1976-03-27 Kingfish

Calderone Concert Hall

On 3/27/76 there were two Kingfish shows at the Calderone; I went to the early show.  This was the first time I saw a member of the Grateful Dead perform, as Bob Weir had been a regular member of Kingfish from its inception.  In another few days I would see the Jerry Garcia Band at the same venue.  Although Bob Weir was only 27 at the time of this show, at that moment the future of the Grateful Dead as a touring band wasn't something anyone could be certain of. The Calderone was a small venue, and I was so excited to see Bobby up close, and to hear them do a version of Minglewood as an encore.

I taped the first Kingfish album when it was played on the radio at the time of its initial release in 1975. From that time - and when I later got another show from the radio (broadcast from My Fathers Place - this band made a huge impression.  The combination of Dave Torbert, a wonderful musician, writer and vocalist, with Weir and with Robby Hodinott and Matthew Kelly made this a very hot band - energetic, upbeat, and fresh sounding.

The 11-18-75 late show of Kingfish at My Father's Place was broadcast on the radio.  That soon became a fav in my tape collection. 

1976-03-30 Jerry Garcia Band

Calderone Concert Hall

This was my first Garcia Band show.  My first Grateful Dead show came only a couple of months later.

Its kind of mindblowing to think that Garcia played at places like this, or like Bailey Hall at Cornell and in the Ithaca College Gym, in 75 and 76.  Perhaps hearing about that Ithaca show and other great Ithaca shows factored into my decision to go to school there in 1978.  In any event, I am grateful to have seen Jerry at theaters like the Calderone, the Palladium, and the Landmark in Syracuse. 

1980-10-31 The Grateful Dead (simulcast)

Calderone Concert Hall

This was a live Simulcast of the Radio City Halloween show that included Al Franken and Tom Davis as MCs. Ticket demand for the shows far outpaced available seats, thus the idea of a simulcast from Radio City where fans could see and hear the show in real time. Its included here because I have the ticket stub (and because they did it at at the Calderone, where I and am sure a few others had seen both Jerry and Bob play in 1976).