Was "Friend of the Devil" by the Grateful dead ever played live FAST?

Question

If possible, give dates or shows.

Answer 1

the friend of the devil from june 7th 1970 was played about the same speed as the recording from american beauty.

Answer 2

I've heard them play it up to speed like on the studio cut if that's what you mean.

Answer 3

No, they never performed it FAST.

Answer 4

They started playing the slower Friend of the Devil after coming back from their 1974 "retirement".  ( Obviously they never really did retire, they even played a handful of shows in '75 and were full force again by '76.)  

So if you're interested in the more up tempo versions look for early 70's versions.  

A couple of good acoustic versions pop up on d**k's Pick's Vol. 8 from 5/2/70 and as a bonus live track on the American Beauty reissue.  (That "reissued" album is really just parted out from the Golden Road box set.)  I prefer the American Beauty live bonus track, but 5/2/70 is such an incredible show and a better overall value.  

There's also a couple electric fast tempo versions from the Dead's Fall of '72 East Coast run.  Those appear on d**k's Pick's vol. 11 from 9/27/72 and on vol. 23 from 9/17/72.   Both are good shows, I prefer vol.11 because of the epic Dark Star> Cumberland Blues.  

Happy listening!

http://dead.net/

Answer 5

dude, you asked the same question 5 times

the recording in American beauty is pretty good

I don't know if you would call it FAST... but I like it