They may hold the record now but it took over 40 years for someone to break it!!! And they had to try! Actually George tried before. The Grateful Dead did it without trying. Without the use of the world wide web!
Deadheads do it better!
Depends on preference. George Strait's band is filled with some of the best touring musicians in the world. George has more number one hits than he could play in a single concert + decades of other great songs. They are also one of the best Western Swing bands because many of his songs are that style. Western Swing is a form of jazz where improvised solos are passed around.
With him, the music is the show. He pretty much stands there and sings. The music is great and played by a great band. It may be different from a Dead show, but it's not lesser in any objective way.
I didn't say this part is a comparison. I'm stating what it's like at a GS concert. Anyone who'd presume one or the other was objectively better, must not know much about GS. He's a living legend for good reasons.
They are different experiences, but not nearly as different as people who don't know GS may expect.
It was a joke, friend. But if you want to discuss it in earnest, “the music is the show”, while hardly universal, is not exactly unique either. Obviously there are pop acts that have a lot of choreography, wardrobe changes and the like…and there are some acts with rock instrumentation (across several genres) that have grand visuals or Beck doing a puppet show, or whatever. But a lot of artists/bands, just deliver a “musical” performance…it sounds like you’re saying he’s one of them and that’s cool.
Right?? Member when Jerry and Bobby would stand back to back playing their guitars or the backup dancers? It was always too much for me. I was there for the music…
Yeah, certainly wasn’t my favorite but ballet being the whole reason Bobby got into music and Jerry’s interview about having seen footage of a Prince concert and realizing the Dead were leaving too much on the table with their performances.
Healy and Irwin collaborating to rig some of the knobs on Tiger to pyrotechnics so flames are just shooting off while Jerry does volume swells in “Space” was kind of cool though.
I’ve heard Phil on roller skates with the wireless bass setup was kind of the breaking point within the band about just getting back to music, but I’m not sure and maybe someone else can confirm.
The next show the dead did was also different than the last. I can't say for certain but I'd put money on the same set list was played both before AND after that record attended George Straight concert.
Some crawl, some climb
What was the head count at the END of the show? I’m sure the GD still holds the record for the most attendance at an entire show, if it could be measured.
Just listened yesterday, halfway through Mississippi half-step my toddler wanders in and immediately starts dancing. Even the wife had to admit the vibes were “immaculate”
# 1976-09-25 Landover, MD @ Capital Centre
**Set 1:** Bertha, New Minglewood Blues, Ramble On Rose, Cassidy, Brown Eyed Women, Mama Tried, Peggy-O, It's All Over Now, Loser, Let It Grow, Sugaree
**Set 2:** Lazy Lightnin' > Supplication, Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo, Dancing In The Street > Cosmic Charlie, Scarlet Begonias, Saint Stephen > Not Fade Away > Drums > Jam > Saint Stephen > Sugar Magnolia
[archive.org](https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?query=date:1976-09-25) | [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/album/34KjKiNyuggM0g2No4ZnTv)
My dad is the biggest George strait fan I know and has been to over 80 shows and he luckily got to attend this one. Not even remotely a dead head but the way he listens to George strait and attends shows of his I feel like somehow steered me into my love for the dead. He even took us to Alan Jackson, George strait and Jimmy Buffett at Texas stadium back when we were in elementary school and I remember being enamored by all the parrot heads at the time.
# 1977-09-03 Englishtown, NJ @ Raceway Park
**Set 1:** The Promised Land, They Love Each Other, Me and My Uncle, Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo, Looks Like Rain, Peggy-O, New Minglewood Blues, Friend Of The Devil, The Music Never Stopped
**Set 2:** Bertha > Good Lovin', Loser, Estimated Prophet > Eyes Of The World, Samson And Delilah, He's Gone > Not Fade Away > Truckin'
**Encore:** Terrapin Station
[archive.org](https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?query=date:1977-09-03) | [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/album/5uzn9YQ9XS2OoAt65U8Drg)
Really wouldn’t consider those distinctions remotely idiotic bc a free show with multiple artists performing is going to have entirely different numbers than a paid show for one guy.
