About This Guide
The Live Network (TLN) is a New Jersey-based live music organization dedicated to documenting, celebrating, and expanding the Grateful Dead universe — from the band's earliest San Francisco days through the continuing legacy carried by today's jam scene.
This guide compiles the essential online resources for every level of Dead explorer: official platforms, deep archives, setlist databases, streaming services, tribute acts, community forums, charities, films, books, mobile apps, podcasts, and the adjacent scene that carries the music forward.
New Here? Your On-Ramp to the Dead
The Grateful Dead played 2,300+ concerts over 30 years. The catalog can be overwhelming. Here's how to start depending on who you are.
The First Timer
Europe '72 (1972)
Triple album from their legendary European tour. The perfect introduction — loose, warm, accessible.
Cornell 5/8/77
Widely considered the single greatest GD concert ever recorded. Free on the Internet Archive.
American Beauty (1970)
The most accessible studio album. 'Friend of the Devil,' 'Ripple,' 'Truckin'.'
Start with Europe '72 or American Beauty, then graduate to Cornell 5/8/77. After that, you're a Deadhead.
The Deep Diver
Dick's Picks Series
36 volumes of officially-released soundboard recordings spanning 1966–1995.
Dave's Picks
Quarterly archival releases curated by David Lemieux. The current gold standard.
The Scholar
UCSC GD Archive (GDAO)
Official digital archive — primary documents, posters, photos, correspondence.
GD Studies Association
Peer-reviewed Grateful Dead Studies journal. Annual conferences.
Good Ol' Grateful Deadcast
Official deep-dive podcast — song-by-song histories with primary source interviews.
01
Official & Primary Sources
Start here. These are the authoritative, band-sanctioned resources.
Dead.net
The official Grateful Dead website. News, releases, tour history, and the archive shop.
Grateful Dead Official Store
Official merchandise, vault releases, and limited-edition items direct from the organization.
GDAO — Grateful Dead Archive Online
Official digital archive in partnership with UC Santa Cruz. Historic photos, posters, ephemera, and primary documents.
Dead & Company
Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, and John Mayer continuing the legacy through 2023 and beyond.
Rhino Entertainment
The label managing official GD catalog releases, reissues, and the Dave's Picks archival series.
30 Days of Dead
Annual November series releasing rare, unreleased recordings — a fan favorite since 2012.
Grateful Dead YouTube Channel
Official channel with archival concert video, Jam of the Week series, and curated playlists.
Official Linktree Hub
A centralized portal to all official GD digital properties — streaming, social, merch, and news.
02
Archives & Recordings
The Dead allowed taping — creating one of the largest concert archives in music history.
Internet Archive — Grateful Dead
The motherlode. Thousands of full, legally-downloadable GD concerts in SBD, AUD, and matrix formats. Free forever.
etree.org
Community hub for lossless live music trading. FLAC and SHN. Lineage documentation and the B&P program.
nugs.net
Premium streaming and download platform for official and vault GD/DSO releases. Hi-res audio available.
Lost Live Dead
Research blog documenting lost and obscure GD recordings, incomplete shows, and tape lineage mysteries.
Dave's Picks (Rhino)
David Lemieux's quarterly archival release series — the gold standard for officially-released GD soundboards since 2012.
Wolfgang's Vault
Archival recordings and photos from legendary rock promoter Bill Graham — many early GD shows at the Fillmore and Winterland.
03
Mobile Apps & Digital Tools
The best ways to access the Dead's archive from your phone.
Relisten
The definitive mobile app for the Internet Archive's live recordings. Clean interface, offline playback, show ratings, setlist view. iOS and Android. Free. The single best tool for mobile Deadheads.
Attics of My Life
Another excellent mobile interface for the Archive — sleek design with a focus on discovery and curated show recommendations.
Phish.net App
If you're exploring the adjacent scene, Phish.net's app sets the gold standard for setlist + show tracking that the GD community has also modeled.
nugs.net App
Official app for premium vault streaming. Best audio quality for soundboards on mobile.
