Deadology: The 33 Essential Dates of Grateful Dead History

by Howard F. Weiner

As the Grateful Dead’s musical odyssey unfolded over the course of four decades, their persistent touring produced an innovative live archive that was avidly devoured by their zealous fans. In Deadology , Howard Weiner selects the band’s most productive dates throughout the years and dissects their finest jams, segues, sets, and shows. The narrative of each essential day and month flows like a unique mini-documentary—thirty-three shades of Grateful Dead history. Deadology is a thorough, timeless, and distinctive chronicle that illuminates the prodigious output of a band beyond description.

344 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 29, 2019

Reviews

[Tim Julian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Subtitled "The 33 Essential Dates of Grateful Dead History" this one takes an unusual approach to its subject matter. As can probably be deduced from the aforementioned subtitle, Weiner has selected, by an arcane process he explains in the Introduction, 33 calendar dates and proceeds to give a blow-by-blow of the Dead's (and the various Garcia side projects) concerts on that particular day, from the magnificent to the meh. This makes for a less than compelling reading experience, it must be said, especially given Weiner's tendency to flit backwards and forwards in time, so that, for example, the chapter on February 28 opens with an excellent review of the Jerry Garcia Band concert at Kean College in 1980, before jumping back to 1973 (Salt Lake City) and forward again to 1981 (Chicago) and back again to the show at the Family Dog in 1970. He also usually omits to say whether a show is officially released or not (as a Dick's Pick, Road Trip or whatever) which would have aided the curious reader. It's a shame, because Weiner is obviously a lover of the music and is generally interesting in his insights, when he can resist the temptation to reminisce about "cute hippie chicks" he has encountered on his journeys.
I'm giving it 3 stars cos I'll undoubtedly thumb through it again when listening to a show he talks about, but a book only for the most Deadicated really.

[Adam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not what I excepted, and it’s not bad per se, it’s just dull for the most part. If you’re so far down the rabbit hole of Dead literature and the band itself that you’ve made it to the more obscure publications, you’ve probably formed your own views at this point so this may read like exactly what it is: one dude’s ramblings about shows on specific dates. Typical gripes about set quality, myriad editing snafus, me-isms, reasons his opinions are better than yours, and typos litter this book along with the requisite amounts of Jerry worship and incredulousness that the Dead would dare to play anything but the perfect show. If you’re interested in reading accounts of shows this dude either attended, had tapes of, or sniffed out on the Archive, go for it. Otherwise delve into the wealth of other, better books about the band and its history. I’d give this book the one star it deserves but the description of how the list of dates was complied makes me feel like I should through the author a bone.