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The Grateful Dead concert Jerry Garcia called the worst
The Grateful Dead is among the highest-grossing bands of all time, although they were not particularly successful in terms of record sales. They were ultimately a live band, and it was during their concerts that fans could truly grasp what made the group so influential. Throughout their career, they performed all over the United States—especially frequently—sometimes even playing shows in other countries.
They are estimated to have performed more than 2,000 times between 1965 and 1995, until the band’s guitarist and singer, Jerry Garcia, sadly passed away at the age of 53. Although they had a lot of fun during most of their live performances, there was one particular show that Garcia once said he would like to see “erased from the books,” calling it the night they probably played the “worst set” of their careers.
The Grateful Dead concert Jerry Garcia called the worst
The show Garcia mentioned was the one at the legendary Woodstock Festival back in 1969, which wasn’t that great for everyone, actually. He recalled that in an interview with Melody Maker magazine back in 1976.
“It started the mega-success. That was a total disaster from our point of view. We played probably the worst set of our career. I’d like that one erased from the books. Well, I can get into that real easy. The worst for us and for me personally was Woodstock. The ultimate calamity. First of all, we were really stupid in the way we dealt with it. It was raining and we went on just after it got dark. There was maximum confusion going on, sound logistics. Really weird. Plus I was high, of course. And I went on stage in a state of confusion.
“Huge crowds of people over the stage. The stage had sheet metal and stuff on it, it’s wet, and I’m getting incredible shocks from my guitar. Pretty soon I started hallucinating a ball of electricity rolling across the stage jumping off my guitar. Meanwhile all the little citizen band radios and walkie talkies and things with the amplifiers –– there’s weird voices coming out of the amplifiers.”
“It’s dark, and you don’t see any audience, but you know there’s 400,000 people out there. Then somebody leans over across the stage, since everyone is ganged up, and says the stage is about to collapse. I’m standing there in the middle of this trying to play music. Then they turn on the lights, and the lights are a mile away. Monster super troopers. Totally blinding and you can’t see anything at all. Here’s this energy and everything is horribly out of tune, ‘cause it’s all wet, damp and humid. It was just a disaster. It was humbling (laughs).”
Jerry Garcia continued:
“I really think the scene out here created the possibility for Woodstock to happen. Earlier the Monterey International Pop Festival. The thing, the activity, music, and people. The set-up was out here. I think that the world has changed. I think the United States has changed very visibly in the last ten years. A lot of it had to do with what happened in San Francisco. I can’t say how or why, but I also think it’s affected everything.”
“Just all the interest in things like ecology. All the interest in the sense of personal freedom as expressed by all kinds of movements. All these things were designed to free the human. Social overtones. All that stuff. The communal spirit. When the Acid Tests were happening, I personally felt ‘In three months from now the whole world will be involved in this.’ So, as far as I’m concerned, it’s been slow and disappointing. Why isn’t this paradise already? (laughs). My personal feeling has been one of waiting around,” Grateful Dead said.
How much money The Grateful Dead earned playing in Woodstock
According to money.com the band received only $2.500 dollars at the time, amount that transformed with the 2025 inflation rate would be equivalent to $21.837,40 dollars.
Inflation Tool website points that “the inflation rate in the United States between 1969 and today has been 773.5%, which translates into a total increase of $19,337.4. This means that 2,500 dollars in 1969 are equivalent to $21.837,40 dollars in 2025. In other words, the purchasing power of $2,500 in 1969 equals $21.837,40. The average annual inflation rate has been 3.95%.”
The Setlist
At the time The Grateful Dead had only released three albums: “The Grateful Dead” (1967), “Anthem of The Sun” (1968) and Aoxomoxoa (1969).
Their setlist had only 5 songs:
- Saint Stephen
- Mama Tried
- Dark Star
- High Time
- Turn on Your Lovelight