SiriusXM App
Mobile access to the dedicated Grateful Dead Channel (Ch. 23) with live and archival programming.
04
Setlists & Show Research
Over 2,300 concerts. Find exactly what was played, when, and where.
TLN's Dead Song and Show archive
Every show from 1965–1995 Every Song recorded on Record along with links to lyrics streaming and Discography
GDSets.com
Setlist archive with additional search and filtering — song frequency analysis by year and venue.
Setlist.fm — Grateful Dead
Crowdsourced setlist database with community-contributed show data.
DeadBase
The classic reference guide by John Rocco Scott. Online version with full searchability.
CMU Archive
Carnegie Mellon's curated GD historical archive — posters, tickets, newspaper clippings, and primary documents.
05
Streaming & Radio
From Spotify to SiriusXM — how to get the Dead into your ears right now.
Spotify — Grateful Dead
Full GD studio catalog plus curated playlists, era guides, and official compilations.
Apple Music — Grateful Dead
Lossless and Dolby Atmos versions of key releases. Strong editorial playlists.
SiriusXM — Grateful Dead Channel
Dedicated 24/7 channel (Ch. 23) with live recordings and special programming.
nugs.net Streaming
Premium streaming for official vault releases. Best audio quality for soundboards.
Amazon Music — REDiscover GD
Official Amazon Music GD hub with curated playlists and hi-fi catalog access.
06
Band Members — Official Sites & Projects
The individuals who made the music. Each member has continued creating independently.
Jerry Garcia (1942–1995)
Official Jerry Garcia estate site. News on releases, art exhibitions, and legacy projects.
Bob Weir
Co-founder and rhythm guitarist. Current touring, Wolf Bros project, and advocacy work.
Mickey Hart
Percussionist and ethnomusicologist. Planet Drum, Library of Congress archiving work, and SEVA.
Phil Lesh (1940–2024)
The GD's bassist, founder of Terrapin Crossroads. His Friends jams continue to inspire.
Bill Kreutzmann
Drummer and co-founder. Author of Deal: My Three Decades of Drumming.
Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay
Vocalist (1972–1979). Currently performs with the Heart of Gold Band.
Robert Hunter (1941–2019)
The Dead's primary lyricist. Archive of lyrics, poetry, and solo recordings.
Grahame Lesh
Phil's son, continuing the family legacy as guitarist and bandleader.
07
Tribute & Continuation Acts
The music lives on through dozens of bands carrying the torch.
TLN Cover Bands Directory
The Live Network's comprehensive guide to Grateful Dead tribute and continuation acts — from Dark Star Orchestra and JRAD to the rising new guard. The full directory lives here.
08
Charities & Causes
The Grateful Dead and their community have always tied music to activism.
Rex Foundation
The official GD-affiliated charitable foundation, founded 1983. Grants to arts, education, environmental, and social justice organizations.
HeadCount
Voter registration at concerts. GD and jam community-rooted, active at major tours.
SEVA Foundation
Global vision restoration charity co-founded by Mickey Hart and Ram Dass. Millions of surgeries worldwide.
Unbroken Chain Foundation
Phil Lesh's foundation supporting live music education and environmental causes.
Rainforest Action Network
Long-supported by the GD and their foundation. Forest protection and climate advocacy.
MusiCares
Grammy Foundation's musician welfare arm. Long supported by the GD community.
09
History & Scholarship
60 years of history, meticulously documented.
UCSC Grateful Dead Archive
The official archive at UC Santa Cruz — the largest physical GD collection in the world.
Grateful Dead Studies Association
Professional academic organization and publisher of the peer-reviewed Grateful Dead Studies journal. Annual conferences bring together scholars, archivists, and musicians.
Good Ol' Grateful Deadcast
The official deep-dive podcast — song-by-song histories with primary source interviews, archival audio, and scholar commentary. Essential for scholars and curious fans alike.
