Spurious Events

Over the years at times folks have thought that shows happened on these dates, most commonly due to mislabeled tapes.
Not meant to be completely exhaustive, but I like to have all the common ones on here.

Full disclosure, this is primarily created so I do not have to keep asking @FateMusic "Hey, should we add this show!?"

Additions and corrections welcome. Email us! admin@jerrybase.com
Spurious Date Venue Band Explanation Actually
1970-10-12 Marion Shea Auditorium, Paterson State College, Wayne, NJ Grateful Dead Deadlists says "According to Marc Schaeffer the Dead played another, unscheduled concert at this venue on 10/12/70. There is a review in the student newspaper (not informative, according to Schaeffer). However LIA believes this date stems from a misread of said review.
1970-05-11 Village Gate, New York, NY Grateful Dead As per LIA "Supposedly the Dead played in a Timothy Leary benefit at the Village Gate in New York City. But the benefit actually took place on May 4, and the Dead didn't show. The New Riders played a free show in Central Park that day, though." See this comment.
1970-01-15 Green Lake Aqua Theatre, Seattle, WA Grateful Dead We used to list this date, and it appears on Tom Constanten's old website TCBase 1959-1980, but that reference is the only evidence for it's occurrence.
1973-11-28 Palace of Fine Arts Theatre, San Francisco, CA Seastones Experiments in Quadrophonic Sound. A few separate sessions apparently may circulate under this date.
1973-08-22 Oakland Auditorium, Oakland, CA Old and In the Way listings: "Scenedrome," Berkeley Barb, August 17-23, 1973, p. 20; Fremont Argus, August 17, 1973, p. 24. Listed Vassar Clements & Buck White & The Downhome Folks. Not clear this was OAITW.
1973-04-16 Boarding House, San Francisco, CA Old and In the Way The circulating filesets labeled OAITW 4/16/73 early show (or s1) at the Boarding House are not correctly dated. But many person-hours of puzzling over many fragments of tape leaves us unclear as to to which ca. April 1973 OAITW gig this belongs. We know it is not 4/16/73. We know it is not 4/27 or 4/28/73 (thanks, OSF). We thought it might be the set I to match the set IIs we show for 4/19/73 and 4/20/73 at the Share, but that would produce duplicate songs and we don't think that'd be right. So, we remain stumped.
1970-07-29 Matrix, San Francisco, CA New Riders of the Purple Sage As of 7/7/2024, I have come to see the 7/27-28/70 Matrix run with a new understanding. It was NRPS opening and Acoustic GD following. What's more, I have inferred that the historical 7/29/70 NRPS tape is probably instead 7/27 - easy numbers to confound when written down. https://jerrybase.com/events/19700727-02 1970-07-27
1973-04-18 Record Plant, Sausalito, CA Allman Brothers Band Richard Greene's datebooks had him at the Plant on this date, but there is no indication this was OAITW. It could have been, but we just don't know.
1973-04-28 Record Plant, Sausalito, CA Old and In the Way JGMF spoke with Richard Greene a few times in ca. 2012. Among other things, Richard was kind enough to go page-by-page through his 1973 datebooks. He placed himself at the Plant this date. He also remembered doing a KSAN broadcast from there, and JGMF may have crossed some wires. We now think that RG was at the Plant doing some session work (we don't know for whom) on 4/28, but not OAITW. Let's just imagine this was afternoon making some money at the Plant, evening fiddling with the guys in Berkeley.
1975-06-02 Keystone, Berkeley, CA Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders We used to list a show on this night, even though the Keystone calendar shows the joint closed that night. This is due to the curious labeling of the Betty reels. Betty has left a blank space next to the "2" representing day. Speculation has it that this space was left to be later filled in with either a "1" or a "2" (the band played on the both the 21st and 22nd) but then she never came back and filled it in. 1975-06-21
1967-11-12 Winterland, San Francisco, CA Grateful Dead We used to list a "Benefit for the Bands" on this date, but there is neither a poster nor any newspaper announcement for this supposed Winterland benefit. See Deadbase Corrections.