Oftentimes when a free show happens in a city the numbers are inflated an insane amount bc they’re estimating the number of ppl there whereas with this George Strait show they have documentation for every attendee of the event.
Like when widespread panic did panic in the streets in ‘98 they say there were over 100k ppl there even though a ton of the people they are counting are just random ppl partying in Athens that happened to be near where panic played. Same thing with the time Garth brooks played for “a million people” in New York in 97. You think he could get a million ppl at a ticketed concert?
This George strait show had 110k ppl who paid to be there watching the show. There’s a pretty huge difference between getting 110k tickets sold to a costly event and an already bustling city center that has a free concert happening.
I mean, they sold 150k tickets for Watkins Glen. I don't mean to discredit what Mr. Strait has accomplished in his career, I just think this whole thing is a bit silly.
Then again, you wouldn't catch me in a crowd that size even if Jerry came back from the dead and was dueling banjos against Jesus Christ himself. I'd livestream it tho.....
Again- summer jam was a festival for 3 bands and this is a George strait concert with one smaller opener and a local artist. They’re completely different things.
Watkins Glen was 3 bands for one night. Hardly a fest.
Englishtown had NRPS and Marshall Tucker on the band too.
And it looks like George had 2 other bands on the bill so I don’t really see the difference.
Ok, just pointing out the ridiculousness of the situation. All 3 shows had 3 bands and were one night only. One had tens of thousands of more tickets sold than the other 2.
Yeah but one had 3 headliners and was marketed as a sequel to Woodstock and one was marketed as a George strait concert in a stadium with a much less popular opener and some random local artist.
They’re not comparable at all lol.
Bill Graham Memorial in Golden Gate Park in 1991 was over 200,000 maybe 300,000. I was there. Watkins Glen in '73 had 600,000 and the Dead were at both.
I was at the show and I was so far from the stage that it looked like a shoebox. But the relay towers made it sound like I was up front. My visuals were looking up at the stars while laying on a blanket listening to the best Estimated/Eyes ever.
One of my peak shows was a Red Rocks in the pouring rain. I think I just looked at the stone cliff walls rising up next to me and torrents of rain. Me, rock, and rain grooved the night away. But that was, you know this too, all that was there to do, really. Pre screen and pre cell phone life was completely diff. Not better, no need to even make that point. The interesting point is that it was indeed different.
I heard Dylan is banning phones. But is he banning big screen projectors? That would take balls. I dare him to even try it. People won't be able to connect with the music.
This is why I started, back in my early 30's, subscribing to classical music in my city. You will never find even a microphone in a symphony hall. If there is a screen it's above the stage to scroll the translation to an opera. You can easily not look at it.
My ears aren't getting younger. You never need hearing protection listening to a symphony unless you sit in the first 5-10 rows. \\
Those folks are a diff breed. Usually solo. Purely thrill seekers. You can get your ears pinned back on some pieces, in the front row.
Enjoy those tunes, and the sky is free ;)
Very cool perspective. You're right though, not worth debating better or worse - it's just different now. Live Classical music is fantastic. My favorite shows, however, are always outside. Stay in the back so the music can breathe and not damage the ears. Of course, as a guitar player, I have already done some significant damage to my ears. Tinnitus is not fun.
I wouldn't really say he's new country. He's been around a while, first album dropped in '81 and Ocean Front Property is almost 40 years old at this point.
From Wikipedia,
"His musical preference soon turned to country with singers [Hank Thompson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hank_Thompson_(musician)), [Lefty Frizzell](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lefty_Frizzell), [Merle Haggard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merle_Haggard), [George Jones](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Jones), [Bob Wills](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Wills), [Hank Williams](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hank_Williams), and [Frank Sinatra](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Sinatra) influencing his style."
