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Three-Hour Dance Marathon | Grateful Dead · Rec Hall, Penn State University· May 6, 1980 | S1E02
Episode 215th July 2026 • Grateful Shows • J.Y. Pod
00:00:00 00:26:06

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🎸 MAY 1980 EAST COAST · GRATEFUL DEAD · 1980

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Production Note: This episode has been remastered for better audio quality and a more concise flow. We’ve combined the previous two-set format into this single episode, featuring expanded commentary and a more curated selection of excerpts. To keep our feed clean, the original unedited versions have been removed. Enjoy this new, streamlined version of the show!🎙️——————————————————

📍 YOU ARE HERE: Show — Three-Hour Dance Marathon | Grateful Dead · Rec Hall, Penn State University· May 6, 1980 | S1E02 ·


Grateful Dead · Recreation Hall, University Park, PA Penn State University · May 6, 1980 ·

Previous: Baltimore Civic Center

Next: Barton Hall, Cornell University

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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 - Recreation Hall, Penn State University, University Park, PA, May 6, 1980

Set 1

  1. Alabama Getaway>

2. Greatest Story Ever Told

3. Peggy-O

4. Me And My Uncle>

5. Big River

6. Loser

7. Far From Me

8. Lazy Lightning>

9. Supplication

10. Althea

11. Lost Sailor>

12. Saint Of Circumstance

Set 2

1. China Cat Sunflower>

2. I Know You Rider

3. Feel Like A Stranger>

4. He's Gone>

5. The Other One>

6. Drums>

7. Space>

8. Wharf Rat>

9. Around And Around>

10. Johnny B. Goode

🎵 Encore:

Brokedown Palace

═══🎙 CONCERT ANALYSIS

On May 6, 1980 the Grateful Dead appeared at Recreation Hall on the campus of Penn State University in University Park as they hit the East Coast for their first full-fledged tour of the eighties. The second night of tour brings us to Happy Valley, to witness it's transition into Even Happier Valley.

Right from the opening Alabama Getaway the band's mood is on display, but is this really the right choice for a Penn State crowd? Things defitiely get tranger in the second set.

Join us as we continue to tour from Baltimore, all the way up to Maine

From the show:

"The Grateful Dead’s performance of The Other One is an incredible display of musical might. But as muscles contract to lift heavy weights, they relax afterward. So too with music. The music softens, the light returns, wiping away uncomfortable memories of the past. The song ends, and the battle is won. The air, once thick with violence and conflict, is infused with clarity, ripe for primal drumming."

Check it out.

📚 LINKS & RESOURCES

🔗 Follow along with music on: Relisten

🔗 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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🎙 GRATEFUL SHOWS PODCAST

Exploring the world of Grateful Dead live shows- one tour at a time, through history philosophy, fiction and poetic meditations.

Six shows per tour. Countless fun.

📖 Full May 1980 Tourbook Ebook: Coming late April

📄 Free PDF Tourbook Sampler: GET IT HERE

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🔗 All links, platforms & more: GRATEFUL SHOWS PORTAL


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© 2026 Grateful Shows Podcast

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