1970-08-05 Community Concourse Golden Hall, San Diego, CA Grateful Dead As per deadessays post 1970 Redated Tapes, "There’s no evidence the Dead played any show in San Diego that month, let alone a casual acoustic show." and "Since it’s evidently in a small club, the best candidates are the Matrix and Lion’s Share." and lastly "It’s in roughly the same time period, late July/early August". Extensive review of San Diego Free Press v01n19 (issue 19) (July 25, 1970 - August 5, 1970), p. 16, accessed via Underground Newspaper Collection microfilm, reel #24 indicates no evidence that this show was booked at Golden Hall. 1970-08-00
1969-09-11 Family Dog On The Great Highway, San Francisco, CA Grateful Dead The current thinking is that this show did not happen, since the Easy Wind aud recording that circulates with this date has been identified as 8/30. 1969-08-30
1968-08-28 Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco, CA Grateful Dead LIA has strong doubts about this listing. "I can’t find any poster or proof of an Avalon show on this date, and for the Dead to play a single Wednesday show here days before a Fillmore West run is extremely odd...Bill Graham’s introduction indicates that this tape belongs to a Fillmore West show from a nearby date, not an Avalon show: most likely this tape is from the 8/30-9/1 run." We associate this tape with 1968-09-01 for now. 1968-09-01
1970-08-30 KQED Studios, San Francisco, CA Grateful Dead This show is often listed as occurring on 8/30, but that was in fact the broadcast date. Wasserman says on 8/28/70 that it has already been taped. Jesse Jarnow speculates the 1970-08-23 is a likely date, and it was taped at KPIX not KQED. 1970-08-23
1970-03-24 Pirates World, Dania, FL Grateful Dead The shows at Pirate's World were on the 22nd and 23rd. The best explanation comes from Pete Lavezzoli via LIA. There is a tape circulating as the 24th, but it's really 1970-03-23. 1970-03-23
1968-01-23 Eagles Auditorium, Seattle, WA Grateful Dead The tape that circulates with this date is actually 1968-01-27. 1968-01-27
1968-01-22 Eagles Auditorium, Seattle, WA Grateful Dead The tape that circulates with this date is actually 1968-01-26. 1968-01-26
1966-02-05 The Questing Beast, Berkeley, CA Grateful Dead The New Brothers were playing at the Questing Beast this weekend, and the Dead were never known to rehearse there; this date is just a false tape label. The Dead were already in Los Angeles in any case. The Viola Lee Blues rehearsal must have been done days earlier (Phil mentions on the tape that they’re going to LA to play on “Saturday night,” which must be the 5th). We are not sure where this tape comes from, probably January.
1976-11-16 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA Jerry Garcia Band The tape that sometime circulates as 1976-11-16 is actually 1976-11-08. 1976-11-08
1974-08-15 Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders Actually 1974-08-14. See Setting Right What Was Rent Asunder 1974-08-14
1969-05-21 The Underground, Menlo Park, CA John Dawson This seems likely to be spurious, because of the newly discovered Matrix gig.
1973-09-13 Jerry Garcia - Misc At one point slip had a Garcia session for Bromberg in NYC on this date, but it was completely spurious.
1974-11-18 The Dome, C.W. Post College, Brookville, NY Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders Presumed tape mislabel of 1974-11-08. See The end of the November 1974 Jerry Garcia - Merl Saunders (JGMS) east coast tour 1974-11-08
1970-01-22 Honolulu Civic Auditorium, Honolulu, HI Grateful Dead LIA asserts no GD gig this date. Indeed, one of David Davis's clippings from the Honolulu paper says they land at 4:20 pm on this date, 1/22.
1969-01-05 Sam Houston Coliseum, Houston, TX Grateful Dead This was traditionally listed as cxl GD show at Sam Houston Coliseum, but LIA confirms it was a typo for 1969-10-05, which did happen. 1969-10-05
1968-06-17 Carousel Ballroom, San Francisco, CA Grateful Dead Listed on COAU but GD/Mac gig listing probably spurious.