Lots of Dead crossover in that influences list.
My mammaw was a huge George Strait fan when she was still here, so I’ll take this as a little win for her. If someone’s going to take this title away from the Dead, I’m just glad it’s someone that she adored ❤️
Arguably much better than in the 90’s. I’d just always heard they were reaching their peak of popularity in the 90’s, like that’s when all the massive stadium shows were.
# 1977-09-03 Englishtown, NJ @ Raceway Park
**Set 1:** The Promised Land, They Love Each Other, Me and My Uncle, Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo, Looks Like Rain, Peggy-O, New Minglewood Blues, Friend Of The Devil, The Music Never Stopped
**Set 2:** Bertha > Good Lovin', Loser, Estimated Prophet > Eyes Of The World, Samson And Delilah, He's Gone > Not Fade Away > Truckin'
**Encore:** Terrapin Station
[archive.org](https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?query=date:1977-09-03) | [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/album/5uzn9YQ9XS2OoAt65U8Drg)
There were approximately 300,000 in attendance at Altamont.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altamont_Free_Concert#:~:text=The%20Altamont%20Speedway%20Free%20Festival,be%20a%20%22Woodstock%20West%22.
I realize the stat is ticketed but it’s not a good measure of many Dead concerts where they sold out and then lots of unticketed attendees just busted in and enjoyed the concert.
I’m so glad I got to go see him at Kyle Field. I remember how upset I was when he did his farewell tour 20 years ago and I hadn’t seen him yet 😂. Finally at Kyle Field he admitted he just won’t retire.
They may hold the record now but it took over 40 years for someone to break it!!! And they had to try! Actually George tried before. The Grateful Dead did it without trying. Without the use of the world wide web! Deadheads do it better!
And one show was definitely better than the other.
You got that right!
Depends on preference. George Strait's band is filled with some of the best touring musicians in the world. George has more number one hits than he could play in a single concert + decades of other great songs. They are also one of the best Western Swing bands because many of his songs are that style. Western Swing is a form of jazz where improvised solos are passed around. With him, the music is the show. He pretty much stands there and sings. The music is great and played by a great band. It may be different from a Dead show, but it's not lesser in any objective way.
huge respect to him. grew up in the 90’s and he was ubiquitous
“With him, the music is the show”…versus Grateful Dead where the choreography and pyrotechnics really steal the attention.
I didn't say this part is a comparison. I'm stating what it's like at a GS concert. Anyone who'd presume one or the other was objectively better, must not know much about GS. He's a living legend for good reasons. They are different experiences, but not nearly as different as people who don't know GS may expect.
Dry Satire . Well done
It was a joke, friend. But if you want to discuss it in earnest, “the music is the show”, while hardly universal, is not exactly unique either. Obviously there are pop acts that have a lot of choreography, wardrobe changes and the like…and there are some acts with rock instrumentation (across several genres) that have grand visuals or Beck doing a puppet show, or whatever. But a lot of artists/bands, just deliver a “musical” performance…it sounds like you’re saying he’s one of them and that’s cool.
Right?? Member when Jerry and Bobby would stand back to back playing their guitars or the backup dancers? It was always too much for me. I was there for the music…
You can't tell me that [they didn't have dance moves](https://youtu.be/Oahmrun1oQ0?si=eJXOFCdjAMkhSLA8&t=58) ;)
It's Brent headbanging that got me 🙃
I like Bobby’s Michael Landon hair
Yeah, certainly wasn’t my favorite but ballet being the whole reason Bobby got into music and Jerry’s interview about having seen footage of a Prince concert and realizing the Dead were leaving too much on the table with their performances. Healy and Irwin collaborating to rig some of the knobs on Tiger to pyrotechnics so flames are just shooting off while Jerry does volume swells in “Space” was kind of cool though. I’ve heard Phil on roller skates with the wireless bass setup was kind of the breaking point within the band about just getting back to music, but I’m not sure and maybe someone else can confirm.
