Grateful Dead 3/20/86 Set 2 Analysis & Setlist - Grateful Shows

Episode 4

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Published on:

16th Apr 2026

Just the Box | Grateful Dead · Hampton Coliseum · March 20, 1986 | Set 2· S2E04

🎸 MARCH 1986 EAST COAST · GRATEFUL DEAD · 1986

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📍 YOU ARE HERE: Show — Just the Box | Grateful Dead · Hampton Coliseum · March 20, 1986 | Set 2· S2E04 ·


Grateful Dead · Hampton Coliseum, Hampton, VA · March 20, 1986· Set 2

Previous: Hampton Coliseum 3/20/86 S1

Next: Hampton Coliseum 3/21/86 S1

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🗺 NAVIGATE THIS TOUR

🎯 New to the show? Start at the very beginning!

S1E01 → Baltimore May 4, 1980

📋 Tourbook 1 Index (all 6 shows in order):

Tour Playlist

Grateful Shows covers Grateful Dead touring history - on tour at a time.

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🎸 OFFICIAL SETLIST:

Grateful Dead - Hampton Coliseum, Hampton, VA · March 20, 1986·

Set 2

  1. Aiko Aiko >
  2. Estimated Prophet >
  3. Eyes Of The World >
  4. Drums >
  5. Space >
  6. Wharf Rat >
  7. Throwing Stones >
  8. Not Fade Away

🎵 Encore

U.S. Blues

═══🎙 CONCERT ANALYSIS

The Grateful Dead welcome spring with six shows in two of the most celebrated venues the East Coast has to offer: the Hampton Coliseum and the Philadelphia Spectrum. With plenty of energy and a slew of bust-outs, the tour was one to remember, containing the legendary Box of Rain in Hampton. But a closer look reveals why this may not have been either the show or the song of the tour. Be sure to check out all six shows!

From the podcast

“Something better” ain’t this version of Throwing Stones. Bobby is a half step ahead of everyone—a double-bogey version. So much for par for the course. The mistakes lead to intriguing dance moves and split-second confusion, ultimately contributing to the performance's chaotic vibe. The show has strayed so far from the Box of Rain that it feels destined to wait in the corner while the other kids at the party play games and fight over second helpings of cake. This Throwing Stones would have to rip the roof off this place to even right the Mothership. Conjecture, but we’re willing to place a small wager that it isn’t happening.

Check it out.

📚 LINKS & RESOURCES

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🔗 Navigate The Series

🗺 NAVIGATE THIS TOUR

🎯 New to the show? Start at the very beginning!

S1E01 → Baltimore May 4, 1980

📋 Tourbook 1 Index (all 6 shows in order):

Tour Playlist

Grateful Shows covers Grateful Dead touring history - on tour at a time.

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🗺 EXPLORE OTHER TOURS

Shall we go - to other tours? Why not. So far here's what we've got:

🎸 Grateful Dead May 1980 East Coast Tour— Complete Playlist:

GRATEFUL DEAD MAY 1980 EAST COAST

Gritty, underrated Grateful Dead. From Baltimore to Maine, heady times in a downtrodden America's election year.

── WATCH THIS SPACE FOR MORE ──────────────

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About the Podcast

Grateful Shows
Poetic Meditations on the Grateful Dead...and Life
Grateful Shows is a tour-by-tour deep dive meditative analysis on selected Grateful Dead live concerts.

Each season covers one tour in depth-six shows, fully experienced, with setlist analysis, historical facts, philosophical and fictional rumblings. Companion ebooks go even deeper.

Season 2: March 1986 -The Grateful Dead welcome spring with six shows at two of the East Coast’s most renowned venues: the Hampton Coliseum and the Philadelphia Spectrum. Packed with energy and featuring a number of bust-outs, the tour was unforgettable, including the legendary “Box of Rain” in Hampton. However, a closer look suggests this might not have been either the highlight or the best show of the tour. Make sure to check out all six shows!

🎸 Grateful Dead live history · concert documentation · music history podcast
🗺 One tour at a time · six shows per season · VW bus not included

About your host

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J.Y. Pod

J.Y. Pod is the author and narrator of Grateful Shows. Let him guide you into a dreamland blending fact, fiction, and the distilled memories of countless deadheads into the world known as Grateful Shows.