By October 1989, the Grateful Dead were riding the unexpected crest of commercial breakthrough while still digging deep into the music that had always defined them. "Touch of Grey" had made them MTV stars two years prior, and the band was now playing to enormous, sold-out arenas night after night — a far cry from the Fillmore days, but the core unit had never sounded tighter. Brent Mydland, in his tenth year with the band, had fully grown into his role, his bluesy Hammond organ and powerful voice serving as an essential counterweight to Garcia's leads. The fall 1989 tour found the Dead rolling through the Southeast with the kind of momentum that mid-career arena tours can generate: a massive, well-oiled machine with enough room inside it for genuine improvisation to breathe. Charlotte Coliseum — the large, multipurpose arena that opened just the year before in 1988 — was a relatively new room for the band, part of the growing circuit of modern arenas that defined the late-eighties Dead experience. Charlotte and the Carolinas had always been warm territory for the band, and a show like this one captured the energy of a regional fanbase that turned out hard and hungry. The songs we have from this night are a strong cross-section of what made late-eighties Dead worth attending.
"Bird Song" is one of the great Garcia vehicles in the repertoire — a meditation written for the recently departed Janis Joplin that opens into some of the most expansive, searching improvisation in the canon. When Garcia is locked in on "Bird Song," it can become a journey unto itself, and fall '89 versions are often underrated gems. "Foolish Heart," a Weir-sung standout from the 1989 album Built to Last, was still fresh in the rotation at this point and represents the more polished pop-rock side of late-period Dead without sacrificing emotional sincerity. And "Franklin's Tower" — a perennial second-set rocket ship from the Phil and Ned Lagin collaborations of the mid-seventies — is always worth chasing; when the band locks into that circular groove and Garcia starts arching his leads skyward, the room tends to levitate. Listeners should pay attention to Brent's contributions throughout — he was fully in his element during this period, adding color and fire in equal measure. Whether this circulates as a soundboard or a good audience tape, the Charlotte fall shows from this run are worth your time. Cue it up and let October 1989 wash over you.