1968-04-05 Carousel Ballroom, San Francisco, CA Grateful Dead GD April 5, 1968 (Friday), Carousel - never happened
1968-03-26 Melodyland Theatre, Anaheim, CA Grateful Dead Conventional GD listing at Melodyland in Anaheim is probably spurious. As per Corry comment "March 26 wasn't a weekend, there weren't Disneyland rock shows on weeknights, there's no evidence for any of this."
1967-12-13 Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, CA Grateful Dead Dead listings for this date at the Shrine are apparently spurious. Corry: "there is no evidence whatsoever, none, that the Grateful Dead played the Shrine Auditorium on December 13, 1967, much less debuted "Dark Star" there. For one thing, the band was on the East Coast, and for another, there were never weekday shows at the Shrine."
1966-02-10 The Cabale, Berkeley, CA Grateful Dead Traditionally listed as a canceled GD gig at The Cabale in Berkeley. LIA: I believe this is spurious. There was no "Cabale" in 1966 - the venue had closed and changed to the Questing Beast.
1991-12-23 Club Front, San Rafael, CA Jerry Garcia - Misc Some Trios sessions (Garcia, Wasserman, and Edie Brickell) have circulated with this date, but we think they happened in Fall 1989, based on piece in Spring 1990 Golden Road. 1989-12-16
1985-09-13 Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY Jerry Garcia - Misc There is a counterfeit $38.50 ticket for Jerry Garcia and David Crosby at Radio City Music Hall this night. Apparently the MTV video music awards were happening, but in comments at JGMF Silberman relays Crosby's denial that this happened. Croz: "unfortunately it's a fake ... never happened ...never planned ...never even spoken about.... have to say I wish it had been real ...would have been some music going on".
1984-11-14 The Stone, San Francisco, CA Jerry Garcia Band The gdsets JGB entry for this date bears identical setlist to a year earlier, 1983-11-14. I had thought that Garcia and Kahn would have done a local warmup gig, but I can find no record of one. 1983-11-14
1983-01-08 The Stone, San Francisco, CA Jerry Garcia Band JGB at the Stone has historically attached to this date, but it seems pretty clear that the listing derived from a mislabel of / conflation with 1984-01-08. No listings, no ads, and very similar setlist 1984-01-08
1982-05-05 Oregon State Penitentiary, Salem, OR Jerry Garcia and John Kahn May 5, 1982 should be June 5, 1982 1982-06-05
1981-01-18 Jerry Garcia Band Live recordings dated 1/18/81 are all found to have been 1983-01-18. 1983-01-18
1979-07-16 Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica, CA Reconstruction Some old lists show Reconstruction at the Santa Monica Civic this date, but it seems highly unlikely that the band played the venue twice within six days, one of them on a Monday. The GD were also in the studio in NorCal, which certainly doesn't preclude a SoCal gig (back in those days one could buy a ticket at the SFO counter, run through "security", and be in an LA studio two hours later). But it does make it just a little less likely.
1979-06-13 River Theatre, Guerneville, CA Reconstruction Quicky: I think Reconstruction 6/13/79 at the River Theater in Guerneville should be dated 6/23/79 1979-06-23 Early
1979-04-13 Rainbow Music Hall, Denver, CO Reconstruction A Reconstruction tape from Denver circulates with this date, but I am quite confident it's actually the 1979-04-12 late show. See Reconstruction at the Rainbow – April 11-12, 1979 1979-04-12 Late
1978-02-27 Jerry Garcia Band At some point the list of uncirculated Betties included JGB 2/27/78, but I have no idea what that could have been referring to. There appears not to have been a show on this date, and the Betties didn't seem to contain anything that might have fit that description.
1975-05-12 Keystone, Berkeley, CA Legion of Mary This is contraindicated by a listing in SFE and calendar billing Holly Penfield and Spectrum. Listed at TJS, but no other evidence for.
