30 years ago - Jerry Garcia passed away. (Question for Buffalo deadheads. "Truckin' Up to Buffalo")

[Bad Things]

I read somewhere that today marks the 30th anniversary of Jerry's passing.

Boy, time sure flies by quickly... I can't believe it's been 30 years!

 

The news reminded me of something I've been meaning to ask here for a while now.

 

I remember that back in the day, The Grateful Dead sold a double-CD and a DVD of their July 4th 1989, Rich Stadium show, which was called "Truckin' Up to Buffalo".  (see album cover, below.)

I've never seen it in stores (when there still were music stores) and I can't find anything available online.

 

I know that they've released dozens and dozens of their concerts over the years, but this particular one seems to have disappeared into the ether. 

Does anyone know why this is no longer available?

 

 

 

[f0neguy]

I got the CD of that concert on the online auction site a few years ago.  Might be worth checking into..?

[Bad Things]

36 minutes ago, f0neguy said:

I got the CD of that concert on the online auction site a few years ago.  Might be worth checking into..?

Cheers for that 

 

I guess I’m interested in why it was discontinued. It seems really unusual to me. 

[Gregg]

10 hours ago, Bad Things said:

I read somewhere that today marks the 30th anniversary of Jerry's passing.

Boy, time sure flies by quickly... I can't believe it's been 30 years!

 

The news reminded me of something I've been meaning to ask here for a while now.

 

I remember that back in the day, The Grateful Dead sold a double-CD and a DVD of their July 4th 1989, Rich Stadium show, which was called "Truckin' Up to Buffalo".  (see album cover, below.)

I've never seen it in stores (when there still were music stores) and I can't find anything available online.

 

I know that they've released dozens and dozens of their concerts over the years, but this particular one seems to have disappeared into the ether. 

Does anyone know why this is no longer available?

 

 

 

 

7/9/95 was the last concert Jerry performed with the Dead. He died exactly one month later on 8/9/95.

[muppy]

10 hours ago, Bad Things said:

I read somewhere that today marks the 30th anniversary of Jerry's passing.

Boy, time sure flies by quickly... I can't believe it's been 30 years!

 

The news reminded me of something I've been meaning to ask here for a while now.

 

I remember that back in the day, The Grateful Dead sold a double-CD and a DVD of their July 4th 1989, Rich Stadium show, which was called "Truckin' Up to Buffalo".  (see album cover, below.)

I've never seen it in stores (when there still were music stores) and I can't find anything available online.

 

I know that they've released dozens and dozens of their concerts over the years, but this particular one seems to have disappeared into the ether. 

Does anyone know why this is no longer available?

 

 

 

ahoy matey. I will tag   @Logic he is  grateful Dead fan. I think he would like this thread 🙂

 

I saw them once upon Tempe AZ circa 1980 , or maybe 1981 I'd have to Google

[DaBillsFanSince1973]

time sure does fly. my daughter will be 30 this month. I moved away from wny in the fall of '86 but was able to catch one of the greatest shows that summer at the old rich stadium. this is the set list as well as the show. July 4, 1986

 

back when I wore younger man's shoes...

 

set list

 

 

[Bill from NYC]

1989 was a fantastic year summer for the Dead. Their concert in Philly was wonderful as were the ones in Buffalo and the Meadowlands. Jerry appeared to be relatively sober. 

 

RIP Jerry.

 

 

[Logic]

August 9th was actually the day ol' Jer left his body.

Interestingly enough, he was born on August 1st, leading Deadheads to call the period from August 1st to August 9th "The Days Between" (after a Grateful Dead song) and celebrate his life the entire week.

But to be honest...most Deadheads celebrate his life just about every day by listening to his music. 

I don't know that I can think of a single person who has impacted my life in such a singular and positive way, or who adds to it on a day-to-day basis as much as Jerry Garcia. The Grateful Dead is the soundtrack of my life, and in their thirty years of recorded live music (just about every show they EVER played is available to listen to in its entirety for free online!), they left an infinite treasure hunt of amazing improvised music and living spirit. No two shows the same, no song ever played the same way twice.

As Jerry himself once said about The Dead: "'We're like licorice. Not everybody likes licorice, but the people who like licorice really like licorice". Yeah. That.

I'll be in Golden Gate Park on August 1st, 2nd, and 3rd for three consecutive Dead and Company shows, celebrating 60 years of Grateful Dead.

To answer your question, @Bad Things : The only place I see online to buy the Truckin Up to Buffalo CD is Ebay. They have it for about $30. You can buy the DVD on Amazon. I've listened to the show and watched the DVD. It's a good one!

And since I'm here and have already typed too many words anyway...here's maybe my favorite picture of Jerry:

[The Poojer]

Blow Away from that show might be my single favorite Dead moment, Brent was in another zone on that song.  That 89 summer tour is up there imho with Europe 72 and spring 77 tours in terms of awesomness

 

2 hours ago, Bill from NYC said:

1989 was a fantastic year summer for the Dead. Their concert in Philly was wonderful as were the ones in Buffalo and the Meadowlands. Jerry appeared to be relatively sober. 

