One of the great things you can find on YouTube are clips of the Grateful Dead that combine amateur audience video with soundboard quality audio. Like this one, for example. The audio on this 1987 “Ship Of Fools” is soundboard, so it’s outstanding. But the video quality leaves something to be desired. In all fairness, it’s actually pretty damn good for an audience recording at the time. And the video probably sat around 20+ years before it got digitized. Which is why you’ve got to set the video quality aside, and just appreciate it as a visual compliment to the soundboard audio.
All that said, it’s a pretty great “Ship Of Fools”. Jerry’s vocal delivery is passionate and vulnerable throughout, but there’s a moment that begins around 6:10 that will give you chills. Jerry’s impassioned delivery and clear love of the song get the crowd going nuts. It’s awesome. Watch it.
