Relive the Legendary July 1988 Grateful Dead Show in Oxford With These Mainers’ Memories

This weekend we celebrate the 33rd anniversary of one of the most legendary concert happenings Maine has ever seen.

For two days, July 2 and 3 of 1988, the state was pretty much shut down by thousands of Dead Heads who came to see their heroes, the Grateful Dead, play at Oxford Plains Speedway.

These two shows, according to Dead aficionados, were two of the best Dead shows of the 1980s. It would be the 15th, and final time, the Grateful Dead would play in Maine.

Want to flash back for a moment or experience a bit of it for the first time? You can listen to the Grateful Dead's Oxford concert right here on YouTube.

Take a listen:

Little Feat opened the two Dead shows at Oxford.

Can you imagine tens of thousands of people driving down Route 26 to get into the show? Pretty much one way in and one way out!

I-95 was a parking lot, and people just left their cars on the side of Route 26, walked to the show, and prayed their vehicles would be there when they returned two days later.

These shows are the stuff and legend, so we asked Mainers on Facebook about their memories of this show. Take a look:

Here's a little extra bonus for you. The Dead stayed at Inn By The Sea in Cape Elizabeth and Jerry Garcia left this demo tape behind of a song they were working on! A nice parting gift from Jerry!

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