The latest installment in the Grateful Dead All The Years Live video series is available now on the band’s YouTube page. This entry highlights the Dead’s performance of “Not Fade Away” from Halloween night of the band’s October 1980 run at Radio City Music Hall.
The run came as part of the Dead’s hybrid acoustic/electric tour that included 15 shows at The Warfield in San Francisco, two shows at the Saenger Theatre in New Orleans, and eight shows at Radio City Music Hall. Each night featured three sets, one acoustic followed by two electric. Songs from the tour were released as two live albums the following year, the all-acoustic Reckoning and the all-electric Dead Set, and footage from the last two nights at Radio City, October 30th and October 31st, were made into the concert film Dead Ahead.
Originally released in 1981 and re-released as an expanded edition in 2005, the film includes both acoustic and electric material as well as several sketches by the comedy team of Al Franken and Tom Davis, who hosted the Halloween tour finale. The show was broadcast live on radio and closed-circuit TV to other theaters.
Grateful Dead archivist David Lemieux offered commentary in the video description: “One of the Dead’s most-played cover songs, ‘Not Fade Away’ was always a great vehicle with which the Dead could stretch out, featuring a couple of big instrumental breaks and no bridge.”
Check out video of the Grateful Dead performing “Not Fade Away” at Radio City Music Hall in 1980, and click below to view a list of previous installments of the All The Years Live video series.
Grateful Dead – “Not Fade Away” – 10/31/80