Grateful Dead: Halloween '79 (Nassau Coliseum - Oct 31-Nov 2, 1979)

Here’s 76 minutes of jamming from The Grateful Dead’s 1979 Halloween run at Nassau Coliseum (10/31 – 11/2). Jesse Jarnow pointed out these highlights to me, and also suggested that the “Eyes” and “Saint” might be cool as instrumentals. I didn't know that "Saint" had ever been a long-jam song!

76-minute mp3 mix zipped up here

All tracks are from 11/1, except “Eyes” (10/31) and “Saint” (11/2):

  • Scarlet Begonias > (17:56)
  • Fire on the Mountain (16:44)
  • Jam (1:54)
  • Playin’ Jam (13:32)
  • Eyes of the World (instrumental edit) (11:33)
  • Saint of Circumstance (instrumental edit) (14:46)

The “Scarlet > Fire” was released as a “hidden track” on “Dick’s Picks” #13, which otherwise featured a later Nassau show – 5/6/81. The two 1979 songs were attached to the ’81 “Saint of Circumstance,” forming a 45 minute track at the end of disc 2. 

Artwork by Andrei Verner. Check him out here

16 responses
Wow! Thanks for this. Your "Saint" edit is a revelation.
K, you're welcome, but the revelations of the "Saint" are the band's own doing. My edits are over at the 32-second point. I just went from the song's opening 18 seconds to 14 seconds from between verses (to amp up the energy), then cut straight to the jam. No edits after that.
Thank you! This is great!
I'm a writer and I'm always looking for instrumental stuff to play in my office.
Micheal, thanks for the comments! If you haven't already found it, click on the homepage tag "instrumental focused" to find a bunch of non-vocal Dead mixes.
Great stuff! I've just been discovering a bunch of '79 gigs recently and honestly fell in love with the whole era. Early Brent, the drummers still pretty tight, and despite Bobby's annoying guitar tone, they sound great. Hoping for more Fall 1979 stuff in the near future!
Hey, The-Reconstructor! Glad you like it. I'm taking my '79 cues from other folks, so if you have recommendations, let 'em rip.
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