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame — GD
Inducted 1994. Archive of induction materials, speeches, and band profiles.
Haight-Ashbury Historical Society
Documents the neighborhood that birthed the Dead and the psychedelic movement.
Apple Maps — Historic GD Spots in SF
Curated guide to 75 historic GD locations across San Francisco — 710 Ashbury, the Fillmore, Winterland, and beyond.
Rolling Stone — GD Forever Series
Rolling Stone's comprehensive GD coverage — original reviews, anniversary pieces, and streaming-era guides.
Grateful Dead on the East Coast — Key Venues
Capitol Theatre (Port Chester, NY)
The Dead played Cap Theatre 51 times between 1970–1971. Now restored by Peter Shapiro as an active venue.
Madison Square Garden
The Dead played MSG 52 times — the most performances of any act at the venue.
Nassau Coliseum (Uniondale, NY)
A legendary GD run location. The 5/6/81 show is among the most celebrated East Coast recordings.
Convention Hall / Boardwalk Hall (Atlantic City, NJ)
The Dead performed at Atlantic City's historic Boardwalk Hall — part of their long relationship with New Jersey.
10
Community
Deadheads have always found each other. Here's where the conversation lives online.
Deadhead Forum
The longest-running online GD fan forum. Show reviews, tape trading, general discussion.
r/gratefuldead (Reddit)
Active Reddit community with 150k+ members. Show reviews, rare finds, news, and deep dives.
Deadheadland
Fan site and blog with curated content, show reviews, and community submissions.
Grateful Web
Jam music news site with strong GD coverage — reviews, interviews, tour news.
International Community
Grateful Dead France
France's dedicated GD fan community — news, show reviews, and European archive documentation.
Grateful Dead Japan
Japan's GD community, passionate following since the band's 1978 Egypt concerts inspired a global wave of new listeners.
UK Dead Head Community
UK-based fan community with active forums, tape trading, and event listings for GD-adjacent touring acts visiting Britain.
Phish.net (International Setlists)
While primarily Phish-focused, Phish.net's international community infrastructure models the kind of global fan documentation the GD world continues to build.
11
Films & Media
From Woodstock to Amazon Prime — the GD's cinematic legacy.
Sunshine Daydream (1972)
Veneta, Oregon '72 — one of the greatest GD performances ever captured, officially released 2013.
Fare Thee Well (2015)
The official GD50 documentary — the final Dead & Company shows at Soldier Field.
Good Ol' Grateful Deadcast
The official podcast. Deep-dive episode series covering individual songs, tours, and eras with archival audio.
NPR Music — Grateful Dead
NPR's deep GD archive: Tiny Desk concerts, All Things Considered features, era-by-era analysis.
12
Visual Art & Literature
The visual culture and written legacy of the Grateful Dead — one of rock's richest artistic traditions.
Literature — The Book of the Dead
The Book of the Dead
TLN's comprehensive literature guide — every essential Grateful Dead book, memoir, and oral history, fully annotated. A few highlights below.
Literature Highlights
Garcia — Blair Jackson
The definitive Garcia biography. Exhaustively researched, deeply respectful — the essential starting point for anyone serious about the band's history.
Dark Star — Robert Greenfield
A darker, more unflinching portrait of Garcia's life and the cost of the GD machine. Essential counterweight to the hagiographies.
Grateful Dead: The Illustrated Trip
The band-authorized visual history — 512 pages of photos, documents, and oral history spanning the entire career. The coffee table bible.
Visual Art — Poster Artists, Photographers & Pass Artists
Jay Blakesberg
San Francisco-based photographer who documented the Grateful Dead for 40 years — from intimate backstage moments to the iconic Fare Thee Well finale. His visual archive is one of the most important records of the band's entire run.
Tony Reonegro
The artist behind 170 Grateful Dead backstage passes from 1990 onward — each one an original illustration, from skeleton Santas to city-specific European tour designs. Turned the backstage pass into a legitimate art form.
