Watch the Grateful Dead play ‘Shakedown Street’ in 1981
The 1980s represented some of the highest highs and lowest lows throughout the varied history of the Grateful Dead. The ’80s is when the Dead scored their only top ten single and album, ‘Touch of Grey’ and In the Dark, respectively. The band couldn’t play in their preferred setting of intimate theatres because their popularity was too great. While they had become the poster band for the 1960s, the Dead were unmistakably one of the biggest rock bands in the world throughout the 1980s.
But all was not well within the band’s camp. Harder drugs like cocaine and heroin had filtered in throughout the late 1970s. The transition to arenas and stadiums came at the expense of sound quality. Songwriting largely took a backseat to constant touring, which occasionally led to creative burnout. However, most notably, Jerry Garcia’s health began to take a major downturn.
An eventual diabetic coma in 1986 proved to be the culmination, but signs of Garcia’s decline were obvious. Garcia was never skinny, but his weight gain was more noticeable in the early part of the decade. Despite only being 37 at the start of 1980, Garcia looked two decades older, with his familiar long hair and beard combo showing plenty of greys. His guitar chops and singing voice were still as sharp as ever, but even those skills were beginning to fade slowly.
1981 isn’t often one of the “must-hear” years that Deadheads swear by. While the band still produced high-quality shows, largely thanks to the energetic push of keyboardist Brent Mydland, there were occasional stumbles and obvious setbacks. Garcia wasn’t alone in his issues: bassist Phil Lesh was in the throes of alcoholism (detailed in his memoir Searching for the Sound), while drummer Bill Kreutzmann had an intense cocaine habit (detailed in his own memoir Deal).
When the Dead arrived at the German music programme Rockpalast in March, it had been almost a full decade since the band had first been inside the country. The Dead toured in Germany during their legendary Europe 72 jaunt, but over the next decade, European shows were limited to a few concerts in London and Paris in 1974. Deadheads had sprung up all across the continent, and more than a few of them made the trek over to the Gruga Halle in Essen to hear the Dead play.
The show was a notable one. The Flying Karamazov Brothers performed juggling acts during the ‘Drums’ segment, while Pete Townshend hopped onstage to play three songs with the Dead. Townshend was well-equipped to handle classic rock and roll covers like Buddy Holly’s ‘Not Fade Away’ and Chuck Berry’s ‘Around and Around’, but he seemed completely lost during the Garcia/Hunter original ‘Wharf Rat’.
Without their guests, the Dead were in the zone. Killer versions of then-new songs like ‘Alabama Getaway’ and ‘Althea’ brought a new spark to the band’s setlist, while tried-and-true additions like ‘Sugaree’ and ‘Deal’ proved that the experienced Dead could put new spins on old material. The massive sandwich of ‘Estimated Prophet’, ‘He’s Gone’, and ‘The Other One’ into ‘Drums’ remains a great example of some of the band’s most fascinating transitions. But if you just want Good Ol’ Grateful Dead, check out the disco thump of crowd favourite ‘Shakedown Street’.
