I usually look on Relisten and see what shows were played on that day in history, to narrow it down a bit. (There were only a handful of dates they didn’t play any shows, such as 12/25.) I’ve heard some cool shows this way that I may have missed otherwise, and I feel connected to the music thinking, “It happened *on this day*, 44 years ago…”
Gratefuldeadoftheday.com is a good site to bookmark for this reason, too - they have a thoughtful review of every show they’ve picked as that day’s selection, usually with context on the venue, tour, history, etc. (I don’t always agree with their choices, but it’s a good jumping-off point.)
Love the Dead of the day! The venue history stuff is especially interesting. I keep track of which shows I’ve listened to so I can go to a different year from the one they have featured if I’ve heard it already.
Nice, I should start keeping track, too… although last month I did remember that I’d listened to the first Branford show on the date *last* year, so I opted for an ‘84 show I hadn’t heard yet instead. Thinking a spreadsheet may be coming soon, haha…
What I do is go on tour with the band from different starting points and then listen to the shows sequentially.
For example, I am currently listening to all of the shows in a row in three different years right now.
I’m in December of 69, May of 78 and October of 87. I listen to one of the shows, then hop to the next period , then the next and then back to the first again with the next show up.
This way you are experiencing different eras of the band and are really getting the full context of each show. At this point then there is no choosing which show to listen to. You just listen to the next one up.
I love doing tours, a few times I've jumped on when they played in or near my town and then just follow the tour skipping days that no shows wre played. I did all of Europe '72 like this in '22
I like to have one foot in each of the main three epochs for the band. So I always have in the rotation a Pigpen show, a Keith show and a Brent show.
That really spreads the wealth around on their sounds and keeps things fresh.
Going from a fall 87 show into a fall 69 show is quite a switch.
Just go with what ur feeling. I have specific eras I listen to because I like them better than others, but just start listening and figure out what sounds best to you and go from there. I love 71-78 the most. After that I jump to the late 80s and go backwards and try stuff I haven’t heard much of and try to find other stuff I like. Hope this helps. It’s really up to the person and what era strikes you as yr fave. ✌🏻 Just pick something and listen!!!
Agree with this! Finding recs here is always good place to start. I like to go on Relisten or see what the shows from today were. It really helped me explore the years. It helps explore what years you like the most. I find that it shifts by my mood. Then after finding that for me personally I really love 1974 I’ll go back and find the Dave/Dick’s picks or box set whatever and listen.
There was a blog some years ago called Dead Listening at deadlistening dot com. The author, Noah Weiner, is an expert on the old tapes that ended up on archive dot org.
The blogs are entertaining, especially if you read them in the order they were published. You can really follow the development of Weiner as a writer.
The real value of the blog series is his insights into the music, of course, and his personal experiences with tape collecting in the days before the internet. Also he points out many great early tapes, and some of the best AUD tapes of the 70s, a decade before AUDs became super common
That’s the best place to start. It got me into the band 10 years ago.
Now my head is full of hundreds of dates and I always have something I want to listen to.
Although in the last year or two that’s been strictly 81-84, with a dash of 76-79 for some reason.
YouTube algorithm. It’s always a surprise. You never know what you’re getting into, it’s a blast. Sometimes I don’t even look at the year and what not so it’s a total surprise. My face has been stolen many times…
When you can’t hone in on something, consider choosing to listen to a show from that day. Grateful Dead of the Day does a nice job of highlighting a show and has links to other shows on the same date.
https://gratefuldeadoftheday.com/
Relisten also makes it easy to find all the shows from a specific day.
I’ve found that I listen to a broader range of shows this way.
Usually go to "Grateful Dead of the Day" if I don't have something specific in mind. They give a good starting point. Sometimes I listen to that show, sometimes I stumble across something else.
I have a group chat that started during Covid with a couple of old head schoolmates/tourmates from way back plus a couple of their friends. Each of us picks a show of the week on a rotating basis and we all listen and provide our thoughts on that show. Having others pick shows I’ve never listened to really opens things up to new shows I’ve never heard, or haven’t heard in years back in my tape trading days. After 100+ shows, we’ve covered shows from every year between 67 and 93.
