Portland Deadheads Hear "Touch of Grey" Live for 1st Time

35 years ago, the good ol’ Grateful Dead returned to Blimpville for their 3rd of 8 sold-out shows at the Civic Center from 1979 to 1986. The Dead had recently released two live double albums. One was an acoustic record called Reckoning, the other was the plugged in Dead Set.

The circus of devotion was back in town on September 17, 1982. That parking lot behind what is now Brian Boru, was of course transformed into a village called 'Shakedown Street'. (remember that crazy dragon creature that loomed over the lot or was that a hallucination?)

Here’s what they played.

It's very cool that Portland Deadheads got to hear a new song called Touch of Grey almost 5 years before it was recorded. It was how they started the second set that night and you can listen to it below. The studio version was recorded for 1987's In The Dark and went on to be their 1st and only Top 40 hit, going all the way to #9.