 

RIP Jerry.

 

 

[Logic]

3 hours ago, The Poojer said:

Blow Away from that show might be my single favorite Dead moment, Brent was in another zone on that song.  That 89 summer tour is up there imho with Europe 72 and spring 77 tours in terms of awesomness

 

1989 is Bob Weir's pick for "the best the Grateful Dead ever played". In his opinion, the band's peak. 

Certainly everyone was healthy, happy, and playing well. For latter era Dead, it's hard to top '89.

[RkFast]

Ill put 89 up there as one of the best years. That entire RFK show from Philly is bananas. Although I didnt get on the bus, myself until 92 I got to 8 Grateful Dead-proper shows. What an event they always were.  And same..but to a little bit of a lesser extent, were all the shows from all the iterations of the band that came after 1995.  I like D+C a lot, even moreso with Lane on drums becuase...lets face it...Billy was kinda done. 

Edited Thursday at 07:15 PM by RkFast

[Gregg]

34 minutes ago, RkFast said:

Ill put 89 up there as one of the best years. That entire RFK show from Philly is bananas. Although I didnt get on the bus, myself until 92 I got to 8 Grateful Dead-proper shows. What an event they always were.  And same..but to a little bit of a lesser extent, were all the shows from all the iterations of the band that came after 1995.  I like D+C a lot, even moreso with Lane on drums becuase...lets face it...Billy was kinda done. 

 

I know D&C doesn't tour anymore but I could see them doing a yearly thing at "The Sphere" in Vegas. They seem to enjoy that and the graphics for those shows are insane.

[PromoTheRobot]

Back in the late 70s I was a volunteer board operator at WBFO. I happened to engineer Tom Constanten's show "Ad Astra Per Asparagus." He was a fellow at UB's music department for a short time. So of course I asked him why the lyric "Truckin' up to Buffalo?" He said because it rhymed with "you got to mellow slow." 😂

Edited Thursday at 09:32 PM by PromoTheRobot

[Pete]

45 minutes ago, RkFast said:

Ill put 89 up there as one of the best years. That entire RFK show from Philly is bananas. Although I didnt get on the bus, myself until 92 I got to 8 Grateful Dead-proper shows. What an event they always were.  And same..but to a little bit of a lesser extent, were all the shows from all the iterations of the band that came after 1995.  I like D+C a lot, even moreso with Lane on drums becuase...lets face it...Billy was kinda done. 

In 89, I brought a buddy to his first Dead show, in the Meadowlands.  We went to Shakedown St, and my buddy wanted to get into the show, even though we still had time to soak in the Parking Lot scene, sure, lets go.  We walked up steep stairs, and kept walking towards the nose bleed seats.  We sit down, and start devouring mushrooms.  We must of been making funny faces, eating dried mushrooms, trying to get them down.  This beautiful Deadhead, barefoot and sundress on, kind as can be, walked up the steps towards us.  We were only people up there.  I say "look at this gorgeous Deadhead, walking up steep stairs our way!"  She meets us" Greetings my friends.  Mushrooms can be difficult to consume without something to drink.  I brought you some tea I made this morning".  She poured us two glasses of tea, and disappeared, like Scarlet Beginias.  There is nothing like going to a Deadshow, and the kindness, genorisity, and great vibes.  Trail Magic is same vein.  Bills Tailgates are a slice of Deadshows, and about as close you can get.

 

Play Dead

[BringMetheHeadofLeonLett]

https://www.discogs.com/master/249140-Grateful-Dead-Truckin-Up-To-Buffalo

[RkFast]

20 hours ago, Pete said:

In 89, I brought a buddy to his first Dead show, in the Meadowlands.  We went to Shakedown St, and my buddy wanted to get into the show, even though we still had time to soak in the Parking Lot scene, sure, lets go.  We walked up steep stairs, and kept walking towards the nose bleed seats.  We sit down, and start devouring mushrooms.  We must of been making funny faces, eating dried mushrooms, trying to get them down.  This beautiful Deadhead, barefoot and sundress on, kind as can be, walked up the steps towards us.  We were only people up there.  I say "look at this gorgeous Deadhead, walking up steep stairs our way!"  She meets us" Greetings my friends.  Mushrooms can be difficult to consume without something to drink.  I brought you some tea I made this morning".  She poured us two glasses of tea, and disappeared, like Scarlet Beginias.  There is nothing like going to a Deadshow, and the kindness, genorisity, and great vibes.  Trail Magic is same vein.  Bills Tailgates are a slice of Deadshows, and about as close you can get.

