Grateful Dead's Stellar 1976 Boston Show Reissued for Record Store Day

The five-LP set captures the band's June 11, 1976 performance at Boston Music Hall.

Feb. 5, 2026 at 7:15pm

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The Grateful Dead will release a live album of their June 11, 1976 show at Boston Music Hall as part of this year's Record Store Day. The five-LP set, titled "Boston Music Hall, Boston, MA 6/11/76", features classics like "Scarlet Begonias" and "Brown-Eyed Women" and showcases the band's renewed focus on vocal harmonies during their 1976 comeback tour.

Why it matters

The 1976 Grateful Dead lineup, which saw the return of drummer Mickey Hart, is considered one of the most powerful and precise versions of the band. This release allows fans to revisit a standout performance from that era, when the band was playing intimate theater shows after retiring their famous "Wall of Sound" setup.

The details

The new live album was sourced from the 2020 CD box set "June 1976" and underwent tape restoration and speed correction. It was remastered for vinyl by Jeffrey Norman and produced by the band's archivist, David Lemieux. The set list includes classics, newer material, and fresh arrangements of early Dead songs.

  • The Grateful Dead's show at Boston Music Hall took place on June 11, 1976.
  • The new live album will be released on Record Store Day, which is April 18, 2026.

The players

Grateful Dead

An American rock band formed in 1965, known for their eclectic style and extensive live performances.

David Lemieux

The Grateful Dead's archivist, who produced the new live album.

Jeffrey Norman

The engineer who remastered the album for vinyl.

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What they’re saying

“The fifth show of the Grateful Dead's comeback tour in June 1976 finds the band firing on all cylinders as they settle back into life on the road. A set list filled with older material ('Candyman,' 'Eyes Of The World,' 'Tennessee Jed'), new material ('Might As Well,' 'Lazy Lightning' > 'Supplication,' 'Samson and Delilah'), and new arrangements of classics from the Dead's early days ('St. Stephen,' 'Dancing In The Street'), this new iteration of the Grateful Dead featuring the return of [drummer] Mickey Hart is one of the most powerful and precise versions of the band to date.”

— David Lemieux, Grateful Dead Archivist (Rolling Stone)

“With the Wall of Sound retired, the Dead were playing the intimate confines of small theaters for the first time in years, and the perfection they achieved on this tour is on full display on June 11, 1976, in Boston. The magnificence of the vocal arrangements is one of the many new sonic highlights of the 1976 Grateful Dead, many Dead Heads saying the vocal harmonies never sounded as great as they did in June 1976. Songs like 'Looks Like Rain' and 'The Music Never Stopped' show off this renewed focus on the spectacular vocals the Dead were able to achieve.”

— David Lemieux, Grateful Dead Archivist (Rolling Stone)

What’s next

The new Grateful Dead live album "Boston Music Hall, Boston, MA 6/11/76" will be available on limited edition 180-gram vinyl for Record Store Day on April 18, 2026.

The takeaway

This release allows Grateful Dead fans to revisit a standout performance from the band's powerful 1976 lineup, showcasing their renewed focus on vocal harmonies and fresh arrangements of classic material in an intimate theater setting.