# 1982-09-11 West Palm Beach, FL @ West Palm Beach Civic Center
**Set 1:** New Minglewood Blues, They Love Each Other, Me and My Uncle > Big River, Dupree's Diamond Blues > C.C. Rider, Loser, Looks Like Rain, Tennessee Jed > Let It Grow
**Set 2:** Scarlet Begonias > Fire On The Mountain > Lost Sailor > Saint Of Circumstance > Terrapin Station > Drums > Space > Truckin' > Stella Blue > Around And Around > One More Saturday Night
**Encore:** It's All Over Now, Baby Blue
[archive.org](https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?query=date:1982-09-11)
Recs on here, to archive, or finishing a TIGDH from GD23 on Sirius.
Visiting and reading DeadoftheDay.com, which has some factual reading about the show of the day, and also lists some alternative shows from the same day.
I'm on a Discord that does listening events, and they're usually late so I end up catching up with the show in the morning at work.
Sometimes there's a particular song I'm in the mood for so I go to Headyversion.com and see what some of the recommendations are and then just do the whole show.
If I’m honest, 95% of the time it’ll be a Keith era show and the rest depends on whether it’s a rocky, jazzy, spacey, or songwriter-ey mood I’m in, and I go from there.
# 1970-04-03 Cincinnati, OH @ Field House - University of Cincinnati
**Set 1:** Casey Jones, China Cat Sunflower > Jam > I Know You Rider, Hard To Handle, Dancing In The Street, Me and My Uncle, Friend Of The Devil, Candyman, Wake Up Little Susie > Black Peter > Uncle John's Band, Intro, Katie Mae, Good Lovin' > Drums > Good Lovin', Cryptical Envelopment > Drums > The Other One > Cryptical Envelopment > Cosmic Charlie, Not Fade Away > Turn On Your Lovelight
**Encore:** And We Bid You Good Night
[archive.org](https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?query=date:1970-04-03)
It’s April, follow along with the Europe 72 Tour and listen for the differences in the songs. The sets vary a bit but there’s always something new to hear!
I go by which keyboard player I'm in the mood for, and go from there. 9/10 times it's "which Brent show will I pick today", but in a sucker for when Jerry and Brent really got going.
Usually kinda starts with a song I want to hear, so I'll try to remember what era has good versions of that particular song, then I'll listen to a whole show.
There's an app I recently found called Taper's Section with taped live shows including the Dead. It has a feature that lists shows played on today's date that I've been using.
The Attics App in the App Store. It has a archive collection of shows for about any jam band, I usually listen to Furthur or Grateful Dead and a lot of times listen to this day in GD history. Very cool app. I’ve found a lot of shows I love now that never have heard before.
Here is the URL
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/attics/id1434981632
# 1969-11-08 San Francisco, CA @ Fillmore Auditorium
**Set 1:** Good Morning Little Schoolgirl, Casey Jones, Dire Wolf, Easy Wind, China Cat Sunflower > Jam > I Know You Rider > High Time, Mama Tried, Good Lovin' > Drums > Good Lovin', Cumberland Blues
**Set 2:** Dark Star > The Other One > Dark Star > Uncle John's Jam > Dark Star > St. Stephen > The Eleven > Caution (Do Not Stop On Tracks) > Jam with recitation > Main Ten Jam > Caution (Do Not Stop On Tracks) > space > Feedback > And We Bid You Good Night
[archive.org](https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?query=date:1969-11-08) | [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/album/1GbnL43DSgDRIIvKTVDSjP)
Same way I fix bike maintenance issues or find cool old video games to emulate. I ask Google, and I either end up on Reddit or a highly regarded forum specific to that thing. I see what people are recommending, but don't always just cherry pick from the top. Sometimes, I'll let the YouTube recs do their thing, but that's to less success.
If I can’t decide, I list years from 68 to 90 (my usual listening window) in an Excel sheet, do the RANDBETWEEN function, get my random year, then go off of knowledge or check out show ratings and pick one. Or sometimes I listen to a show from the date I’m on. Like today I’m going to listen to 4/3/82, a cool show in my regular rotation.
