Dave's Picks Volume 53


Dave's Picks Volume 53 is a three-CD live album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. In contains the complete concert recorded on October 2, 1976, at Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati. It was released on January 31, 2025, in a limited edition of 25,000 copies.
The album also includes five songs recorded on May 4, 1977, at the Palladium in New York City. The other songs from the Palladium concert can be found as bonus tracks on Dave's Picks Volume 50 and on the Dave's Picks 2024 Bonus Disc that was included with some copies of Volume 50.
Dave's Picks Volume 53 debuted at number 2 in the Billboard Top Album Sales chart, and at number 3 in the Top Rock Albums chart.

Critical reception

On AllMusic, Timothy Monger said, "This October show, plucked from the Grateful Dead's second 1976 tour, showcases the spoils of the era with an intrepid mix of covers and endemic mid-'70s set staples like "Brown-Eyed Women" and "Promised Land".... A notable and very lengthy set-two jam segues from a lively "Dancing in the Street" through various twists and turns before concluding with a show-closing "Sugar Magnolia"."
In Glide Magazine, Doug Collette wrote, "For this performance from Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati, the sextet presents sixteen selections before any significant improvisations are made. However, to the group’s great credit, their self-restraint generates definite dividends through the economic concentration the psychedelic warriors apply to tunes like "Candyman". "

Track listing

Disc 1
  1. "Promised Land" – 4:49
  2. "They Love Each Other" – 7:01
  3. "New Minglewood Blues" – 5:17
  4. "Row Jimmy" – 10:02
  5. "El Paso" – 4:22
  6. "Tennessee Jed" – 9:10
  7. "It's All Over Now" – 6:23
  8. "Brown-Eyed Women" – 5:28
  9. "Let It Grow" – 12:48
  10. "Might as Well" – 6:06
Disc 2
  1. "The Music Never Stopped" – 6:59
  2. "Candyman" – 7:09
  3. "Samson and Delilah" – 7:48
  4. "It Must Have Been the Roses" – 7:03
  5. "Big River" – 5:35
  6. "Friend of the Devil" – 8:59
Disc 3
  1. "Dancing in the Street" – 10:38
  2. "Drums" – 2:46
  3. "The Other One" – 10:17
  4. "Stella Blue" – 11:25
  5. "The Other One" – 2:16
  6. "Sugar Magnolia" – 9:08
  8. "New Minglewood Blues" – 5:42
  9. "Cassidy" – 5:27
  10. "Deal" – 6:56
  11. "Looks Like Rain" – 9:13
  12. "Brown-Eyed Women" – 5:28

Personnel

Grateful Dead
Production