Thirty years ago the Grateful Dead rolled into Ithaca, New York to play a concert in Cornell University’s Barton Hall. The spring tour of 1977 contains a higher concentration of ‘classic’ Dead shows than any other. There were devastatingly good shows at the Palladium in New York, the Aud Theatre in Chicago…
But nothing quite matched the near note-for-note perfection and transcendent improvisational triumph of the Barton Hall performance. The Grateful Dead, quite literally, had never before and would never again have such a night. And as a testament to the monumental cosmic occurrence at Barton Hall thirty years ago, the mayor of Ithaca made May 8th, 2007 Grateful Dead Day:
Whereas, the Grateful Dead have been recognized by many highly credible organizations, individuals and entities including the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as significantly important and integral to the musical and social fabric of our contemporary culture, and
Whereas, on May 8th, 1977 the Grateful Dead performed in Barton Hall on the campus of Cornell University in the city of Ithaca New York, a concert that is widely acknowledged and regarded as a defining and transcendent occasion and example of the art of contemporary musical improvisation, collaboration, musicianship, and performance, and
Whereas, many tens of thousands of individuals who were not in attendance that night in Barton Hall, have become knowledgeable & familiar with the extraordinary nature of the performance on May 8th 1977 through the trading and sharing of recordings of the show, and
Whereas, the cultural identity and perceptions of Ithaca as a community, have been informed and bolstered by the widespread acknowledgement of the magic of May 8th, 1977, and
Whereas, it has been said many times by many people that, “there is nothing like a Grateful Dead concert”,Now therefore, be it resolved that as Mayor of the City of Ithaca, and in heartfelt recognition of the thirtieth anniversary of the May 8th 1977 concert performance, I declare May 8th 2007 as Grateful Dead Day in the City of Ithaca.
It’s not every day that a concert is remembered thirty years after the fact. It was but one show in approximately 2,300 that the Grateful Dead performed. But it was a doozy.
You can listen to second-set opening Scarlet Begonias and Fire on the Mountain. You can stream the whole show here and you can download the show here.