New Years Bill Graham Style meant having Uncle Bobo Himself serve you hot soup while you were waiting in line in the cold to get priority seating passes for the general admission show. Then when you walked into The Coliseum, the BGP minions would hand you all sorts of party favors: streamers, hats, wigs, masks, and other goodies. The back quarter of the floor would be roped off and there would be a volleyball court set up. No shit. And who would be all over the court and up in the net? Bill Himself.

Then, of course, there was always the spectacle of the New Years Countdown. "What would he do this year?" everyone would ask. A motorcylce? A skull? Fire? Balloons, for sure.

Sadly, 1990 was the last Bill Graham New Years Eve for The Grateful Dead. Bill died tragically in a helicopter crash in October of 1991. The boys would play one last New Years show in 1991, but it ended up being a pretty sad affair. At midnight they played clips of all the glorious Bill Graham entrances from the past, and I don't think there was a dry eye in the whole Coliseum.

Enjoy this glimpse of that New Years magic. More often than not The Dead blew it when the pressure was on for a gig like a New Years show, but this time they seemed to pull it off quite well, with some help from Branford Marsalis. The Rebirth Brass Band got the crowd pumping early in the evening, followed by Branford & The X-Men. Then a surprise performance by just Branford, Bruce Hornsby, and Rob Wasserman for the public debut of "White Wheeled Limousine." Then The Dead took the stage, and the party cranked up a notch or two!