Check out a lively show from Cal Expo in 1992 right here and here too, revisit the Radio Free Fundi archival podcasts of Jerry's music here and here, and enjoy this tasty nugget from 1977:
Update: I am uploading the 5/16/09 Dead show at the Gorge over on the Live Archive! And there is a review of the show posted over at JamBase.com. Here's an excerpt:
There's something going on in the post-Garcia era, something bigger than lead guitarist Warren Haynes hitting the proper tone in his solos. It's the thrilling sense of a ship of fools that's lost its rudder, sailing at the whim of unpredictable winds. Without a figurehead, The Dead might be closer now to the egoless ideal that Garcia longed for. More of a band, less of a cult (there was a time when it was all Pigpen all the time, but they got over that loss, too). The Grateful Dead Experience has always been a more-than-the-sum-of-its-parts sort of culmination. That fact is driven home by the sum's continued evolution in the absence of what many considered its most important part...Addressing the crowd towards the end of the second set, after Bob unleashed an extra-screamy "One More Saturday Night," Phil perfectly summed up that sentiment. "Thank you all very much for coming out here, bringing our community back together again," he said. "I know that you guys come to see each other, too. So thanks for bringing that magic to us, which is really what it takes for us to be able to make this music."
...There will always be naysayers sitting out the latter-day Dead, claiming the purity and fire is gone. Which is fine — for them the Experience is ossified, history, dead. Then there will be those that derive something meaningful from every encounter they have with the band, no matter what the setting or the lineup. They argue over details not to bemoan the band's demise but to keep the band alive. These aren't apologists or nostalgists, but seekers, thirsting for the Experience because they believe there is still nothing in the world like a Dead concert. Which is like life in general. You get out of it exactly what you put in...
...Saturday's set at The Gorge (America's most epic venue, sorry Red Rocks) wasn't perfect either, but it was joyous and thrilling and funny in a very welcome, familiar way. The vibe — ineffable and all-important — was right. To bite a cliché and all the beauty and baggage it implies, it was like coming home. As long as The Dead are playing at this level, they're worth seeing. They're worth believing in. The old magic is still alive, if you want it.