By the summer of 1987, the Grateful Dead were riding one of the most unlikely commercial waves of their career. "Touch of Grey" was climbing the charts, "In the Dark" was selling in numbers the band had never seen, and arenas and stadiums that had once felt oversized were suddenly feeling appropriately scaled. Brent Mydland, now eight years into his tenure as keyboardist, had long since shed any awkwardness and was playing with genuine fire — his Hammond and synth work giving the band a harder, bluesier edge that contrasted nicely with Garcia's melodic wandering. The crowd that summer was growing younger and larger, a double-edged sword the band was still learning to navigate. Anaheim Stadium, the home of the California Angels sitting in the shadow of Disneyland, was not a room with the acoustic intimacy of a theater or the storied reputation of a Red Rocks, but big outdoor summer sheds and stadiums were simply the reality of the Dead's world in 1987. Southern California crowds in this era were enthusiastic and enormous, and the band often rose to meet that energy — the summer tour had real momentum, and these stadium shows could surprise you with their looseness and ambition. The songs we have documented from this date are a fascinating little window into what the Dead were capable of pulling from outside their own catalog.
"Maggie's Farm" is a Dylan cover the band had been playing since the early days, a hard-charging shuffle that gave Garcia room to snarl a little and let Brent dig in with some muscular chording. "Watching the River Flow" is another Dylan number, a more laid-back groove that the band wore comfortably, the kind of song that could simmer into something unexpected on a good night. And "Gotta Serve Somebody," also from Dylan's late-period catalog, was a relatively rare selection by 1987 — its appearance here is the kind of thing that makes setlist hunters sit up straight. Three Dylan covers in a single show is an event in itself, suggesting the band was in an exploratory, playful mood. Listen for the way Brent and Garcia trade off on the Dylan material — there's a natural tension and release in how their voices and instruments interact on songs like these that doesn't always get enough credit. Whether you're coming to this one via soundboard or a crisp audience tape, the Dylan hat trick alone makes this worth your time. Press play and find out what kind of night it turned into.