See Grateful Dead Jam ‘Space’ Into ‘Truckin’’ At 1990 Concert In Louisville

Out today from the Grateful Dead archive is official video of the “Space” and ensuing “Truckin'” from the second set of the band’s July 6, 1990 concert at Cardinal Stadium in Louisville. The 16-minute sequence is the latest installment of the Grateful Dead’s All The Years Live video series.

The Grateful Dead lineup at the time of their lone visit to Cardinal Stadium featured guitarists Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir, bassist Phil Lesh, keyboardist Brent Mydland and drummers Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart. Sadly, Summer Tour 1990 would be the last for Mydland who tragically died of an accidental drug overdose on July 26, 1990 — just 20 days after the show in Louisville and a mere three days after the tour ended at the World Music Theater in Tinley Park, Illinois.

Mickey Hart stuck around for the beginning of “Space” in Louisville. Garcia utilized MIDI technology to add deliciously weird sounds to the free-form improvisation while Mydland plucked a synthesizer and Weir eeked out creepy tones from his axe. After the drummers returned, the band made a move towards “Truckin'” and delivered a high-octane version of the song penned by Garcia, Weir, Lesh and lyricist Robert Hunter.

“Truckin’ was commonly a song that came out of Space from about 1980 through the 1980s, but by 1990, Truckin’ was most widely played as a pre-Drums songs, often leading into the percussion duet,” wrote GD archivist David Lemieux in a note accompanying the clip. “Coming out of Space in Louisville in 1990 was a very welcome surprise.”

Watch the Grateful Dead go “Space Truckin'” on July 6, 1990 below: