The latest installment in the Grateful Dead‘s All The Years Live archive video series is available now on the band’s YouTube page. This entry highlights the Dead’s performance of “Iko Iko” at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, CA on September 30th, 1989.
This show at the amphitheater that Bill Graham famously designed to resemble the Dead’s familiar “Steal Your Face” logo from above came as the second show of the band’s 1989 fall tour.
The opening shot of set two came with the pounding rhythms of “Iko Iko” as the band launched into the New Orleans heritage staple. This show came in the brief span of 1989 when Jerry Garcia brought back his famous “Wolf” guitar, playing it from the start of fall tour through December 30th, with his “Rosebud” guitar introduced on New Year’s Eve 1989. Here, Garcia’s solos abound with MIDI effects as Jerry transforms his guitar into a blistering saxophone.
Grateful Dead archivist and legacy manager David Lemieux notes in the video’s description,
Although some early versions of Iko Iko appeared out of Drums and Space, by 1984 it was primarily a set opener, both the first and second sets. Whenever those opening notes of Iko Iko opened a first or second set, it felt like party time was starting, and a fun set was coming up.
Watch the Grateful Dead perform “Iko Iko” at Shoreline Amphitheatre on September 30th, 1989.
Grateful Dead – “Iko Iko” – Mountain View, CA – 9/30/89
[Video: Grateful Dead]
Previous installments of the Dead’s ongoing All The Years Live series have included: