Article Contributed by Gratefulweb
Published on 2026-02-24
There are certain Grateful Dead dates that live in the collective memory of Deadheads — shows that marked a moment, captured a vibe, or simply hit with the right mix of song selection and spirit. On Friday, April 3, 2026, Colorado’s own Shakedown Street will step into that time capsule at the Boulder Theater, performing the Dead’s April 3, 1989 set in its entirety.
For longtime fans, 4/3/89 remains one of those late-’80s snapshots — Brent-era fire, strong second-set momentum, and a band still playing with grit and invention. Archive listeners remember the “Greatest Story” opener, the surprise “El Paso,” a ripping “Blow Away,” and a double encore that sent everyone out buzzing. As one listener put it years later, “Jerry sounds real cool at this show…this was the height of GD redux.” Another remembered simply: “Solid show! Worth repeated listening.”
Shakedown Street has built its reputation on honoring that spirit without turning it into museum glass. For over 30 years, the band has been performing the immense catalog of the Grateful Dead, drawing from Americana, folk, blues, jazz, rock and roll, and the avant-garde. Their ever-shifting repertoire digs deep into the songs’ storylines and the characters inhabiting them — gamblers and thieves, sinners and saints, blue-collar rhapsodies, mythic wanderers — all awash in color, sound, and light.
Their own story finds them continuing to play to enthusiastic sold-out audiences while marching up and down, going around and around their beloved home in the mountains of Colorado. They have happily assumed the trusted role of connecting past, present, and future Grateful Dead fans with the vital and vibrant energies of improvisational live music. Endlessly fun, exciting, dramatic, uplifting, inspirational — the band and audience in concert. A reset for the soul.
This Boulder Theater performance offers something more than a tribute set. It’s a chance to step back into a specific night in Dead history — one that fans still debate, relisten to, and recount with stories of road trips, finals week distractions, blown lyrics, and blue-lit “El Paso” moments. As another old review noted, “Brent spot on.” That era energy will be front and center on April 3.
SHAKEDOWN STREET — Performs 4/3/89
Boulder Theater
Friday, April 3, 2026
Doors: 7:00 pm | Show: 8:00 pm
FREE before 9:00 pm for the first 500!
Purchase a ticket to secure your spot ahead of time
Tickets on sale now:
https://www.z2ent.com/events/detail/shakedown-street-2026-bt-2
General Admission Tickets (limited seating available)
All Ages (under 16 with an adult)
