The newest edition of GarciaLive, GarciaLive Volume Ten: May 20th, 1990 Hilo Civic Auditorium, comes out on February 23rd. This 10th installment of the GarciaLive archival series features The Jerry Garcia Band performing in Hilo, Hawaii. This was the only performance by Jerry Garcia on the Hawaiian Islands, outside of the Grateful Dead’s appearance in 1970. This release is part of the continuing year-long celebration of Jerry Garcia’s 75th Birthday.
Following a 1986 diabetic coma and an extensive recovery and rehabilitation (including learning to play guitar again), Garcia had gone to Hawaii to continue his recuperation. While there, he developed a newfound love for the island paradise and the rehabilitative sanctuary of its undersea world (a diver’s paradise introduced to him by Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann). Like so many, Garcia found a real peace under the crystal waters.
Garcia returned in 1990 with The Jerry Garcia Band – Melvin Seals (keyboards), John Kahn (bass), David Kemper (drums), Gloria Jones (backing vox) and Jacklyn LaBranch (backing vox) – to perform a concert benefitting the Ocean Recreation Council of Hawaii. Hilo, the largest city on the big island, had a population below 40,000 at the time of the concert. It had none of the high-rise hotels and cosmopolitan flair of Maui or Waikiki Beach, but it did possess a warm, rural-like community with a relaxed vibe.
That warmth permeates both sets, as the band played songs from genres ranging from reggae to contemporary to gospel to R&B to five Bob Dylan songs. There was clearly something in the air on that beautiful night in Hawaii.