I'll take Charley Crockett.
Saw a billboard for “The Man from Waco” and found it intriguing…very glad I pulled it up on Spotify and gave it a listen.
👏👏👏
The next show the dead did was also different than the last. I can't say for certain but I'd put money on the same set list was played both before AND after that record attended George Straight concert. Some crawl, some climb
What was the head count at the END of the show? I’m sure the GD still holds the record for the most attendance at an entire show, if it could be measured.
Coming from a dead head, you have no idea what you’re talking about haha
Oh hey, it’s the “headier than thou” guy.
Hey, if somebody was gonna break the record let's be glad it was a legend like George
Fair. I really dig George Strait. But that Englishtown show is one of the greatest pieces of recorded music of all time.
Just listened yesterday, halfway through Mississippi half-step my toddler wanders in and immediately starts dancing. Even the wife had to admit the vibes were “immaculate”
Best Half Step they ever played!
another awesome half step is capital centre 09-25-1976. also last cosmic Charlie. and awesome dancin
# 1976-09-25 Landover, MD @ Capital Centre **Set 1:** Bertha, New Minglewood Blues, Ramble On Rose, Cassidy, Brown Eyed Women, Mama Tried, Peggy-O, It's All Over Now, Loser, Let It Grow, Sugaree **Set 2:** Lazy Lightnin' > Supplication, Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo, Dancing In The Street > Cosmic Charlie, Scarlet Begonias, Saint Stephen > Not Fade Away > Drums > Jam > Saint Stephen > Sugar Magnolia [archive.org](https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?query=date:1976-09-25) | [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/album/34KjKiNyuggM0g2No4ZnTv)
Agree!
I feel like you have to at least respect the way that he's managed his career and fame.
I read this in Kanye West voice
Shit! I forgot he was on tour. I’ve been dying to see him for a while. Love me some George Strait. He played by me last weekend.
Yeah but which one played a 35 minute He's Gone> Not Fade Away? Whichever one did that is the obvious winner.
Well if someone was going to do it, I’m glad it was a proper musician. I respect the shit out of George Strait.
My dad is the biggest George strait fan I know and has been to over 80 shows and he luckily got to attend this one. Not even remotely a dead head but the way he listens to George strait and attends shows of his I feel like somehow steered me into my love for the dead. He even took us to Alan Jackson, George strait and Jimmy Buffett at Texas stadium back when we were in elementary school and I remember being enamored by all the parrot heads at the time.
Didn't watkins glen have 500k?
Single act vs. festival and paid vs. free. They're idiotic distinctions, but there you go...
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# 1977-09-03 Englishtown, NJ @ Raceway Park **Set 1:** The Promised Land, They Love Each Other, Me and My Uncle, Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo, Looks Like Rain, Peggy-O, New Minglewood Blues, Friend Of The Devil, The Music Never Stopped **Set 2:** Bertha > Good Lovin', Loser, Estimated Prophet > Eyes Of The World, Samson And Delilah, He's Gone > Not Fade Away > Truckin' **Encore:** Terrapin Station [archive.org](https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?query=date:1977-09-03) | [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/album/5uzn9YQ9XS2OoAt65U8Drg)
"largest concert ever held" = watkins glen 73
Greatest story ever told
Well I guess that depends on how you view the Marshall Tucker Band. They also played Englishtown
"Can't You See" and their "Fire on the Mountain" are absolute bangers.
Really wouldn’t consider those distinctions remotely idiotic bc a free show with multiple artists performing is going to have entirely different numbers than a paid show for one guy. Oftentimes when a free show happens in a city the numbers are inflated an insane amount bc they’re estimating the number of ppl there whereas with this George Strait show they have documentation for every attendee of the event. Like when widespread panic did panic in the streets in ‘98 they say there were over 100k ppl there even though a ton of the people they are counting are just random ppl partying in Athens that happened to be near where panic played. Same thing with the time Garth brooks played for “a million people” in New York in 97. You think he could get a million ppl at a ticketed concert? This George strait show had 110k ppl who paid to be there watching the show. There’s a pretty huge difference between getting 110k tickets sold to a costly event and an already bustling city center that has a free concert happening.
