And, of course, there was the gorgeous yet bittersweet mid-second set “So Many Roads”, with Garcia’s moving vocals ensuring that there was not a dry eye in the stadium by the time the tune was finished despite some musical struggles. So, finally, 15 years after Jerry left, I got to meet Papa Mali. You can feel the weight of the show’s cosmic significance throughout, particularly on songs like encore closer “Box of Rain”. The Grateful Dead without Jerry Garcia was like the Miles Davis Band without Miles Davis. While not among their best shows by a long stretch, 7/9/95 still packs an emotional punch to this day in light of its significance as Jerry’s last performance. But it was his warm, charismatic personality that earned him the affection of millions of Dead Heads. With his death, Grateful Dead ceased to be, but the other members of the band kept the legacy alive through various other projects. Bobs earliest songwriting efforts mirrored those of Garcia and Lesh, though less successfully. As lead guitarist in a rock environment, Jerry Garcia naturally got a lot of attention. The band continued their grueling tour schedule, occasionally pausing for solo side projects, throughout the 1970s, ’80s, and ’90s until, in 1995, Jerry Garcia died of heart failure. Like a jazz guitarist, Bob was often not evident in the mix, but still a profound shape on the sound. July 9th, 1995 at Soldier Field became the Grateful Dead’s final show. Bob developed his odd rhythm style playing between the sweet, articulated lead guitar of Jerry Garcia and the avant-garde bass lines of Phil Lesh. Garcia struggled through equipment difficulties all night, eventually having to replace his “Rosebud” guitar with his older “Tiger.” According to Bob Weir in his Netflix documentary The Other One, he and Garcia shared some short but sweet words as they walked offstage: “Always a hoot,” Garcia said, “Always a hoot.” Exactly one month later, on August 9th, 1995, Jerry Garcia passed away, his heart finally giving out after years of hard living and declining health. Once again, he was beleaguered by addiction-this time in front of huge, stadium-sized venues packed to the brim with excited fans. On this day in 1995, the Grateful Dead played the second and final night of their tour-closing run at Chicago’s Soldier Field featuring an opening performance from The Band. The show marked the completion of a long and winding spring/summer tour, a run throughout which lead guitarist Jerry Garcia seemed to many like a shell of his former self.