Mouse Studios — Stanley Mouse
Stanley Mouse co-created the iconic 'Skull and Roses' imagery and the famous 'Aoxomoxoa' album cover. Online gallery and print shop.
Alton Kelley Art
Mouse's longtime collaborator and co-creator of the GD's most iconic visual imagery. Archive of original poster art.
Rick Griffin Archive
Creator of the 'Eyeball' logo and some of the most psychedelic GD concert posters of the 1960s–70s. Legacy archive.
Wes Wilson Psychedelic Art
Designer of the original Fillmore poster style — his distorted lettering is the visual language of the era.
Jerry Garcia Art (Official)
Official portal for Garcia's own visual art — psychedelic illustrations, lithographs, and the Wyland-Garcia ocean series.
Wolfgang's Vault — Posters
Bill Graham's archive — vintage original GD concert posters from the Fillmore and Winterland eras.
13
The Adjacent Scene
The bands, venues, and communities that grew from the same soil.
Phish
The band most directly influenced by the GD model — devoted fan community, massive archive, extensive improvisation. Phish.net tracks every show.
Widespread Panic
Athens, GA institution. One of the most-toured jam bands in history.
String Cheese Incident
Colorado-based jam band with psychedelic and bluegrass influences.
Terrapin Crossroads (closed 2022)
Phil Lesh's legendary San Rafael venue/restaurant — the spiritual successor to GD communal gathering.
Capitol Theatre (Port Chester, NY)
Peter Shapiro's iconic restored venue — the best small room for GD-adjacent shows in the Northeast.
JamBase Venue Guide
Comprehensive directory of US jam and live music venues, many with GD roots.
14
The Live Network
How TLN is building the next chapter of the Dead's story in Atlantic City, NJ.
GratefulHaus.com
Phase 1: A licensed Grateful Dead short-term rental brand bringing immersive, themed accommodations to Atlantic City.
TheDeadLegacy.com
Phase 2: A 30-wall immersive museum — a chronological walk through the band's full history with original artifacts, archival media, and interactive installations.
SummerlandBallroom.com
Phase 2: A 2,500-seat live music venue with a permanent, fully operational Wall of Sound replica — the only one in existence.
Quick Reference — Essential Resources by Type
A condensed lookup table for fast reference.
| Type | Name | URL | Best For… |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Listen | Europe '72 | dead.net/store | New listeners — the perfect intro album |
| Best Single Show | Cornell 5/8/77 | archive.org | The greatest GD concert ever recorded — free |
| Mobile App | Relisten | relisten.app | Seamless mobile streaming of 2,000+ archive shows |
| Mobile App | Attics of My Life | attics.io | Curated discovery interface for the Archive |
| Full Archive | Internet Archive | archive.org/details/GratefulDead | All 2,300+ shows, free and downloadable |
| Setlists | Deadlists.com | deadlists.com | Definitive setlist database, 1965–1995 |
| Podcast | Good Ol' GDcast | podbay.fm | Scholar-level deep dives with primary sources |
| Scholarship | GD Studies Assoc. | gratefuldeadstudies.org | Peer-reviewed academic journal and annual conference |
| Tribute Act | Dark Star Orchestra | darkstarorchestra.net | The ultimate live recreation of specific GD concerts |
| New Guard | Daniel Donato | danieldonato.com | The best contemporary Garcia-inspired guitarist |
| Visual Art | Mouse Studios | mousestudios.com | Skull and Roses — the iconic visual legacy |
| Visual Art | Rick Griffin Archive | rickgriffin.com | The Eyeball logo and '60s psychedelic poster masters |
| Community | r/gratefuldead | reddit.com/r/gratefuldead | 150k+ active community — the best daily hub |
| International | GD France | gratefuldeadfrance.com | European fan community and archive |
| Charity | Rex Foundation | rexfoundation.org | The official GD charitable foundation since 1983 |