It was hot and muggy in Western New York on July 16, 1990. Crosby, Stills and Nash were opening up for the Grateful Dead at Rich Stadium, and Brent Mydland was amid his final tour with the Dead.
The Grateful Dead played Buffalo a total of 12 times in their storied career, including May 9, 1977 at Buffalo Memorial Auditorium (a day after the famed Cornell 77 show) a show at Kleinhan’s Music Hall on March 17, 1970, and six total shows at Rich Stadium, including this show in 1990. A typical summer stop from 1986-1993, Orchard Park’s Rich Stadium had far more space for fans, after the band outgrew the Memorial Auditorium, The Rich shows becoming part of Deadhead lore.
Playing in Foxboro, MA the night before, fans trekked overnight from Eastern Massachusetts to Western New York, a seven hour drive (not factoring in stops, switching drivers and catching sleep at rest stops along the way). With a capacity of more than 70,000, Rich Stadium was ready to welcome more than Foxboro held by a margin of 10,000, plus plenty of fans arriving from across the Empire State who would call this their first Grateful Dead show.
On the NYS Thruway, traffic crawled in the heat, with fans walking along the highway, slow cars filling the breakdown lane, with fans looking for Miracles via hand-lettered signs as you filed into the Rich Stadium lot. The traffic was so bad getting from the Thruway to Orchard Park, fans were pulling into the lot as the opener, Crosby, Stills and Nash, were beginning to play, the songs trickling over the top of Rich Stadium.
Part of their “Live It Up Tour,” Crosby, Stills and Nash toured off the album Live It Up, the first album the trio recorded since 1983. The album came together when Crosby and Nash began working on a new album as a pair, but following the trio performing at the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989, Stills became involved in the Crosby and Nash project, as noted in Dave Zimmer’s Crosby, Stills and Nash: The Authorized Biography (The Definitive Inside Story of the Super Group).
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Playing a set that was mostly unchanged for the entire tour, CSN made sense as an opener – both bands were part of the late 60s music explosion on the west coast, and with Crosby from Los Angeles and the Dead based in San Francisco and many festival and show billings together, the two bands shared a long history together. Crosby even recorded and performed live with members of the Grateful Dead, billed as David and the Dorks for three shows in 1970. So an opening slot or two on their summer tour was a natural fit, especially with large stadiums like Foxboro and The Rich on the tour schedule.
However, CSN did not mix up their setlist and did not factor in the Grateful Dead shows on their tour, where fans would see more than one night of the tour and catch onto repeats a bit faster. Fans not engaged in the July 16th opening set led to Graham Nash saying to the audience something to the effect of “show us you deserve to wear those tye-dyes and get into it,” reacting to fans non-reaction of the milquetoast opener. One fan recalled that at both shows they saw on the tour, CSN said both times “So, this is what a Grateful Dead audience looks like” with the same banter factored into the set.
This show at Rich Stadium for the Grateful Dead would also be the final tour for Brent Mydland, although that may not have been apparent to many fans at the time. A week later, Mydland would play his final show with the Dead, and die three days later from an overdose. There are points of the show between tunes where the band is enjoying themselves and Brent takes a moment to play a few bars of George M. Cohan’s “Over There” and the “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse,” keeping it playful and fans on their toes during these brief interludes.
It was unmistakable though, the presence of Mydland on this short, Midwest/east-coast 12-show summer tour, that made his death harder on many. His talent and boisterous vocals on “Man Smart, Women Smarter” and originals like “Blow Away,” the last of which was played this evening in Orchard Park, were unmistakable, clearly identifying shows with his raspy, soulful voice and precision work on the keys.
Following a breezy afternoon, the stadium climate was muggy yet the Grateful Dead were dialed in from the start, opening with “Hell in a Bucket” and following up with an early highlight of the set, “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo.” “Blow Away” had all the emotion Brent ever put into any of version, and featured a “Mind Left Body” jam, standing out as the final performance of the song.
A pair of cowboy songs – “Mama Tried” and “Mexicali Blues” flowed seamlessly together with Bob Weir on vocals, with a fresh off-the-shelf “Loose Lucy” following, fans cheering in gratitude to hear a song not played since 1974 that made its return in March of 1990. The Rolling Stones “It’s All Over Now” fit in nicely with the flow of this stimulating first set, with “High Time,” and a thoroughly enjoyable “Let It Grow” following, with the Brent-heavy “Don’t Ease Me In” closing out the first set.
The second set would feature a unique “Sugar Magnolia” / “Sunshine Daydream” sandwich, the show opening with the first stanza of “Sugar Magnolia” before dissolving into a smooth and unexpected segue onto “Scarlet Begonias” after only three minutes. The crowd reaction when “Scarlet Begonias” is realized by thousands is a sound to behold and embrace. Not stopping, the Dead moved into “Man Smart, Woman Smarter,” the lyrics in unison from Garcia, Weir and Mydland driving the song.
“Ship of Fools” served as a bridge to the obligatory and long-awaited “Truckin’,” with the “Truckin’, up to Buffalo” lyrics eliciting the largest cheers of the night, the jam meandering but finding itself in the final minutes before “Drums.” If you’re looking to revisit the show or listen for the first time, “Drums” is a percussive trip, with “Space” having a creepy laugh track in the background during the first half, a fun (maybe?) accent to the night for those in attendance.
Jumping out of “Space” were short versions of “The Wheel” and “Gimme Some Lovin’” and a somber “Wharf Rat” to balance them out. “Around and Around” found its place coming out of “Wharf Rat,” diving into “Sunshine Daydream” to an enthusiastic crowd hearing a fantastic full set sandwiched inside a classic Grateful Dead song.
“When the 2nd set ended, I remember experiencing an exaggerated exhilarated feeling that I’ve never felt from any show before. Obviously others felt the same because when the Sunshine Daydream reprise finally ended, we were jumping up and down and even the people behind us were so amped that we all just stood there hugging each other. It was ridiculously intense. No other show has lifted me to such heights before and I am so glad I was here.”
Jazdead, as shared on Dead.net
The encore of “Brokedown Palace” fit in perfectly to close the night, capping a day for the fans, and Brent Mydland as he performed his final show in New York.
Crosby Stills and Nash – Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, NY – July 16, 1990
Setlist: Love the One You’re With, Chicago, Drive My Car, Live It Up, Got It Made, Just a Song Before I Go, Night Time for the Generals, For What It’s Worth, Wasted on the Way, Our House, Almost Cut My Hair, Helplessly Hoping, Déjà Vu, (Got to Keep) Open, Southern Cross, Wooden Ships, Teach Your Children, Woodstock
Grateful Dead – Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, NY – July 16, 1990
Set 1: Hell in a Bucket, Mississippi Half-Step, Blow Away, Mama Tried > Mexicali Blues, Loose Lucy, It’s All Over Now, High Time, Let it Grow > Don’t Ease Me In
Set 2: Sugar Magnolia > Scarlet Begonias > Man Smart/Woman Smarter, Ship of Fools, Truckin’ > drums > space > The Wheel > Gimme Some Lovin’ > Wharf Rat > Around and Around > Sunshine Daydream
Encore: Brokedown Palace
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