1974-08-09 Keystone, Berkeley, CA Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders August 9, 1974 is probably August 10, 1974: a fine show either way 1974-08-10
1974-05-02 Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders There is no evidence besides tape label, all tapes contain material from 1974-02-05, and it is exceptionally likely that somewhere along the generational chain an American 2/5/74 became a Brit-Euro 5/2/74. Change my mind. 1974-02-05
1974-04-27 Marin Veterans Memorial Auditorium, San Rafael, CA Great American String Band This was the Golden State Country Bluegrass Festival (GSCBF). Jerry played there the day before, but apparently not on this night. I surmise he was in LA again, working on Compliments.
1974-07-22 Keystone, Berkeley, CA Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders Really 1975-01-22. Nick has it all broken down for you Jan 21-22, 1975 - or, the case of "7/21-22/74". 1975-01-22
1974-07-21 Keystone, Berkeley, CA Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders Really 1975-01-21. GD at the Hollywood Bowl on this night. Nick has it all broken down for you Jan 21-22, 1975 - or, the case of "7/21-22/74". 1975-01-21
1973-08-05 Boarding House, San Francisco, CA Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders There is a spurious JGMS listing for this date, from Rob Eaton's attempt to decipher a disintegrating tape box. He later determined the tape in question to be from 1972-12-05. 1972-12-05
1973-01-26 Boarding House, San Francisco, CA Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders There have long been tapes in circulation as “Boarding House, 1/26/73”, but all copies I have seen turn out to be the same as 1973-01-24, which of course has more credible provenance. 1973-01-24 Early
1973-01-17 Keystone, Berkeley, CA Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders JGMS listings for this date are spurious, tapes actually from 1974-01-17. 1974-01-17
1972-10-08 Longshoreman's Hall, San Francisco, CA Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders Conventional listings include a JGMS at Longshoreman's Hall gig this date, but RoG persuades me that it is probably a phantom based on 1972-11-08. 1972-11-08
1971-12-31 Winterland, San Francisco, CA Yogi Phlegm Over the years, it was thought that Garcia sat in w/ Yogi Phlegm on this date, as well as 1972-03-05, but it has been determined that only the latter actually happened. See cryptdev, New Year’s Eve shows with the Grateful Dead and friends Pt. 1
1971-08-01 Howard Wales and Jerry Garcia Blair Jackson has said there are four live multitrack reels of Wales-Garcia in the vault from Boston, dated 8/1. This is almost certainly the 1972-01-26 Music Hall tape. The 7/30/71 Boston Globe, pg. 11, indicates that Willie Bobo and his nine-piece band were staying on another week at Paul's Mall, which was where TJS had listed this. 1972-01-26
1971-07-02 Fillmore West, San Francisco, CA New Riders of the Purple Sage The supposed NRPS soundcheck circulating with this date is actually the Scotty's Jam from 1971-12-09. 1971-12-09
1970-12-31 Winterland, San Francisco, CA Jerry Garcia - Misc I used to list the aftershow jam as a Garcia musical event, but LIA tells me Garcia does not play.
1970-12-17 Winterland, San Francisco, CA Grateful Dead Listings for GD at Winterland this date are spurious. David and the Dorks this night at the Matrix. As per deadessays, The Mysterious Case of 12/17/70
1970-06-03 Mandrake's, Berkeley, CA New Riders of the Purple Sage This has been the subject of much discussion. I had thought it was a NRPS gig at Mandrake's when I first posted to JGMF. But it seems to have been Rubber Duck Mime Co., and Garcia did NOT play.
1970-06-02 Mandrake's, Berkeley, CA New Riders of the Purple Sage This has been the subject of much discussion. I had thought it was a NRPS gig at Mandrake's when I first posted to JGMF. But it seems to have been Rubber Duck Mime Co., and Garcia did NOT play.
1969-07-23 Bear's Lair, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA New Riders of the Purple Sage We used to list a NRPS show at Bear's Lair with this date, but it seems extremely unlikely, right?