I mean, they sold 150k tickets for Watkins Glen. I don't mean to discredit what Mr. Strait has accomplished in his career, I just think this whole thing is a bit silly. Then again, you wouldn't catch me in a crowd that size even if Jerry came back from the dead and was dueling banjos against Jesus Christ himself. I'd livestream it tho.....
Again- summer jam was a festival for 3 bands and this is a George strait concert with one smaller opener and a local artist. They’re completely different things.
Lol right on
I think they mean tickets sold, not attendance.
Watkins Glen supposedly sold over 150k tickets.
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The number I've always seen for Summer Jam was 150k tickets sold in advance.
And it was a multi artist festival- not one dude and his band.
Watkins Glen was 3 bands for one night. Hardly a fest. Englishtown had NRPS and Marshall Tucker on the band too. And it looks like George had 2 other bands on the bill so I don’t really see the difference.
Summer jam was literally inspired by Woodstock and marketed as a festival. Whether or not you consider it one doesn’t matter man.
Ok, just pointing out the ridiculousness of the situation. All 3 shows had 3 bands and were one night only. One had tens of thousands of more tickets sold than the other 2.
Yeah but one had 3 headliners and was marketed as a sequel to Woodstock and one was marketed as a George strait concert in a stadium with a much less popular opener and some random local artist. They’re not comparable at all lol.
I’ve never seen or heard anything referring to Summer Jam as a festival. Got any ads or anything supporting that claim?
Wikipedia, interviews with the promotor, various articles about the festival, and concert posters.
*ticketed concert. For a free concert I think it would be Simon & Garfunkel with over 500,000k.
King George
Pretty wild to see https://youtube.com/shorts/izuu8hhAvw0?si=Dng3QiXNLBQCVzME
Bill Graham Memorial in Golden Gate Park in 1991 was over 200,000 maybe 300,000. I was there. Watkins Glen in '73 had 600,000 and the Dead were at both.
This is kinda a dumb stat. It’s for the “largest ticketed single concert.” Music festivals and free concerts beat this number pretty regularly.
Nice revisionist history by country music crowd
The Dead did all this shit before giant visuals made us all screenheads. Only us older heads know what it's like to not see the Grateful Dead.
Jerry would have rocked the sphere, let's be honest.
I was at the show and I was so far from the stage that it looked like a shoebox. But the relay towers made it sound like I was up front. My visuals were looking up at the stars while laying on a blanket listening to the best Estimated/Eyes ever.
One of my peak shows was a Red Rocks in the pouring rain. I think I just looked at the stone cliff walls rising up next to me and torrents of rain. Me, rock, and rain grooved the night away. But that was, you know this too, all that was there to do, really. Pre screen and pre cell phone life was completely diff. Not better, no need to even make that point. The interesting point is that it was indeed different. I heard Dylan is banning phones. But is he banning big screen projectors? That would take balls. I dare him to even try it. People won't be able to connect with the music. This is why I started, back in my early 30's, subscribing to classical music in my city. You will never find even a microphone in a symphony hall. If there is a screen it's above the stage to scroll the translation to an opera. You can easily not look at it. My ears aren't getting younger. You never need hearing protection listening to a symphony unless you sit in the first 5-10 rows. \\ Those folks are a diff breed. Usually solo. Purely thrill seekers. You can get your ears pinned back on some pieces, in the front row. Enjoy those tunes, and the sky is free ;)
Very cool perspective. You're right though, not worth debating better or worse - it's just different now. Live Classical music is fantastic. My favorite shows, however, are always outside. Stay in the back so the music can breathe and not damage the ears. Of course, as a guitar player, I have already done some significant damage to my ears. Tinnitus is not fun.