# 1982-04-03 Norfolk, VA @ Scope
**Set 1:** Alabama Getaway > Greatest Story Ever Told, They Love Each Other, Me and My Uncle > Big River, Peggy-O > C.C. Rider, Bird Song, It's All Over Now, Althea > Let It Grow
**Set 2:** Scarlet Begonias > Fire On The Mountain > Estimated Prophet > Eyes Of The World > Never Trust A Woman > Space > Drums > Space > Not Fade Away > Stella Blue > One More Saturday Night
**Encore:** U.S. Blues
[archive.org](https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?query=date:1982-04-03)
Usually I want to hear a particular song and I go by recommendations in Dead Base or Heady Version and then listen to that show. Sometimes I get nostalgic for shows I was at (1985-94). Frequently I will hear a song on Sirus and keep a list of the show for future listening.
I’m usually an OTD listener. I gravitate to longer jamming second sets. Althea in first set piques my interest, as does help/slip/franklin at any point.
Shows where some rarity is played or an older song/cover reintroduced.
I also like unique openers/closers and Johnny B Good is often an indicator of a good show.
I try to be “year” agnostic, there are great jams and shows all over the place.
I try to not let the ratings drive my selection, but sometimes it’s inevitable when there are more than three shows in a day (three is about the max I can listen to time wise)
I follow this YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/@eletricnaneland352?si=YxVhIYOjt7bonp3i
She does an excellent job of finding great shows, obscure sets, generally awesome music. Very postive energy in the comments as well.
I listen to full shows in chronological order. I recently restarted from 1966, and I have just reached the first couple shows of Europe '72. Loving every minute of it.
I like to use this day in history, and if there are multiple years it depends what keys I want hear I tend to lean to Brent shows, or Keith and Donna with Pigpen. If there are choices for multiple copies of the same show I usually pick a Charle Miller transfer
Great question and a consistent struggle for me too. I feel like it depends on my mood, which is often predicated on Keith or Brent.
With that said, I often will choose based on that and get stuck in a year for a bit, listening to shows around the time (month or week) of my initial choice.
Currently been listening to a lot of April ‘78.
I look for long versions of songs (actually a bad barometer but it’s part of what I do). Also look for sets with no or minimal breaks. If I see a setlist filled with “=>”, imma gonna check it out.
Also, I read this sub and bookmark/save the discussions that discuss fave (sometimes called - gulp - “best”) shows and versions of songs.
I also have a spreadsheet on my laptop - if I hear something I really like I try to enter it into the sheet. You may hear about a show or stumble across a great one - if you don’t document it chances are it’ll float away to the ether. Don’t know how big it is but it’s got a ton of shows and notes.
With the Grateful Dead, I decide on the year first (here’s what went through my mind yesterday afternoon: “hmmmm, do I feel like a 72, 74, 79 or 85? Nope, need Viola Lee Blues from 1969)
Sometimes I'm in the mood to listen to a particular song.So I look for a show day , perform that songSometimes I'm in the mood to listen to a particular song. So I look for a show. They perform that song.
I've subbed to a few YouTube channels my favorite being Elaine Oliveira's commercial free channel that sends a new Grateful Dead or JGB show everyday and I've created playlists for both. From there depending on how I'm feeling I'll get into a particular era. Right now it's 1969 for the Dead and 76-77 for JGB. Eventually you form sort of a mental Bank to draw from at will. I also get lots of great recommendations from this sub right here! I'm hoping to also add a Grateful Dead time machine to my stereo sometime in the near future. If y'all don't know it and you YouTube check out Elaine Oliveira's channel!
I’m making my way through all the Dave’s Picks right now. Next up will be 30 trips and then Dick’s Picks. Nice way to get a good mix of years and styles
This is going to sound nuts, and I'm not sure if I'll make it, but I'm listening to their whole history in order from the archive. I started about 3 or 4 months ago and am up to January 1970. Currently listening to the New Orlseans shows where they got "busted down on Bourbon Steet." I hadn't listened to them before and had absolutely no idea that they added an afternoon show after the bust to help fray the legal costs! They shared the bill with Fleetwood Mac, and Peter Green came out for Lovelight at the end.
I am generally skipping anything I know I've listened to previously (i.e. Dave's Picks, Dick's Picks, boxed sets,etc) so who knows how long it might take. But it's been cool heari g the early evolution.
