhhh! I was home.

first this, transcribed from: DeadBase IX [out of print] by PAULINE BUZAN This was a surprise for me. I vowed that I would never go to a show at Madison Square Garden. But, finally, I gave in. I thought it would be neat going to shows with my mom's college roommate's kids. This was quite an experience. Having been at Boston shows the previous weeks, I couldn't get over the size of MSG. Would the sound be good? How would the crowd be? NYC I had my doubts. But, as soon as the music started I was grinning from ear to ear. Touch of Grey seemed to be going well. The main highlighter during the set was Dupree's Diamond Blues which hadn't been played since '90. Because I hadn't heard this for quite some time, it seemed like a foreign tune. Nevertheless, it was quite a highlight. It was one of those moments where I just stood there for a moment saying wow! No way. Not to forget a sweet Let It Grow was played, yet ever so quietly. The next set was a great surprise. It started with a lovey dovey Foolish Heart. I just get all happy when I hear this. It's certainly grown on me. The next tunes were played finely. Playin' into Uncle John's Band was enough to make my night. The boys did jam enough to make these songs stay with me for awhile. Having met someone from England, I paid close attention to the beam. Being behind the stage added a greater appreciation for the light crew as well. Then a fabulous Other 1, a personal Phil favorite of mine. I can honestly say I could hear this every show and not get enough. This was the beginning for me. My first show literally the bus came by and I got on and that's where it all began for me. Johnny B. Goode was, as the song goes, good. This tune in particular I don't like on tapes but enjoy it live. Last but not least a Baby Blue. Well, all in all, Madison Square Garden isn't a place that I doubt anymore. It just goes to show you don't ever know.

Even with a few words messed up by Jerry, Touch is a nice way to begin these final six shows of the 1994 Fall Tour... and what would be the final Grateful Dead shows at Madison Square Garden. Next up, Wang Dang Doodle seems to exemplify what GD shows in NYC are all about -- so much fun!! A perfect-for-the-90's Loser is sandwiched between more gooey gobs of Weir fun: Mama Tried-> Mexicali -- a dance-fest and a half!

What a sweet treat Dupree's is! First time played (by the Grateful Dead) since Brent (and that version can be found on Dozin' At The Knick.) It was actually busted out at a show in September in Berkeley, a benefit played acoustically, without Billy & Mickey -- 9/24/94. So, it wasn't completely out of the blue but still so nice.

Masterpiece was routine but well played and then I'm not so sure about Loose Lucy... it felt mildly laborious to me, at least for awhile until that groove kicks in, yeah, that groove, right when Jerry's guitar announces his presence and everybody starts really diggin' it. No, Jer, Thank YOU for a real good time! And Thank You, Bob, for a real nice Let It Grow to close the first set. Just beautiful perfection from everyone here.

Continued perfection was too much to ask for. Foolish to kick off Set 2 has, again, some blown words here and there but it absolutely, positively, without a doubtly redeems itself!! Jerry gives it a bowlful of emotion and while lyrically it wasn't perfect, musically it's just downright splendid!

(Near) perfection does occur in the second set in the form of Playin'-> UJB. What more could you want here? Heading into Drums this is nearly 30 minutes of Dead goodness. Also exemplifying the craziness that is New York City, the jam heading into UJB devolves briefly into something downright insanely frantic and droolingly frenetic, held only loosely together by a bass player named Phil, until they roll all that energy so magically into a silver mine called Beggar's Tomb. A blown couple words in the lyrics? Yeah, so what, this is gorgeous. The Jam into Drums is the icing on the cake. Incredibly well played. Vince on keys adds so much to it. Maybe by October '94 he and Jerry really had something going. Just gorgeous.

Drums-> Space is part of this show that I really remember from listening to it for the first time since that night 14 years ago. The two lasted for so long, it seems -- another half hour of, not music this time but sound; it was like forever before another song began.

Everything on this night then comes together in The Other One. What a powerful statement of the strength of this band. Yeah, notes of O1 were heard here and there and we all knew what was coming but the way Space completely crazily barrels ahead into the first verse.... wow. Just wow.

Wharf Rat, the second longest of '94, pleases, as well. Not a note out of place and maybe yet another song to symbolize New York City? Its slower pace seems to keep Jerry from losing all his energy before the smokin' Johnny B. Goode to close the set. Okay, so many not as smokin' as it once was but loud, fast, fun, and just an incredible way to bring things to a (near) conclusion. For the encore we got Bob Dylan's It's All Over Now, Baby Blue. A better version I can't remember hearing -- this was played flawlessly and with such excellent emotion not just from Jerry but from the whole band, it felt like. Wow. What a way for us to walk out of The World's Most Famous Arena... just so happily blissed out of our Deadhead skulls. What a Great Night!

A sidenote here: this is one of only a handful of shows played in 1994 that had not a single new song played -- nothing post-Built To Last.
[Big Smile for that!!!]

Source: Soundboard> DAT> Cassette> DAT> CD> FLAC Audio Quality:

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Download The Show Right Here GD ~ 10/13/94 ~ 1st Set Set 2 ~ Part One Part Two of Set 2 259 kbps (average)

10-13-94 aka 10/13/94 aka 94-10-13 320 kbps mp3 download and setlist