Playing in the Band

The Grateful Dead has played Playing in the Band live 166 times, from 1971 to 1980. It turns up about once every 11 shows. Its longest break was 1 year, 7 months, between October 1974 and June 1976. The song is in its longest break yet right now. At its hottest it showed up at 9 shows in a row, from July 1972 to August 1972.

It has been played at 79 different venues in 63 cities across 5 countries. Its most frequent stop is Winterland Arena (18 times).

It usually lands in the first set (103 of 161 performances with a known set). It has opened the second set 14 times. Across the 116 performances with a recorded time, it averages 13:58. Its longest recorded version clocked in at 31:39 (Oct 16, 1974); the shortest at 1:00 (Nov 21, 1973). It most often follows Terrapin Station (15 times) and leads into Drums (17 times).

Fans heard it live 1 year, 2 months before it was released on Ace (1972). It is also known as “Playin' in the Band”, “Playin'”, and “Playin in the Band”.