Article Contributed by Gratefulweb
Published on 2026-08-04
Today’s Dead Drops heads back to Madison Square Garden for two highlights from the Grateful Dead’s legendary September 1987 run. The band came roaring up the East Coast, and by the time it reached New York, it was firing on all cylinders.
The newly released shows from September 15 and September 19 have been freshly pulled from the Vault and mastered from the original digital audio tapes. Both concerts are now available to stream in high-resolution audio through the Dead’s official streaming platform, playDead.
The September 19 concert has particular meaning for me: It was my first Grateful Dead show.
I was 16 years old and had just started my senior year of high school when I headed into New York from Paramus, New Jersey, with my friends Scott Lagsdin, Rob Meehan, and Rosemary Dominguez. Nearly four decades later, I still have my ticket stub from that night.
I don’t remember every logistical detail of how we reached Manhattan. We may have taken the PATH train from Hoboken, or we may have driven directly into the city. Some details from that evening are understandably a little hazy. What I remember clearly is arriving as a kid from New Jersey and having my mind completely blown.
Our seats were terrible, somewhere near the rafters of Madison Square Garden, but that hardly mattered. Within the span of a few weeks, I saw both Pink Floyd and the Grateful Dead, and the contrast between the audiences has stayed with me ever since.
Pink Floyd was incredible, but the music seemed to pin everyone to their seats. The crowd appeared stunned and almost motionless, taking in the spectacle. At the Grateful Dead show, it felt as though every one of the roughly 20,000 people inside the Garden was moving. Everywhere I looked, people were dancing, grooving, and surrendering themselves to the music. I had never seen anything like it.
Both concerts were amazing, but the reaction inside the Garden made the Dead show feel like an entirely different kind of experience. The audience was not merely watching the performance. Everyone seemed to be participating in it.
The scene outside the venue was different as well. Madison Square Garden did not offer the sprawling parking-lot culture found at many other Dead shows, but people gathered throughout the surrounding streets, selling T-shirts and becoming part of the larger spectacle.
I was not completely unfamiliar with the Grateful Dead or Deadheads. The band was hugely popular in New Jersey, and there were plenty of Deadheads around Paramus. I even remember a Steal Your Face painted inside a storage closet off a hallway at my high school, where televisions were kept for teachers to roll into class when they wanted to show a VHS tape.
Nor would I describe my upbringing as sheltered in every sense. With Frank “The Butch” Miceli as my stepfather, my childhood was hardly conventional. But I had not yet experienced Deadhead culture gathered in full force, and that night introduced me to it on an entirely different scale.
After the show, I remember coming down the escalator from the upper reaches of Madison Square Garden, completely drenched from dancing. Nearby, I saw a young woman with long dreadlocks breastfeeding her child. I had never seen anyone with dreadlocks before, and for a 16-year-old kid from Paramus, it was a definite “we’re not in Kansas anymore” moment.
The music was not new to me, and neither were Deadheads, exactly. What was new was the size, freedom, and intensity of the scene. Rather than pushing me away, it fascinated me. It felt as though a door had opened onto an entirely different way of gathering, living, and experiencing music.
The show opened with “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo” leading into “It’s All Over Now.” “High Time,” “Mexicali Blues” into “Big River,” “When Push Comes to Shove,” and “Box of Rain” followed before “Don’t Ease Me In” closed the first set.
The second set was where the night became something extraordinary: “Crazy Fingers” flowed into “Uncle John’s Band” and then into an expansive “Playing in the Band” before “Drums” and “Space.”
The band emerged from “Space” with “I Need a Miracle,” followed by its first Grateful Dead performance of Bob Dylan’s “Maggie’s Farm.” The sequence continued through “Black Peter,” “Around and Around,” and “Turn On Your Lovelight,” with “Black Muddy River” providing a moving conclusion.
Part of the second set was also shared far beyond Madison Square Garden. Farm Aid III was taking place that day at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska, and the Grateful Dead appeared through a live satellite feed from New York. “I Need a Miracle,” “Maggie’s Farm,” and “Black Peter” were carried as part of the national broadcast, with Bob Weir addressing viewers and encouraging them to support Farm Aid.
It was an unusual sight for Deadheads inside the Garden, with television cameras positioned around a band whose performances normally existed far outside the conventions of network television. Dead.net identifies the September 19 concert as a Farm Aid III television broadcast, while attendees recall that “Maggie’s Farm” was the principal performance carried on television.
Four nights earlier, on September 15, Brent Mydland opened the show by leading the band through “Hey Pocky Way.” A playful “Beer Barrel Polka” helped hold the crowd while adjustments were made onstage, followed later by a beautiful “Row Jimmy” and a rocking, set-closing “The Music Never Stopped.”
The September 15 second set opened with “China Cat Sunflower” into “I Know You Rider,” followed by “Estimated Prophet” into “Eyes of the World.” After “Drums” and “Space,” the band returned with “The Wheel,” “Gimme Some Lovin’,” “Black Peter,” and “Sugar Magnolia.” “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” closed another classic night at the Garden.
“September 15 opens with Brent leading ‘Hey Pocky Way,’ followed by a memorable ‘Beer Barrel Polka,’ which holds the crowd while Big Steve makes some adjustments, a beautiful ‘Row Jimmy,’ and a rocking, set-closing ‘The Music Never Stopped,’” writes Martin Knott. “The second set shines with ‘China’ > ‘Rider’ > ‘Estimated’ > ‘Eyes,’ before ‘The Wheel’ > ‘Gimme Some Lovin’’ > ‘Black Peter’ and ‘Baby Blue’ cap a classic Garden night.
“Four nights later on the 19th, ‘Mississippi Half-Step’ starts another winner. ‘High Time,’ ‘Box of Rain,’ and ‘Don’t Ease Me In’ set the stage before a gorgeous second set featuring ‘Crazy Fingers’ > ‘Uncle John’s Band’ > ‘Playing in the Band.’ Out of ‘Space,’ ‘Miracle’ > ‘Maggie’s Farm’ gives way to a heartfelt ‘Black Peter,’ with ‘Around and Around’ > ‘Lovelight’ and ‘Black Muddy River’ providing the perfect finish.
“Another unforgettable week at the Garden. Enjoy!”
For me, September 19, 1987, was more than another unforgettable Garden performance. It was the night the door opened. I walked into Madison Square Garden as a 16-year-old kid who had never experienced anything resembling a Grateful Dead concert. I walked out exhausted, soaked from dancing, overwhelmed by the crowd, and forever changed.
Nearly 39 years later, hearing the show freshly mastered from the Vault brings all of it rushing back.
Unlock the Vault HERE.
Madison Square Garden — September 15, 1987
Set One
Hey Pocky Way
New Minglewood Blues
When Push Comes to Shove
Me and My Uncle >
Mexicali Blues
Row Jimmy
Queen Jane Approximately
Tennessee Jed
The Music Never Stopped
Set Two
China Cat Sunflower >
I Know You Rider
Estimated Prophet >
Eyes of the World >
Drums >
Space >
The Wheel >
Gimme Some Lovin’ >
Black Peter >
Sugar Magnolia
Encore
It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue
Madison Square Garden — September 19, 1987
Set One
Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo >
It’s All Over Now
High Time
Mexicali Blues >
Big River
When Push Comes to Shove
Box of Rain >
Don’t Ease Me In
Set Two
Crazy Fingers >
Uncle John’s Band >
Playing in the Band >
Drums >
Space >
I Need a Miracle >
Maggie’s Farm >
Black Peter >
Around and Around >
Turn On Your Lovelight
Encore
Black Muddy River
