Dead Ahead is a concert video by the
Grateful Dead. It was recorded at
Radio City Music Hall in
New York City on October 30 and October 31, 1980, and released in 1981. An expanded version was released in 2005. In contrast to other Dead concert videos, Dead Ahead contains
acoustic as well as
electric song performances.
Acoustic and electric tour of 1980
In September and October 1980, the Grateful Dead did a concert tour of shows with three sets each, one acoustic set followed by two electric sets. The acoustic sets were the first the band had performed since the early '70s aside from a few rare one-off acoustic sets in special circumstances. The tour comprised 15 shows at
The Warfield in
San Francisco, 2 shows at the
Saenger Theatre in
New Orleans, and 8 shows at Radio City Music Hall in New York.
The following year, songs from the tour were released as two live albums, the all-acoustic Reckoning and the all-electric Dead Set.
The concert video
Dead Ahead contains songs from the last two New York concerts, October 30 and October 31, 1980. Although the video was compiled from multiple performances, and is shorter than one of the three-set concerts, it follows the general format of one of the shows, starting with some acoustic material and proceeding to a longer section of amplified music, including a somewhat edited "Drums" and "Space".
The video also includes several sketches by the comedy team of
Al Franken and
Tom Davis. These are from the final night of the tour, October 31, which was hosted by Franken and Davis, and broadcast on radio and on closed circuit TV.
Different versions of Dead Ahead
Dead Ahead was released on
VHS video tape and on
laserdisc in 1981. Remastered versions of the video tape and laserdisc were issued in 1995, with a running time of 1 hour 54 minutes. In November 2005, an expanded edition of Dead Ahead was released on
DVD, with a running time of 2 hours 44 minutes.
"
Samson and Delilah" (traditional, arranged by Grateful Dead); October 30, 1980
"He's Gone" (Garcia, Hunter); October 30, 1980
"
Truckin'" (Garcia, Lesh, Weir, Hunter); October 30, 1980
Notes on the recording dates:
Most songs were only played on either October 30 or 31, with the exception of the following which were played both days:
Ripple. It must be from October 31, because Jerry says at the end of it "Thanks a lot, see you in a little while".
Mexicali Blues. It must be from October 31, because it is paired with Me and My Uncle. On October 30, it was paired with Mama Tried.
Lost Sailor-Saint of Circumstance. It must be from October 31, because they used the whole second set from that show (until Not Fade Away) with segues between each song.
Good Lovin'. It must be from October 31, because on October 30 the drums come in earlier in the introduction. Plus Bobby hits a wrong note.
During the acoustic sets Bill and Mickey are in different positions October 30 and October 31. On October 30 Mickey is next to Phil behind Jerry. Next day Bill is next to Phil behind Jerry.