Throwback Thursday | Grateful Dead Bust Out Box Of Rain At Hampton

While “Box Of Rain” may be Phil Lesh’s signature song, there was a long point in the Grateful Dead’s touring history when they didn’t perform the tune. In fact, the “Box Of Rain”-less span covered 777 shows between July 28, 1973 and March 20, 1986.

The “let Phil sing” contingency finally got their way after a prolonged period of no Phil vocals that ended in Hampton on March 20, 1986 with the bust out of “Box Of Rain.” This first set closer sent many Deadheads to the venue’s payphones in an attempt to share the news with their buddies. After a fairly terrible “Althea,” Bobby stepped to the mic and said “now we’ll show you that practice makes perfect” before the band launched into a solid version of “Box of Rain.” Watch how it went down: