The Daily Nugs - March 25, 2025
From Grateful Dead of the Day
On this date in 1983, the Dead opened the year by breaking out Help> Slip> Franklin's. The suite was last played on October 11, 1977, though 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. The boys also debuted Brother Esau and played a sizzling Let It Grow. Listen to the entire show and hear the crowd go berserk with the H>S>F at Grateful Dead of the Day.
Donna had taken the stage with the Dead at the 1971 New Years' show, but it was on this day in 1972 that she joined the band in earnest. Read more about Donna and her time with the Dead and revisit some of her best performances at Grateful Dead of the Day. You can also check out that phenomenal Academy of Music show that marked the beginning of Donna’s long tenure with the Dead.
At the Dean Dome on this day back in 1993, the Dead delivered a brilliant night of music. The first set is replete with standouts, including a smoking GSET and excellent versions of So Many Roads and Lazy River Road. But buckle yourself in for the Terrapin> Drums> Way to Go Home> Other One> Dew. Enjoy the crisp soundboard.
Feel Like A Stranger kicks things off, and it provides, along with 100,000 Tons Of Steel and the first-ever Desolation Row, the highlights of the first set. For its part, the second half gets going with a Scarlet> Touch> LL Rain and has Phil driving Tom Thumb's Blues out of Space, all before a Brokedown encore. Check out this sweet remastered video of a solid 1986 show from the Spectrum.
Happy birthday to Steve "Doc" Kupka, barry sax player for Tower of Power. Read more about Tower of Power and listen to their time as guests with the Grateful Dead.
March 25th Shows and Recordings:
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Until tomorrow, spread the love and enjoy the music!