Watch Grateful Dead Break Out ‘Here Comes Sunshine’ On This Date In 1992

The Grateful Dead played “Here Comes Sunshine” for the first time in more than 18 years on this date in 1992. The band dusted off the Wake Of The Flood cut on December 6, 1992 at Compton Terrance Amphitheatre in Tempe, Arizona after a two-decade absence.

Before reviving the song in ’92, the band last played “Here Comes Sunshine” on February 23, 1974 at Winterland in San Francisco, as per The Setlist Program. Keyboardist Vince Welnick discussed bringing the tune back in a 1995 interview with Memphis Flyer.

Read an excerpt from the interview below:

I had a side band called the Affordables, and I used that as a way to make demo tapes to present to the band. Everybody brings them in, though – not just me. I brought in “Here Comes Sunshine,” even though Jerry wrote it…Somebody sent me a list of tunes and when was the last time they were played, and when I heard it I thought it had a really nice Beatles-type feel to it. I did it with the Affordables when we opened for the Jerry Garcia Band on Halloween 1991. Then we got into a rehearsal mode, and I said, “Let’s do that one,” and Jerry said, “Do we have a copy of Wake of the Flood around?” I said, “No, but I do have the Affordables’ arrangement of it, which started off a cappella. He liked that, so we started it off that way. That was like my attempt at the Beach Boys sound, I guess.

The show kicked off with the revamped vocal part to “Here Comes Sunshine” Vince spoke of and the crowd went nuts. The band would continue the first set with “Greatest Story Ever Told” ahead of “Friend Of The Devil.” “Me & My Uncle” would then lead into Bob Dylan’s “Maggie’s Farm” before “Althea” and more Dylan in “When I Paint My Masterpiece” followed. The first frame came to a close with “Deal.”

The second set got underway with “Samson & Delilah.” The rest of the set was fully segued beginning with “Crazy Fingers” which headed into “Uncle John’s Band” and “Playing In The Band” before “Drums” and “Space.” The Rolling Stones’ “The Last Time” would emerge from “Space” ahead of “China Doll,” “Throwing Stones” and “Not Fade Away” to close out the stellar set. The band would retake the stage for “Brokedown Palace” to bring the evening to its conclusion.

Watch both sets below from LoloYodel via the JamBase Live Video Archive (JBLVA) below:

Set One

Set Two

Setlist (via Jerry Garcia.com)

Set One: Here Comes Sunshine, Greatest Story Ever Told, Friend Of The Devil, Me And My Uncle > Maggie’s Farm, Althea, When I Paint My Masterpiece, Deal

Set Two: Samson & Delilah, Crazy Fingers > Uncle John’s Band > Playing In The Band > Drums > Space > The Last Time > China Doll > Throwing Stones > Not Fade Away

Encore: Brokedown Palace

[Article originally published December 6, 2020]