 

Play Dead

 

My first show was at Nassau Coliseum, Spring of 92. I knew NOTHING of this band. I worked in college radio and "hired" a guy...now my best friend...to do a Dead Show. He hooked up with Dennis McNally and got an interview with Bob Bralove, who was managing the band's hi-tech stuff in the 90s and he decided to bring me. We did the interview in NYC and then McNally took us backstage pre-show! Met Mickey and Vince but didnt see anyone else. Got THISCLOSE to Phil's rig and Mickey's beam. We wondered out to the front and the carpets on Jerry's side and were quickly told "nobody goes on the carpets" and we quickly retreated. Then we left, off to the parking lot for a typical pre-show. "Eat this" my friend said and that was that. Show started with a nice Greatest Story and everyone was dancing and I was like...this is weird. I was a metalhead at the time...still am...and Im used to an entire crowd trying to kill each other...not dance togehter.  Finally Jerry did Jed and with me now in orbit from what my friend fed me...when Jerry sang "My Doggie turned to me and he said lets get back to Tennessee, Jed!", I just thought to myself "OK, I get it." And on the bus I was. 

 

There is A LOT of the "Dead Show Vibe" at Bills game tailgates. The crazy big crowds, everyone walking around, different little "events" and places to visit happening all over the place, and of course everyone walking en masse up Abbot into the game reminds me so much of walking into a Dead show. 

20 hours ago, Gregg said:

 

I know D&C doesn't tour anymore but I could see them doing a yearly thing at "The Sphere" in Vegas. They seem to enjoy that and the graphics for those shows are insane.

 

I know Im in the minority but I have no interest in The Sphere. First off, its Vegas which isnt my vibe for anything, much less a Dead show and second, I like to watch the band, itself and rarely have any use for the "graphics" any band puts up on the screens. YMMV.

Edited yesterday at 04:32 PM by RkFast

[Logic]

27 minutes ago, RkFast said:

 

I know Im in the minority but I have no interest in The Sphere. First off, its Vegas which isnt my vibe for anything, much less a Dead show and second, I like to watch the band, itself and rarely have any use for the "graphics" any band puts up on the screens. YMMV.

I totally get the Sphere hesitance.

Vegas is definitely not my bag either. The first time my wife and I went down there for a weekend of Sphere shows, it seemed novel and fun to pair the Dead with Vegas. I envisioned walking down the strip at 2 am with a head full of...something...after the show, Hunter S Thompson style. Of course, the truth is that a lot of Fear and Loathing is about exactly the type of bad vibes, greed, and weirdness that turns me off to Vegas anyway, and we got that in spades. Plus, the Vegas I'd have interest in hanging out in -- the Rat Pack, fancy suits, martinis and showgirls scene -- is long gone. It's all a big, stinky, cigarette smoke-y Disneyland down there. Awful.

The SECOND time we went down for Sphere show, we just flew in, hung at the hotel pool, went to Shakedown and the show, and flew out. No Vegas shenanigans. Not a fan of what that city is nowadays.

Aaaanyyway....I do think the Sphere is worth seeing once in this life. I'm very much an "eyes closed" guy at Dead shows. To the extent that my eyes are open during a show, they're not usually looking at a video screen. All of that said...I had to see the technological wonder of the Sphere and see what the Dead had in store for it, and I'm glad I experienced it. The first night we experienced it, all my friends and I did was laugh the whole time. It was so astonishing, so unlike anything we'd ever experienced, all we could do was laugh in amused shock and glee. And it WASN'T even due to any substances we took. It was just THAT far out!

While I enjoyed the Sphere, I'm absolutely looking forward to the Golden Gate Park shows in August. Outdoors, on a sunny summer day, is where Dead shows are best experienced. Can't wait. Always a hoot!

[Fr. Jerk]

Searching For Jerry Garcia is one of the dopest album covers ever, ya dig?

 

 

Edited 18 hours ago by Fr. Jerk

[Tony P]

On 7/9/2025 at 9:00 PM, Bad Things said:

I read somewhere that today marks the 30th anniversary of Jerry's passing.

Boy, time sure flies by quickly... I can't believe it's been 30 years!

 

The news reminded me of something I've been meaning to ask here for a while now.

 

I remember that back in the day, The Grateful Dead sold a double-CD and a DVD of their July 4th 1989, Rich Stadium show, which was called "Truckin' Up to Buffalo".  (see album cover, below.)

I've never seen it in stores (when there still were music stores) and I can't find anything available online.

 

I know that they've released dozens and dozens of their concerts over the years, but this particular one seems to have disappeared into the ether. 

Does anyone know why this is no longer available?

 

 

Here ya go...

[frostbitmic]

On 7/10/2025 at 8:18 AM, DaBillsFanSince1973 said:

time sure does fly. my daughter will be 30 this month. I moved away from wny in the fall of '86 but was able to catch one of the greatest shows that summer at the old rich stadium. this is the set list as well as the show. July 4, 1986

 

back when I wore younger man's shoes...

 

set list

 

 

I had so much fun that day ... The Dead, Petty, Dylan ... one of my all time favorite shows