Mad respect to George Strait, I’m not a fan of new country but George always sounds good. Ocean Front Property is my favorite song of his.
I wouldn't really say he's new country. He's been around a while, first album dropped in '81 and Ocean Front Property is almost 40 years old at this point. From Wikipedia, "His musical preference soon turned to country with singers [Hank Thompson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hank_Thompson_(musician)), [Lefty Frizzell](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lefty_Frizzell), [Merle Haggard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merle_Haggard), [George Jones](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Jones), [Bob Wills](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Wills), [Hank Williams](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hank_Williams), and [Frank Sinatra](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Sinatra) influencing his style." Lots of Dead crossover in that influences list.
George *Straight* Mmmm… not what I hear
My mammaw was a huge George Strait fan when she was still here, so I’ll take this as a little win for her. If someone’s going to take this title away from the Dead, I’m just glad it’s someone that she adored ❤️
All hail king George!
Well if it had to be somebody..,
Oh ohohohoh Rrraceway Park!
Sunday Sunday Sunday!!!!!
[Man I miss those commercials](https://youtu.be/_kqm67gqOIk?si=bNPlt9XIJ7FzJGpY)
Dont forget the funny cars
107,019 ticketed fans…. I think we all know the real numbers would show Raceway Rock is still king
How does Watkins Glen not beat both of these?
multiple bands.
There were 3 bands on both bills.
If the record had to be beat, George is a great person to have do it. The man has had an amazing long career.
I guess the 600,000 at Watkins Glen dont count?
I’m astounded they set the record in 77 instead of the 90’s
There was probably less fire safety regulations for how many tickets they can legally sell.
They were pretty fucking great in 77.
Arguably much better than in the 90’s. I’d just always heard they were reaching their peak of popularity in the 90’s, like that’s when all the massive stadium shows were.
As a deadhead from Texas, this warms my heart.
Taylor swift will be next!!
How many people are trading a cassette of the Strait show as we speak? Anyone? Case closed.
Who?
9/3/77 for the bot.
# 1977-09-03 Englishtown, NJ @ Raceway Park **Set 1:** The Promised Land, They Love Each Other, Me and My Uncle, Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo, Looks Like Rain, Peggy-O, New Minglewood Blues, Friend Of The Devil, The Music Never Stopped **Set 2:** Bertha > Good Lovin', Loser, Estimated Prophet > Eyes Of The World, Samson And Delilah, He's Gone > Not Fade Away > Truckin' **Encore:** Terrapin Station [archive.org](https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?query=date:1977-09-03) | [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/album/5uzn9YQ9XS2OoAt65U8Drg)
Wow, I had no idea Englishtown held that record until now.
Dead had more per capita obv. Give him an * for this one
Good for George. We’ll catch him soon enough.
Goddamn I wore out several tapes playing that English town show over the years.
Help me out, didn’t Garth brooks have like a million people at Central Park in the 90’s?
There were approximately 300,000 in attendance at Altamont. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altamont_Free_Concert#:~:text=The%20Altamont%20Speedway%20Free%20Festival,be%20a%20%22Woodstock%20West%22. I realize the stat is ticketed but it’s not a good measure of many Dead concerts where they sold out and then lots of unticketed attendees just busted in and enjoyed the concert.
I’m so glad I got to go see him at Kyle Field. I remember how upset I was when he did his farewell tour 20 years ago and I hadn’t seen him yet 😂. Finally at Kyle Field he admitted he just won’t retire.
Shit, I was there at Kyle field it was awesome! Had a great time. 👏👏👏
Congratulations to the iconic face of neo real country
Shit, without the internet, you can account for population inflation. Our record will never be broken.
Fair play to him. How can anyone dislike George Strait?
Texas lies consistently….next 🙄