1983 New Years Ticket Poster

This blown-up version of the actual ticket to the 1983 New Year’s Show was a long window card used in store windows and record stores to promote the event. The event occurred at the San Francisco Civic Auditorium because the Oakland Auditorium was being renovated. It would later reopen as the Henry J Kaiser Convention Center, which essentially was the Grateful Dead’s “home court” for a few years.

Every New Years show was highlighted by a countdown to midnight and a ceremonial arrival on stage by promoter Bill Graham. One time he flew in in a giant joint, another on a huge cake and for this New Year’s Eve Graham arrived on a giant crystal ball while thousands of balloons were released from the ceiling and the band launched into Sugar Magnolia.