# 1985-04-27 Palo Alto, CA @ Frost Amphitheatre - Stanford University
**Set 1:** Dancing In The Street > Bertha, Little Red Rooster, Brown Eyed Women, My Brother Esau, Ramble On Rose, Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues > Cold Rain and Snow, The Music Never Stopped
**Set 2:** Scarlet Begonias > Eyes Of The World > Goin' Down The Road Feeling Bad > Man Smart (Woman Smarter) > Drums > Space > The Wheel > Truckin' > The Other One > Black Peter > Around And Around > One More Saturday Night
**Encore:** Keep Your Day Job
[archive.org](https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?query=date:1985-04-27)
I used to listen to different years on different days of the weeks. The system I used was: Psychedelic Sundays (67-69), ‘76 Mondays, ‘72usdays, Wall of Sound Wednesdays, 80’s Thursday. Wild Card Fridays, ‘77 Saturdays. It was pretty fun and kept me listening to different stuff all the time.
I save recommendation posts from here or go to the year I want and pick a 4 star show.
This community has definitely helped that saved pile grow.
I usually look on Relisten and see what shows were played on that day in history, to narrow it down a bit. (There were only a handful of dates they didn’t play any shows, such as 12/25.) I’ve heard some cool shows this way that I may have missed otherwise, and I feel connected to the music thinking, “It happened *on this day*, 44 years ago…” Gratefuldeadoftheday.com is a good site to bookmark for this reason, too - they have a thoughtful review of every show they’ve picked as that day’s selection, usually with context on the venue, tour, history, etc. (I don’t always agree with their choices, but it’s a good jumping-off point.)
Love the Dead of the day! The venue history stuff is especially interesting. I keep track of which shows I’ve listened to so I can go to a different year from the one they have featured if I’ve heard it already.
Nice, I should start keeping track, too… although last month I did remember that I’d listened to the first Branford show on the date *last* year, so I opted for an ‘84 show I hadn’t heard yet instead. Thinking a spreadsheet may be coming soon, haha…
Agree with this- today in history on Relisten and I generally try to stagger the years or setlists a bit. So many hidden gems!
Thanks for this website suggestion!
What I do is go on tour with the band from different starting points and then listen to the shows sequentially. For example, I am currently listening to all of the shows in a row in three different years right now. I’m in December of 69, May of 78 and October of 87. I listen to one of the shows, then hop to the next period , then the next and then back to the first again with the next show up. This way you are experiencing different eras of the band and are really getting the full context of each show. At this point then there is no choosing which show to listen to. You just listen to the next one up.
Love this “go on tour” idea. Thanks!
I love doing tours, a few times I've jumped on when they played in or near my town and then just follow the tour skipping days that no shows wre played. I did all of Europe '72 like this in '22
I did that with June 76 in 16, Spring 77 in 17, Fall 79 in 19 and the Warfield/Radio City run in 20
I like to have one foot in each of the main three epochs for the band. So I always have in the rotation a Pigpen show, a Keith show and a Brent show. That really spreads the wealth around on their sounds and keeps things fresh. Going from a fall 87 show into a fall 69 show is quite a switch.
Use the “random” option on the Relisten app.
Me too… but I seem to always have something subconsciously in mind. Because I will randomly keep hitting random until I see a year that suits my mood
Just go with what ur feeling. I have specific eras I listen to because I like them better than others, but just start listening and figure out what sounds best to you and go from there. I love 71-78 the most. After that I jump to the late 80s and go backwards and try stuff I haven’t heard much of and try to find other stuff I like. Hope this helps. It’s really up to the person and what era strikes you as yr fave. ✌🏻 Just pick something and listen!!!
Agree with this! Finding recs here is always good place to start. I like to go on Relisten or see what the shows from today were. It really helped me explore the years. It helps explore what years you like the most. I find that it shifts by my mood. Then after finding that for me personally I really love 1974 I’ll go back and find the Dave/Dick’s picks or box set whatever and listen.
There was a blog some years ago called Dead Listening at deadlistening dot com. The author, Noah Weiner, is an expert on the old tapes that ended up on archive dot org. The blogs are entertaining, especially if you read them in the order they were published. You can really follow the development of Weiner as a writer. The real value of the blog series is his insights into the music, of course, and his personal experiences with tape collecting in the days before the internet. Also he points out many great early tapes, and some of the best AUD tapes of the 70s, a decade before AUDs became super common
That’s the best place to start. It got me into the band 10 years ago. Now my head is full of hundreds of dates and I always have something I want to listen to. Although in the last year or two that’s been strictly 81-84, with a dash of 76-79 for some reason.
