It’s the holiday season and, for many, that means the season of giving. As we open our hearts for whatever occasion you prefer, we’re looking back at a very special Grateful Dead show. This one wasn’t from a massive stadium or former Bay Area skating rink. This one wasn’t even announced (and not like Formerly The Warlocks). Today, we’re remembering when the Grateful Dead surprised kids at the Muscular Dystrophy Association’s annual Christmas party with an acoustic set, opening for Santa, on December 6th, 1980.
According to a contemporary article from Marin County’s Pacific Sun newspaper, the Grateful Dead performed for less than 70 people at the Mill Valley Recreation Center. Many of them were kids and members of the Marin-Sonoma chapter of the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Per journalist Steve McNamara, one of the kids—Rodney Graves, who has a form of muscular dystrophy—was a fifth-grade classmate of Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann‘s son Justin at the local Alto School. The kids talked about the party, Graves mentioned it’d be nice to have some entertainment, and it all came together from there.
“We all live in the county,” Kreutzmann said at the time, “and when I explained what was happening to the other guys it seemed like a nice thing to do.”
Related: Grateful Dead Share ‘Merry And Grateful’ Album Of (Mostly) ’70s December Shows [Listen]
The seated, single-set acoustic show came on the heels of the Dead’s series of 15th anniversary residencies, with 15 shows at San Francisco’s Warfield Theatre and another eight at New York’s Radio City Music Hall in September and October 1980. The format of those shows saw the Dead revive the acoustic-electric format of their early days, with one acoustic set followed by two electric sets. For the muscular dystrophy show, the Grateful Dead stuck to the acoustic material, with originals “Dire Wolf”, “Cassidy”, and “Bird Song”, plus traditionals “On The Road Again”, “I’ve Been All Around This World”, and “Jack A-Roe”. A cheerful “Ripple” closed the ten-song, 50ish-minute set, getting the crowd warmed up for an appearance by Santa Claus.
The full Grateful Dead set for kids with muscular dystrophy is available to stream below via Internet Archive. Check it out below, and consider doing something nice for someone today.
Grateful Dead — Milly Valley Recreation Center — Mill Valley, CA — 12/6/80 — Full Audio
[Audio: Matthew Vernon]
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