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The Quest for Fire | Grateful Dead · The Spectrum · March 25, 1986 | Set 1 · S2E11
Episode 1113th May 2026 • Grateful Shows • J.Y. Pod
00:00:00 00:12:13

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🎸 MARCH 1986 EAST COAST · GRATEFUL DEAD · 1986

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📍 YOU ARE HERE: Show — The Quest for Fire | Grateful Dead · The Spectrum · March 25, 1986 | Set 1 · S2E11 ·


Grateful Dead · The Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA · March 25, 1986 · Set 1

Previous: The Spectrum March 24 Set 2

Next: The Spectrum March 25 Set 2

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🗺 NAVIGATE THIS TOUR

🎯 New to the show? Start at the very beginning!

S1E01 → Baltimore May 4, 1980

📋 Tourbook 1 Index (all 6 shows in order):

Tour Playlist

Grateful Shows covers Grateful Dead touring history - on tour at a time.

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🎸 OFFICIAL SETLIST:

Grateful Dead - The Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA, March 25, 1986

Set 1

  1. Feel Like A Stranger
  2. Tennessee Jed
  3. C.C. Rider
  4. Tons Of Steel
  5. It Must Have Been The Roses
  6. Desolation Row* >
  7. Don't Ease Me In

═══🎙 CONCERT ANALYSIS

The Grateful Dead welcome spring with six shows at two of the East Coast’s most renowned venues: the Hampton Coliseum and the Philadelphia Spectrum. Packed with energy and featuring a number of bust-outs, the tour was unforgettable, including the legendary “Box of Rain” in Hampton. However, a closer look suggests this might not have been either the highlight or the best show of the tour. Make sure to check out all six shows!

Last night of the tour and both the band and ourselves are starting to feel fatigued. The first set does little to alleviate this feeling, but is notable for the first ever Desolation Row which clocks in at over ten minutes and sung virtually flawlessly. Hopes are high for a nice closing second set

From the podcast:

"Desolation Row is like taking a long walk along the beach while escaped circus freaks tell you their life stories. They are so captivating that we want to drop everything and join them at the end of the boardwalk. Given how the set keeps wobbling and shaking, this may be a good idea."

Check it out.

📚 LINKS & RESOURCES

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🔗 Navigate The Series

🗺 NAVIGATE THIS TOUR

🎯 New to the show? Start at the very beginning!

S1E01 → Baltimore May 4, 1980

📋 Tourbook 1 Index (all 6 shows in order):

Tour Playlist

Grateful Shows covers Grateful Dead touring history - on tour at a time.

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🗺 EXPLORE OTHER TOURS

Shall we go - to other tours? Why not. So far here's what we've got:

🎸 Grateful Dead May 1980 East Coast Tour— Complete Playlist:

GRATEFUL DEAD MAY 1980 EAST COAST

Gritty, underrated Grateful Dead. From Baltimore to Maine, heady times in a downtrodden America's election year.

── WATCH THIS SPACE FOR MORE ──────────────

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