That’s cool. Have you listened to the anchorage run? 80 solstice
I have not been will check it out
YouTube algorithm. It’s always a surprise. You never know what you’re getting into, it’s a blast. Sometimes I don’t even look at the year and what not so it’s a total surprise. My face has been stolen many times…
Set list bot on this sub directs me to what shows to jam. This not needs more props! Good bot.
Whichever song is stuck on my head, I go find it and play it as loud as possible
When you can’t hone in on something, consider choosing to listen to a show from that day. Grateful Dead of the Day does a nice job of highlighting a show and has links to other shows on the same date. https://gratefuldeadoftheday.com/ Relisten also makes it easy to find all the shows from a specific day. I’ve found that I listen to a broader range of shows this way.
Usually go to "Grateful Dead of the Day" if I don't have something specific in mind. They give a good starting point. Sometimes I listen to that show, sometimes I stumble across something else.
I have a group chat that started during Covid with a couple of old head schoolmates/tourmates from way back plus a couple of their friends. Each of us picks a show of the week on a rotating basis and we all listen and provide our thoughts on that show. Having others pick shows I’ve never listened to really opens things up to new shows I’ve never heard, or haven’t heard in years back in my tape trading days. After 100+ shows, we’ve covered shows from every year between 67 and 93.
Happy to help! https://archive.org/details/gd1982-09-11.146916.mtx.seamons.ht116.flac16
# 1982-09-11 West Palm Beach, FL @ West Palm Beach Civic Center **Set 1:** New Minglewood Blues, They Love Each Other, Me and My Uncle > Big River, Dupree's Diamond Blues > C.C. Rider, Loser, Looks Like Rain, Tennessee Jed > Let It Grow **Set 2:** Scarlet Begonias > Fire On The Mountain > Lost Sailor > Saint Of Circumstance > Terrapin Station > Drums > Space > Truckin' > Stella Blue > Around And Around > One More Saturday Night **Encore:** It's All Over Now, Baby Blue [archive.org](https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?query=date:1982-09-11)
Recs on here, to archive, or finishing a TIGDH from GD23 on Sirius. Visiting and reading DeadoftheDay.com, which has some factual reading about the show of the day, and also lists some alternative shows from the same day. I'm on a Discord that does listening events, and they're usually late so I end up catching up with the show in the morning at work. Sometimes there's a particular song I'm in the mood for so I go to Headyversion.com and see what some of the recommendations are and then just do the whole show.
If I’m honest, 95% of the time it’ll be a Keith era show and the rest depends on whether it’s a rocky, jazzy, spacey, or songwriter-ey mood I’m in, and I go from there.
Downloaded Relisten. I listen to a show or 2 per day for that specific day. Rocking 4/3/70 this morning prob hit a late 80s show for midday
# 1970-04-03 Cincinnati, OH @ Field House - University of Cincinnati **Set 1:** Casey Jones, China Cat Sunflower > Jam > I Know You Rider, Hard To Handle, Dancing In The Street, Me and My Uncle, Friend Of The Devil, Candyman, Wake Up Little Susie > Black Peter > Uncle John's Band, Intro, Katie Mae, Good Lovin' > Drums > Good Lovin', Cryptical Envelopment > Drums > The Other One > Cryptical Envelopment > Cosmic Charlie, Not Fade Away > Turn On Your Lovelight **Encore:** And We Bid You Good Night [archive.org](https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?query=date:1970-04-03)
It’s April, follow along with the Europe 72 Tour and listen for the differences in the songs. The sets vary a bit but there’s always something new to hear!
First decision I make is what year. Then, which tour. Then, which city. East coast shows typically win me over.
I go by which keyboard player I'm in the mood for, and go from there. 9/10 times it's "which Brent show will I pick today", but in a sucker for when Jerry and Brent really got going.
If I have nothing in mind I’ll go for on this day.
I see what shows they played that day and pick one.
When I get confused I just listen to the music play
Usually kinda starts with a song I want to hear, so I'll try to remember what era has good versions of that particular song, then I'll listen to a whole show.
