By the fall of 1981, the Grateful Dead had settled into what many fans think of as the lean, muscular heart of their early-eighties period. Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann, Mickey Hart, and Brent Mydland — who had now been in the fold for a couple of years following Keith Godchaux's departure — were playing with a tightness and road-worn confidence that defined this era. Brent's Hammond organ brought a gospel-soaked urgency the band hadn't quite had since Pigpen's heyday, and the combination of his voice with Garcia's created harmonies that could cut right through you on the right night. The Dead had released "Go to Heaven" the previous year, toured steadily, and were deep into the kind of relentless gigging that kept them sharp even when the mainstream wasn't paying much attention. The Rainbow Theatre in London is one of those rooms that carries real weight. Situated in Finsbury Park, it had hosted some of the most important British and American rock acts of the sixties and seventies — Jimi Hendrix, The Who, and a dozen other legends had all stood on that stage. By 1981 it was threading the needle between its golden era and its later life as a gospel church, which only adds to the sense that catching the Dead there in this brief window was something special.
The Dead had toured Europe periodically throughout their career, and these overseas runs always carried a particular electricity — a sense that the band and the audience were meeting each other with fresh eyes. From what we have in the database, "Mexicali Blues" is the confirmed song on record from this show. It's a Weir vehicle with deep roots in the band's country-flavored side, a strutting, slightly tongue-in-cheek number that he made entirely his own over the years. The best versions of Mexicali swing hard and let Weir inhabit that rascal narrator with a grin you can almost hear — and in the early eighties, with the band firing on all cylinders, even the seemingly lighter moments carried real weight. Recording quality for European shows of this era can vary widely, ranging from warm, well-positioned audience tapes to the occasional soundboard gem, so it's worth checking the source before you settle in. Either way, this is a night worth exploring — a snapshot of the Dead doing what they did best, in a legendary room, far from home and right at home all at once. Press play and let it take you there.