By the fall of 1980, the Grateful Dead were deep into one of the more underappreciated stretches of their career. Brent Mydland had now been in the fold for a full year and a half, having stepped in following Keith Godchaux's departure, and his Hammond organ and gospel-inflected voice were bringing a rawer, more muscular energy to the band's sound. Jerry Garcia, Bobby Weir, Phil Lesh, Mickey Hart, and Bill Kreutzmann were firing on all cylinders during this period — the Go to Heaven album had come out in the spring, and the band was out on the road doing what they did best, playing long nights in a wide variety of rooms across the country. There was something grounded and workmanlike about the Dead in 1980, less psychedelic sprawl than the mid-70s, more blues-soaked directness, and Brent's presence was a big part of that new identity. The Maine State Fairgrounds is not a legendary room in the way that Cornell's Barton Hall or San Francisco's Winterland are, but there's something genuinely appealing about the Dead playing an outdoor fairgrounds setting in early September — the tail end of summer, the air starting to carry that first hint of autumn, the kind of night that seemed to bring out a looser, more celebratory vibe in both band and audience. New England shows from this period have a devoted following among collectors, and a fairgrounds gig like this one carries the informal charm of the Dead at their most approachable.
What we have from the database gives us a tantalizing slice of the evening. Uncle John's Band transitioning into something else is always a promising way to begin, and in 1980 the song had a warm, seasoned authority to it — Garcia's vocal phrasing deeply lived-in, the band moving through it with the ease of old friends. Peggy O, the tender traditional ballad that Garcia made his own, is worth seeking out in any version from this era; his voice had a certain weathered sweetness in 1980 that suited the song perfectly. And then there's the promise of China Cat Sunflower heading into a transition — that cascading Garcia run into the opening riff is one of the great anticipatory moments in all of Dead repertoire, and Brent's organ comping behind it in this period had a ferocity that Keith never quite matched. Recording quality from this show may vary, but even a decent audience tape of the Dead in a warm late-summer outdoor setting has its own magic. Queue this one up and let the season change around you.