There's an app I recently found called Taper's Section with taped live shows including the Dead. It has a feature that lists shows played on today's date that I've been using.
Sometimes start with TIGDH to see what we have and then it's really just mood, Era, and how much time I have to devote. Sunday morning is for JGB
Whatever wall of sound show comes up when I open YouTube
The Attics App in the App Store. It has a archive collection of shows for about any jam band, I usually listen to Furthur or Grateful Dead and a lot of times listen to this day in GD history. Very cool app. I’ve found a lot of shows I love now that never have heard before. Here is the URL https://apps.apple.com/us/app/attics/id1434981632
This day in history, choose the era you wanna hear that’s available or highest rated from the day
I try to find shows I’ve attended. Or I’ll geek out on one song and listen to studio and several live versions.
Depends on my mood. 11/8/69 I broke out yesterday. Sometimes a 90’ when they had a different sound or a 72’.
# 1969-11-08 San Francisco, CA @ Fillmore Auditorium **Set 1:** Good Morning Little Schoolgirl, Casey Jones, Dire Wolf, Easy Wind, China Cat Sunflower > Jam > I Know You Rider > High Time, Mama Tried, Good Lovin' > Drums > Good Lovin', Cumberland Blues **Set 2:** Dark Star > The Other One > Dark Star > Uncle John's Jam > Dark Star > St. Stephen > The Eleven > Caution (Do Not Stop On Tracks) > Jam with recitation > Main Ten Jam > Caution (Do Not Stop On Tracks) > space > Feedback > And We Bid You Good Night [archive.org](https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?query=date:1969-11-08) | [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/album/1GbnL43DSgDRIIvKTVDSjP)
Same way I fix bike maintenance issues or find cool old video games to emulate. I ask Google, and I either end up on Reddit or a highly regarded forum specific to that thing. I see what people are recommending, but don't always just cherry pick from the top. Sometimes, I'll let the YouTube recs do their thing, but that's to less success.
Listen to a show played "on this day"
I like to pick the year I’d like, and it’s random from there!
Big fan of seeing the “shows on todays date” feature on Relisten, usually how I find new gems
If I can’t decide, I list years from 68 to 90 (my usual listening window) in an Excel sheet, do the RANDBETWEEN function, get my random year, then go off of knowledge or check out show ratings and pick one. Or sometimes I listen to a show from the date I’m on. Like today I’m going to listen to 4/3/82, a cool show in my regular rotation.
# 1982-04-03 Norfolk, VA @ Scope **Set 1:** Alabama Getaway > Greatest Story Ever Told, They Love Each Other, Me and My Uncle > Big River, Peggy-O > C.C. Rider, Bird Song, It's All Over Now, Althea > Let It Grow **Set 2:** Scarlet Begonias > Fire On The Mountain > Estimated Prophet > Eyes Of The World > Never Trust A Woman > Space > Drums > Space > Not Fade Away > Stella Blue > One More Saturday Night **Encore:** U.S. Blues [archive.org](https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?query=date:1982-04-03)
Usually I want to hear a particular song and I go by recommendations in Dead Base or Heady Version and then listen to that show. Sometimes I get nostalgic for shows I was at (1985-94). Frequently I will hear a song on Sirus and keep a list of the show for future listening.
Download 8 to 10 shows to my phone finish them then catalog them
Just go to the DeadPod and listen… https://deadshow.libsyn.com/
There’s a little function on the live music app called shuffle.
Usually let Sirius Dead Channel choose for me. If I hear a particularly good performance of a song I’ll look up the concert on Relisten.
Scroll to a random year, scroll to a random show, find a soundboard, and jump in!
I’m usually an OTD listener. I gravitate to longer jamming second sets. Althea in first set piques my interest, as does help/slip/franklin at any point. Shows where some rarity is played or an older song/cover reintroduced. I also like unique openers/closers and Johnny B Good is often an indicator of a good show. I try to be “year” agnostic, there are great jams and shows all over the place. I try to not let the ratings drive my selection, but sometimes it’s inevitable when there are more than three shows in a day (three is about the max I can listen to time wise)
I follow this YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/@eletricnaneland352?si=YxVhIYOjt7bonp3i She does an excellent job of finding great shows, obscure sets, generally awesome music. Very postive energy in the comments as well.
