Grateful Dead 3/21/86 Set 1 Analysis & Setlist - Grateful Shows

Episode 5

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Published on:

22nd Apr 2026

Mothership Departures | Grateful Dead · Hampton Coliseum · March 21, 1986 | Set 1 · S2E04

🎸 MARCH 1986 EAST COAST · GRATEFUL DEAD · 1986

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📍 YOU ARE HERE: Show — Mothership Departures | Grateful Dead · Hampton Coliseum · March 21, 1986 | Set 1 · S2E04 ·


Grateful Dead · Hampton Coliseum, Hampton, VA · March 21, 1986· Set 1

Previous: Hampton Coliseum 3/20 Set 2

Next: Hampton Coliseum 3/21 Set 2

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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 21, 1986

Set 1

  1. (I'm A) Road Runner
  2. Dupree's Diamond Blues
  3. New Minglewood Blues
  4. Bird Song
  5. Tons Of Steel >
  6. Supplication Jam >
  7. Let It Grow

═══🎙 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:

Virginia fillies start looking good. But when haven’t they? And this set's looking better as time passes; perhaps the third night’s the charm. Brent takes the reins and leads us on a pleasant ride across a vast expanse of possibilities. It’s enough to make heads bob and limbs wiggle. And best of all, he knows when to quit. He transitions skillfully to a wailing slide that heightens the energy, adding even more intensity. Oh, the howlers are out, perfectly timed with a Garcia run that pierces the sky and resonates in our heads at just the right moment. That’s a sign for sure. The groove is found, and we’re here to ride it—spellbound.

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

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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.