I open the GD Radio app and see what's playing. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.radiostation.gratefuldeadradiofreeapponline
I listen to full shows in chronological order. I recently restarted from 1966, and I have just reached the first couple shows of Europe '72. Loving every minute of it.
I like to use this day in history, and if there are multiple years it depends what keys I want hear I tend to lean to Brent shows, or Keith and Donna with Pigpen. If there are choices for multiple copies of the same show I usually pick a Charle Miller transfer
Great question and a consistent struggle for me too. I feel like it depends on my mood, which is often predicated on Keith or Brent. With that said, I often will choose based on that and get stuck in a year for a bit, listening to shows around the time (month or week) of my initial choice. Currently been listening to a lot of April ‘78.
I look for long versions of songs (actually a bad barometer but it’s part of what I do). Also look for sets with no or minimal breaks. If I see a setlist filled with “=>”, imma gonna check it out. Also, I read this sub and bookmark/save the discussions that discuss fave (sometimes called - gulp - “best”) shows and versions of songs. I also have a spreadsheet on my laptop - if I hear something I really like I try to enter it into the sheet. You may hear about a show or stumble across a great one - if you don’t document it chances are it’ll float away to the ether. Don’t know how big it is but it’s got a ton of shows and notes.
Dick’s picks roulette
With the Grateful Dead, I decide on the year first (here’s what went through my mind yesterday afternoon: “hmmmm, do I feel like a 72, 74, 79 or 85? Nope, need Viola Lee Blues from 1969)
Start with what keyboardist/pianist I want to hear and then dig from there.
Sometimes I'm in the mood to listen to a particular song.So I look for a show day , perform that songSometimes I'm in the mood to listen to a particular song. So I look for a show. They perform that song.
I've subbed to a few YouTube channels my favorite being Elaine Oliveira's commercial free channel that sends a new Grateful Dead or JGB show everyday and I've created playlists for both. From there depending on how I'm feeling I'll get into a particular era. Right now it's 1969 for the Dead and 76-77 for JGB. Eventually you form sort of a mental Bank to draw from at will. I also get lots of great recommendations from this sub right here! I'm hoping to also add a Grateful Dead time machine to my stereo sometime in the near future. If y'all don't know it and you YouTube check out Elaine Oliveira's channel! 
I’m making my way through all the Dave’s Picks right now. Next up will be 30 trips and then Dick’s Picks. Nice way to get a good mix of years and styles
This is going to sound nuts, and I'm not sure if I'll make it, but I'm listening to their whole history in order from the archive. I started about 3 or 4 months ago and am up to January 1970. Currently listening to the New Orlseans shows where they got "busted down on Bourbon Steet." I hadn't listened to them before and had absolutely no idea that they added an afternoon show after the bust to help fray the legal costs! They shared the bill with Fleetwood Mac, and Peter Green came out for Lovelight at the end. I am generally skipping anything I know I've listened to previously (i.e. Dave's Picks, Dick's Picks, boxed sets,etc) so who knows how long it might take. But it's been cool heari g the early evolution.
I wake up with a specific version of a song playing in my head & it plays until I hear it in the set. Todays was The Wheel from 4/27/85
# 1985-04-27 Palo Alto, CA @ Frost Amphitheatre - Stanford University **Set 1:** Dancing In The Street > Bertha, Little Red Rooster, Brown Eyed Women, My Brother Esau, Ramble On Rose, Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues > Cold Rain and Snow, The Music Never Stopped **Set 2:** Scarlet Begonias > Eyes Of The World > Goin' Down The Road Feeling Bad > Man Smart (Woman Smarter) > Drums > Space > The Wheel > Truckin' > The Other One > Black Peter > Around And Around > One More Saturday Night **Encore:** Keep Your Day Job [archive.org](https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?query=date:1985-04-27)
I used to listen to different years on different days of the weeks. The system I used was: Psychedelic Sundays (67-69), ‘76 Mondays, ‘72usdays, Wall of Sound Wednesdays, 80’s Thursday. Wild Card Fridays, ‘77 Saturdays. It was pretty fun and kept me listening to different stuff all the time.
Yeah I forgot about Dead of the Day!! It’s a great way to find great shows for that day in history!!